Umeå University's logo

Preschool is a vital part of the Swedish education system and is governed by a national curriculum that must be interpreted, translated, and enacted at the local level. Curriculum reforms are inherently complex, shaped by negotiations between various actors, traditions, and governance levels. In this dissertation, the curriculum is approached from multiple perspectives: as a regulatory document, as an expression of professional norms and values, as a temporally constructed product, as a social practice, and as content for pedagogical work.  Rather than being a fixed entity, the curriculum is continuously shaped and renegotiated through practice. Previous research shows that principals and municipal officials interpret the curriculum differently, which can result in ambiguity regarding the distribution of responsibilities and hinder implementation.  Communication gaps between governance levels further complicate this process. The organization and values of the municipality influence how the curriculum is enacted, as do the actors’ professional experiences and access to resources. The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to the understanding of how different actors within Swedish municipal preschool education—specifically representatives of the local education authority and preschool principals—enact a new curriculum across distinct yet interconnected contextual levels. The study is guided by the following research questions: (1) How are the main changes in Lpfö 18 interpreted, and what is perceived as most challenging in translating them to the local preschool context?; (2) How is the work with Lpfö 18 realized by the different actors, individually and  collaboratively?; (3) What roles and positions do these actors assume in the enactment of Lpfö 18?; and (4) How can these questions be understood in relation to contextual conditions and the actors’ agency? The research follows a qualitative case study design and is conducted in a large Swedish municipality. The empirical material includes interviews with municipal officials and preschool principals, observations of network meetings, and analysis of relevant documentary material, all focusing on how the curriculum was interpreted and enacted by the officials and by preschool principals. The analysis was informed by the theoretical frameworks of policy enactment (Ball et al., 2012) and ecological teacher agency (Priestley et al., 2015a), with particular attention to how municipal officials and preschool principals interpret, translate, and realize the curriculum in practice based on their surrounding contexts. The results indicate that curriculum enactment is shaped by actors’ professional experiences, organizational structures, and professional cultural traditions. Municipal officials take on both strategic and supportive roles, acting as policy actors through designing modules and developing support materials.  At the same time, their largely uncritical stance toward the curriculum positions them as policy subjects. Principals primarily act as recipients of the curriculum but demonstrate various degrees of agency by adapting the modules to their local contexts, thereby also acting as policy actors in relation to municipal policy.  The study highlights a tension between governance and autonomy in the relationship between officials and principals. While collegial forums provide some space for interpretation, the principals’ influence over content and structure remains limited.