Tensions in the meeting between institutional logics and identities in Swedish folk high schools

Article English OPEN
Runesdotter, Caroline (2011)
  • Publisher: Education Inquiry
  • Journal: Education Inquiry (issn: 2000-4508, eissn: 2000-4508)
  • Related identifiers: doi: 10.3402/edui.v2i4.22005
  • Subject: public sector reforms, institutional change, marketisation, folk high schools
Swedish folk high schools previously held an autonomous position with their own courses, specially trained teachers and the teachers’ association. With the introduction of market-like structures in adult education a variety of providers including folk high schools have become involved in the competition for public and private educational commissions. This article focuses on the tensions at folk high schools when perceived dependence on income from competitive commissions results in new practices that challenge existing institutional values. The impact of the changed conditions is experienced differently, although interviews with staff at different folk high schools indicate a growing gulf not only between the leadership and the teachers, but also between the new practice and what was traditionally considered to be the core values of folk high schools.Keywords: public sector reforms, institutional change, marketisation, folk high schools(Published: 1 December 2011)Citation: Education Inquiry Vol. 2, No. 4, December 2011, pp.659–670
  • References (27)
    27 references, page 1 of 3

    Arvidson, Lars (1988) Frihet till vad? En belysning av folkhögskolans förutsättningar och utveckling i Lars Arvidson et al. Folkhögskolans pedagogiska miljö - några teoretiska aspekter på formella och informella bildningsprocesser. Rapport LiU-PEK-R-129. Linköping: Linköpings Universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och psykologi.

    Berg, Per and Jonsson, Christer (1991) Strategisk ledning på politiska marknader: opinionsbildning och intern förankring i förvaltningar och folkrörelser. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

    Bogärde, Bengt (1974) Svenska lärarföreningens lärarförening och staten 1902-1970: en studie i organisationsinflytande. Statsvetenskapliga föreningen i Uppsala, skrift nr. 66. Uppsala: Rabén och Sjögren.

    Brunsson, Nils and Sahlin-Andersson, Kerstin (2000) Constructing organizations: The example of public sector reform. Organization Studies 2000 21(4), pp. 721-746.

    Czarniawska, Barbara and Wolff, Rolf (1998) Constructing new identities in established organization fields: Young universities in old Europe. International Studies of Management & Organization, 28(3): 32-56.

    DiMaggio, Paul and Powell, Walter (1983) The iron cage revisited: Institutional morphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review 48: 147-160.

    DiMaggio, Paul and Powell, Walter (1991a) Introduction. In Paul DiMaggio & Walter Powell (eds.) New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (pp. 1-38). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Friedland, Roger and Robert A. Alford (1991) Bringing society back in: Symbols, practices and institutional contradictions. In Paul DiMaggio & Walter Powell (eds.) New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis (pp. 232-263). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Forssell, Anders and Jansson, David (1996) On the conversion of non-business organizations. In Barbara Czarniawska & Guje Sevón (eds.) Translating organizational change (pp. 93-115). Berlin: de Gruyter.

    Henning Loeb, Ingrid (2006) Utveckling och förändring i kommunal vuxenutbildning. En yrkeslivhistorisk ingång med berättelser och lärarbanor. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.

  • Metrics
    2
    views in OpenAIRE
    0
    views in local repository
    0
    downloads in local repository
Share - Bookmark