More like university than school: the Swedish academies coming to England

Tue Apr 15 14:17:27 UTC 2008

More like university than school: the Swedish academies coming to England

System seen as flavour of month by parties anxious to improve standards

Polly Curtis in Stockholm
Monday April 14, 2008
The Guardian

It's not immediately obvious when the school day starts at
Kunskapsskolan Nacka, in a suburb of Stockholm. Students drift in at
around 8.30. There are mobile phones on the table and iPods plugged
into ears but no timetable, no set lessons and little sense of a
traditional classroom. It's like a Swedish version of Summerhill, the
progressive school where pupils are allowed to opt in and out of
classes according to their mood. But beneath the apparent chaos is a
highly structured plan. Each child has a weekly target in every
subject. Fail and their personal tutor will want to know why at their
weekly meeting. So will their parents, who can follow the minutiae of
their progress online. These teenagers have targets, but complete
freedom in deciding how to get there. It's more like a university than
a school.

Anders Hultins, co-founder of the chain of 30 Kunskapsskolan schools,
said: "We are popular in Sweden as an alternative to the teacher-led
factory model of education. When you see a normal school you will find
classrooms of equal sizes and a bell ringing; there is factory
thinking behind that. What students do in Kunskapsskolan is decide for
themselves, for their own needs rather than for collective needs.
There are no bells in our schools or a schedule that you repeat every
week." Now Kunskapsskolan, or "knowledge school" is coming to Britain.
It has been named preferred bidder for two academies in Richmond,
London. It has its eye on five new schools in Cambridge and more in
the Thames Gateway house-building scheme. The ambition is for 30
academies as well as a handful of profit-generating independent
schools in England over the next 10 years.

It is, according to its proponents, the purest form of "personalised"
learning, which the government is promising in England. Karl, 15, a
pupil at the school says: "It all comes down to personal
responsibility. You shouldn't go to this school if you can't take your
own responsibility. You can slack off whenever you like, sure you have
to make up for it later, but if you feel tired one day you can slack
off and fix it another day. A lot of people do find that very
difficult." Julia, also 15, loves the school, but makes one criticism.
"Because it's so free some people are a bit loud perhaps in the
corridors. It could be a little more quiet and calm."

In Sweden the whole concept of personalised learning is deeply
controversial. Dr Susanne Wiborg, lecturer in international education,
Institute of Education, London, says: "It's a very anti-Swedish
system. It's a move away from that strong sense of communal education.
It suits parents to think their child will be the centre of attention.
But at a societal level it can have a different effect when children
are no longer working communally." Others say the shift is needed in a
country that has the saying "Lagom ar bast", which translates as
"enough is as good as a feast". This celebration of egalitarianism has
left some parents unhappy with the public schools and clamouring to
get their kids into schools such as the Kunskapsskolan chain.

Kunskapsskolan is the largest chain of independent or "free" schools
in Sweden, which make up 10% of schools. They are state funded, but
not state-controlled, and free for students. The system is flavour of
the month in England, where politicians of all hues want to know how
Sweden tops international education league tables. They were an
inspiration for the government's academy programme. The Liberal
Democrats and Tories both have similarly influenced policies. Sam
Freedman, research director of the right-of-centre thinktank the
Policy Exchange, says: "All the political parties are fighting to see
who can come up with the most Swedish system."

But there's a fundamental difference between the Swedish model and
those being discussed in Westminster: in Sweden independent schools
are allowed to make a profit. Freedman points out that both
Kunskapsskolan and another American company, Edison, are for-profit,
and their arrival signals that soon companies might be allowed to
profit from providing good education in the UK. "They are not
interested for altruistic reasons. It's an investment," Freedman says.
"Soon you'll see organisations given money to run schools rather than
them sponsoring academies."

Professor Julian Le Grand, a former adviser to Tony Blair, is working
on a new school funding system for a Policy Exchange research project.
It is said to involve the question of whether publicly funded state
schools should be able to make a profit. The thinktank is rapidly
gaining a reputation for influencing David Cameron. Freedman says
profit-making schools are taboo in England, but there could be a
series of simple incremental steps that would see a Swedish-style
system introduced almost by stealth.

"We already have per capita funding system but the local authority
gets 15%. Take that away and give all the money to the school and
you're almost there." Hultins was a government adviser and
instrumental to the introduction of the independent or "free school"
movement in Sweden. He went on to co-found Kunskapsskolan with funding
from one of the biggest investment companies in Sweden, which also
owns large stakes in the mobile phone giant Ericsson. He says they are
investing in the UK to prove their model in the English language and
curriculum, which is marketable elsewhere in the world. "We have no
opinion on whether academies should be profit-making. We work with the
reality of the policy today. Overall we expect many countries to allow
for more diversity and profit-making in the education systems across
the world."

However, the Swedish independent schools are increasingly coming with
health warnings. An official government review of the independent
system in Sweden in 2004 was equivocal. Some of the independent
schools have improved results, others have not and some have failed.

FAQ: Swedish schools

How does the Swedish school system rank internationally?

Highly. It's in the top 10 for reading in international rankings and
has one of the most egalitarian education systems with pupils' chances
of succeeding in school being more equal in Sweden than elsewhere. But
it still trails behind its Nordic neighbour, Finland, which is rated
the best education system in the world.

How do Swedish schools compare with the English system?

Children start school at six or seven, compared with four or five in
the UK. English school children sit externally marked tests throughout
their schooling, whereas Swedish pupils are assessed by their own
teachers. Languages are compulsory for all Swedish school children,
but only for 11 to 14-year-olds in England. In Sweden there are very
few fee-charging schools, though 10% are "free", state funded but run
independently. These schools are allowed to make a profit if they
prove they are providing a good level of education.

Why do Swedish children do so well?

Educationalists talk about the whole system being less target-driven
and more child-centred. Children start later and feel less pressured
by external exams. High taxation means schools are well-funded.

What lessons are being learned here?

Academies, the government's six-year-old system of privately run,
state-funded schools were influenced by Swedish free schools. The
Liberal Democrats and Tories have put forward policies incorporating
elements of the free school model. Kunskapsskolan, one independent
school provider, is planning 30 academies in England and a handful of
independent schools. The Kunskapsskolan academies will not be allowed
to make a profit and the schools' backers say their motive is to prove
their model of schooling in the English language and curriculum.

Why are profit-making schools taboo in Britain?

Politically the issue is too sensitive. Advocates argue it will
incentivise improvements and drive up standards. But many people feel
that children's education is the responsibility of the state, and
should not be subject to commercialised ventures which might be
tempted to cut corners. In Sweden independent schools are accused of
cutting costs on facilities, which means the state ends up paying for
the facilities separately anyway.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2273419,00.html

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