tracking. The Nordic countries are almost the only OECD countries that do not have higher education tuition fees. 81 Nordic school children have access to free healthcare, special education for those who need it, career counselling, and school transport. Finland and Sweden provide free hot meals during the school day, whereas in Iceland parents must pay for such meals. Danish and Norwegian children typically take a lunch box to school. 82 Researchers argue that it is still relevant to speak of a Nordic education model that emphasises social justice and equality.81 However, decentralisation from the state to the local level and various neoliberal policy measures have been applied in all of the Nordic countries (albeit to varying degrees and in different forms), and these changes have undoubtedly undermined the foundations of the Nordic model. For empirical descriptions, see national analyses for Denmark 83, Finland 84, Iceland 85, Norway86, and Sweden 87. Sweden In a recent comparative study of public education and the institution of the school in Sweden and England, the researchers found on the surface a similar response to institutional designs based on the principles of the market and managerialism, with the opening up of the school systems to private interests and actors.89 This has challenged or changed the values of solidarity and equality that underpinned many of the older narratives of the purpose of education. In tracing the trajectories of educational change in the two countries and exploring the contemporary experiences of reforms by school actors, the researchers argued that despite the common dominant discourses of education reform, the two systems have responded rather differently. 88
OECD. (2014). Education at a glance 2014: Highlights. Paris: OECD Publishing. EUFIC. (2012). School lunch standards in Europe. Food Today 09/2012. Available at: http://www.eufic.org/ article/en/artid/School-lunch-standards-in-Europe/ 83 Rasmussen, A., & Moos, L. (2014). A school for less than all in Denmark. In: U. Blossing, G. Imsen, & L. Moos, L. (Eds.), The Nordic education model. ‘A school for all’ encounters neo-liberal policy pp. 57–75. Dordrecht: Springer. 84 Arhonen, S. (2014). A school for all in Finland. In: U. Blossing, G. Imsen, & L. Moos (Eds.), The Nordic education model. ‘A school for all’ encounters neo-liberal policy (pp. 77–93). Dordrecht: Springer. 85 Sigurdardottir, A.K., Gudjonsdottir, H., & Karlsdottir, J. (2014). The development of a school for all in Iceland: Equality, threats, and political conditions. In U. Blossing, G. Imsen, & L. Moos (Eds.), The Nordic education model. ‘A school for all’ encounters neo-liberal policy (pp. 95–113). Dordrecht: Springer. 86 Imsen, G., & Volckmar, N. (2014). The Norwegian school for all: Historical emergence and neoliberal confrontation. In U. Blossing, G. Imsen, & L. Moos (Eds.), The Nordic education model. ‘A school for all’ encounters neo-liberal policy (pp. 35–55). Dordrecht: Springer. 87 Blossing, U., & Söderström, A. (2014). A school for every child in Sweden. In U. Blossing, G. Imsen, & L. Moos (Eds.), The Nordic education model. ‘A school for all’ encounters neo-liberal policy (pp. 17–34). Dordrecht: Springer. 88 Alexiadou, N., Dovemark, M., Erixon-Arreman. I., Holm, A.-S, Lundahl, L., & Lundström, U. (2016). Managing inclusion in competitive school systems: The cases of Sweden and England. Research in Comparative & International Education, 11(1), 13–33. 81
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