Exporting preschool quality assurance: ideational power and legitimation of a Scandinavian edu-business

Abstract

This study explores the search for good quality preschool provision and the ideational foundation upon which it builds through the work of a Swedish edu-business operating preschools internationally. We analyse associated flows and uses of (global) ideas on preschool quality to understand how such businesses draw on, remould and “move” certain ideas on quality and quality assurance. For this, we use data obtained from visits to, interviews with representatives of, and various documents produced by the business and two of its subsidiaries, one Swedish and one Norwegian. The analysis highlights important aspects of three dimensions of ideational power: the power through, over and in ideas. The results show how the business acts, particularly through the Norwegian subsidiary, as a pioneering ideational leader of preschool improvement. From this position it conveys an acclaimed state-of-the-art quality system to the policy domain, thereby legitimising large-scale private preschool provision in policy contexts where it is increasingly questioned.