Education and Parenting in Sweden

Abstract

Swedish children’s rights to school and a childhood were discussed as early as 1900 and today nearly all (99.9%) Swedish children from the age of six attend comprehensive school for ten years. Comprehensive school, both private and public, is free of charge and compulsory for everyone. In general, Sweden is described as a country where young people are perceived as individuals with agency, both in the family and in school. It is expected that students should be treated with respect and taught about their rights and how to practice them. Teachers are supposed to encourage young people’s agency by, for example, letting them take responsibility and be involved in decisions about the school work and their lives. This is related to the goal of teaching young people more about how to become citizens and about democratic values in society. Although Swedish schools have a high interest in students’ own agency and their mental health, politics put pressure on the schools to achieve higher academic success among students. This chapter presents the current Swedish education system and its challenges when it comes to maintaining high values concerning students’ mental health and, simultaneously, striving for better academic results, focusing particularly on families belonging to the lower socioeconomic class and with a migration background.