Increased stress and strain: Effects of the economic collapse on preschools

Abstract

In Iceland, the financial downturn of 2008 which led to an economic meltdown in October that year incurred severe austerity measures, followed by downscaling in the services provided by local authorities. The impact of this on the operation of preschools is the subject of this study. The Preschool Act (Act No. 90/2008) states that preschool is the first school level and this has been the situation since 1991 (lög nr. 48/1991 [Preschool Act.]). The current Act states that local authorities are responsible for guaranteeing children a place in preschool. Even though it was emphasized in a statement by the Minister of Transport, Communications and Local Government, as well as by the Executive Board of the Icelandic Association of Local authorities, shortly after the collapse, that not all children have an absolute right to attend preschool, it is also stated that special Aukið álag og áreiti: Áhrif efnahagshrunsins á leikskólastarf 2 care shall be taken of children with disabilities or special needs (Samband íslenskra sveitarfélaga [The Association of Local Authorities in Iceland], 2008). The policy of local authorities is clear; they consider their obligations to operate preschools limited, and therefore some children’s access to education may be restricted.

 

Since the economic collapse in 2008 the daily attendance of children in preschools has lengthened and a higher proportion of young children attend preschool than ever before (Samband íslenskra sveitarfélaga, 2011b). In the year 2013 more than 6000 preschoolers spent nine hours or more at the school each day, of whom 1600 were two years old or younger (Hagstofa Íslands [Iceland Statistics n.d.], e.d.a). It is rare in other countries that the school day of children under four years is that long (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice/Eurostat, 2014). The Ombudsman for Children in Iceland has expressed concern about the pre-schoolers’ long day at school and says this necessitates taking special care in the nurturing and upbringing of children. Some researchers share this view (see Anna Magnea Hreinsdóttir, 2009; Arna H. Jónsdóttir, 2012; Arna H. Jónsdóttir, Bryndís Garðarsdóttir and Jóhanna Einarsdóttir, 2013).

 

Early in 2011 the authors of this article conducted a study in preschools for the purpose of obtaining a clearer view of the impact of external factors on operational aspects, professional work, management and the well-being of children and staff in preschools (Anna Elísa Hreiðarsdóttir and Eygló Björnsdóttir, 2016). When the data from that study was analyzed it was observed that the operation of preschools seemed to have changed significantly since the financial meltdown. Today, when more time has passed, it would be interesting to know to what extent the preschool principals evaluate the effect of the financial cuts on the operation of their schools and how they define the effect. This was the motivation for this study. There are few Icelandic studies on this subject and therefore this is an important contribution to knowledge in the field.

The study was conducted in the spring of 2014 and the main goal was to seek the opinion of preschool principals regarding the influence of the financial collapse on the operation of schools, both regarding operational aspects and the professional work being conducted within the schools. Operational aspects relate, for example, to the financial operation of schools, budgets, and their impact on personnel and resources. When discussing the professional work, this refers to how the budget is used in the schools’ operation, what influence it has on policy, curriculum and school development, working with parents etc. Although the discussion is categorized in this way, both factors are closely linked and often difficult to separate. Electronic questionnaires were sent to 106 principals and the response rate was 64%. The questionnaire was used to ask about the circumstances that arose in the preschools after the collapse, but also the principals’ evaluation of their effects. Both open and semi-open questions were used and the main emphasis was placed on analyzing qualitative responses.

The main findings were that the cutbacks following the economic collapse did have an impact on both the operational aspect and the professional work in preschools. There were negative effects on; personnel management, maintenance and purchases, and also on curriculum and school development. These were manifested in increased stress and illness of teachers, as well as in a decline in specialist services, and in the support system. Some preschool principals evaluated the effects of cutbacks as positive since they involved a lengthening of the summer recess. Other research in this area has shown similar findings.