Student Perceptions of New Differentiation Policies in Swedish Post-16 Education

Author(s):

Inger Erixon Arreman(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

23 SES 08 A, School Integration Policies and the Idea of Participation (School Differentiation)

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-12

09:00-10:30

Room:

D-506

Chair:

Ninni Wahlstrom

Contribution

Today in Sweden, and in most other OECD countries, post-16 education is almost a general requirement for further establishment of the individual in adult life and for collective economic and social development (Olofsson & Östh, 2011; OECD, 2013). Over the last decades virtually all 16-19 year olds in Sweden have attended academic or vocational study paths within the school system of the “gymnasieskola. Within the post-war social-democratic welfare system policy-making in education aimed at reducing the impact of individuals’ social and economic background why formerly strictly separated study paths, which traditionally recruited youth of different social strata to different school establishments, in 1970 were integrated within the same structure of the “gymnasieskola” (Marklund, 1982; Sainsbury, 1996). Since the mid-1990s also vocational study paths have provided access to higher education. Parallel, new education and financing policies, in line with policies elsewhere for deregulation, decentralization and privatization (Whitty et al. 1998; Ball, 2007) have promoted individual choice along with the establishment of new, publically funded and privately run free-schools (also called “independent schools”).The current market oriented policies, even considered as unique compared to education policies in other countries (Chubb, 2007; Ministry of Education, 2006), have led to a broad expansion of free-schools and the establishment of a virtual school market with tough competition between all schools for student recruitment (Erixon Arreman & Holm, 2011; National Agency for Education, 2012).

Prior to the onset of new education policies the situation in the upper secondary sector was characterized by a vast array of local study paths of varying qualities (Lundahl, 2008; Ministry of Education, 2010), discerned evidence of too high grade-setting, or “grade inflation” (Vlachos & Hinnerich, 2012), and increased student drop-out (Governm. bill 2008/09:199). By a recent reform (valid from 2011) of the Conservative/Liberal/Centre/Christian Democratic government, the demands for eligibility to upper secondary education are strengthened (Swedish Parliament, 2009). The government suggests that the reform will raise the quality in teaching and student performance, contribute to equal standards of education provided at different schools, reduce drop-outs and raise the status of vocational tracks. Against this backdrop, the aims of this study are to explore how students in the last grade (grade 9) at compulsory school maneuver in the choice of school and study path of upper secondary education, including their perspectives on future education and occupational career.

Theory

The analytical framework includes theories on governance (Pierre & Peters, 2000; Pierre, 2010), careership (Hodginson & Sparkes, 1997), and the concepts of capital, habitus (Bourdieu 1994) and gender coded study paths (Larsson & Ohrlander, 2005).

Method

For the study analysis of national policy documents, including official statistics were complemented with questionnaires and interviews directed to ninth grade students (15-16 year olds) at the time of choosing school and study path for upper secondary education. Questionnaires and interviews comprised 36 male and female students in three schools, located in two municipalities of different population and education structures. Focus groups were used to stimulate conversation among participants and to address broader perspectives and implications of individual choice. Questionnaires collected data on parental education background, foreign language studies if any, choice of school and study paths and reasons given for made choices. For the analysis, questionnaire data was organized in a database and interviews were fully transcribed.

Expected Outcomes

The results indicate that the majority of students did not have adequate knowledge of the new upper secondary school system. Relevant knowledge of the new divisions between academic and vocational programmes also lacked. Many had only vague ideas of opportunities and restrictions of the chosen track and its possible implications for future studies and life career. The discourse on employability was adopted by vocational students as a signal of direct link between study path and establishment on the labour market, whereas academic track students had long term perspectives on lifelong learning and career. Also, differing attitudes towards academic and vocational tracks were found between students of the two municipalities. Students' preferences seem to reflect different education levels of the two municipalities, and perceived education ambitions of students’ families. In terms of gender, choice of vocational tracks largely followed traditional gendered divisions of “female” and “male”, whereas academic programs were more gender balanced. However, school choice seemed to be linked to a generally shared knowledge (or cultural capital) among students of significant differences between schools in terms of school cultures, education quality, place and valuable offerings.

References

Bourdieu, P. (1994). Raisons pratiques. Sur la théorie de l’action.Paris: Éditions du Seuil. Ball, S. (2007) Education Plc : understanding private sector participation in public sector. New York: Routledge. Chubb, J. E. 2007. Kommentar: Att få ut det mesta möjliga av marknaden. In (ed.) A. Lindbom Friskolorna och framtiden – segregation, kostnader och effektivitet, 51-57. Stockholm: Institutet för framtidsstudier. 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- 243. Governmental bill (2008). Högre krav och kvalitet i den nya gymnasieskolan 2008/09:199. [Higher Demands and Quality in the New Upper Secondary School].Stockholm: Ministry of Education. Lundahl. L (2008). Skilda framtidsvägar. Perspektiv på det tidiga 2000-talets gymnasiereform. Utbildning och demokrati, Vol 17, No 1, 29-51. Ministry of Education (2006) Offentliga bidrag till fristående skolor. http://www.opengov.se/govtrack/dir/2006:3/ Re¬trieved 2013-01-22. Stock¬holm: Ministry of Education. OECD (2013). Education today. The OECD perspective. http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/education/ Olofsson, J., Östh, J. (2011). Förtidspensionering av unga. Stockholm: Statens offentliga utredningar. Statistics Sweden (2009) Allt fler ungdomar behöriga till högskolan. Välfärd 3. [Growing numbers of the young eligible to higher education. Welfare 3]. Official Statistics Sweden http://www.scb.se/Statistik/LE/LE0001/2009K03/LE0001_2009K03_TI_12_A05TI0903.pdf Statistics Sweden (2012). Ekonomifakta. http://www.ekonomifakta.se/sv/Fakta/Regional-statistik/Alla-lan/ Retrieved 2012-12-10. Swedish Parliament (2009) Högre krav och kvalitet i nya gymnasieskolan [Decision: Higher Demands and Quality in the New Upper Secondary School]. http://www.riksdagen.se/sv/ Retrieved 2012-06-13. National Agency for Education (2012). Mapping the School Market http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer?id=2946 Ministry of Education (2010). Fler inriktningar i nya gymnasiet. Stockholm: Ministry of Education Vlachos, J., Hinnerich, B. T. (2012) ”Friskolorna sätter högre betyg på nationella proven”. Dagens Nyheter, 2012-09-08. . http://www.dn.se/debatt/friskolorna-satter-hogre-betyg-pa-nationella-proven Retrieved 2012-11-19

Author Information

Inger Erixon Arreman (presenting / submitting)

Umeå University

Dept. of Applied Educational Sciences

Umeå

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