Lisbeth Lundahl

Sweden: Decentralization, Deregulation, Quasi-Markets--And Then What?.

The aims of this article are (1) to describe features of Swedish education politics over a 25 year period, with a focus on the 1990s and the first years of the 21st Century, and (2) to discuss how education politics relate to the socio-economic changes which have taken place during the last 10-15 years. Three time periods, based on the prevailing view of education governance and the role of the State, are identified: 1975–1990, 1991–1998 and 1999–2002, respectively. For each period, the context/agenda, processes and outcomes of education policy are discussed. The article is based on statistical data, public reports, policy documents and interviews with central and local actors in the field of education. It is concluded that access to education has increased at all levels during the last 25 years. However, young peoples transition to the labour market takes place later, has become more complicated, and in reality requires successful completion of at least upper-secondary education. In the wake of reductions, decentralization and deregulation of education, the differences and divisions between municipalities, schools and different pupils have increased. It is argued that active efforts to counteract such tendencies were weak in the 1990s, and that education politics may instead have reinforced social division and exclusion.

Still Social and Democratic? Inclusive Education Policies in the Nordic Welfare States

In this article, education policy is analysed from a welfare state perspective. The aim is to analyse the significance attributed to social‐inclusive aspects of education in contemporary education policies of the Nordic countries, and the extent to which education is regarded as an element in welfare policies. Four aspects are addressed: (1) access to education and measures to prevent social exclusion of young people, (2) comprehensiveness of education in terms of public/private, integration/segregation of e.g. minority children and children with special needs, (3) emphasis on democratic values and participation, (4) the importance of community and equality versus a focus on the individual. It is concluded that it is still justified to speak of the five Nordic countries as a rather distinct group. However, social‐inclusive policies have also clearly been reformulated and delimited, related to a strengthening of the economic‐utilitarian functions of education and a weakening of central education governance.

Educational marketization the Swedish way

Sweden has commonly been regarded as a striking example of a social democratic welfare-state regime (Esping-Andersen 1996), characterized by strong state governance and active involvement in welfare matters. In the last two decades, however, the Swedish public sector and education system have been radically and extensively transformed in a neo-liberal direction, a move that was preceded by extensive decentralization of decision-making from the state to municipalities and schools. In this article the scope, character and some of the consequences of internal and external marketization of Swedish education in the early 2000s are summarized, and the impact of competition on the internal workings of upper secondary schools is highlighted in particular. We conclude that the external marketization of education has proceeded a long way and Sweden also fully embraces new public management, i.e. ‘inner marketization’, of education in most respects. However, aspects of the older social democratic policy paradigm are still visible with regard to the assigned functions, values and governance of education.

A Matter of Self-Governance and Control : The Reconstruction of Swedish Education Policy 1980-2003

This article critically examines the role of the State in the decentralized Swedish education system. In the last two decades, Swedish schools have become more autonomous than in most other countries. The transformation of education politics in Sweden from 1975 onwards is briefly described, and the present model of governance is analyzed and discussed. A comparison between the political steering mechanisms available in the 1980s and in the early 2000s shows that the State has left a number of governing mechanisms up to local decision makers. However, certain means of State control remain and have in some cases even become more powerful, while new ones have also been introduced, e.g. a new quality assessment system. Overall, interests in self-governance have increased considerably and thus increased freedom along with extended professional responsibilities of teachers and school leaders are now recurrent themes in the official discourse. Finally, the extent to which teachers themselves actually embrace the ideal of extended professionalism from above is discussed.

Democracy lessons in market-oriented schools : The case of Swedish upper secondary education

Based on recent ethnographic research, this article explores young people’s opportunities of formal and informal democracy learning and expressions of such learning in the highly market-influenced Swedish upper secondary education. With its ambitious democracy-fostering goals and far-reaching marketisation, Swedish education constitutes an interesting case in this respect. The analysis indicates that ‘voting with the feet’ emerges as an important way of exerting student influence. At the same time, young people’s voice is surprisingly neglected in classroom practice. Increased focus on performance and goal attainment tends to overshadow less ‘rewarding’ aspects of the curriculum, such as democracy teaching and learning, both from the side of teachers and students. Students are also increasingly expected to act as school representatives and to avoid giving negative impressions of their school.

Guarded transitions? Youth trajectories and school-to-work transition policies in Sweden

In Sweden as in most other OECD countries, school-to-work transitions have become extended and uncertain endeavours. School dropout and youth unemployment rates are comparatively high, and the so-called yo–yo transitions are common. Although traditionally characterised as a prominent example of a social democratic welfare regime, Sweden has recently incorporated numerous neo-liberal ideas into its educational and youth policies. The responsibility for managing and implementing these policies has been extensively devolved to the countrys 290 municipalities. Moreover, young people are increasingly expected to take exclusive responsibility for forging their own careers, and to be self-governing, enterprising and proactive, both within the educational quasi-market and beyond. The aim of this article was to critically analyse current Swedish national school-to-work transition policies as well as the ways in which local strategies and measures are implemented and developed within individual municipalities given the relatively broad latitude available to them, and to provide some tentative explanations for Swedens problems with school dropout rates and youth unemployment.

Paving the Way to the Future? Education and Young Europeans' Paths to Work and Independence:

This article discusses young peoples transitions from school to work at a time when educational systems have become more closely connected to the economy than ever before. The serious situation of high unemployment, unstable employment conditions and poverty among young people and young adults in Europe is highlighted. Using Sweden as an illuminative example, it is argued that the increasing commercialisation and competition within the education sector add to the risks connected to school-to-work transitions. The associated shift to outcome-based curricula and focus on narrow competences and skills rather than a broad education including social, cultural and democratic elements, will provide young people with poor navigation instruments in this process. The need to analyse the long-term impact of the market-oriented culture on young peoples self-understanding, orientations and choices is emphasized.

A Common Denominator? Swedish Employers, Trade Unions and Vocational Training

The big organisations of the Swedish labour market have taken a con-siderable role in the making of vocational education policy in the post-war period. Here it is argued that the ‘Swedish model’ of co-operation between the Social Democratic government and the strong central organisations of employers and trade unions respectively has had a substantial impact on the debate over the reform of vocational education.

Mobilities of Youth: Social and Spatial Trajectories in a Segregated Sweden.

This article explores youth mobilities in three geographic and socio-economically diverse Swedish contexts. The concept of mobility has become an important feature of individualistic discourses of responsibility relating to inclusion, lifelong learning and self-regulating entrepreneurial behaviour. This article draws attention to the fact that geographical mobility, as a form of human agency, is closely related to social mobility and hence to both spatial and social inequalities. Using life-history interviews and statistical data, the article explores how space, class and ethnicity are related to education and social inclusion and exclusion as young people are spatially situated yet move, desire to move, dream about moving, seek to move and fail to move, as they migrate through, in and out of social communities. The analysis displays how these mobilities are framed by local traditions and circumstances that both enable and restrict. Such mobility might involve processes of personal development and learning, and be the calculated consequence of each individuals chosen life-career. However, mobility might also arise as flight from a stigmatised place. In these cases, refusal to move can also be seen as a form of resistance. Once we recognize that place and mobility are fundamental attributes of all identities, we open the door for future studies addressing these issues in almost any field. (Easthope, 2009, p. 78)

New variations on old themes: the Swedish Conservative Party and the battle over comprehensive education 1900‐1985

Against an international and historical background this article deals with the main themes of the educational politics of the Swedish Conservative Party in the 1970s and 1980s. Several parallels to West‐European and American Conservative education politics are pointed out. It is emphasized that the central components of todays Swedish conservative policy in educational matters have been recurrent themes throughout the twentieth century. First and foremost the Conservatives have strived for an early division of children for different tasks in society. However what is new is the offensive character of the modern education policy. It is stressed that, for substantial periods of time, schooling has only been of secondary importance to the Swedish Right. The reasons behind this are shortly discussed.