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Values Education in Early Childhood Settings pp 33–54Cite as

The Heart of Values Education in Early Childhood: Key Issues and Patterns

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Abstract

This chapter discusses reoccurring patterns and key findings drawn from the Nordic project, ValuEd, regarding values education in preschools in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The research questions are as follows: What kinds of values appear to be significant in the communication between educators and children and in educators’ talk about values in the different sub-studies and in the Nordic project as a whole? What kinds of patterns for communicating values can be identified, and what implications for practice can be drawn from the project? The research material comprises the final analyses and conclusions from the different sub-studies and cross-cultural analyses of the data from the whole project. These data are analyzed together to offer a meta-perspective on values education in early childhood practices. The value fields that have emerged as significant in ValuEd are briefly discussed. They include democracy, ethics discipline, competence, self-enhancement, and efficiency. These value fields are distinct, albeit sometimes overlapping and contradictory.

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Acknowledgments

The study is part of the research project “Values education in Nordic preschools – Basis of Education for tomorrow,” funded by NordForsk research program “Education for Tomorrow” (project number 53581).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Early Childhood Education, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Eva Johansson

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  1. Eva Johansson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Eva Johansson

  2. School of Education, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden

    Anette Emilson

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Anna-Maija Puroila

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Johansson, E. (2018). The Heart of Values Education in Early Childhood: Key Issues and Patterns. In: Johansson, E., Emilson, A., Puroila, AM. (eds) Values Education in Early Childhood Settings. International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75559-5_3

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