Stability or change? The long-term construction of ECEC rationales on the governmental and parliamentary levels in Finland

Abstract

In recent years, Finnish legislation on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has been reformed several times as a way of increasing quality and enhancing children’s learning and wellbeing. However, little research has been conducted on what this means in terms of ECEC rationales on a national level and how such rationales have developed over time. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyse the political construction of ECEC rationales over time by conducting qualitative content analyses of government bills and minutiae from parliamentary debates relating to three recent reforms (in 2015, 2018 and 2021). We argue that although the discourse on ECEC rationales is mainly characterised by stability, there are also elements of change. Rationales relating to equality, lifelong learning and children’s rights have remained more or less unchanged, while rationales relating to quality ECEC and parental involvement in ECEC have received a more prominent position since 2018.