The past three decades have witnessed a sharp reduction in the rate of growth of public research funding, and sometimes an actual decline in its level. In many countries, this decline has been accompanied by substantial changes in the ways that such funding has been allocated and monitored. In addition, the institutions governing how research is…

Strategies for entrepreneurship in the educational system are present not only in the Nordic countries, but also in the majority of other Western countries. Linked to these strategies different research efforts have been made. Although the research efforts have a common origin in supranational policies on entrepreneurship, there has been little…

In a world of massively mediated information and communication, students must learn to handle rapidly growing information volumes inside and outside school. Pedagogy attuned to processing this growing production and communication of information is needed. However, ordinary educational models often fail to support students, trialing neither…

This study explores the educational potential of a place-responsive pedagogy to teaching and learning in "friluftsliv" within the Swedish physical education and health (PEH) curriculum. The study draws on qualitative empirical materials from a yearlong research project, together with a group of high school PEH teachers working in seventh…

Many reports suggest that the use of education technology can have a positive effect on language education. However, most of the research indicates that there is need for more detailed understanding of the pedagogical processes that support technology-enhanced language learning. This text takes a social semiotic perspective to examine multimodal…

Exceptional management skills are crucial to success in educational environments. As school leaders, principals are expected to effectively supervise the school system while facing a multitude of issues and demands. "Multidimensional Perspectives on Principal Leadership Effectiveness" combines best practices and the latest approaches in…

This study reports on a large-scale implementation of Assessment for Learning (AfL) in a Swedish municipality. The implementation was founded on two principles: (1) teaching should be informed by educational research; (2) to be successful teachers' professional development needs to be based in everyday classroom practice. From these principles,…

Reviews the school reform efforts that took place in Sweden between the mid 1940s and late 1960s. Draws four conclusions regarding school reform efforts, among them that: (1) reforms must be conceived in a wider socio-economic context and may not substitute for social and economic changes, and (2) reforms must take into consideration educators'…

This publication is one in a series of case studies dealing with educational innovation in various western European countries and the United States. This particular report discusses educational innovation in Sweden. The author attempts to describe the basic structure and character of the Swedish educational system, in addition to examining…

Several aspects of children's services and teacher education in Sweden, including day care centers and preschool teacher education, are reported by an Australian early childhood educator who, as the recipient of a guest scholarship, visited Sweden in August/September, 1979. The report includes (1) the itinerary of the visit; (2) a few facts about…

Using examples of school change, this document discusses both Swedish experiences with local educational development and theories of schools and change. An introduction gives background information on Sweden's schools and its parlimentary activities on education. Section 2 reviews the history of local educational development, especially…

Taken from an international conference organized by the Swedish National Board of Universities and Colleges, the report consists of six overview papers, five reports from discussion groups, and a transcript of the concluding discussion. The conference was designed to allow an informal exchange between researchers and practitioners in the field of…

"Analysis of Teacher-Directed Experimentation" (ALF) is a project currently underway in Sweden. In Swedish terminology, a distinction is made between central, regional, and local educational development work; these terms indicate the level within the school system at which a particular kind of development work is conducted.…

Parallel to the implementation of the comprehensive school system in Sweden, English has become obligatory for all pupils and has acquired increasing prominence. This is a report on the EPAL (English at the junior level) project in Sweden, a project which can be compared to FLES in the U.S. and the French-teaching project in England. The general…

This report presents findings from a review of international trends in adult literacy and numeracy to identify innovative programs of interest to Australia. Section 1 offers definitions of literacy. Section 2 outlines the international context. Section 3 has case studies of innovative approaches in four Organization for Economic Cooperation and…