Open lecture: Consequences of differentiated policies and teaching practices in the Swedish school system
by JustEd visiting fellow Joanna Giota, associate professor, University of Gothenburg
Wednesday, 5th November 2014 at 12:15–14:00
Room: Athena 168 (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A)

The lecture will highlight results from a research review (Giota, 2013) commissioned by the Swedish Research Council of Education in cooperation with The Swedish National Agency for Education. The review aimed to investigate the idea of individualization in the Swedish curricula from 1919 till today and how individualization has been practiced in the Swedish compulsory school during 2000–2010. The results show that individualization is not a simple working method in school, but a view which refers to the idea that school shall be a place for all students and that school shall value and treat every student equally in spite of differences in the students’ knowledge development and achievements. Individualization is also the basic idea of building a democratic society and what school is for. It appears however that difficulties in school are still seen as being caused mainly by student characteristics rather than shortcomings of the school and teaching practices as well as factors at the macro level. Some student groups do not receive equal opportunities to learn and flourish in school and run the risk of becoming socially excluded and marginalized in a here-and-now and future perspective.

Joanna Giota is associate professor in education at the Department of education and special education at the University of Gothenburg. Her main research interests are on children’s and adolescents’ own purposes for going to school and thereby how different types of motivation are related to their learning and achievements over time, self-beliefs and well-being, future study choices, family background and gender. How factors at different levels interact and promote students’ personal growth or lead to social exclusion and marginalization are also of her main interests. Giota’s studies are based on longitudinal and nationally representative data.

Everyone is welcome to attend. No registration required.

Reference: Giota, J., (2013) Individualiserad undervisning i skolan – En Forskningsöversikt [Individualization in school – A research review], Vetenskapsrådets rapportserie 3:2013, Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet.