Equity, Education System, and School Improvement in Nordic Education Settings

• In Event: Equity and Educational Transformation in a Cross-National Perspective

Abstract

In the Nordic setting equity in education has traditionally been understood as everybody being the same and of the same value, while today’s understanding of equity tends to consider everybody as unique (Aasen 2007; Author 2017). This development challenges the basic idea of the Nordic education model as a universal welfare good for all students (Telhaug et al. 2006) as well as how the education system is organised. It puts the “one public school for all” principle in Norway under pressure (Dieude 2023) and thereby also the national curriculum and the national quality development system. Central issues are whether the public school can uphold its values and serve all students equally well with new expectations from parents, the public opinion and shifting governments with different focus and conceptions of equity.

The current paper discusses what inclusion and equality of students can mean and realistically be in the Nordic setting with Norway and Sweden as empirical examples. The paper aims for a renewed discussion on classic issues of equity meaning being treated the same and having the same access to education, and the need to adjust to student needs meaning treating student differently.

The study is inspired by theoretical frameworks and concepts such as constructivist perspectives on institutions and institutional facts (Searle 1995), structural perspectives on public policy instrumentation (Lascoumes & Le Galès, 2007) and policy as theory of action (Fuller 2003). The concepts of ‘macro ’and ‘micro’ (Daly, et al. 2014) have proven helpful in investigations of relationships between system levels by examining the macro-policy forces of the formal system and the micro-activities of the ‘lived organisation’ (Spillane, Hunt, & Healey 2009). Building on prior studies of relational structures and activities of district and school leaders shaped by meaning-making processes (Coburn 2005) and Daly et al. (2014) the current study focus on the intermediate levels where district and school leaders interact over school issues, forming a space for management of inclusion and student equity.

The paper draws on interview and survey data from a research project on education system and leadership in Norway and Sweden. The Nordic countries, being among the most equitable countries in the world, often have high self-esteem regarding equity in education. Preliminary findings imply that there is a risk of taking student equity for granted in education systems with inbuilt structures and student rights aiming for equity. Still increasing differences in both socio-economic status among families and in student learning outcomes in the Nordic countries (Frønes et al 2023) indicate that there are several equity issues that need to be paid closer attention to.

Author

• Tine Sophie Prøitz, University of South-Eastern Norway