The physical environment in Swedish Early Childhood Education (ECE) is considered a crucial factor to how children develop and learn (Westberg, 2019). Although Swedish preschool is integrated within the education system there are generally little to no distinctions made between education, care, and play. Instead, all activities are considered a part of preschool education (Sheridan and Williams, 2018). Thus, the environment and material play an important part for the governing of preschool activities.

There is a variety of research on environment and material factors in early childhood education from a wide range of research fields. For example, on how material and environments are used in preschool and how material aspects influence education (Barnett, 2015; Odegard, 2021; Åström et al, 2020; Änggård, 2011). As well as how the physical environment forms limits or possibilities for how children can become and act (Eriksson Bergström, 2013; Nordin-Hultman, 2004). In summary, previous research show that childhood materials and environments are constructed in different ways and given different meanings in relation to a variety of discourses, discourses that not only influence how early childhood spaces are designed but also how children are viewed and governed.

Inspired by Foucault’s (1977) genealogical perspective the contribution of this paper is to examine the power relations embedded in the discursive practices of creating a ‘good educational environment’ by looking at discourses on ECE environment and material in 140 texts published in a Swedish preschool teacher trade journal between 1969-2022. In Foucault's spirit, the empirical material is not limited to one type of material, but in addition to the journal Förskolan, the analysis includes policy documents from the same period. The approach is an attempt, through discourse analysis of both contemporary and historical material, to show how discursive practices shape and reshape the norms and ideals of ‘good’ learning environments. The analysis is structured around two main questions:

(1) What are the discursive practices that constructs the dominant discourse on ‘the good learning environment’? 

(2) How do these discourses on good learning environment and material coincide or compete with other practices/discourses, historically or outside of ECE?

Inspired by Foucault’s genealogical perspective, this study engages with the history of the present, which means that it is a study of contemporary practices from a historical and power-analytical perspective (Axelsson and Qvarsebo, 2017; Foucault, 1977). Genealogy as a method make use of historical events to crystallize a critique of contemporary phenomena that have become naturalized and taken for granted. It is not about searching for the true origins of things. Rather, this study aims to show how discourses on environment and material are shaped and reshaped. The goal here is to show how ‘something’ – in this case, the discursive practices of environment and material in ECE – can be understood as a configuration of power and knowledge with particular orientations and consequences (Beronius, 1991; Foucault, 1977). The consequences in this case, come down to how children are perceived and how their lives are directed. The concept of power-relations (Foucault, 1982; 2017) is informative in this study to understand how the discursive practices on environment and material in preschools shape how ‘problems’ are articulated and understood given the discourse at a specific time and context. And by extension, how these discourses shape or direct children’s actions in the present or the future.

Rather than analyzing all possible sources regarding the societal and educational discourse on ideal environments and material for preschool children, the analytic strategy is geared towards capturing some essential patterns in the ‘talk’ about environment and material by researching both a more general debate, by reviewing an influential preschool trade journal, Förskolan [Preschool], and by including educational policies from the same period. The journal Förskolan is a Swedish preschool teacher trade journal, founded and originally published by Svenska Fröbel förbundet [Swedish Fröbel Association], 1918. The Fröbel Association started as a pedagogical organization but later developed into being both an interest- and professional association, which in 1944 became a part of a larger union organization. Förskolan is currently published by a teacher union called Lärarförbundet [Teachers union]. Lärarförbundet describes the journals focus as being on skills development for preschool teachers. The voices represented in the journal are a wide range of professionals associated with early childhood education, such as preschool teachers, pediatricians, psychologists, researchers, architects, and others, connected to Swedish ECE institutions. The journal contains articles on, preschool’s work, news, research, debates, and interviews. As such, it represents an arena where discourses on Swedish ECE are represented from a variety of perspectives. The selected sample period ranges from 1969-2022. 1969 was selected as start year since it coincides with the launch of Barnstugeutredningen [The nursery investigation], a nationwide government investigation on childcare that preceded the Swedish ECE expansion that started during the 1970s. The non-digitalized issues of the Journal, 1969-2001, were strategically sampled, to span over policy changes concerning preschool. The following years were sampled: 1969, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1991. All texts that concerned preschools material and environment were then digitalized via an app that transform printed text to digital text. The journal’s issues from 2002 and onwards were searched digitally. Multiple searches were made using the keywords: environment, design, material, and learning environment. In total 140 articles were imported to NVIVO, a computer program for qualitative analysis. NVIVO was used during the first step of the analysis as the data was coded inductively. In the second part of the analysis the material was triangulated with relevant policy documents published within corresponding time periods. The policy material includes: Barnstugeutredningen [Nursery investigation] (SOU 1972:26), Pedagogiska programmet för förskolan (Educational program for preschool), (Socialstyrelsen, 1987:3). Jämställdhet i förskolan (Equality in preschool) (SOU 2006:75). The National curriculum for preschool (Skolverket, 1998;2018).

The dominant discourses on ‘good ‘environment and material in Swedish Early childhood education are disseminated mainly through three discursive fields: (1) quality of play, (2) gender equality and (3) sustainability. The main thread through these discourses is the dichotomization of two different types of materials defined as ‘finished’ and ‘unfinished’ material. Finished materials denotes things that are manufactured to have a function in relation to children, for example ready-made toys. What binds the unfinished materials together is that they are not produced to have a function in relation to children, for example, natural materials or ‘trash’ material. The finished material is consistently problematized. The main problem highlighted is that it is considered to limit children's creativity and freedom. Unfinished materials are on the other hand, generally understood as ‘good’ materials, connected to a series of moral values like sustainability, equality, gender-neutrality, but also to the growth of children’s creativity. Primarily on basis of being viewed as open-ended. The paper discusses the tension between the dual ideals of children as both innocent and uncorrupted and as agents and potential saviors-of-our-world. The conclusion of the paper is that the understanding of the concept of children’s independence and freedom in preschool has shifted. Although there are kinships with how Swedish preschool design in the 1970s was focused on offering preschool children a stimulating environment that supported independence and freedom of choice (Westberg, 2021), the result of this study points out a shift in what type of freedom that is desired for children to acquire. From freedom to become a part of adult culture, to freedom from adult culture. With this conclusion I invite further questioning of the role of environment and material in relation to the power-relations in ECE, specifically regarding the tension between children’s freedom and the everyday practices of ECE.

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