What is Best for the Child? Early Childhood Education and Care for Children under 3 Years of Age in Brazil and in Finland

Abstract

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) policies and practices are local, historically and socially context-specific constructions. In addition to local ideals and policies, discursive practices concerning ECEC are influenced by universal ideals that are described and assigned by the member states of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). This article examines the complex, culture-specific domestication of the universal commitment to the ‘best interests of the child’ in policies and curriculum guidance concerning ECEC for children under 3 years of age in two countries, Brazil and Finland. The qualitative case analysis is based on the main national policies and curricular guidelines on ECEC in both countries. Brazil and Finland both emphasize in their ECEC policies and curriculum guidance the rights of the (young) child to participation and protection. Similarities are also found in their emphasis on the educational nature of ECEC Institutions. Brazil is, however, more diverse in the treatment of its heterogeneous population. In Finland, the ‘best for the child’ is considered to be similar for all, i.e. the concept is domesticated uniformly across the entire population regardless of ethnicity or social class. In Brazil, in contrast, ‘the best’ is differentiated further for different strata of the population. In Brazil, ECEC policies aim to increase attendance in out-of-home care, whereas in Finland, the best for the youngest (0–3 years.) children unfolds as home care supported financially by the state.