I intend to examine how teachers interpret the purpose of preschools and the national curriculum and how they handle any problems rising due to the fact that the curriculum is just an instructional document and freely interpreted. Personnel working within the school system have different opinions on how to maintain a functional educational activity. How do they interpret the national curriculum and why? Are there any similarities or differences between different teacher’s views and is it possible to approach this in a constructive way? Is it really possible that personnel working at Swedish preschools are unaware of their purpose or is there another explanation?

In this study I have worked according to the qualitative method and have been conducting interviews with the possibility to open follow-up questions with room for interpretation. A total of six people on four different preschools have been interviewed and their answers have been analyzed as a whole.

The result from these six interviews shows that there are both differences and similarities in their interpretations of the purpose of the Swedish preschool. Something they are very aware exists. They offer several solutions, for example time dedicated to meet and reflect on how they intend to fulfill their task. They also state that they lack the more structured methods, resources and time. The difficulties in implementing the national curriculum in the educational activity are the lack of discussion between teachers and their personal interpretation of the curriculum. In my study of four preschools, the curriculum is used in a very small portion in some of them. Preschool personnel are lacking in time, resources and an authority figure to implement the national curriculum in the daily activities.