| 1. |
- Alexiadou, Nafsika, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education : a Swedish education company operating in India
- 2023
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Ingår i: Educational review (Birmingham). - : Routledge. - 0013-1911 .- 1465-3397.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of the company education model by teachers in the Indian schools, and how this affects their professional capacity. Mixed qualitative methods of interviews, on-site school visits and documentary reviews, were used to examine the possibilities for teachers to exercise professional agency within their working environment. Our findings show that teachers operate within a highly structured pedagogical environment characterised by a given curriculum, a centralised learning platform and training programme, and a set of dominant discourses around values and teaching practices. Teachers are expected to embrace a new professional identity in a process of discarding past experiences and adopting the new professional language given by the company's particular education model. In willingly embracing the company discourses and expectations, teachers’ agency tends to be constrained.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Benerdal, Malin, Doktor, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Lokala aktörers arbete för integration i rurala områden
- 2021
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Ingår i: Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv. - Karlstad : Karlstads universitet. - 1400-9692 .- 2002-343X. ; 27:3, s. 45-64
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Integration och särskilt etablering på arbetsmarknaden för migranter står högt på dagordningen i den politiska debatten. I artikeln fokuseras centrala aktörers integrationsarbete i förhållande till nationella riktlinjer och lokala förutsättningar i tre rurala kommuner. Analysen visar att det huvudsakligen är det rurala i förhållande till det urbana som tycks avgörande för de tre kommunerna, samt att lokala innovativa lösningar nyttjas för att främja etablering och möjliggöra för migranter att stanna och verka på orten. Nationella riktlinjer tycks både verka som stimulerande drivkrafter och förhindrande, begränsande strukturer som är opålitliga och kortsiktiga i ett sammanhang där tidsperspektivet är centralt.
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| 5. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Blir du anställningsbar lille/a vän? : Diskursiva konstruktioner av framtida medborgare i gymnasiereformer 1971-2011
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- School is one of the most important institutions society has for fostering its future citizens. Education policy can be seen as an important arena for the discursive struggle over the meaning of education, not only what it is for, its goals and purposes, but also its deficiencies. Education policies are not mirrors of reality but include a power dimension in describing the problems to be solved. Thus, a specific question or a particular phenomenon is given a certain value and meaning. The different articulations involved in representations of problems construct certain subject positions of citizenship which are not open for everyone. This makes it essential to deconstruct these gendered, racialized and classed subject positions. In the same way as in the beginning of the 1990s, the Swedish school system is currently facing changes. The most recent reform of upper secondary education, implemented in 2011, needs to be viewed in a historical perspective. This thesis analyses discursive continuity and change with regard to representations of the problems, goals and purposes of upper secondary education during the period 1971-2011. Focus is also placed on changes and continuities in how the good future citizen is constructed and in what ways gender, class and ethnicity are produced in these constructions. The theoretical framework is inspired and informed by discourse theory, feminist theory and theories on citizenship. Adopting this approach, I analyse government policy documents concerning upper secondary education reforms. The analysis shows not only changes, but also the importance of continuities in the dominating discourses of a school for all (1971-1989); a school for lifelong learning (1990-2005); and a school for the labour market (2006-2011). A shift from integration to differentiation is revealed in which the silencing of signifiers, such as democracy, equality and multiculturalism, lead to a risk of unequal opportunities for people to politicize their experience and situation. The previous demands for retraining and flexibility, for emancipation and lifelong learning are marginalised in favour of employability, skill supply and entrepreneurship. The constructions of good future citizens as consumers become instead constructions of citizens as products for business and growth. A male productive worker and male entrepreneur are constructed, privileging a white middle class. Neo-liberal and neo-conservative influences, reinforce the individual’s responsibility to become included in what is constructed as a desired citizenship.
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| 6. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Citizens governing schools : Customers, partners, right-holders
- 2015
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Ingår i: ECER Programmes.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Throughout Europe, evaluation has expanded radically at all levels of school governance as part of the broad doctrine of New Public Management including marketization, decentralization and performance management. There is a growing accountability pressure derived from globalisation of education governance resulting in evaluation systems (Leeuw and Furubo 2008) of monitoring, inspection and oversight, and benchmarking to measure performance and assess students and teachers. Sweden and other countries’ education systems increasingly rely on evaluations of different kinds as ways to control and enhance quality and performance in education and schooling but also to support competition and school choice (Merki 2011; Pollitt and Bouckaert 2011; Dahler-Larsen 2012; Lingard and Sellar 2013; Grek and Lindgren 2014). Despite the recent recentralisation effects of evaluation systems local autonomy is still high. Actors at the municipal and school level have different conditions and varying freedom of choice for local school governance in different education systems. The local context matters in a variety of ways. Local actors can assimilate, adjust or resist state policies of for example marketization and use evaluations in different ways. Evaluation systems put in place assumes that citizens are rational and active choosers using evaluation and accessible performance data for an informed choice (Musset 2012). But research indicate that parents are primarily concerned with “the atmosphere”, “pedagogical climate”, “safety” and “reputation of the school” (Ehren, Leeuw and Scheerens 2005, p. 71). However, school choice has made parents a more powerful policy actor in local school governance (Blomqvist 2004). But not only school choice contributed to the shift from macro democracy to micro democracy (Möller 1996). So did different forms of voice options for improving participation and influence in citizens daily encounter with welfare services (Jarl 2005; Kristoffersson 2008; Dahlstedt 2009b; Holmgren et al. 2012). During the 1990s the emphasis on active citizenship and collaboration was viewed as a natural part of the democratic mission of the schools. The school should be an arena for dialogue forming an active local citizenship. Progress should be achieved from the bottom-up by those involved promoting the inclusion of parents in a form of partnership with the school (Jarl 2005; Dahlstedt 2009b). This multi-actor model of governance focusing on citizens’ agency reflect what has been called a ‘will to empower’ (Cruikshank 1999), ‘politics of activation’ (Dahlstedt 2009a) or ‘government technologies of agency’ (Dean 2010).Parents become a part of local school governance when they make choices, try to influence teachers, school-principals, schools administrators or local school boards. And their need of evaluation for this influence differs. Parents perceived as customers need easily accessible performance data to support informed school choice whereas parents acting as active and responsible citizens largely need the same evaluation knowledge as other policy actors. How local authorities, local school providers and schools govern their education and schooling through different forms of evaluation therefore shapes conceptions of citizenship. Studies on local policy, i.e. schools and school providers’ strategies and use of evaluation related information is scarce and there is a need for more knowledge on how it shapes citizen roles in different education systems. In this paper I therefore begin by exploring what ways are provided for parents as citizens, to influence, change and affect education in Sweden. I then turn to answer what evaluation related information is given on school and school provider websites to analyse what citizenship ideals are promoted using the categorisation developed from the channels for influence. I finish with discussing these forms of citizen power in education in relation to the more everyday encounter with teachers and school staff by drawing on previous research and interviews with parents and teachers. Method: The material consists of government documents, reports, laws and regulation to explore the formal ways for parents to influence education. To explore what citizenship ideals are promoted in local school governance, I have analyzed four municipals websites and 8 school websites in these municipalities. The municipalities, all of which have populations of 75 000 – 100 000 have been selected strategically to reflect different contextual factors such as political majority, school performance, and share of independent schools. These have been anonymized and is referred to as “North”, “East”, “South” and “West”. The eight schools, two from each municipal, were also selected strategically on factors such as private or public provider, performance and socio-economic composition. By drawing on Hirschmans (Hirschman 1970) theory of exit and voice and Dahlberg and Vedungs (2001) categorisations of arguments for increased user orientation I categorize three different citizenship ideals when exploring formal ways for citizens to act and influence education in line with a politics of activation. These citizenship ideals functions as ideal types when analysing the websites and the evaluation and governance related information provided to (potential) users.To discuss citizen power in education and problematize how it relates to promoted citizenship ideals I draw on previous studies and research as well as interviews with parents and teachers at the schools. The interviews were conducted within the larger research project “Consequences of evaluation for school practice: steering, accountability and school development”, financed by the Swedish Research Council.Expected outcomes: Preliminary findings show that there are several ways for parents to affect and influence education in Sweden. The school choice reforms have considerably improved the power of parents in local school governance positioning parents as costumers. But user power have also been strengthened through providing different ways to complain and appeal positioning citizens as right-holders. Furthermore users are positioned as partners in influencing education through parent boards. The analysis of the websites shows how municipalities respond differently to state policies and accountability pressures in their use of providing evaluation related information. Municipalities with a right-wing political majority provide extensive benchmarking systems for informed school choice making customer the dominant position. Not surprisingly, the independent schools provide more performance data for marketing than the public schools. However, some of the independent schools also provide information on their collaboration with parents, indicating a position of citizens as partners. The position of citizens as right-holders are strongest on the public schools and public providers’ websites with information on rights and ways to claim them.Still parents don’t use evaluation related information as intended. Rather parents use grades, tests and school information more informally directly with teachers and school staff. Teachers report an increased pressure from parents on grades and changes within school, and the threat of exit makes their voice options more viable in individual contacts with staff. At least if other alternatives are present. But there are also indications that collective voice options are not used, instead exit is chosen sometimes in combination with the individual voice option of complaints and appeals. The problem of recruiting parents for collective action in parent boards or associations and the increasing amount of individual problem solving action through appeals and complaints suggest that parents mainly govern schools through individual rather than collective action.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Correcting Market Failure? : New inspection policies and Swedish free-schools
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In recent decades governing processes of education in Europe and beyond has been influenced by neo-liberalism and new public management, involving policies such as decentralization, choice and competition. A far reaching marketization trend has been evident in where schools compete over students as consumers and customers (Rose 1999; Ball 2009, 2012). Alongside this trend of marketization, European countries and education systems are also witnessing increased trends of evaluation and state control through, for instance, national school inspections (Power 1999; Hudson 2011). In Sweden these trends have been remarkable with the introduction of school choice and free-schools, free of charge and state funded, in the 1990s. This has resulted in a growing school market with the unusual arrangement where free-schools also can retrieve profit from tax-funded education (Erixon Arreman & Holm 2011). With the decentralization of education, including the introduction of governing by objectives in education, state control seemed to decrease but this picture changed as national school inspections were reinstated in 2003. This reintroduction was meant to uphold educational equivalence, improve quality and pupil performance and these efforts were also reinforced with the new national agency the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, in 2008 (Hudson 2007; Rönnberg 2012). Underlying these justifications for increased control through inspection is also the belief that more control leads to a better market with more informed customers and the Inspectorate has recently introduced changes in the inspection of free-schools, such as joint inspections of educational companies and corporate groups and increased control of establishing a new free-school. The exciting and largely unexplored intersection of marketization and central state control in the Swedish education policy context is at the focus of this paper.The aim is to analyse and critically discuss how the need for changes in the inspection of free-schools in Sweden is framed and represented. The research questions concern how these inspection policies are represented, what their purposes are, how the efforts are legitimized and motivated, what is unproblematised and what interests are prioritized? In so doing, I hope that we can reach a deeper understanding of the intersecting and complex governing practices of marketization in terms of competition and choice and increased national state control through school inspection. Although the Swedish marketization of education is unique, making it an interesting case in its own right, these governing practices are present in other national contexts as well, and the paper also aims to facilitate a discussion of these issues relevant to a broader European context.Theoretically, the analysis draws on literature in the field of marketization of education (Ball 2009, 2012) as well as literature on the wider audit society (Power 1999) and school inspection (Clarke 2008; Ozga, et al. 2011; Rönnberg 2012). Mainly my interest lies in the aspect of governing and the argument that we as subjects are governed not by policies themselves but by problematisations. And that how we think about an issue or phenomenon shapes the ‘problem’ and the solutions put forward (Bacchi 2009).Methods and materialsThe empirical material includes interviews with officials at the Inspectorate involved in policy and development of inspection policies for free-schools in Sweden during spring 2013. It also includes press releases and polemical articles from the Inspectorate as well as documents, such as project plans and reports. The analytic approach is informed by Foucault and governmentality studies (Foucault 1991; Dean 2010). The material, both interviews and texts, have been carefully analysed with regards to a specific set of questions building on Bacchi (2009). What is the problem with inspection of free-schools represented to be? What presuppositions and assumptions underlie this representation of the ‘problem’? What is left unproblematic in this ‘problem’ representation? What interests are prioritized and who is likely to gain?Preliminary findings and conclusionsPreliminary findings show that inspection is represented as the universal solution to unwanted consequences of competition such as a lack of equivalence between schools, lack of equivalence in the inspection procedure and judgments made by inspectors, lack of quality, profitmaking and school actors with devious backgrounds. In the paper, I argue that by introducing changes in the inspection of free- schools, the governing through marketization is represented as more efficient and legitimate. The market principles seem to require a strong state and legitimacy for marketization as well as national school inspections are co-produced. The issue of for profit tax-funded free-schools and competition between schools is left un-discussed and silenced.
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| 9. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Customers, partners, rights-holders : School evaluations on websites
- 2016
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Ingår i: Education Inquiry. - Umeå : Informa UK Limited. - 2000-4508. ; 7:3, s. 327-348
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores how evaluation, which has expanded at all levels of school governance throughout Europe, shapes parental roles by studying how local school governors and schools in Sweden represent evaluation to parents on their websites. Websites are prime locations for public communications and are useful for exploring the functions of evaluations intended for parental use. In recent decades, parental influence over school has increased through “choice and voice” options, while the role of evaluations has continued to expand in school governance. Evaluations construct social roles, identities, and relations and as such are constitutive of the social world and our place in it. By drawing on Dahler-Larsen’s concept of “constitutive effects”, the discursive implications of evaluation are discussed. The dominant type of evaluation represented on websites is performance data used for accountability and informed school choice purposes. Parents are primarily positioned as customers who exert influence through choice and exit options, reinforcing the almost unquestioned norm of parental right to educational authority. Representations of evaluation differ depending on local political majority, school performance, and public versus independent provider; as such, they are not hegemonic but tend to strengthen the position of parents as individual rights-holders, marginalising forms of collective action.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Do You Have a Complaint? : Promoting Individual Rights in Education
- 2016
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration. - Göteborg : School of Public Administration. - 2001-7405 .- 2001-7413. ; 20:4, s. 3-26
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, I explore and discuss potential changes in the constructions of citizenship and state-individual relationships in Sweden in reference to increased regulation and the use of formally filed complaints in the Swedish education system. While several studies have examined issues associated with school choice and student influence, few have considered complaints as an aspect of the 'will to empower' and the construction of an active citizenship. In this paper, I discuss the motivations behind providing complaint systems via an analysis of official government documents, laws, statutes, reports and web materials. Drawing from citizenship literature and exit/voice theories, the analysis shows that complaints have continuously been reinforced through legislation, regulation and the introduction of Child and School Student Representative (CSSR) for equal rights and Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) via student rights arguments and rule of law mechanisms. Legal discourse, the expansion of law and an increased use of complaints indicate a juridification of politics. This juridification could reinforce individualised perceptions of citizenship and education as a private good that is inherent in school choice and marketisation. An emphasis on student rights and complaints tends to result in contract relationships between the individual and state that risk de-politicising education and motivations for and participation in collective action for a common good.
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| 13. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Equivalence and performance gaps in Swedish school inspection : context and the politics of blame
- 2016
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Ingår i: Discourse. Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0159-6306 .- 1469-3739. ; 37:1, s. 133-148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyses and critically discusses how context is relevant when constructing and upholding an equivalent education for all within the neo-liberal educational regime of marketisation and accountability. At the centre of the article is a study of national school inspection reports in four municipalities in Sweden, exploring performance gaps, equality and justice in an educational system, that for decades has emphasised universal welfare, justice and equality. By drawing on the concept of ‘the politics of blame’, findings show that accountability and blame are constructed in complex ways. Although teachers and schools are blamed for low expectations with little contextual consideration by Swedish Schools Inspectorate, local governments are blamed for not redistributing resources. This can both challenge and strengthen the contemporary regime in governing education.
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
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| 16. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Guardians of individual rights? : Media representation of the school Lundsberg vs the Swedish Schools Inspectorate
- 2014
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Ingår i: The Past, the Present and the Future of Educational Research.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research questions, objectives and theoretical frameworkThroughout Europe, governing education is increasingly influenced by different forms of evaluation systems including quality audits, ranking lists, evaluations and school inspection. After trends of decentralization, managerialism and marketization, re-regulation efforts have seen the light to hold education providers accountable, whether public or private (Ozga et al. 2011; Ehren et al. 2013). The politics of comparison and governing by numbers is particularly visible in the media, for example, the media regularly reports on international rankings of pupil results as well as inspection reports and complaints resulting in a complex audit-media relationship (Rönnberg, Lindgren and Segerholm 2013). The re-regulation of a far-reaching decentralized and marketized school system with publicly funded for-profit free schools makes Sweden a unique case with both its egalitarian and social democratic traditions combined with neo-liberal trends. The introduction of the new centralized agency The Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) can be viewed in the light of increased emphasis on state control, evaluation and accountability. For the SSI issues of equivalence and the individual right of the student have been stressed. Issues of quality and equivalence has a tendency to be framed as a legal issue (Lindgren et al. 2012). This seems to reflect a process of juridification (Magnussen and Banasiak 2013). However, the sanctions available to the SSI have been limited. Not until the implementation of the reformed school act in 2011 did it have the means to impose fines or mandate to temporarily shut down schools, apart from withdrawing schools permits from free-schools. Studies have shown that an effective sanction available for the SSI, previously, has been media exposure (Rönnberg, Lindgren and Segerholm 2012).The interconnectedness of marketization, central stat control, juridification and mediatization can be explored in the case of the school Lundsberg vs the Inspectorate. Lundsberg is one of three free-schools that is allowed to have student fees, unlike other schools. It also receives specific state funding due to it being a boarding school for students with parents living abroad. The school has a long history previous to the introduction of school choice and free-schools in Sweden and is known as a school for a privileged elite. It has a long history of problems with bullying, abuse and initiations. This is what started the Inspectorates inspection in 2011 after a filed complaint. After a long process of inspection, the SSI end the inspection in spring 2013. However, when the school start again the same autumn one of the students were burnt with an iron. The SSI then closed the school and every student was sent home. This was a major media story. Lundsberg, however, appealed and the court ruled in the interest of the school as the actual event took place in the dormitory and not during school activities. The aim is to analyse this case as it is represented in the media with a focus on how student rights are framed and how the Inspectorate and the school is represented. By doing so I hope to facilitate a deeper discussion about juridification and mediatization in the European governance trends of marketization and audit. Theoretically, the analysis draws on literature in the field of the wider audit society (Power 1997; Dahler-Larsen 2012) and school inspection (Clarke 2008; Ozga et al. 2011) as well as literature on mediatization (Levin 2004; Lingard and Rawolle 2004; Strömbäck 2099). Mainly my interest lies in the aspect of governing and how it shapes our views on responsibility and rights, the relationship between individual and state as well as education and politics.Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used In studying the media exposure, newspaper articles have been collected through a media storage database using keywords such as the name of the school, the name of the inspection agency, and words such as evaluation, inspection and control. Although media exposure is not confined to the printed press I argue that it will be sufficient for the projects explorative aim as it can give us interesting knowledge about the audit-media relationship in governing as well as juridification processes. Therefore, the empirical material consist mainly of articles in the printed national press. In addition, I have included material from the SSI and the court, in terms of decision reports, press releases and such. The analytic approach is informed by Foucault (1991) and the material have been carefully analysed with regards to a specific set of questions building on a problematizing approach. What is represented as the problem resulting in the shutdown of the school? How is the inspection process represented? How are the different actors involved represented? Who/what gets to speak? Who is made responsible? Whose interest is prioritized?Conclusions, expected outcomes or findingsPreliminary findings show that while the SSI in the media coverage represent itself as the guardian of individual rights the position of the school, is to represent itself as the one guarding students right to continue their education. The media tends to represent SSI as a watchdog and as a legitimate state control when shutting down what is articulated as a traditionally elitist institution such as Lundsberg. On the other hand the SSI is represented as an illegitimate state control that practices collective punishment. Sanctioning the school should not interfere with other students right to their choice of education and school. Despite the court’s ruling in the interest of the school claiming that the shutdown was illegitimate, the SSI can be viewed as having no other choice in the matter. If the SSI had not acted it would likely have created an ‘expectations gap’ (Power 1997) of what the SSI’s mandate is in the public opinion and what it can actually achieve and control. This would limit the legitimacy for the agency and for governing education by inspections. Furthermore, the case shows some aspects of juridification (Magnussen and Banasiak 2013). This, I argue, can be interpreted by the framing of the issues of bullying, abuse and harassment as legal issues, the tendency to frame it as individual events and not structural or cultural, and the ruling of the court in terms of where the incident took place and the legal grounds for the SSI.
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| 17. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Gymnasieskolan i anställningsbarhetens tjänst
- 2016. - 2
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Ingår i: Anställningsbarhet. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144104904 ; , s. 59-75
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 18. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Juridifiering och utbildningval : konsekvenser av elevers och studenters rättigheter
- 2016
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Ingår i: Utbildning och Demokrati. - Örebro : Örebro universitet. - 1102-6472 .- 2001-7316. ; 25:1, s. 53-72
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Juridification and choice of education. Consequences of student rights. Increased regulation by law, specification of laws and individual legal entitlements has been described as processes of juridification. In Sweden this is evident in how student rights have become more prominent in governing education. In this article, I explore aspects of juridification that apply to student rights. I argue that juridification and the practice of parental and student choice of schools and education are interlinked, and they emphasise and strengthen an understanding of education as a 'private good', where rights' violations should be solved with reference to law and judicial procedures. I do this by analysing two cases of student appeals in education. The two cases show prevalence of a rights discourse that benefit privileged rather than marginalised groups. Students are positioned as rights-holding consumers constructing a tension between the right to school choice and the right not to be harassed.
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| 19. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Justice through school inspection? : Educational equity in Swedish schools
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper explores representations of high expectations for justice and equality in educational outcomes in the neo-liberal educational regime of individualisation, marketization and increased central state control. At the centre of the paper is a study of national school inspection reports and how they construct educational success or failure in relation to teachers’ high/low expectations and socio-political and school-market context and conditions. The paper focuses on constructions of accountability in terms of ‘the politics of blame’ (Thrupp 1998) and the role of social class, gender and race given school achievement in a Swedish educational system that for decades have emphasised universal welfare, justice and equality. However, the marketization of Swedish education since the 1990s, with school choice, competition and independent schools, seems to have pushed back issues of justice and equality. In this light, increased state control through national school inspection can be seen as part of an audit explosion (Power 1997) where inspection is made the solution to several ‘problems’ in education, for instance, to allocate blame for the perceived school ‘crisis’ of decreasing results and equality. By drawing on the literature of marketization and the wider audit society, the paper explores equality and justice in embedded contexts.MethodsA diverse case selection (Gerring 2007) of five municipalities has been made based on inspections in 2011/2012; geography; and municipal size in order to make sure some independent schools were included. From the five selected municipals, regular inspection reports of secondary municipal schools and secondary independent schools that provides year nine, have been analysed. This has resulted in inspection reports from a total of 127 schools, including 33 independent schools plus five municipal reports. In close readings of the texts focus has been placed on how different schools are represented, in what ways, if any, socio-political and school-market context and conditions is attended to and how different subjects are positioned in relation to articulations of justice, equality and achievement. Expected outcomesIn the paper, I argue that by marginalising and not discussing issues of socio-political context or the impact that competition has on schools, accountability and blame remains individualised, downgrading ideas of equality and justice. Although, the representations and constructions of gender, social class and race are criticised in articulations of low expectations, the effort not to blame students, tend to ignore the structural aspects and resilience of racist and sexist discourse when individual teachers are meant to just raise their expectations. While educational gaps and equality in terms of gender are often discussed, differences in relation to social class are silenced. Social class seems to be racialized as the only legitimate argument for ‘failure’ is positioning the student group as ‘newly arrived immigrants’. This serves to legitimize and uphold the neo-liberal educational order of individualised blame, difference, hierarchy and competition.
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| 20. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Marknadens misslyckande? : om behovet av utökad kontroll av fristående skolor
- 2014
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Ingår i: Utbildning och Demokrati. - Örebro. - 1102-6472 .- 2001-7316. ; 23:1, s. 39-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Market failure? The need for increased control of independent schools. This article critically analyses the introduction of an establishment control of independent schools in Sweden. I discuss how we can understand this change in the current governing regime of both marketization in terms of school choice and competition and increased central state control through national school inspections. This is done by analysing documents such as project plans and reports and interviews with employees at the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. By drawing on Bacchi’s (2009) “What’s the problem represented to be?” approach, I ask: What is the purpose of the establishment control? What problem is the new control represented to solve? For whom is the control necessary? Establishment control is represented as a problem of market risks that is justified by everyone’s gain. I argue that this is not only constructing legitimacy for school inspections but is also contributing to upholding market principles in education as such.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Organizing local preschool markets in sweden : municipalities as key actors
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today, one out of five Swedish children attend a privately operated preschool. Even if there are national policies targeting for instance parental choice and right for private actors to provide pre-primary education, municipalities in Sweden have extensive local autonomy in organizing and governing their ‘local preschool markets’ or, rather, quasi markets. As Brunsson and Jutterström (2018 p. 8) put it; “markets are formed by processes of organization. They are the objects of decisions. There are people and organizations that decide not only on their own actions in markets, but also on the actions of others”. Swedish municipalities are such key organizations that create market infrastructures via market shaping activities (c.f. Flaig et al 2021) including for instance to facilitate, support and police the market actors. The aim of this paper is to explore the different ways in which Swedish municipalities create their local preschool markets to analyse how they act as market organizers in the pre-primary education setting. We do this through analysing documents, websites and interviews with municipal officers from 30 municipalities characterized as having either a large (N=10), medium (N=10) or small (N=10) private pre-primary sector. Theoretically, we turn to literature on organizations, governing and public-private relations.Our preliminary findings show that there are large variations on how municipalities act as local preschool market organizers and the paper elaborates three (ideal typical) modes: Endorsers are municipalities that actively promote, support and sponsor market actors. Frontiers denotes municipal territories that are unattractive or not yet fully explored by private preschool actors. Keepers are municipalities that strive to maintain balance or status quo between public and private providers, using various strategies and tools to this end. In sum, this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion on how public actors work to organize, enable or limit, private actor involvement.
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| 24. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Politics of Blame : Constructions of low/high expectations and inequality in Swedish schools
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper explores representations of high expectations for equal educational achievement in the neo-liberal educational regime of individualisation and governing by both marketization and increased central state control. At the centre of the paper is a study of national school inspection reports and how they construct educational success or failure in relation to teachers’ high/low expectations and context. This paper focuses on constructions of accountability in terms of ‘the politics of blame’ and the role of social class, gender and race given school achievement in a Swedish educational system that for decades have emphasised equality, equivalence and compensatory education. Increased state control through national school inspection is part of an audit explosion where inspection is made the solution to several ‘problems’ in welfare and public sector to restore trust for example in schools but also to allocate blame for the perceived school ‘crisis’. In the paper I argue that by marginalising and not discussing issues of social class and ethnicity or the impact that competition has on schools, accountability and blame is allocated to individual teachers. In an effort not to blame pupils, the aspect of resources and pedagogy is marginalised where individual teachers are meant to just raise their expectations. While educational gaps in terms of gender are often discussed, differences in relation to social class are silenced. This serves to legitimize and uphold the neo-liberal educational order of individualised blame and competition.
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| 25. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Practices of exclusion? : Complaints, gender and power in education
- 2014
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper explores representations of gender in the neo-liberal educational regime of individualisation and governing by both marketization and increased central state control. At the centre of the paper is a study of the use of parents/students complaints to the Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) and the Child and School Student Representative (CSSR). The paper focuses on the historic development of complaints and the logics underpinning its increased legalization and use. The marketization of education simultaneously tend to construct a politics of accountability and blame visible in inspection, evaluations, quality audits and ranking list. These examples of increased state control in school is part of an audit explosion as the solution to several ‘problems’ in school. What has not to the same extent been explored in this governing by evaluation is the increase in filed complaints. This appears to put more emphasis on legal claims where the individual’s right according to law is at the center, marginalizing structural and contextual factors and risking a juridification of politics. I argue that this constructs new forms of citizenship more in line with a legal rather than a political framework where the dominant logic of individual rights, and discourses of failing boys work to exclude considerations of the effects of gender and other dimensions of difference/marginalization. Emphasis on student rights have been closely connected to market logics of competition, choice and students as costumers. The two discourses seem to legitimize and reinforce each other so that social and cultural aspects of governance are neglected.
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| 26. |
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| 27. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Refugee women's establishment in the rural north of Sweden : cultural capital in meeting local labour market needs
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Journal of ethnic and migration studies. - : Routledge. - 1369-183X .- 1469-9451. ; 48:5, s. 1210-1227
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates opportunities and obstacles refugee women face in establishment in rural areas. Drawing on ethnographic research in three rural municipalities in northern Sweden, including interviews with refugee women, local employers and educational staff, I analyse the women’s space for agency and opportunities to use and capitalise on different resources in relation to the local labour market and belonging. Applying Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of cultural capital, as read by Skeggs, I show that the women can capitalise on embodied cultural capital of feminine and ethnic caregiving. However, due to lack of the ‘right’ institutional cultural capital of educational certificates from Swedish institutions, and devaluation of foreign credentials and experiences, this is mainly in difficult-to-fill, unsecure jobs in the elder care or early childhood education and care sectors. The women’s limited options and opportunities to ‘enterprise themselves up’ contribute to ethnicisation of care work in rural labour markets. Moreover, lack of mobility and key cultural capital (cars and driving licences) for work, education and belonging in both the local masculine culture of the remote rural areas and national gender equality culture further limit the women’s space for agency and establishment.
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| 28. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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School inspection and the market
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neoliberalism and market forces in education. - London : Routledge. - 9781138600881 - 9780429470530 ; , s. 199-211
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 29. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Skolinspektion som styrning
- 2014
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Ingår i: Utbildning och Demokrati. - Örebro : Örebro universitet. - 1102-6472 .- 2001-7316. ; 23:1, s. 5-20
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article we argue that school inspection is an important and potentially influential way of governing education that deserves additional scholarly attention. This introductory article aims to situate and describe the origin, theoretical foundations and methods and materials gathered in the three research projects included in this special issue. We also briefly describe some important characteristics of the Swedish school inspection and finish off with short introductions to the six articles.
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| 30. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Temporality and space in highly skilled migrants’ experiences of education and work in the rural north of Sweden
- 2021
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Lifelong Education. - : Routledge. - 0260-1370 .- 1464-519X. ; 40:5-6, s. 485-498
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this article is to critically explore and analyse opportunities and obstacles faced by highly skilled migrants in rural areas seeking to re-enter their profession, focusing on the lived experiences of migrants residing in northern Sweden. Analysis of their stories focusing on intersections of temporal and spatial positionings reveal different lived experiences and opportunities depending on migration regime and policy, gender, age and family situation, profession and labour market needs. However, similar challenges also emerged related to rurality such as rural dismantling and poverty of access to (and support for) both adult education generally and specific fast tracks for highly skilled migrants, with accompanying risks of deskilling and marginalisation. The stories also indicate that the rural idyll tends to provide closer social networks than those in cities, thereby increasing opportunities for re-entry to former professions. However, workfare policies and devaluation of foreign credentials lead to requirements for re-education to re-enter former professions or undertake other work (high- or low-level) that are particularly difficult to meet in rural settings.
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| 31. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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The local market makers : Swedish municipalities as preschool quasi-market organisers
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Education Inquiry. - : Routledge. - 2000-4508. ; 15:1, s. 63-84
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- National policies aiming at marketisation and privatisation in welfare sectors such as Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) require governance and organisation to be realised. In Sweden, the municipalities are key but largely under-researched organisers for preschool quasi-market infrastructures. This study explores the different ways in which Swedish municipalities act as quasi-market organisers in the preschool setting. Following organisational theory, we analyse their market shaping activities in translating national regulations in efforts to influence, support and control their local preschool quasi-market. Documents, websites, and interviews with public officials from 30 municipalities characterised as having either a large (N = 10), medium (N = 10), or small (N = 10) private ECEC sector are analysed. The analysis highlights large variations on how municipalities act as market makers, which is further discussed in the form of three ideal types: the Frontier, the Keeper, and the Endorser. We conclude that municipalities' varying and hybridised market shaping activities and local characteristics are important to understand the implications that emerge in terms of different rules of the game, stakeholder interdependencies and relationships, composition of market actors etc. Attentiveness to the sub-national/local actors are essential in understanding different welfare quasi-markets within national policy frameworks of marketisation and privatisation.
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| 32. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
-
The long road ahead : Experiences of migrants with an MD education living in the rural north of Sweden
- 2020
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Research has shown that the immigrated population in Sweden have a higher proportion of overeducated individuals than the native population (Dahlstedt 2018, OECD 2017). Several complex and interrelated aspects condition migrants opportunities such as the reason behind migration, gender, age, family situation, national rules and regulations, educational structures and local administrative routines (Povrzanovic Frykman & Öhlander 2018). But less attention has been paid on highly skilled migrants in rural areas where the potential obstacles to find work in line with their profession might be even higher. This paper critically describe and analyse the opportunities and obstacles highly skilled migrants in rural areas face on their roads through the education system and national regulations to be able to work as an MD in Sweden. Through the stories of three migrant women with an MD education outside EU/EES countries, I discuss how migrants in rural areas understand and construct individual agency and space for action in relation to place, gender, race and educational structures and institutions.To understand the opportunities and obstacles facing highly skilled migrants and to analyse the power relations inherent in conditions for migrants career development in rural areas I draw on previous research on high skilled migrants and theories of space, place and gender (Massey 1994). Place as well as gender and race are viewed as relational and intersected in complex and situated ways where the global is present in the local and the local is present in the global.The paper is part of an ethnographically (Harmmersley & Atkinson 1995) inspired project on integration of adult migrants in the rural north of Sweden. Interviews with staff and observations of education were conducted at the local learning centres of three municipalities - all part of a collaboration called “Akademi Norr”. The site visits made it possible to find migrants with higher education in these rural communities. Interviews with three of these migrants with medical training before their immigration to Sweden constitute the main material for this paper.The migrants stories are rural stories of the need for individual agency and strong motivation. They had to push, demand and search for information on their own when navigating through the complex educational structures and regulations for an MD licence in Sweden, meeting structural obstacles and individual gatekeepers. Power relations of place, space, gender and race intersect through constructions of where a migrant woman’s place is and how she should act at a certain time of her life and when “backdoors” are opened for some through transnational regulations and colonial history.Highly skilled migrants’ experiences touches upon several issues relevant to Nordic educational research such as language education for immigrants, adult education in rural areas, transitions and career guidance as well as issues of social justice not only in terms of institutional and everyday racism but also the different opportunities and conditions for education in rural areas. ReferencesDahlstedt, I. (2017). Swedish Match? Education, migration and labour market integration in Sweden. Malmö University Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography. Principles in Practice. London & New York: Routledge.Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Cambridge: Polity press.OECD (2017) Territorial Reviews: Sweden 2017 Monitoring Progress in Multi-Level Governance and Rural Policy Paris: OECD publishing. Povrzanovic Frykman, M., & Öhlander, M. (2018). Högutbildade migranter i Sverige. Lund: Arkiv förlag.
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| 33. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Transforming Nordic early childhood education and care in times of marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Education Inquiry. - : Routledge. - 2000-4508. ; 15:1, s. 1-10
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This special issue focuses on important facets of market-oriented reforms in Nordic Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). It aims to promote discussion on interlinked dimensions of marketisation, privatisation and commercialisation in Nordic ECEC and their manifestations in policy, practice and outcomes. With contributions from authors in five Nordic countries, the articles in the special issue offer accounts of marketisation, including the organisation of ECEC quasi-markets and shifts in the use and function of parental choice. The articles also analyse privatisation by researching the delivery of private services and the nature of the non-state providers within early childhood education markets. Finally, the theme of commercialisation is addressed through research on the commodification of preschool knowledge within Nordic countries but also its export in the global education industry. This special issue highlight how a variety of market-oriented policies, parental choice and private actor involvement are evolving. Taken together, the articles illustrate connections and mutually-reinforcing mechanisms of policy and practice that contribute to the expansion of marketisation, privatisation, and commercialisation in Nordic ECEC. This special issue provides a call to continue exploration of how these processes and actors contribute to the transformation of ECEC in the Nordic countries and elsewhere.
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| 34. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Twists and turns through organised education and regulations to work as an MD in Sweden : Experiences of migrants in rural areas
- 2019
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Becoming employable and get a foothold on the labour market is often described as a central aspect of integration. Highly educated migrants are often seen as a privileged group in this respect not having too much trouble finding work and employment. High educated migrants are also a group sought for by many countries for their skills and competences (Povrzanovic Frykman & Öhlander 2018). This discourse is also present in the rural north of Sweden where migrants at least to some extent are seen as a resources in times of depopulation. As a highly educated migrant in a rural area there are potential obstacles such as less educational opportunities, difficulties to find work in line with your profession as well as being the “other” in a small community. But there are also potential benefits such as prospects to find work within your profession as rural areas are desperate for skilled workers. There might also be better opportunities for cultural integration in a smaller community with less housing segregation (Rosvall 2017). But despite being viewed as a privileged group among migrants and with wanted skills and competences highly educated migrants are not a homogenous group and are not facing fundamentally different challenges than migrants with lower educational backgrounds. Research points to several complex and interrelated aspects that condition their opportunities such as the reasons behind migration, gender, age, family situation, national rules and regulations, educational structures, and local and national government routines (Povrzanovic Frykman & Öhlander 2018). Whereas previous research on highly educated migrants, especially within the MD field, has provided important insights into the challenges of everyday racism and belonging facing migrants at their workplaces as well as in private life and the need for networks and friends (Magnusson 2014, Salmonsson 2014, Liversage 2009) less attention has been paid on migrants in rural areas. Furthermore, the research tend to be conducted from an urban perspective not taking into account the centre-periphery divide.It is therefore important to critically describe and analyse the opportunities and obstacles highly skilled migrants in rural areas face in their career development. This paper contributes to the different and varied experiences of highly educated migrant’s integration in Sweden through the stories of three migrant women with an education in MD living in two different rural communities in the north of Sweden. The three women come from different countries outside the EU/EES countries and have migrated for different reasons. The research questions that guide the paper are:- How do migrants understand their opportunities for career development and transitions to work as an MD in Sweden in relation to living in the rural north of Sweden?- How do migrants navigate the Swedish education system, local institutions for education and employment and national/transnational regulations on MD licences to practice?- How do migrants understand and construct their individual agency and space for action in relation to place, gender and race?To understand the opportunities and obstacles facing high educated migrants career development in rural areas I draw on previous research on high educated migrants in Sweden and globally mainly focusing on transitions between countries, career development, inclusion and racism within the MD profession. Theoretically, I primarily use Massey’s (1194) theories of space, place and gender in combination with postcolonial feminism (de los Reyes 2011) to analyse the power relations inherent in the conditions for migrants transitions and career development in rural areas. Place as well as gender and race are viewed as relational and intersected in complex and situated ways where the global is present in the local and the local is present in the global.Methods/methodologyThe paper is part of a project on integration of adult migrants in rural areas focusing on adult education and transitions to higher education in three municipalities in the rural north of Sweden. The municipalities differs in population, number of migrants, educational organisation and labour market opportunities. Despite differences they are organised in a collaboration called “Akademi Norr” (Northen Academy) founded to support adult education in the rural north of Sweden. The study takes its inspiration from ethnography (Hammersley 2006; Harmmersley & Atkinson 1995) and progressive focusing (Stake 1995) to provide a flexible approach. It allows for continuous planning, site visits, data, and analysis to pursue issues raised during fieldwork and analysis. As of now the material consists of field notes from site visits and classroom observations, interviews with principals, study counsellors, teachers, and students as well as with public officials at the local offices of the Swedish Public Employment Services (SPES). The site visits have made it possible to find migrants with higher education participating (or have participated) in adult education (Swedish for immigrants, municipal adult education) in these rural communities. Interviews with three of these migrants with medical training previous to their immigration to Sweden constitute the main material for this paper. Interviews were conducted with one woman living in Sweden for over two years with medial training and work experience from a South American country. And two interviews were conducted with two sisters, one with a completed MD education and one with part of an MD education from an African country, living in Sweden for under a year. The interviews focused on their experience of immigrating and living in the rural north of Sweden; educational opportunities and obstacles in learning Swedish, validation of education and further education; ambitions and career development; and future living and family life.Outcomes/ expected resultsIn navigating necessary language education, continued education and validation for an MD profession, the three migrants expressed different experiences from their local communities where gender, place and race are interconnected. The two sisters as resettlement refugees in a somewhat larger community had better access to national and local institutional support systems than the third migrant. In the rural north one can gain support through the close community but also be in the hands of bureaucratic rules and dependence on a single reluctant public official at the SPES. In the case of “Maria” this almost jeopardized her participation in “Korta vägen” (Short cut), a language and career development education for highly educated migrants. “Korta vägen” is however located in a larger city resulting in Maria, a mom of a 2-year old, having to be away from her family. The road to an MD licence for Maria with a medical training outside EU/EES is long making Maria question whether it is at all possible to once again practice medicine and living in a rural area in Sweden. Since her medial training is from a Spanish speaking country she is considering moving to Spain where she already has a job offer.ReferencesDe los Reyes, P. (2011). Postkolonial feminism. Hägersten: Tankekraft förlag.Hammersley, M. (2006). Ethnography: problems and prospects. Ethnography and Education, 1(1), 3-14.Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography. Principles in Practice. London & New York: Routledge.Liversage, A. (2009). Finding a path. Investigating the labour market trajectories of high-skilled immigrants in Denmark. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 35(2), 203-226.Magnusson, K. (2014). Integration of the employed. The sociocultural integration fo higly educated migrants in Sweden. Malmö: Malmö Institute for Studies of Migration, Diversity and Welfare.Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Cambridge: Polity press.Povrzanovic Frykman, M., & Öhlander, M. (2018). Högutbildade migranter i Sverige. Lund: Arkiv förlag.Salmonsson, L. (2014). The ’Other’ Doctor. Boundary work within the Swedish medical profession. Uppsala universitet.Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: SageRosvall, P.-Å. (2017). Understanding career development amongst immigrant youth in a rural place. Intercultural Education, 28(6), 523-542.
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| 35. |
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| 36. |
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| 37. |
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| 38. |
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| 39. |
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| 40. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
Utvärdering av Läslyftet Slutrapport från den nationella utvärderingen av Läslyftets genomförande och effekter i olika skolformer
- 2020
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Utvärderingen av Läslyftet har gjorts på uppdrag av Skolverket i syfte att ta fram kunskap som möjliggör förbättringar som kan vara till nytta i genomförandet av liknande satsningar. Elektroniska enkäter och intervjuer har använts för att undersöka målgruppernas (huvudmäns, rektorers/förskolechefers, handledares och lärares/förskollärares och annan pedagogisk personals) erfarenheter av Läslyftets processer och effekter. Observationer har också genomförts av läslyftsträffar och undervisning. Datainsamlingen har skett vid olika tidpunkter från 2016 till 2019 då det funnits olika antal moduler att välja på. Slutsatser om effekter på undervisning och elever/barnbaseras på lärares/förskollärares och annan pedagogisk personals, och handledares iakttagelser och bedömningar. Resultaten visar att Läslyftet har varit en uppskattad kompetensutveckling där en majoritet av huvudmännen, rektorerna/förskolecheferna, handledarna och lärarna/förskolepersonalen bedömt Läslyftet som ”mycket bra” eller ”ganska bra”. Den mest positiva målgruppen är handledarna medan den minst positiva målgruppen är gymnasielärarna. En mycket liten andel av lärarna i grund- och gymnasieskolan bedömde Läslyftet som dåligt eller mycket dåligt. Utvärderingens övergripande slutsats är att Läslyftet har varit en relativt lyckad kompetensutvecklingssatsning, dock har flera högt ställda mål inte uppfyllts. Läslyftet har främst bidragit till att lärare och förskolepersonal fått nya insikter och kunskaper om språk-, läs- och skrivutveckling som de till en del använt till att utveckla undervisningen. Värdet, avtryck och effekter av Läslyftet skiljer sig mellan skolformer och lärarkategorier. Läslyftet har inte uppfyllt eller bara delvis uppfyllt en del av de högt ställda målen: att förbättra alla elevers språk-, läs- och skrivförmågor och skolresultat, att det ska finnas strukturer som stödjer handledare och lärare i fortsatt samarbete och kollegialt lärande, samt att undervisnings- och fortbildningskulturen kännetecknas av att lärare tillsammans kontinuerligt utvecklar och sprider fungerande undervisningsmetoder till varandra. Läslyftet har främst stärkt undervisningen i läsförståelse och ord/begreppsförståelse, vilket bidragit till att utveckla interaktionen med eleverna/barnen om olika texter och till att eleverna/barnen har fått ett ökat intresse för texter, läsning och deltar i samtal mer än tidigare. Effekterna på elevernas/barnens språk-, läs-och skrivutveckling är enligt lärare/förskolepersonal begränsade (slutsats 1). Resultaten visar att det i stort sett är samma förutsättningar och faktorer som bidragit till olika positiva effekter av Läslyftet. Det är framförallt möjligheten att tillsammans kunna arbeta på ett strukturerat sätt med språk-, läs-och skrivutveckling omkring ett material som de flesta uppfattar som stimulerande, som bidrar till att förklara effekter av Läslyftet. Det som främst bidragit till nya kunskaper och insikter, utveckling av undervisningen, elevernas/barnens intresse och språk- och läsförmågor är: modulerna, lärares och förskolepersonals motivation, tid för genomförandet, väl fungerande kollegiala samtal, aktiva handledare och förskolechefer/rektorer, samt om undervisningskulturen före Läslyftet var kollektivt inriktad (slutsats 2). Resultaten visar också att flera önskade effekter avtar med tiden: Läslyftet uppvisar kvarstående effekter på lärares undervisning och på undervisnings-och fortbildningskulturen men effekterna har minskat ett och ett halvt år efter deltagandet. Lärares insikter och kunskaper från Läslyftet beaktas till en del i undervisningen, när de samtalar och samverkar med kollegor om språk-, läs- och skrivutveckling och i deras interaktion med elever (slutsats 3).
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| 41. |
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| 42. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Utvärdering, marknadsföring och skolval
- 2018
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Ingår i: Skolan, marknaden och framtiden. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144119960 ; , s. 245-259
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 43. |
- Carlbaum, Sara, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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"We help Germany create greater equality" : logics and rationales in exporting 'Scandinavian' early childhood education and care
- 2024
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Ingår i: Education Inquiry. - : Routledge. - 2000-4508. ; 15:1, s. 11-29
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study targets hitherto largely understudied empirical processes and activities through which certain ideas and imaginaries are being commercialised and used by corporate actors in the global Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) industry. The aim is to analyse and critically discuss representations of the Scandinavian ECEC regime in the context of ECEC export. This is achieved empirically through a case study of a Swedish education company and its expansion in Germany, as well as by devoting analytical attention to the social, political and fantasmatic logics in the processes that constitute and characterise the "Scandinavian ECEC offer" as it is being exported. The analysis draws on corporate documents, websites and interviews with top-level company representatives. The analysis highlights how the Scandinavian ECEC regime is made up of four interlinked elements; equality, the autonomous child, integration of care and learning and outdoor pedagogy, aligned and sustained by "gripping" and "sticking" forces in fantasmatic logics that hide contingencies. In summary, the powerful imaginary of the Scandinavian ECEC regime, bringing accessibility, social justice, gender equality, nature, democracy, children's rights and autonomy, serves to conceal the political and ideological dimension of the economic logic of capitalism.
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| 44. |
- Dahlstedt, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Systemet med fritt skolval måste bytas ut
- 2018
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Ingår i: Svenska Dagbladet.
-
Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Ökad segregation och deprofessionalisering av läraryrket är några av effekterna av det fria skolvalet. Nu krävs en grundlig utredning med siktet inställt på att hitta alternativ till nuvarande marknadssystem, skriver ett flertal forskare.
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| 45. |
- Hanberger, Anders, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Enhancing literacy through collegial learning? : Evaluation of a teachers’ training programme
- 2017
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test of 15-year-olds’ reading skills is used to assess and benchmark the quality of national education systems, and PISA is a key pillar in the production of knowledge used to shape policy for steering educational systems (Carvalho, 2012; OECD, 2009). Although the validity of PISA for measuring quality in education systems has been questioned (Hanberger, 2014; Mangez & Hilgers, 2012), it is frequently used by policymakers for this purpose and OECD/PISA has a great influence on how quality in education systems is conceived. National education discourses and policies are significantly influenced by PISA tests and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) recommendations (Breakspear, 2012; Grek, 2010; 2012; Lawn, 2011). Sweden has a decade of declining PISA results and OECD has suggested that Sweden should take action to reform its education system to improve quality and equity (OECD, 2015). One example of the influence OECD and PISA have on Swedish education policy is a recently launched teacher training programme. The programme, initiated by the Swedish government in 2013 with explicit reference to the country’s failings in PISA, is supposed to enhance teachers’ collegial learning in literacy and aimed to improve teaching and student literacy, and Sweden’s performance in coming PISA tests (Ministry of Education, 2013).The programme, the Literacy Lift, is currently implemented on a full scale and evaluated during its course to fine-tune the implementation of the programme. On commission by the National Agency for Education (NAE) to evaluate the programme, the authors of this paper along with our colleagues have published two interim reports on the material used for collegial learning and the effects of the programme after the first year of implementation. In this paper we will analyse this programme with a purpose to unfold and probe the assumptions underpinning the Literacy Lift, a Swedish teacher training programme to enhance collegial learning in order to develop teaching that promotes literacy, in this case language-, reading- and writing-skills among the students. The paper will also explore what effects and consequences the programme has had so far.The paper integrates knowledge from evaluation and education research. Programme theory (PT) evaluation (Leeuw 2003) unfolds how programme makers (the government and NAE) intend to improve the quality in the Swedish education system with this programme, and probes the consistence of the programme’s PT. The PT refers to the assumptions as to how the intended effects can be achieved. Stakeholder evaluation assesses how the main target groups (school owners, principals, supervisors and teachers) perceive effects, intended and other effects, and consequences of the programme.Education research is used to analyse the programme’s contribution to improve quality in the education system and to probe the programme’s PT. Some education research used to inform policy underscores the importance of teaching quality in improving student learning and performance (Hattie 2009) and of holding schools accountable for learning outcomes (Atkinson et al. 2009; Hamilton, Stecher, Russell, Marsh & Miles 2008; Musset, 2012). School improvement research focuses on “change and problem-solving in educational practice” (Creemers & Reezigt 1997). School improvement does not occur if the “school culture” is not “favourable”, that is, schools “must have shared goals and feel responsible for success”. In addition, there must be a culture of “collegiality”, “risk taking”, “mutual respect and support”, and “openness” (Creemers & Reezigt 2005, 363).Methods: A programme theory analysis unfolds the programme theory and probes the assumptions. Programme theory is a well-established concept used in evaluation research referring to the assumptions as to how a programme achieves its intended effects. There are various approaches to reconstructing and articulating a PT. This paper adopts a policy-scientific approach (Leeuw, 2003). The PT analysis presented includes three main steps: reconstructing the programme’s PT; analysing the PT’s internal validity (i.e. the consistency of its assumptions); and analysing the PT’s external validity (i.e. whether it is supported by relevant research and provides feasible knowledge for resolving the problems it is intended to resolve). The stakeholder evaluation (Hanberger, 2001) collects data from target groups and assesses programme effects and consequences from the perspective of school owners, principals, supervisors and teachers. The assessment focuses on achievement of objectives, other effects and consequences of the program, as experienced by these target groups.A variety of data is used. Policy documents and interviews with senior administrators is usedto reconstruct the programme’s PT. The analysis of the stakeholder evaluation is based mainly on questionnaires to the four target groups with additional supplemental interviews with school owners and supervisors.Expected outcomes/results: Since the programme is continuing, being expanded and slightly revised during its course this paper can only present preliminary results. The paper demonstrates the programme’s PT and probes its consistency. The assumption that the training programme can enhance collegial learning can be expected to gain support, but the contribution to improve student’s performance in upcoming PISA cannot. The effects on collegial learning and literacy didactics improvement will vary between different groups of teachers and related to factors such teachers’ motivation and support from principals and supervisors. How teaching is affected and students’ literacy improved will vary according to a number of factors and conditions, e.g. what teachers have learned and how much of this is translated into teaching. The persistence of effects will depend on such as ongoing support from school owners and principals in providing time for collegial learning and applying the content of the programme in the classroom.
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| 46. |
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| 47. |
- Hanberger, Anders, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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School evaluation in Sweden: a local perspective
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Evaluation has expanded at all levels of governance as part of the broad doctrine of New Public Management (NPM) (Hood 1991; Pollitt and Bouckaert 2011). According to this doctrine, market mechanisms should be introduced to enhance efficiency and, in the context of school governance, to support competition between schools, free school choice, improved educational quality, and school effectiveness (Lubienski 2009; Lundahl 2013 et al; Merki 2011). Education systems guided by NPM and characterized by results-based management and local autonomy increasingly rely on evaluation at all levels (Mintrop and Trujillo 2007; OECD 2013). Strengthened accountability is assumed to enhance education quality and promote school development (OECD 2015; SOU 2015:22), and a combination of control- and improvement-oriented evaluation systems has been institutionalized at various levels of the school system to promote school development and enhance education quality. However, this development is contested by research claiming that the consequences of growing accountability pressure are problematic for school practice (Hoyle and Wallace 2009; Ravitch 2010). It may create multiple accountability problems, i.e. uncertainty among target groups as to which evaluation system is supposed to do what and for whom and with what authority (Schillemans and Bovens, 2011). Teachers are subjected to too much accountability that can have negative effects on professionals and education (Green 2011; Koretz 2009; Lingard and Sellar, 2013; Hargreaves 1994, Day 2002, Ball 2003, Mausethagen 2013a, 2013b).Although evaluation is a cornerstone in local school governance it has not been studied much in this context. Local school governance refers to all the public and private school actors’ and institutions’ (e.g. education committees, opposition parties, school principals, teachers and parents) steering of local schools and education. We need more knowledge of the role and consequences of evaluation systems at the local governance level, and into how local school actors respond to these systems. What local decision makers, school providers, principals, and teachers consider relevant, useful, and actionable knowledge (Stehr & Grundmann 2012) is crucial in understanding the role of evaluation in local school governance.This paper explores how local school actors in Swedish compulsory education have responded to prevailing evaluation systems and the growing accountability pressure emerging from the recentralization, marketization, and globalization of education governance. It synthesizes results from a Swedish research project (see method) and aims to improve our understanding of the role and consequences of evaluation in local school governance. It contributes with knowledge of the role and consequences of evaluation at the municipal, school, classroom, and parent/citizen levels. Special attention is paid to the value and consequences of various evaluations for local school development. A close look at evaluation in Sweden is an illustrative case as the education evaluation arena is overcrowded and the decentralised education system provides freedom of choice that actors operating in other education systems in Europe (OECD, 2015; Lawn, 2011) and elsewhere can learn from.The paper is developed as part of a larger research project; Consequences of evaluation for school praxis –steering, accountability and school development, financed by the Swedish Research Council (2012-2015). The project explores evaluation in compulsory schools (age 13-15) in four municipalities, and this paper synthesises and discusses the results presented in detail five separate papers.MethodsThe conceptual framework, developed in a separate article (Hanberger, manuscript), pays attention to the role of evaluation in three models of decentralised governance, the state model, the local government and the multi-actor model. It focuses on three main possible functions that evaluation can have in local school governance, steering, accountability and school development. It presumes that a governance model intends to steer evaluation to meet the governance models’ and governing actors’ evaluation needs, and that evaluations (performance measurements, stand-alone evaluations, synthesis reports and informal/concrete evaluations) can contribute to these functions. Evaluations may also affect governance in unintended and unexpected ways (Hanberger, 2012). Hence, the framework also accounts for constitutive effects (Dahler-Larsen, 2013) of evaluation systems, that is, to tacit or indirect effects, for example, how evaluation (systems) can shape discourses, defining what is important in education and school systems.Four medium-sized municipalities with populations of 75,000–100,000 were selected strategically to reflect differing local conditions and contextual factors that may affect education and the role of evaluation in local school governance. The municipalities differ in political majority, school performance, and share of independent schools, and eight schools were selected for in-depth interviews. The municipalities are anonymized, being referred to as “North”, “West”, “East”, and “South”.The paper is based on the analysis of documents, reports, and studies treating global and national evaluation systems, national and municipal policy documents treating school governance and evaluation, minutes from municipal education committee meetings (2011–2013), municipal websites, and 76 interviews. Four politicians from majority parties and three from opposition parties, 10 administrators (i.e. Head of the Education Department, senior administrators, and evaluation experts), five politically elected local auditors, three representatives of independent schools, eight school principals, and 43 teachers were interviewed in person or, in a few cases, by phone. In addition, an electronic questionnaire sent to teachers was used to complement the interviews with them, to obtain an overview of teachers’ experiences of evaluation in the studied municipalities. Conclusions about the functions, effects, and consequences of evaluation were generated by interpreting interviewees’ responses and various texts (e.g. policy documents, minutes, and websites).Expected outcomesThis study shows that multiple accountability problems emerge as a result of overlapping evaluation systems and that local decision makers set up their own evaluation systems to meet the needs of municipal school governance.Most of the evaluation systems identified in Swedish compulsory education (for students aged 13–15 years) produce quantitative data capturing measurable aspects of education, whereas data capturing other parts of the curriculum, more difficult or impossible to measure (e.g. how schools have succeeded in achieving democracy, sustainability, and solidarity objectives), are lacking. A few key performance measures are used in several systems.The identified evaluation systems induce local school actors and institutions to think and act according to the principles of NPM; these are aligned with most decision makers’ and managerial-oriented principals’ endeavours but not with those of all local school actors. This indicates that evaluations in local school governance serve to support and legitimize the applied governance model and current education policy. Stakeholder evaluations that can provide a more multifaceted understanding, including critical accounts that school actors can use for informed deliberation about the status of schools, consequences of current school policy, and where to go in the future, are not found in our case communities.The workload and accountability pressure have increased for both principals and teachers. The consequences have been the most negative for teachers, however, as external evaluations have questioned their professional competence and authority, unintentionally damaging teacher motivation. The external evaluation systems had little or no value in terms of helping teachers improve their teaching practice. Instead, teachers used their own evaluations regarding what works for various groups and students to continuously improve teaching and schools. A few school providers and principals succeeded in developing evaluations addressing the needs of teachers and were used in developing teaching and daily practices.
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| 48. |
- Hanberger, Anders, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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School evaluation in Sweden in a local perspective : a synthesis
- 2016
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Ingår i: Education Inquiry. - : Co-Action Publishing. - 2000-4508. ; 7:3, s. 349-371
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article synthesises the role of evaluation at the municipal, school, classroom and parental levels of governance, and discusses the results of the articles appearing in this special issue. The discussion concerns the role of evaluation in school governance, the value of evaluation for local school development, the constitutive effects of evaluation, what explains the present results, how knowledge produced by evaluation can be used, and methodological issues. The results indicate that evaluation systems legitimise and support governance by objectives and results, parental school choice, and accountability for fairness and performance. Evaluation systems emphasise measurable aspects of curricula and foster a performance-oriented school culture. The most important evaluations for improving teaching and schools are teachers' own evaluations. The article suggests two explanations for the actual roles of evaluation in local school governance. First, both the governance structure and applied governance model delimit and partly shape the role of evaluation at local governance levels. Second, how local school actors use their discretion and interpret their role in the education system, including how they respond to accountability pressure, explains how their roles are realised and the fact that actors at the same level of governance can develop partly different roles.
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| 49. |
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| 50. |
- Holm, Ann-Sofie, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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'How do we marry the two things together?': a Swedish education company expanding its business to India
- 2024
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Ingår i: Globalisation Societies and Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1476-7724 .- 1476-7732. ; 22:2, s. 172-183
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article focuses on a Swedish school company and its operations in India, examining how setting up and operating schools in another national place forge particular spatial imaginaries. It contributes to literature on the Global Education Industry by focusing on international moves of commercial non-Anglo-Saxon actors. Drawing on interviews and extensive fieldwork in India, we show how the 'marriage' between the global (represented by the Swedish company) and local (the 'Indian') are manifested in the spatial imaginary of the 'glocal school', encompassing hierarchical otherings rooted in discourses of both globalisation and colonialism.
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