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Second International Handbook of Urban Education pp 671–693Cite as

Marketization of the Urban Educational Space

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Abstract

The Swedish education system has been thoroughly transformed in the last few decades, paralleling wider developments in other OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. However, in some respects the shift from a uniform, centrally regulated school system to one with far-reaching decentralization and market elements has been more radical and faster than elsewhere. The marketization of education has not been confined to urban areas, but it is most tangible there. This chapter firstly aims to add to our knowledge of how competition affects schools and students; secondly, it looks to critically examine marketization mainly as an urban phenomenon and discuss the consequences for rural areas. The Swedish development is situated in a wider Nordic and historical context and the contours of the new Swedish educational landscape are outlined. Some consequences of the school choice reforms and the resulting market-like situation are highlighted at societal, institutional and individual levels. It is concluded that the school market is far more visible and has a much stronger impact in the big city areas than in less densely populated regions. However, this does not mean that schools and youth in the rural regions are unaffected.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A new Education Act of 2010, however, reduced the degrees of freedom somewhat.

  2. 2.

    For the sake of simplicity I use the term ‘market’ even if it would be more correct to speak of a quasi-market, as the state regulates and finances educational services, and it is not possible to compete purely via the price mechanism.

  3. 3.

    Ref. no. 2007–3579. See e.g. Erixon Arreman and Holm (2011), Lidström et al. (2014), Lundahl et al. (2013), (2014), and Lundström and Holm (2011).

  4. 4.

    Ref. no. 721-2011-5509.

  5. 5.

    After a 15-year experimental period Norway decided on 9-year compulsory education in 1969 and abolished tracking from 1974. Denmark introduced comprehensive compulsory education without tracking from 1975, Iceland in 1974 and Finland in 1978 (Marklund 1985).

  6. 6.

    Interestingly, the same red–green government that abolished the Free School Act took a quite different stand concerning pre-school education; profit-making companies were welcome when the existing municipal and private providers – the latter running almost half of all pre-schools – could not expand rapidly enough to meet the needs of the populace. In 2010 almost 60 % of the private pre-schools were run by companies that could extract profits.

  7. 7.

    Party leader Erna Solberg in a radio interview before the 2013 election.

  8. 8.

    Programme for International Student Assessment.

  9. 9.

    With minor exceptions, the Social Democratic Party held power from 1932 to 1976. Since then, social democratic governments have alternated with various constellations of right-wing, liberal and centre parties. The latter held office in 1976–1982, 1991–1994 and 2006–2014.

  10. 10.

    Interview conducted by the author.

  11. 11.

    The legislation uses the term independent schools, but free schools is commonly used in everyday language.

  12. 12.

    Originally, the SNAE decided such matters. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate (SSI) later took over this responsibility.

  13. 13.

    The purpose of venture capital companies is to generate profits within a short period of time.

  14. 14.

    The growth has been especially strong among upper secondary schools run by large companies, which have seen an increase of 280 % since 2005. In 2009 more than 9 % of all schools, or 45 % of schools with private owners, were run by firms that are part of company groups (SNAE 2011).

  15. 15.

    This figure may be compared to the average size of a Swedish cohort of approximately 100,000 children.

  16. 16.

    7000 Norwegian pre-school children go to Espira kindergartens, owned by AcadeMedia.

  17. 17.

    AcadeMedia’s homepage, http://www.academedia.se/om-academedia

  18. 18.

    Until 2011 free schools enjoyed far more freedom than public schools in a number of spheres, e.g. with regard to employing formally qualified teachers and other staff. They were also allowed more freedom in constructing their curricula. By and large, the 2010 Education Act meant that a common legal framework was introduced in these respects. However, important differences still exist. For example, financial transactions and ownerships of affiliations do not undergo public scrutiny since free schools are privately run (Erixon Arreman and Holm 2011).

  19. 19.

    Measured by the Gini coefficient.

  20. 20.

    Compulsory schools (lower secondary level) in Sweden and the other Nordic countries were earlier found to be among the least socially segregated among the OECD countries, as measured by PISA-results (Jenkins et al. 2006).

  21. 21.

    Large-scale analysis of the social recruitment to upper secondary education has also been conducted at the University of Gothenburg over a range of years (e.g. see Svensson 2007).

  22. 22.

    See e.g. www.skollistan.eu

  23. 23.

    Stockholm city has one million inhabitants, the county of Stockholm roughly twice as many.

  24. 24.

    Statistics of the three cities and http://www.gyantagningen.se/

  25. 25.

    Also cf. Aurini (2006) and Davies and Quirke (2007).

  26. 26.

    E.g. students with dyslexia, ADHD or psycho-social problems. Many of these schools are connected to treatment institutions for young people.

  27. 27.

    The 2010 Education Act allows free schools to limit their intake to special needs students. Previously, free schools could have such a profile, but still had to provide open access to all potential students.

  28. 28.

    Survey in approximately 60 municipalities situated in two regions (project I).

  29. 29.

    http://www.gymnasiemassan.nu/press/pressmeddelanden/sm/2014/11

  30. 30.

    Eight head teachers, 58 teachers, 13 career counsellors and 77 students (N = 156).

  31. 31.

    All quotations in the following sections are translated by the author.

  32. 32.

    Emo as in emotional: A music style (‘emotive-hardcore’) in the 1980s, later also denoting young people with a certain appearance (e.g. black clothes and flat black hair) and personal characteristics like sensitivity or emotional fatigue.

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  1. Umeå University Sweden, Umeå, Sweden

    Lisbeth Lundahl

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  1. Lisbeth Lundahl
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  1. Dept. of Educational Policy & Lead'ship, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

    William T. Pink

  2. School of Education, Uni. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    George W. Noblit

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Lundahl, L. (2017). Marketization of the Urban Educational Space. In: Pink, W., Noblit, G. (eds) Second International Handbook of Urban Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5_36

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