Since 2008, the Swedish government has launched occasional offers of funding for graduate schools aimed at practising teachers. The fundamental purpose of this initiative is to enhance quality in the Swedish school system by implementing what is stated in the Education Act, namely that education at all levels should be based upon scientific…

Describes an experimental effort in in-service administrator education that evolved from the literature on change and developed to meet the particular needs of the Swedish educational system. (Author/IRT)

Describes the components (course periods, home periods, and practical society-oriented experiences) that make up the compulsory inservice educational program designed to improve the effectiveness of all Swedish educational administrators. (IRT)

This paper presents the rationale, development and application of "Unplugged', a new school programme for the prevention of substance abuse, which is based on the comprehensive social influence approach (CSI). The programme was developed, implemented and evaluated by a cross-disciplinary group of experts in the frame of a multi-centre study…

Describes the compulsory program of in-service education for school leaders in Sweden and analyzes the nature of developmental processes and how they can be applied to schools and to the role of the headmaster. (Author/IRT)

In Sweden educational technology (EdTech) prospered during the 1960s and 1970s inspired by US experiences from primarily programmed instruction. The Departments of Education at the universities started different activities of research and other bodies developed EdTech products for commercial use. In some business firms in-service training of staff…

Swedish teachers are currently expected to become more involved in school improvement based on the findings of research. One of the main goals of this work is to develop practice in its own contexts. Teachers become involved in action and research or, in other words, the combination of practice and theory. A central issue in this work is whether…

About 50 percent of Sweden's adult population pursues studies in one form or another. A specifically Scandinavian form of adult education is the folk high school. The largest number of adult learners attend the study circles organized by the local branches of Sweden's educational associations. Formal adult education is offered by the local…

This article describes an educational experiment, a student-led course called "Learning in Sustainable Development" offered at the teacher training programme at Stockholm University, Sweden. Its purpose was to foster empowerment and action competence among teacher-students in the field of education for sustainable development (ESD). The…

The Lerum Competence Development Project seeks to develop a model for educator inservice training to improve the quality of day care. Lerum is a small community outside Goteborg, Sweden, with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The expansion of childcare provision within the community necessitates support of the teachers because of economic and…

This article discusses in-service training of Swedish professionals in family-centered intervention for families with children with disabilities. The training, which has been implemented on an interdisciplinary team basis in the context of ordinary habilitation services, is described as one of several options for fostering improvement within an…

All young persons in Sweden have to complete 9 years of basic compulsory schooling. More than 95 percent opt for an additional 2 or 3 years of upper secondary school, after which they have free access to further education. The system of adult education is designed to bridge the gaps between generations and to provide opportunities for recurrent,…

Educational leadership in Sweden has reached a turning point. There is now a widespread acceptance of the fact that Sweden increasingly has many citizens whose origins and/or upbringing are non-European. In turn, the school has become a multicultural meeting place where previous assumptions about curriculum consensus and cultural order have been…

Describes teacher professional development in Sweden, highlighting organization of the Swedish educational system, the 1977 Higher Education Act, the 1988 teacher education program, inservice teacher education, and current professional development issues (teacher accountability, teacher career structure, teacher work culture, teacher view of…

In this monograph, a description is given of the activities of the "An Upper Secondary School For All" (Swedish abbreviation: GFA) program which has been operating in Swedish schools during the 1980s. A discussion is presented on how a number of upper secondary schools are working on the complex problem of giving as many youngsters as…