This study is a historical analysis of how national school policies concerning basic education have been enacted in the local community and at the school sites (Clark 2010; Gamson, 2019; Westberg, 2014). Through studies of policy texts and archive material from the four local communities, the focus is on local and regional documents, and how pedagogical ideas have been enacted in the physical spaces of the school buildings. This is done through a reflecting interpretative approach (Alvesson & Sköldberg 2009). Theoretically, the starting point is that there is no single factor that can explain the establishment of basic schools in the cities studied; rather it is a complex interaction between a series of processes at local and national level. In this process, local traditions interact with national and international perspectives at school as a space for the development of a democratic society (Westberg, 2014). To capture local processes and how they interact with regional and national institutions, we have used a wide range of sources. Examples of material we use are drawings, planning materials, municipal commissions of school buildings, correspondence between the municipality and the national authorities and teacher interviews. In this presentation, empirical data from the four cases comprising the study will be presented. We have studied the overall process that led to the establishment of secondary schools in four municipalities. The material used is mainly based on local and regional source material where the process and planning of the school building was dealt with. The studies enable comparative analyses that explore the differences and similarities of how localities, including municipality policies and local communities, shaped the processes of envisioning and establishing schools in the Nordic countries. The study also contributes to an understanding of how the municipalities viewed the school itself as a specific place (or space) that could contribute to an inclusive society. These perspectives can then be related to the other sub-studies in the project. Overall, one conclusion of this study is that the school's location was governed by municipal ideals, resources and experiences, not primarily pedagogical ideas from outside the school. Here, the municipality's ideas about a democratic school came to be decisive. But when it comes to the physical design of the school itself, a clear inspiration came from outside pedagogical ideals.

Alvesson, M., and Sköldberg; K. (2009). Reflexive Methodology. London: Sage. Clark, A. (2010). ‘In-between’ spaces in postwar primary schools: a micro-study of a ‘welfare room’ (1977–1993) History of Education Vol. 39, No. 6, 767–778. Gamson, D. The Importance of Being Urban. Chicago: The Chicago University Press, 2019. Westberg, Johannes. Att bygga ett skolväsende: Folkskolans förutsättningar och framväxt 1840–1900. Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2014.