“Mobile preschool” refers to a preschool on a bus that takes children to different places on a daily basis. In Sweden, the destination is often a natural area. The mobile preschool concept is based on the understanding that nature is a “good” place for children's education. This understanding of “good” is connected to two different ideas – complementary and compensatory. The complementary idea is based on a belief that the mobile preschool is a complement to the regular preschool program by providing a variety of learning experiences and supporting experience-based learning. The compensatory idea is based on the understanding that the mobile preschool can compensate for inequality between different societal groups and the consequences of residential segregation.
Researchers used participant observations of daily activities, field notes, video recordings, formal interviews and informal conversations to gather information about three mobile preschools located in three different municipalities in Sweden that differed in ethnic and socio-economic heterogeneity. Common destinations for the three buses were large, green, wooded recreational areas with footpaths and -- at times -- indoor facilities, such as a cabin with tables and chairs. Analysis of the data focused on how the teachers talked about the places they visited and on observations of how they structured the daily activities.
Results showed clear similarities between the three mobile preschools, with the similarities reflecting the positive attitude towards nature that generally exists in the Nordic countries. Teachers viewed the natural areas as preferable learning environments because of the flexibility they offer in giving children firsthand learning experiences. This view reflects a romanticized and idealized conceptualization of nature “as a stable and context-free space, separated from the social and urban world.” This view also reflects “an idea of 'free', active and competent children, learning in and about nature, at the same time they are protected from the outside world.” Results from this study, however, indicate that the “good education in nature” can mean different things for different children. In this case, the difference was connected to the children's ethnic background and place where they lived. The concept of the competent child also varied by ethnicity and place of residence. Compensatory (versus complementary) ideas were especially vivid in relation to migrant children who live in multi-ethnic neighborhoods.
These results indicate that nature-based education (as in mobile preschools) is strongly influenced by narratives about places and childhoods. A narrative about nature as “a place to be negotiated and constructed through interrelations and interaction beyond its particular geographic borders” should help frame early childhood education. Nature-based education without this frame tends to reinforce a romantic idealization of nature, which tends to deny children's real-world relationships and positions “other” children (e.g. migrant children from multi-ethnic neighborhoods) as different and in need of an education designed to compensate for something perceived as missing.
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