Nordic schools in a time of change

Abstract

In this first chapter, the aim of the anthology is introduced which is to have a closer look on what happens in practice when the school for all meets the neo-liberal education policy undertaken in the Nordic countries today. The criticism claims that the Nordic educational ideology, with the child in focus and a comprehensive school system in solidarity with the weak ones in society, is being on the retreat, and that it does not produce the qualities necessary in a competitive, global perspective. In today’s neo-liberal education policy, the concept of ‘a school for all’ is no longer a part of the rhetoric. The historical background of the Nordic countries is accounted for as well as the growth of the neoliberal policy in education. The chapters in the volume are briefly presented. New institutional theory is used as a framework to understand the encounter between schools and neo-liberalism. Loose coupling between institutions and school organisations indicates a varied picture when we explore the neoliberalist impact on the Nordic model of education. Because of the long historic traditions of democracy and welfare, we do not foresee any dramatic changes in the values underpinning the national educational policies, although there may be controlling measures and changes in school practices that run contrary to these values. However, this depends on the sustainability of the logic of legitimacy at school level. If the logic of efficiency expressed in quantified parameters is taking the lead in the schools’ environments, the future of the school for all is more uncertain.