The construction of "the competent child" and early childhood care : Values education among the youngest children in a nursery school

The phenomenon I focus on in this article is the construction of “the competent child”,which has developed from both psychology and later the sociology of childhood andhas influenced the Swedish Childhood Education. One purpose of this paper is toinvestigate the pedagogical signs in this construction of “the competent child” and tocontribute to the discussion of the influence of a new understanding of children in anursery practice. In addition to the theoretical part of the article, I present analysedmaterial from a limited case study. I have chosen a Reggio Emilia-inspired nursery,with its emphasis on democracy and view of children as competent and active, toshed light on the connections between this view and a values education. I also aim toproblematise this paradigm of childhood. The methods used in the present study arefield notes and video recordings. Material from my case study illustrates how valueseducation is expressed in a child care practice