IntroductionIn Sweden, early childhood education dates back to the late 1800s / early 1900s. In a context of urbanisation and industrialisation changing life situations for many families brought with them the need for some kind of childcare. In the beginning a parallel system for the care and education of the youngest children was developed. Children aged 5 to 7 years from better-off families were offered educational activities structured by the teacher in part-time preschools/kindergartens (also called schools). For children from poor families and from single-parent families, full-time provision focusing on care was offered. This parallel system remained until the end of the 1960s, when women in large numbers entered the labor market and the demand for nonparental childcare rapidly grew (Karlsson Lohmander, 2002).In 1968, the government appointed the national Commission on Child Care (Barnstugeutredningen), which was assigned to propose goals and guidelines for the future direction of the childcare system in Sweden. In 1972, the Commission published a report (SOU, 1972: 26-27) proposing that the existing parallel system of care for poor children and education for better-off children be replaced with a childcare system in which social, educational, and care needs would be integrated. The major part of this system would be day-care centers for children from 1 to 7 years (Karlsson Lohmander, 2002). While maintaining a clear educational focus, childcare, together with parental-leave insurance and child benefits, has been a cornerstone in the developing Swedish welfare policy since the beginning of the 1970s. This is explicitly expressed in the overall aims:... to make it possible to combine parenthood with employment or studies... to support and encourage children and help them grow under conditions that are conducive to their well-being (Skolverket, 2000, p. 3)With reference to Freire (1970/1972), a new emancipatory teaching method of negotiation and dialogue (dialogpedagogik) (SOU, 1972:26-27; Stromberg-Lind & Schyl-Bjurman, 1976) was introduced: communication (teacher-child and childchild) was to be at the forefront. This method was soon criticized (Callewaert & Kallos, 1975). Kallos claimed that by concentrating on methods and social skills rather than on specific domains of knowledge, this teaching style became oppressive rather than emancipatory and could be disadvantageous to many children (Kallos, 1978). Grounded in the theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Homburger Erikson, child care had as overriding goals concept formation, communication with others, and development of the self (Schyl-Bjurman, 1976).In the years that followed, the social pedagogy tradition, emphasizing the child´s social development and well-being, remained strong. Grounded in a democratic tradition (Johansson, 2011), it focused on children's participation and active involvement. Children's free play constituted an extensive part of the programme and underlined the value of informal and nonformal learning (Pramling Samuelsson, 2015).There was a distinct difference between preschool and compulsory school (SOU, 1985:22) in that in preschool adult-structured formal learning activities were considered to be detrimental for children.Davidsson (2002) discusses the large difference between the two settings in Between the sofa and the teacher's desk. This title illustrates the problems with finding spaces for cooperation between preschool and school teachers. According to Davidsson, circle time was the only preschool activity that was found to be similar to classroom practice and was the one activity on which teachers from preschool and school could collaborate. There was however an ambition to bring the two institutions closer together to make the transition between preschool and school easier for children. Over the years how this linking should be done was debated by numerous national commissions (Karlsson Lohmander, 2002; Pramling Samuelsson & Mauritzson, 1997; SOU, 1975/76:39). …