Swedish researchers 134 claim that in the Swedish case, this problem is caused mainly by residential segregation but also by the increased number of independent schools. A Swedish doctoral dissertation 135 concluded that school choice results in schools that are internally more homogenous and externally more segregated in terms of socioeconomic background and ethnicity.
NordForsk investing in Education for Tomorrow The programme of Education for Tomorrow was initiated in 2013 by NordForsk, an organisation under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Several large-scale, interdisciplinary research projects and one Nordic Centre of Excellence, JustEd,136 were funded in the first phase in 2013–2018. The aim was to generate new knowledge about the Nordic educational systems to better equip the Nordic countries to meet the needs of society – today and in the future. The Nordic Centre of Excellence, JustEd,137 conducts research in three thematic areas: (i) Governance, politics, and marketisation changes in the Nordic understanding of justice through education; (ii) Justice through educational practices? Analysing innovative cultures of teaching and learning in Nordic contexts; and (iii) Enabling and constraining justice in education: agency, marginalisation, and diversity. The research projects in the first phase of the programme have now been completed and have generated new knowledge on a broad range of themes. 138 Three themes have been specifically reported: 1. Market-based and privatisation policy reforms in education do not support the social, regional, and institutional equality that is central to the Nordic model. This includes considering two sub-themes: ‘(1.1) Policymakers at national and local levels need to actively prevent and counteract the effects of school choice policies that lead to social segregation between and within schools; and (1.2) Policymakers need to see higher education as a public good and
Holmlund, H., Häggbom, J., Lindahl, E., Martinson, S., Sjögren, A., Vikman, U., & Öckert, B. (2014). Decentralisering, skolval och fristående skolor: Resultat och likvärdighet i svensk skola [Decentralisation, school choice and independent schools. Results and equity in the Swedish school]. Report 2014:25. Stockholm: Institutet för arbetsmarknads- och utbildningspolitisk utvärdering. 135 Trumberg, A. (2011). Den delade skolan. Segregationsprocesser i det svenska skolsystemet [Divided schools. Processes of segregation in the Swedish school system]. Örebro Studies in Human Geography 6. Örebro: Örebro University. 136 http://www.justed.org/ 137 http://www.justed.org/research-focuses/ 138 Education for tomorrow. How do we get there? Policy implications for phase 1. http://norden.divaportal.org/smash/get/diva2:1304397/FULLTEXT01.pdf 134
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