What does it mean to be an English-medium preschool in Sweden? : A case study of how questions of culture are negotiated in a Swedish international preschool

Swedish demographics have been changing rapidly due to increased migration into the country, which is affecting the education as well. The Swedish preschool curriculum requires teachers to take into account the implications of the increase in cultural diversity of their preschools, however, the Curriculum does not provide concrete suggestions for how to work with the goals and values related to diversity. The aim of this study is to explore what it means to be an international English language school in Sweden, which has to negotiate the twin expectations of the Swedish curriculum to value cultural diversity and in the same time develop/maintain common heritage with a respect to the Swedish preschool curriculum. This case study is based on semi-structured interviews with staff members and two-day observations. Ecological Systems Theory approach has been adopted for interpreting the data. The data revealed that that the staff described various tensions related to their negotiating the demands of the curriculum together with approaches that, were used to balance or resolve these tensions. Two main themes were identified in the analysis: (1) Tools and practices used to negotiate the constraints of the Swedish curriculum and (2) The politics and practicalities of being an English-medium school, concerning language and teacher competencies. The results show that the school appropriated the Curriculum X and the DAT assessment tool, which appears to help them follow the Swedish curriculum’s goals and having them make children’s interests the leading factor in preschool activities. Furthermore, the results indicate that there are contradictions in maintaining an English-language atmosphere. Given the lack of relevant research, future research is needed to address a better understanding of what it means to be a language profile preschool in Sweden