Rerouting: Discipline, Assessment and Performativity in Contemporary Swedish Educational Discourse

A piece of resistance: exploring behaviour assessment and political subjectification in a Swedish upper secondary school

“…This is, obviously, quite a different political stance than that of the UC -much closer to the official current 634 J. Larsson educational policy of the Liberal Party of Sweden (cf. Larsson et al, 2010). In this critique, Malmberg considers the UC to be a negligible fraction on the far left of politics, expressing an undesirable -although politically valid -standpoint.…”

“…For instance, they will have to address neoconservative ideals of being disciplined, well mannered and respectful in the face of authority while at the same time having to live the neoliberal ideal of the enterprising and entrepreneurial subject -the self-governed learner that maintains "reflexivity about learning and the self" (Bragg, 2007, p. 352). It is, arguably, in relation to this political predicament that the "disciplinary discourses" manifesting in current Swedish reforms on behaviour assessment find their political context as well (Larsson et al, 2010;cf. Lindblad, Johannesson, Ingolfur, & Simola, 2002).…”

“…In the last decade of Swedish educational policy reform, however, the idea of administering an order mark has gained some renewed attention. By the time of the 2006 Swedish General Election, when office was assumed by the Liberal/Conservative coalition, discussions and deliberations on disciplinary issues in Swedish schools had already settled quite firmly in the domain of daily media discourse (Larsson, Löfdahl, & Pérez Prieto, 2010), and eventually, they settled in political reality as well. Exemplification is found in the form of government bill 2006/07:69 (Department of Education, 2007a), which proposes a collection of disciplinary measures such as the possibility for teachers to confiscate any objects from their students that are considered a disturbance in class; and the possibility of transferring disorderly students to other schools.…”

Seeing red? The agency of computer software in the production and management of students’ school absences

“…A conservative-liberal government has held power in Sweden since 2006, and it has placed a strong emphasis on order and control in schools, as reflected in school policies (Larsson, Löfdahl, and Pérez Prieto 2010). This is not a uniquely Swedish tendency, but reflects contemporary transnational trends toward "control societies" and societies of self-management and self-governance (Rose 1999;Sørensen and Triantafillou 2009).…”

Present absences : Exploring the posthumanist entanglements of school absenteeism

“…The responsibilities for schooling shifted from the state to the municipalities and new possibilities were opened up for private schools to emerge. In line with market-oriented principles, the possibility of choosing between different schools required of parents to take part in shaping the educational patterns of their children (see for example Dahlstedt 2007;Englund 1995;Larsson, Löfdahl, & Pérez Prieto 2010;Lindblad et al 2002). Competition among students arose over getting a place at the best schools (Dahlstedt 2007; see also Kallstenius 2010).…”