Session Information
23 SES 03 B, Market Ideas and Practices (Part 1)
Paper Session
Contribution
Due to comprehensive system changes 20 years ago Sweden has not only experienced a raise when it comes to the number of independent schools, but also increasing differences among schools in general. This has resulted in research concerning what effects the independent schools can have on for example segregation and students results. In an ongoing project we start our research from a different angle – in the paradox that at the same time as the Swedish schools become more different, they seem to become more equal, when it comes to political steering. One obvious example of that is the new national school law which the parliament decided upon in 2010. According to that law all schools, no matter what owner form, must follow the national curriculum and other steering documents, if they are funded by tha state. Since most independent schools are public funded this mens that the independent schools must follow the national curriculum. The background is that the government, trough national inspection, has noticed that the quality in some schools are sinking and that the national equivalence is threatened. That the state is taking actions to control the schools is an internation trend, towards centralization. In this paper we focus on the particular fact that the indepenent schools are part of national policy making.
The Swedish indepent schools are not only of national interest. Several European countries, among them for example England, have shown interest in what has been called “the New Swedish Model”. If the old model, which inspired many European countries, was caracterized by a nine year long comprehensive and public school, the new model has as one of its caracteristics that the independent schools are involved in the offical system. Since basicly no research has been made conserning the policymaking about how the independent schools are governed the research questions in focus are: In what ways does the state steer the independent schools in Sweden today and how has the political steering changed over the last 20 years? In addition to that: In what way does the Swedish case show similarities and differences with other European countries?
The theoretical starting point is the curriculum theory perspective developed within Swedish pedagogical research. This means for one thing placing the national policy formulation within a society context, involving the possibility to devide the responsibility between different society levels. In Sweden the state has the responsibility of formulating goals and handling the control, while actors at the local level (in municipalities and independent schools) are responsible for the realization of the goals. As a consequence the independent schools are connected not only to the state, but also to the municipalities. To be able to structure in what ways the system works we focus on different steering means (legal and ideological regulations, public funding and control) which are examined from different system perspectives: the national perspective, the municipality- and school perspective and the international perspective. We also work with different school forms (from preschools to adult education).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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