Håkan Forsberg | Uppsala University (original) (raw)
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Conference Presentations by Håkan Forsberg
In a global context of education, the Swedish free school reform of 1992 and the case of Stockhol... more In a global context of education, the Swedish free school reform of 1992 and the case of Stockholm is an elucidating example of how school choice policy dramatically has transformed public education from a prior centrally governed system, with high pretensions of equity, into a decentralized and individualized market of school competition and family choice. Student mobility has dramatically increased together with the expansion of schools and educational streams, concurrently highlighting spatial differentiations within upper secondary education.
A theoretical starting-point of the study derives from Bourdieu's central concept of field and capital. The analysis includes several quantitative methods within the Geometric Data Analysis (GDA) paradigm as well as semi- structured interviews with school principals. The quantitative analyses are based on data from Statistics Sweden which holds information on social background and school choice on individual level of all pupils in the Stockholm area during the period of 1995-2008. The mixed methods approach enables a complex understanding of marketization of public education and student mobility.
This paper argues that school choice policy in public sector adds to a socio-spatial differentiation of schools due to an intertwined process of marketisation and existing housing segregation. The mobility of students is depending on their socio-economical resources which are further restricted by administrative frameworks, regulations and housing segregation. Hence, the Swedish free school reform of 1992 has not rendered in a traditional economic market based on buyers and providers, but rather consists of several sub-markets with clear social and geographical boundaries.
In a global context of education, the Swedish free school reform of 1992 and the case of Stockhol... more In a global context of education, the Swedish free school reform of 1992 and the case of Stockholm is an elucidating example of how school choice policy dramatically has transformed public education from a prior centrally governed system, with high pretensions of equity, into a decentralized and individualized market of school competition and family choice. Student mobility has dramatically increased together with the expansion of schools and educational streams, concurrently highlighting spatial differentiations within upper secondary education.
A theoretical starting-point of the study derives from Bourdieu's central concept of field and capital. The analysis includes several quantitative methods within the Geometric Data Analysis (GDA) paradigm as well as semi- structured interviews with school principals. The quantitative analyses are based on data from Statistics Sweden which holds information on social background and school choice on individual level of all pupils in the Stockholm area during the period of 1995-2008. The mixed methods approach enables a complex understanding of marketization of public education and student mobility.
This paper argues that school choice policy in public sector adds to a socio-spatial differentiation of schools due to an intertwined process of marketisation and existing housing segregation. The mobility of students is depending on their socio-economical resources which are further restricted by administrative frameworks, regulations and housing segregation. Hence, the Swedish free school reform of 1992 has not rendered in a traditional economic market based on buyers and providers, but rather consists of several sub-markets with clear social and geographical boundaries.