From Elitism to Egalitarianism in Swedish Education

Abstract

Sweden, along with Norway, are only two countries in western Europe which are well on way to having completely eliminated streaming in primary education-a basic structural support to a class-linked educational system. The new Swedish school reform has changed emphasis of schools from only the communication of limited knowledge to character training. Egalitarianism is being further promoted through official attempts to lessen distinctions between intellectual and practical study, to minimize sexual differentiation, to change traditional teaching methods, and to increase understanding of how democracy functions. Important to understanding these new orientations is an awareness that Sweden has become a very rich and highly industrialized society, of extent of political dominance of left, and of presence of a well-developed system of national governance of schools. It is suggested that best single measure of extent to which an educational system is class-linked is relative proportion of farm and working class youth who get to universities.