Anette Eskilsson, a Swedish early childhood educator who often speaks about stimulating children’s desire to learn, explains the Scandinavian attitude toward play and learning this way: “It’s two completely different ways of looking at it. You either view children as empty containers, waiting to be filled by adults through teaching, or you believe that they have the innate capability to learn together with others. In Sweden we have faith in the child’s own curiosity and desire to learn. We call this concept ‘the competent child.’”
