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- Holm, Ann-Sofie, 1959, et al.
(author)
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“Living with market forces” : Principals’ perceptions of market competition in Swedish Upper Secondary School Education
- 2011
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In: Education Inquiry. - Umeå : Umeå universitet. - 2000-4508. ; 2:4, s. 601-617
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Swedish education system has undergone major restructuring since the early 1990s. The newpolicy, including e.g. decentralisation, accountability, school choice and a tax-funded voucher system,has led to an expanding “school market”. This article explores how upper secondary school principalsperceive the increased competition among schools and its impact on their work and the school organisation.The data emanate from interviews with principals at eight schools in five municipalities.The presence of the market in everyday work is perceived as a reality, even if its significance varies.The principals argue that competition increases the staff’s efforts and improves school development.However, it is also perceived as problematic since it causes increased stress and uncertainty. The principals’professional identities seem to have changed from a pedagogical role to a more economics ditto.Most principals are pragmatic and make efforts to handle the new policy context the best they can.
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- Lundström, Ulf, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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Market competition in upper secondary education: : Perceived effects on teachers’ work
- 2011
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In: Policy Futures in Education. - Oxford : Symposium Journals. - 1478-2103. ; 9:2, s. 193-205
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The development and expansion of market solutions is one of the mostimportant changes in Swedish education in the last 30 years. The aim of the article is todescribe and analyse how students and staff in upper secondary schools perceive the impactof market competition on teachers’ work. Three groups of actors in two Swedish regionswere interviewed: students, teachers and principals. The interviews were carried out at eightschools in five municipalities, at both public and independent schools. The results show thatcompetition relations are more complex than is often assumed. Intensification of teachers’work is a common theme in the interviews. Traditional professional values and identities arechallenged by the market competition and a market-oriented teacher is shaped – whetherthe teachers like it or not. The extension of teachers’ tasks is increasingly about marketing. Anew type of service-minded and flexible teacher is created. Regarding the effects ofcompetition on teacher performance, the results are contradictory. The quality discourse isproblematised as there is no evident link between winners in the school competition and thequality of teaching and student outcomes. The Swedish case is interesting in theinternational literature as an example of a rapidly growing upper secondary school marketwhich is closer to the logic of the market than many other nations’ school systems.
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