In 1966, a campaign called "Operation Popular Education Memory" (Operation Folkbildningsminnen) was begun in Sweden. Its aim was to save old material and oral memories. The operation developed into nationwide cooperation among popular educational associations, universities, archives, and libraries. It continued under the management of…

Swedish adult education has increased significantly during the last century. A great part of this increase has evolved from work within the popular movements, particularly study circles within the workers' movement and the free church movement. Three different time periods are of interest: 1910-14, 1930-39, and 1970-79. During the two earlier…

This paper analyzes the relationships among education, meritocracy, and social justice in Sweden. The study identifies reasons for restricted access to grammar schools that, at certain times, have dominated the Swedish discourse concerning the relationship between education and social justice. Social justice and the legitimacy of power during the…

Hermods, the largest correspondence school in Sweden, was established in 1898 and has offered university-level courses since 1953. In 1973, a policy was implemented allowing any university department in Sweden to offer one or more of its courses as distance courses. At present, three forms of university-level distance education are available in…

Although its main focus is on economic collaboration, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has played a very influential role in the exchange of educational ideas and experience on an international level. It also is true that while OECD involves the nations of the European Community, Norway and Sweden have had a…

In this presentation, the authors attempt to approach the field of curriculum theory, development, innovation, and planning from the perspective of the basic principles of pedagogics. The authors use Sweden's development of a comprehensive school system as a case study of curriculum planning and development. This case study serves as an…

This essay outlines the major changes in Swedish educational policy that occurred during the 20-year period from 1976 to 1996, with a focus on key issues in the development of the comprehensive school. Effects of the policy changes on Swedish curriculum research over the last 20 years are examined. Educational researchers neglected or were slow to…

This paper describes early childhood education programs in Sweden, focusing on their history and development, administration, goals and objectives, admissions policies, structure, expenditures, program of activities, facilities, staffing, daily routine, problems and criticisms. Beginning in 1902, legislation provided for the care of abused and…

As part of a continuing evaluation of the Swedish school system, changes in intelligence test scores from 1960 to 1995 were studied in relation to cohort, gender, and socioeconomic background. Changes in verbal, spatial, and reasoning ability were studied by comparing results on identical tests given to representative samples of Swedish…

A conceptual framework is presented for discussing teacher autonomy in a historical perspective against the background of a profound decentralization in the Swedish educational system introduced in the early 1980s. The way teachers use a broadened space of action cannot be fully understood unless a distinction is made between private and…

The purpose of the paper is to explore the relationship between the educational system of Sweden and its social class structure. The first section provides background information on Sweden's social democratic system which exhibits a strong tendency towards pragmatism, practicality, rationality, efficiency, competence, and educational planning.…

The history and structure of education in the Netherlands, the relationship of that structure to educational systems in selected other countries, and the current status of educational innovation in the Netherlands are the major topics of this paper. The author discusses briefly the development of national educational policy, the place of private…

Historically, the spread of universal formal mass education in the West is closely linked to emergence of nation-states. This is also true of the Third World. The salient feature of education today is that it reflects a model of society in which citizens, including children, are seen as a potential to be tapped for development of the nation, as…