Competition and its effects on upper-secondary secondary schools: Perceptions of marketisation
Wednesday, 18 February 2009, 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
RSVP to sarah.rose@unisa.edu.au
Room C1-41, Magill Campus, Lorne Avenue, University of South Australia
Competition and its effects on upper-secondary/schools: Perceptions of marketisation
Dr Ulf Lundström, Umeå University, Sweden
The Swedish education system has, since the end of 1980, undergone major reforms and restructuring. Many of the recent changes are in line with international policy trends, while others are more specifically national. The development and expansion of market solutions is one of the most important changes in Swedish education in the last 30 years. It is a politically controversial change in the light of the long tradition of social-democratic education policy in Sweden.
This seminar will draw on findings from the project, Upper-secondary education as a market, into how the school market competition is perceived by three groups of actors in two Swedish regions: headmasters, counsellors and heads of municipality upper-secondary education administration. The projects aim was to analyse the occurrence of market solutions and market steering, the strategies towards them from involved actors, and their impact on upper-secondary education. The research is based on a broad range of data: statistical data, policy documents and information/marketing texts, questionnaires, interviews and observations. The aim of this study concerned two themes:
1. How the respondents perceive the strength of competition in their municipality and
2. What they believe are the effects of increased school competition, on students, staff and schools.
Ulf Lundström finished his doctoral thesis in educational fieldwork in 2007 and since then has been working as a senior lecturer in teacher education, Umeå University. Prior to this he worked as a teacher and headmaster in upper-secondary schools for more than 20 years. His research interests include teachers' work and professional development, school development and education policy. Also organisation theory, leadership and reflective practice. An overall driving force is to contribute to bridging the gap between theory and practice.
