Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T21:22:27.842Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Post-truth’ schooling and marketized education: explaining the decline in Sweden's school quality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2019

Magnus Henrekson  and
Johan Wennström Open the ORCID record for Johan Wennström [Opens in a new window]
Magnus Henrekson*
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden
Johan Wennström
Affiliation:
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden
*
*Corresponding author. Email magnus.henrekson@ifn.se
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Swedish school system suffers from profound problems with teacher recruitment and retention, knowledge decline, and grade inflation. Absenteeism is high, and psychiatric disorders have risen sharply among Swedish pupils. In this pioneering analysis of the consequences of combining institutionalized social constructivism with an extensive marketization of education, we suggest that these problems are to no small extent a result of an unlikely combination of a postmodern view of truth and knowledge, the ensuing pedagogy of child-centered discovery, and market principles. We show how the stipulated view of truth and knowledge and the design of the system impacts on the incentives for the various agents involved: pupils, parents, teachers, principals, school owners, the municipality, the central government, and, ultimately, the general public. Our study implies that caution is necessary for countries that have a tradition of social-constructivist practices in their education systems and are considering implementing or expanding market-based school reforms.

Keywords

For-profits schoolsmarketized educationschool choicesocial constructivismvoucher system
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 15 , Issue 5 , October 2019 , pp. 897 - 914
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Apple, M. (1979), Ideology and Curriculum, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Arbetarbladet (2016), ‘Nästan var tionde pojke i Gävleborg äter ADHD-medicin – det är högst i landet’, September 24, available at https://www.arbetarbladet.se/artikel/gavleborg/gavle/nastan-var-tionde-pojke-i-gavleborg-ater-adhd-medicin-det-ar-hogst-i-landet (accessed 10 September 2018).Google Scholar
Aronowitz, S. and Giroux, H. A. (1991), Postmodern Education: Politics, Culture and Social Criticism, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Beaton, A. E., Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Gonzales, E. J., Kelly, D. L. and Smith, T. A. (1996), Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Chestnut Hill, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.Google Scholar
Berger, P. (1992), ‘Reflections on the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of The Social Construction of Reality’, Perspectives (The Theory Section Newsletter of the American Sociological Association), 15(2): 1–4.Google Scholar
Berger, P. and Luckmann, T. (1966), The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge, London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Bertilsson, E. (2014), Skollärare – rekrytering till utbildning och yrke 1977–2009, Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.Google Scholar
Björklund, A., Edin, P.-A., Fredriksson, P. and Krueger, A. (2004), Education, Equality and Efficiency – An Analysis of Swedish School Reforms During the 1990s, Stockholm: Institute for Labor Market Policy Evaluation (IFAU).Google Scholar
Böhlmark, A. and Lindahl, M. (2015), ‘Independent Schools and Long-Run Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Sweden's Large-scale Voucher Reform’, Economica, 82(327): 508–551.Google Scholar
Bonnesrönning, H. (2004), ‘Do the Teachers’ Grading Practices Affect Student Achievement?’ Education Economics, 12(2): 151–167.Google Scholar
Bowles, S. (2016), The Moral Economy: Why Good Incentives Are No Substitute for Good Citizens, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L. and McDaniel, M. A. (2014), Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, Cambridge, MA: Belknapp Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Chabrier, J., Cohodes, S. and Oreopoulos, P. (2016), ‘What Can We Learn from Charter School Lotteries?’ Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(3): 57–84.Google Scholar
Christodoulou, D. (2014), Seven Myths About Education, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Clark, R. E., Kirschner, P. A. and Sweller, J. (2012), ‘Putting Students on the Path to Learning: The Case for Fully Guided Instruction’, American Educator, 36(1): 6–11.Google Scholar
Constas, M. A. (1998), ‘The Changing Nature of Educational Research and a Critique of Postmodernism’, Educational Researcher, 27(2): 26–33.Google Scholar
Daniel, W. W. (1990), Applied Nonparametric Statistics, Boston, MA: PWS-Kent Publishing.Google Scholar
DeVos, B. (2018), ‘Prepared Remarks by US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to the American Enterprise Institute’, available at: https://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/prepared-remarks-us-education-secretary-betsy-devos-american-enterprise-institute (accessed 4 March 2018).Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1941), ‘Propositions, Warranted Assertibility, and Truth’, Journal of Philosophy, 38(7): 169–186.Google Scholar
Doll, W. E. (1993), A Post-Modern Perspective on Curriculum, New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Ekonomifakta (2018), ‘Friskolor i Sverige’, available at: https://www.ekonomifakta.se/Fakta/Valfarden-i-privat-regi/Skolan-i-privat-regi/Antal-friskolor-i-Sverige/ (accessed 19 March 2018).Google Scholar
Elder-Vass, D. (2012), The Reality of Social Construction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Engström, I. and Gustavsson, T. (2016), ‘Orimligt många behandlas med läkemedel för adhd’, Dagens Nyheter, 27 July, p. 6, available at: https://www.dn.se/debatt/orimligt-manga-behandlas-med-lakemedel-for-adhd/ (accessed 10 September 2018).Google Scholar
Enkvist, I. (2017), ‘Postmodernism och subjektivism i Läroplan för grundskolan, Lgr11’, in Henrekson, M. (ed.), Kunskapssynen och pedagogiken: varför skolan slutade leverera och hur det kan åtgärdas, Stockholm: Dialogos, pp. 94–114.Google Scholar
Ferraris, M. (2014), Manifesto of New Realism, New York, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Fryer, R. G. and Dobbie, W. (2013), ‘Getting Beneath the Veil of Effective Schools: Evidence from New York City’, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(4): 28–60.Google Scholar
Government Bill (1978/79:180), Om läroplan för grundskolan m.m., Stockholm.Google Scholar
Granström, K. (2003), ‘Arbetsformer och dynamik i klassrummet’, in Selander, S. (ed.), Kobran, nallen och majjen: tradition och förnyelse i svensk skola och skolforskning, Stockholm: Myndigheten för skolutveckling, pp. 223–244.Google Scholar
Gustafsson, J.-E., Sörlin, S. and Vlachos, J. (2016), Policyidéer för svensk skola, Stockholm: SNS Förlag.Google Scholar
Haeck, C., Lefebvre, P. and Merrigan, P. (2014), ‘The Distributional Impacts of a Universal School Reform on Mathematical Achievements: A Natural Experiment from Canada’, Economics of Education Review, 41(August): 137–160.Google Scholar
Hattie, J. (2009), Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Heller Sahlgren, G. (2015a), Real Finnish Lessons: The True Story of an Education Superpower, London: Centre for Policy Studies.Google Scholar
Heller Sahlgren, G. (2015b), ‘Invandringen och Sveriges resultatfall i PISA’, IFN Policy Paper No. 71, Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).Google Scholar
Heller Sahlgren, G. and Sanandaji, N. (2019), Glädjeparadoxen: historien om skolans uppgång, fall och möjliga upprättelse, Stockholm: Dialogos.Google Scholar
Henrekson, M. (2017), ‘Skolans problem: fallande kunskaper och flykten från läraryrket’, in Henrekson, M. (ed.), Kunskapssynen och pedagogiken: varför skolan slutade leverera och hur det kan åtgärdas, Stockholm: Dialogos, pp. 26–64.Google Scholar
Henrekson, M. and Wennström, J. (2018), ‘“Post-Truth” Schooling and Marketized Education: Explaining the Decline in Sweden's School Quality’, IFN Working Paper No. 1228, Stockholm: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), available at: https://www.ifn.se/wfiles/wp/wp1228.pdf (accessed 1 April 2019).Google Scholar
Hirsch, E. D. (2016), Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.Google Scholar
Hoxby, C. M. (2000), ‘Does Competition among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?’ American Economic Review, 90(5): 1209–1238.Google Scholar
Ingvar, M. (2017), ‘Inte anpassad för hjärnan’, in Henrekson, M. (ed.), Kunskapssynen och pedagogiken: varför skolan slutade leverera och hur det kan åtgärdas, Stockholm: Dialogos, pp. 115–149.Google Scholar
Jacob, B. A. (2005), ‘Accountability, Incentives and Behavior: The Impact of High-Stakes Testing in the Chicago Public Schools’, Journal of Public Economics, 89(5–6): 761–796.Google Scholar
Jerrim, J. (2018), ‘A Digital Divide? Randomised Evidence on the Impact of Computer-Based Assessment in PISA’. CfEE Research Brief, London: Centre for Education Economics.Google Scholar
Jerrim, J., Oliver, M. and Sims, S. (2019), ‘The Relationship between Inquiry-Based Teaching and Students’ Achievement. New Evidence from a Longitudinal PISA Study in England’, Learning and Instruction, 61: 35–44.Google Scholar
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J. and Clark, R. E. (2006), ‘Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching’, Educational Psychologist, 41(2): 75–86.Google Scholar
Knodel, P., Martens, K. and Niemann, D. (2013), ‘PISA as an Ideational Roadmap for Policy Change: Exploring Germany and England in a Comparative Perspective’, Globalisation, Societies and Education, 11(3): 421–441.Google Scholar
Kranton, R. (2019), ‘The Devil is in the Details: Implications of Samuel Bowles’ The Moral Economy for Economics and Policy Research’, Journal of Economic Literature, 57(1): 147–160.Google Scholar
Kuhn, T. (1962), The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Larkin, J., McDermott, J., Simon, D. P. and Simon, H. A. (1980), ‘Expert and Novice Performance in Solving Physics Problems’, Science, 208(4450): 1335–1342.Google Scholar
Lee, J. H., Lee, S. and Kim, J.-H. (2017), ‘Amygdala Circuits for Fear Memory: A Key Role for Dopamine Regulation’, Neuroscientist, 23(5): 542–553.Google Scholar
Lewin, L. (2014), Staten får inte abdikera – om kommunaliseringen av den svenska skolan. Betänkande av Utredningen om skolans kommunalisering. SOU 2014:5, Stockholm: Fritzes.Google Scholar
Linderoth, J. (2016), Lärarens återkomst: från förvirring till upprättelse, Stockholm: Natur & Kultur.Google Scholar
Linell, P. (2006), ‘Bara prat? Om socialkonstruktivismen som vanställande och vanställd’, in Kylhammar, M. and Battail, J.-F. (eds), Det vanställda ordet: om den svåra konsten att värna sin integritet, Stockholm: Carlssons, pp. 152–193.Google Scholar
Lopes, H. (2018), ‘The Moral Dimensions of the Employment Relationship: Institutional Implications’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 14(1): 103–125.Google Scholar
Lukianoff, G. and Haidt, J. (2018), The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure, New York, NY: Penguin.Google Scholar
Markey-Towler, B. (2019), ‘The Competition and Evolution of Ideas in the Public Sphere: A New Foundation for Institutional Theory’, Journal of Institutional Economics, 15(1): 27–48.Google Scholar
Mayer, R. E. (2004), ‘Should There Be a Three-Strikes Rule against Pure Discovery Learning? The Case for Guided Methods of Instruction’, American Psychologist, 59(1): 14–19.Google Scholar
McFarland, J., Hussar, B., de Brey, C., Snyder, T., Wang, X., Wilkinson-Flicker, S., Gebrekristos, S., Zhang, J., Rathbun, A., Barmer, A., Bullock Mann, F. and Hinz, S. (2017), The Condition of Education 2017, Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.Google Scholar
McLaren, P. L. (1988), ‘On Ideology and Education: Critical Pedagogy and the Politics of Empowerment’, Social Text, 19/20: 153–185.Google Scholar
Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Foy, P. and Hooper, M. (2016), TIMSS 2015 International Results in Mathematics, Boston, MA: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College.Google Scholar
National Board of Health and Welfare (2017), Utvecklingen av psykisk ohälsa bland barn och unga vuxna – till och med 2016, Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen.Google Scholar
OECD (2013), OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
OECD. (2015), Improving Schools in Sweden: An OECD Perspective, Paris: OECD Publishing.Google Scholar
Ohrlander, G. (1981), Kunskap i skolan, Stockholm: Norstedts.Google Scholar
Persson, M. and Skult, E. (2014), ‘Lärarlönerna’, Ekonomisk debatt, 42(4): 6–17.Google Scholar
Pollitt, C. (2008), Time, Policy, Management: Governing with the Past, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Recht, D. R. and Leslie, L. (1988), ‘Effect of Prior Knowledge on Good and Poor Readers’ Memory of Text’, Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(1): 16–20.Google Scholar
Rothstein, B. (2010[1986]), Den socialdemokratiska staten: reformer och förvaltning inom svensk arbetsmarknads- och skolpolitik, Lund: Arkiv förlag.Google Scholar
Ruhm, C. J. (2018), ‘Shackling the Identification Police?’ NBER Working Papers No. 25320, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Sandström, M. and Bergström, F. (2005), ‘School Vouchers in Practice: Competition Will Not Hurt You’, Journal of Public Economics, 89(2–3): 351–380.Google Scholar
Simon, H. and Chase, W. (1973), ‘Skill in Chess’, American Scientist, 61(4): 394–403.Google Scholar
Sjöberg, M. (2006), ‘Den gode folkskolläraren: självbild och identitet inom den manliga folkskollärarkåren 1930–1960’, in Sjöberg, M. (ed.), ‘Goda lärare’: läraridentiteter och lärararbete i förändring, Linköping: Skapande Vetande, pp. 163–191.Google Scholar
SOU 1948 :27, 1946 års skolkommissions betänkande med förslag till riktlinjer för det svenska skolväsendets utveckling, Stockholm: Ecklesiastikdepartementet.Google Scholar
SOU 1961:30, Grundskolan. Betänkande avgivet av 1957 års skolberedning, Stockholm: Ecklesiastikdepartementet.Google Scholar
SOU 1992:94, Skola för bildning. Betänkande av läroplanskommittén, Stockholm: Allmänna Förlaget.Google Scholar
Spengler, M., Damian, R. I. and Roberts, B. W. (2018), ‘How You Behave in School Predicts Life Success Above and Beyond Family Background, Broad Traits, and Cognitive Ability’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(4): 620–636.Google Scholar
Stenlås, N. (2009), En kår i kläm – läraryrket mellan professionella ideal och statliga reformideologier, Stockholm: Finansdepartementet.Google Scholar
Svensson, F. and Kolm, S. Berlin (2017), Tidiga avhopp från högskolan – Analyser av genomströmning på de tio största yrkesexamensprogrammen, Stockholm: Swedish Higher Education Authority.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (1994), Läroplan för det obligatoriska skolväsendet, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet Lpo 94, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2004), Nationella utvärderingen av grundskolan 2003 – sammanfattande huvudrapport, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2005), Nationella prov i gymnasieskolan – ett stöd för likvärdig betygsättning, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2011), Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and the recreation centre 2011, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2012), TIMSS 2011 – svenska grundskoleelevers kunskaper i matematik och naturvetenskap i ett internationellt perspektiv, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2013), Attityder till skolan 2012, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2014), Talis 2013. En studie av undervisnings- och lärmiljöer i årskurs 7–9, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2016), Attityder till skolan 2015, Stockholm: Swedish National Agency for Education.Google Scholar
Swedish National Agency for Education (2017), Kommentarmaterial till kursplanen i biologi. Reviderad 2017, Stockholm: Skolverket.Google Scholar
Swedish National Board of Education (1962), Läroplan för grundskolan, Stockholm: Skolöverstyrelsen.Google Scholar
Swedish National Board of Education (1969), Läroplan för grundskolan: Lgr 69, Stockholm: Utbildningsförlaget.Google Scholar
Swedish National Board of Education (1980), Läroplan för grundskolan: Lgr 80, Stockholm: Liber/Utbildningsförlaget.Google Scholar
Swedish Schools Inspectorate (2017), Tematisk analys: Undervisning i NO-ämnen, Stockholm: Skolinspektionen.Google Scholar
Vlachos, J. (2016), ‘Hur ser betygsinflation ut?’ available at: https://ekonomistas.se/2016/04/27/hur-ser-betygsinflation-ut/ (accessed 10 September 2018).Google Scholar
Vlachos, J. (2019), ‘Trust Based Evaluation in a Market Oriented School System’, in Dahlstedt, M. and Fejes, A. (eds), Neoliberalism and Market Forces in Education: Lessons from Sweden, London: Routledge, pp. 212–230.Google Scholar
Wennström, J. (forthcoming) ‘Marketized Education: How Regulatory Failure Undermined the Swedish School System’, Journal of Education Policy.Google Scholar
Wennström, J. (2016b), ‘A Left/Right Convergence on the New Public Management? The Unintended Power of Diverse Ideas’, Critical Review, 28(3–4): 380–403.Google Scholar
Wikforss, Å. (forthcoming), ‘Critical Thinking in the Post-Truth Era’, in Kendeou, P. and Robinson, D. (eds), Misinformation, ‘Quackery’, and ‘Fake News’ in Education, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Wikström, C. and Wikström, M. (2005), ‘Grade Inflation and School Competition: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Swedish Upper Secondary Schools’, Economics of Education Review, 24(3): 309–322.Google Scholar
Willingham, D. T. (2009), Why Don't Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Willingham, D. T. (2010), ‘Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Hard to Teach?’ Arts Education Policy Review, 109(4): 21–32.Google Scholar
Wilson, J. Q. (2000 [1989]), Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It, New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Woessman, L. (2016), ‘The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(3): 3–31.Google Scholar
Young, M. (ed.) (1971), Knowledge and Control: New Directions for the Sociology of Education, London: Collier Macmillan.Google Scholar