A tale of two reforms: Institutional change in vocational education and training in Norway and Sweden in the 1990s

Abstract

Political reforms of the 1990s ushered in sweeping socio-economic changes in the Nordic countries, including radical changes in their vocational education and training systems. However, the reforms led to a school-based vocational education and training system with a strong orientation towards higher education in Sweden, and a hybrid system with a stronger apprenticeship component in Norway. Drawing on comparative literature about institutional change in education systems, the aim of this article is to consider why such different vocational education and training systems emerged in countries that shared numerous commonalities following political reforms with similar neoliberal agendas. Our findings, based on secondary data analyses, show that national education reforms played a key role in transforming vocational education and training systems to promote greater flexibility and lifelong learning in line with societal changes. They also show that differences in the roles played by the social partners in Sweden and Norway in the reform processes, in conjunction with differences in political priorities, have led to major differences despite the similarities of national histories and attitudes.

Vocational education, transitions, marginalisation and social justice in the Nordic countries

“…Another theme that Jørgensen et al touch upon is the difficult balancing act of educating workers and citizens, which is particularly pertinent in VET. This issue is also discussed in the second article (Persson Thunqvist et al, 2019). However, the latter focuses on a period of substantial VET reforms (the 1990s) in Sweden and Norway.…”

“…Attempts to tackle these problems have varied among the Nordic countries. For example, Denmark recently moved closer to Sweden in terms of increasing integration between different programmes and the time allocated to general subjects (Persson Thunqvist et al, 2019), while Sweden moved closer to Denmark by increasing the workplace-based learning element (Jørgensen et al, 2019; Nylund and Virolainen, 2019). The common features and problems of Nordic welfare states, together with the marked differences in their organisation of upper secondary vocational education, may facilitate elucidation of the problems and possible approaches to tackle them.…”

Vocational education, transitions, marginalisation and social justice in the Nordic countries: Reflections on the special issue

“…A tale of two reforms: Institutional change in VET in Norway and Sweden in the 1990s. (Persson Thunqvist et al, 2019)…”

“…Importantly, they examine the relationship between the academic and vocational in relation to pedagogic and curriculum practices. With respect to school-to-work transitions, the papers by Jørgensen et al (2019), and that by Persson Thunqvist et al (2019), serve as correctives to the notion of a Nordic universalistic transition regime. As against the earlier analyses of Walther (2006), they offer a more nuanced account that points towards the tension that Jørgensen (2018: 1) has described as ‘a trade-off between social inclusion and social equality’.…”

Stedlige perspektiver på skoleliv og yrkesfag

“…I en norsk sammenheng kan dette grepet beskrives som uvanlig. Komparative studier viser for eksempel at de nordiske landene er kjennetegnet av svaert ulike fagopplaeringssystemer (Jørgensen, Olsen & Thunqvist, 2018;Thunqvist, Tønder & Reegård, 2019), til tross for at vi deler en rekke fellestrekk som sterk velferdsstat, stabile politiske institusjoner og høy grad av tillit mellom de styrende og de styrte. I en slik sammenligning fremstår Norges utdanningssystem som enhetlig og homogent, og også i andre sammenhenger, hvor for eksempel den norske enhetsskolen framheves, er det lite rom for å tenke på variasjon.…”