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Important reforms are taking place in children's services in the UK, with a move towards greater integration. In England, Scotland and Sweden, early childhood education and care, childcare for older children, and schools are now the responsibility of education departments. This book is the first to examine, cross-nationally, this major shift in policy.

The establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 has raised the profile of children's issues and allowed more time for debate and legislation. This has led to some key developments, including a decision to establish a Children's Commissioner, more legislative provisions enabling children's views to be taken into account, and a more explicit commitment to 'child and family centred' working. A Ministerial Task Force has been established to 'drive forward progress on integrated children's services'. Some pre‐school and school age child care services have seen significant growth but the structure of services remains fragmented. A National Education Debate has strengthened the Scottish Executive's resolve to maintain its distinctive education policies and reaffirm its commitment to comprehensive schooling and an 'equality of outcomes' approach. New Community Schools put education in the driving seat of change, offering a vehicle for establishing new kinds of services and relationships between services, sectors and age groups. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractWhat help is given to children in exploring linguistic and cultural diversity in their local communities? Drawing on a comparative study of Place‐Based Learning (PBL) in three predominantly rural areas in Scotland, Norway and the USA, the article examines educational and cultural approaches to supporting indigenous and minority community languages. It offers examples of the potential these offer in contributing to children's personal language awareness and development and cultural learning, but finds that language and education policies are fragmented and failing in particular to take advantage of newer migrant languages as a tool for developing linguistic and intercultural skills.

Two case studies in outdoor learning from Norway and Scotland illustrate ways in which communities can help in developing and shaping their Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services and schools. Presented in their geographical and historical context, including a descriptive analysis of their preschool and education systems, it is argued that their creative use of rural environments in the learning of young children illustrate the power of partnership with communities. However, creative "democratic experimentalism" of this kind requires flexibility within the curriculum and a supportive educational culture. ; publishedVersion

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Towards a Theory of Divergent Development -- 3. Cousins Divided? Development in and of Political Institutions in Scotland and Norway since 1814 -- 4. Agrarian Change in Scotland and Norway: Agricultural Production, Structures, Politics and Policies since 1800 -- 5. The Evolution of Local Government and Governance in Scotland and Norway -- 6. The Development of Industry and North Sea Oil in Scotland and Norway -- 7. Reflections on the Making of Norway -- 8. Money and Banking in Scotland and Norway -- 9. Religion in Scotland and Norway -- 10. The Nordic Welfare Model in Norway and Scotland -- 11. Access, Nature, Culture and the Great Outdoors - Norway and Scotland -- 12. Education in Norway and Scotland: Developing and Re-forming the Systems -- 13. Norway and the United Kingdom/Scotland after the Second World War -- 14. Conclusions -- The Contributors -- Bibliography -- Index