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- Bunar, Nihad
(author)
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Choosing for quality or inequality : current perspectives on the implementation of school choice policy in Sweden
- 2010
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In: Journal of education policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-0939 .- 1464-5106. ; 25:1, s. 1-18
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A policy of school choice has, in various shapes, been implemented in educational systems across the world during the last decades. Drawing on various empirical and theoretical sources, the aim of this article is to distinguish the key defining elements of the Swedish school choice policy and to present and discuss some of its outcomes in terms of segregation, costs, and student achievements. Thus I show that the policy design contains some peculiarities since it nourishes both a strong market-orientation and an equally strong market-skepticism. Regarding the outcomes I show that the research is pervaded by ambiguity and uncertainty regarding whether the policy has delivered its promises or, on the contrary, it has worsened the state of education by increasing segregation and crowding out some schools of their socially strongest students. Finally, I argue that due to its peculiarities the school choice policy in itself so far has, surprisingly or not, had a relatively small impact on the overall educational quality and equity in Sweden. I also argue that since the market forces are definitely gaining the upper hand under the current liberal-conservative government, we can soon expect some decisive changes in the way school choice operates and with what results in Sweden.
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| 2. |
- Bunar, Nihad, et al.
(author)
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'Not (yet) ready for the mainstream' - newly arrived migrant students in a separate educational program
- 2022
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In: Journal of education policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-0939 .- 1464-5106. ; 37:6, s. 986-1008
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this article is to describe and analyze how school leaders as key actors in policy enactment understand, talk about and act in relation to Newly Arrived Migrant Students (NAMSs) enrolled in a separate Language Introduction Program in Sweden. Drawing on the work of Stephen J. Ball and colleagues, we argue that a particular discursive formation of NAMSs, operating within constrains of various contextual factors, has a decisive impact on how policy as text is interpreted and enacted. Discursively formulating NAMSs as having multiple challenges, beyond Swedish language and insufficient grades, introduces various barriers. Policy flexibility in combination with power disparities thus allows school leaders, framed within legitimacy of ‘rational explanations’ and ‘affirmative intentions’, to negotiate policy meanings which are not always working in the students’ best interests. Our empirically grounded and theoretically informed discussions showcase why there can be no inclusive education if NAMSs, during a protracted period, are physically, pedagogically and socially separated from mainstream structures. Consequently, and with the support in international research, we call for the overhaul of organizational approaches that allocate Newly Arrived Migrant Students to separate educational forms.
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