Session Information
23 SES 09 A, Education Privatization
Symposium
Contribution
Almost totally publicly run and with few other private elements before the 1990s, Swedish edu-cation has undergone a veritable metamorphosis during the last 25 years. In 2015, 12% of all com¬pulsory school students attended a privately run school (“free school”), and the corresponding pro¬por¬tion at upper secondary level was twice as big, 26% (SNAE 2016). This huge and rapid expan¬sion of private schools, in particular those run by corporations, was fueled by the introduction of generous state subsidies (since 1996, free schools are fully tax-funded and fees are not allow¬ed), and the possibility of private profit-making (Erixon Arreman & Holm 2011). Free schools and public schools compete over students and funding (vouchers), affecting student recruit¬ment patterns and also numerous aspects of schools’ inner life (Östh, Andersson & Malmberg 2013, Lundahl, Erixon Arreman, Holm & Lundström 2013). In international perspec¬tive, the pace and scope of external privatization are rather distinctive features of Swedish education. In addition, most aspects of ‘endogenous privatization’ (Ball & Youdell 2007) seen in many other countries have emerged in Sweden as well. Thus, semi-autonomous schools, school leaders turning into mana¬gers, measurable quality and benchmarking, accountability and trans¬parency are central directions for policy and reform. In addition, private actors and services are increasingly entering the public schools, for instance retailers of health promotion programs, career and enterprising consul¬tants, manpower enterprises et cetera. The conceptual notion of ‘hidden privatization’ is applicable in this context, as these developments have been paid rather little atten¬tion in media and politics (c.f. Simons, Lundahl & Serpieri 2013). This paper aims to analyse and critically discuss present external privatisation of education and its leading actors in Sweden. The paper discusses contemporary policy re-/directions with regard to external educational privatisation, and the actors promoting or hindering major changes of the present situation. It also, as an illustration of new actors within Swedish public schools, briefly describes and analys¬es private actors working in schools to provide young people with career management skills. The paper draws on a range of empirical sources, such as media accounts, recent education policy documents, reviews of previous research and survey data.
References
Ball, S. J. & Youdell, D. (2007). Hidden Privatisation in Education. Brussels: Education International. Erixon Arreman, I. & Holm, A.-S. (2011). Privatisation of Public Education? The emergence of independent upper secondary schools in Sweden. Journal of Education Policy, 26(2), 225–242. Lundahl, L., Erixon Arreman, I., Holm, A.-S. & Lundström, U. (2013). Educational marketization the Swedish way. Education Inquiry, 4(3), 497-517. Simons, M., Lundahl, L. & Serpieri, R. (2013). The governing of education in Europe: commercial actors, partnerships and strategies. European Educational Research Journal, 12(4), 416-424. SNAE (2016). Beskrivande data 2015: Förskola, skola och vuxenutbildning [Descriptive Data 2015: Preschool, school and adult education]. Rapport nr 434: Stockholm: Skolverket (Swedish National Agency for Education, SNAE). Östh, J.; Andersson, E. and Malmberg, B. (2013). School Choice and Increasing Performance Difference: A Counterfactual Approach. Urban Studies 50(2), 407-425.
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