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Preschool in the Nordic countries – an arena for the inclusion of parents and children with a refugee and immigrant background
The participation of all parents and children in society is important for a socially sustainable and inclusive Nordic region. Researchers and policy makers have long recognized the importance of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) programs. ECEC settings have proven to have both substantial short-term benefits and long-term gains as children start school and enter adulthood. Yet, overall, immigrant children have lower rates of participation in ECEC than their native counterparts.
For many families, preschool is also the first encounter with the new society and the new language. Furthermore, preschool is often a prerequisite for women to enter the labor market.
A new report will be launched at the webinar, presenting the Nordic countries' national strategies and examples of innovative and successful ways to reach out to immigrant families. The report is part of the Nordic co-operation project on integration, initiated by the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2016.
At the webinar you will hear about the following initiatives:
- During 2018 – 2020 The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) was assigned the project, Open preschool for language and integration, by the Government. The aim with the project has been to increase the number of children with an immigrant background attending preschool. SALAR has performed a mapping with examples from municipalities that are coordinating open preschools with language training for women with an immigrant background. Hanna Sällemark, Project manager from SALAR will present the findings from the project.
- The Foundation for Social Responsibility in Denmark is an umbrella organization that runs five different initiatives, where one is Baba. The aim of Baba is to strengthen fathers’ role in their children’s lives and education. Baba teaches ethnic minority fathers to use their resources to become good, active role models for their children and active participants in their local communities. Adeel Naseem, Consultant at The Foundation for Social Responsibility will introduce us to the Baba initiative.
- The Stockholm districts Enskede-Årsta Vantör has integrated measures for inclusion for newly arrived children and parents, into their open preschools. The goal is to reach out to the families and to develop trust and understanding for the benefits of preschool. Two of the district's open preschools has participated in SKR' three-year project. Mia Stavling, Assistant Head of Unit at open preschool is presenting their work.
During the webinar, the author of the report, Merethe Løberg will present her findings. Representatives from the above organizations will comment on the report and share their experiences. Followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Warm welcome!
Accessibility
The webinar is arranged in the Zoom webinar platform, which has many accessibility features. Read more about accessibility in Zoom here.
Speech-to-text interpretation (subtitles) to English is available.
If you have other accessibility requests, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Photografer: Kjetil Alsvik and all pictures are taken at the preschool Innføringsbarnehagen (in Stavanger).
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