it use in the swedish school system

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UPPSALA UNIVERSITET

Institutionen för lärarutbildning

Kortalärarprogrammet

Examensarbete, 10 poäng

(Teaching and Education – International Perspectives)

HT 2003

Information Technology Use in the

Swedish School System

An investigation into the “IT in Schools” programme

Author

Richard Walls

Supervisor

Niclas Månsson



Abstract

The aim of this project is to investigate the Swedish Government’s “Information

Technology in Schools” (ITiS) programme comparing the aims of the initiative andhow it manifested within a school. To provide an understanding of ITiS there is a

description of the development of the Swedish school system and its foundations

together with the educational theories and pedagogy that it is based upon.

Thereafter follows an overview of the history of IT in Swedish schools leading up to

the ITiS programme (1999-2001). A series of interviews with teachers and

students was conducted and filmed using a digital camera; the results are

summarised in written form and presented in greater detail in the form of a video

documentary. The results showed that the teachers had largely understood that theaims of the programme were broader than merely IT training. It was also found that

although there had been some narrow, specific effects, the teachers did not

generally identify the general broad effects that the Government had hoped for.

Keywords: Sweden, IT, Education, Schools

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Foreword

This project is an observation and investigation of the Swedish school system andparticularly the place of IT within that system. It was completed during my exchange

semester at The Institute for Teacher Education (ILU), Uppsala University as part of

my studies for a Bachelor of Teaching at The University of Melbourne. I have been

part of the “BAA Learning Technologies Stream” during my B.Teach (Secondary).

Thus, this final research project was an opportunity to conduct further study within

the area of IT in Education, and not only to write about technology but also to use

technology to present the final project. The result is a project that consists of an

essay and an accompanying film to be viewed after reading the essay.

As an exchange student I was, due to my previous knowledge of Swedish, enrolled

in the final semester of the equivalent course to the B.Teach at ILU. The project

was written as part of the subject “Teaching and Education – International

Perspectives” (15 ECTS-credits) which I studied during the autumn semester 2003.

The subject description follows:

The course aims at improving the participants’ ability to actively promote

international understanding in their future profession by providing them with

a deeper knowledge and understanding of the general factors that govern

the conditions of learning and by increasing their understanding and

awareness of the importance of teacher education and educational

objectives in the shaping of education and the way schooling is formed,

organised and developed.

(http://utbdatabas.uu.se/katalog/kurs.asp?kod=x3880)

I would like to thank Niclas Månsson, PhD student at ILU who was my supervisor

for providing me with all the help and support I required. Also a big thank you to the

teachers and students at “the school” for their help, support and for agreeing to be

interviewed, particularly to my two supervisors during my internship: Ingrid Jonsson

and Michael Håkansson. Thank you to Anita Jonsson from the Municipality of

Uppsala for agreeing to the interview and providing a different perspective on the

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ITiS programme. And to all the people I’ve met during the semester who have

provided help and tips, without which this project would not be the way it is.

Uppsala in January 2004

Richard Walls

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Contents

Introduction p. 5

The Swedish School System p. 6

Education and Democracy p. 6

Education and Society p. 8

Education and Technology p. 13

The Development of ICT Use in the Swedish School System p. 15

Information Technology in Schools programme (ITiS) p. 17

The Making of the Documentary p. 20

“The School” p. 20

Interviewees p. 20

The Video p. 21

Results from the Video p. 22

Conclusion p. 24

Reference List p. 26

Appendix p. 28

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Introduction

Sweden has a very high proportion of households connected to the Internet and

email communication is commonplace; it is, therefore, often referred to whendiscussing technology-rich societies. Evidence for this can also be found within the

education system. There have been a number of initiatives in the area of IT within

education by the Ministry for Education and Science (Utbildningsdepartementet)

and the National Agency for Education (Skolverket ) over the past two decades, the

most recent being “Information Technology in Schools” (ITiS) which ran from 1999-

2001. (Jedeskog, 1999) There has been a concerted effort over almost 20 years to

provide students with exposure to technology with the aim of developing the skills

that they will require on leaving the education system for the workforce. It is alsoimportant to note that the question of how to use technology not merely for

technology’s sake but to find uses based on educationally sound reasoning has

been consistent through most of the period. Personally I find the question of

whether to use technology very interesting, in that, if it cannot enhance the learning

then should it be used at all?

I want to use this project as an opportunity to investigate an issue that will not only

be of interest in Sweden but also relevant in Australia. I have not made any

international comparisons as the audience I would target in Australia would already

have knowledge of the local system. I chose to look at the initiatives within the IT-

Education area and attempt to identify what the aims of the projects have been, i.e.

what the Ministry of Education and Science wanted to happen in schools. In

specifically looking at the ITiS initiative, I compare the Ministry’s goals with the

thoughts and opinions of teachers and students. I look at questions such as:

• What the teachers believed ITiS was attempting to achieve,

• What the teachers believe did happen as a result of ITiS,

• How it is has affected their teaching,

• What the students use IT for at school and at home.

I interviewed teachers and students, recording their responses using a digital

camera. The final project takes the form of a text outlining the Swedish education

system, the place of IT within it and an explanatory description of the ITiS initiative,

and a digital video documentary containing the teachers’ and students’ responses.

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The Swedish School System

The State School System in Sweden is based on the principles of equal access

and equal value for all, regardless of social class, ethnicity, religion etc. Theeducational objectives of the system are grounded on so-called “fundamental

democratic values”. (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden, 1994a, p. 5,

1994b, p. 3) This results in an underlying emphasis on value, respect and equality.

The value of every individual, as an individual, must be acknowledged and

recognised. Respect must be displayed within and for our shared environment.

Equality shall pervade schools and be promoted to actively oppose all forms of

abusive behaviour. (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden, 1994a, 1994b)

The most recent Curriculum for the Compulsory School System (Lpo 94) details

several perspectives, all of which are influenced and driven by the underlying ideals

of democracy and equality; rights and responsibilities. The perspectives are

historical, environmental, international and ethical.

Education and Democracy

Democracy is a pillar of the Swedish education system and Swedish schools. This

foundation broadens the role of the school from a provider of factual knowledge to

one of developing the citizens of a society. Democratic values should pervade the

whole school, both in and out of the classroom, and therefore uphold the

democratic society in which it exists. The National Agency for Education (2000a)

outlines that democracy needs to exist in formal and informal areas of the school.

A focus on formal, decision-making processes, may not lead to democracy in

informal areas – such as the playground, where most bullying would occur.

However, a shift to a greater emphasis on content and function through dialogue

will hopefully lead to a more active democracy.

It is the aim that every student should do, be and understand democracy; that is do

democratic activities, be democratic when interacting with other people and

understand democracy. Dialogue is emphasised as vital to the development of

democracy in schools and students but it is pointed out that as a student moves up

the levels of schooling, their number of teachers increases, as does the number of

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students each teacher has, resulting in a reduction in the time between a teacher

and a student. It is the regular contact and interaction that characterises the lower

levels of compulsory schooling that leads to dialogue which can be used to

consciously work towards developing democratic values and a social climate

where democracy is at work.

As school progresses to the upper levels there is a significant change in the school

model: there is much less time to develop personal relationships and with it comes

a greater risk of anonymity. The shift to a greater emphasis on factual knowledge

restricts the amount of dialogue held regarding democratic issues and often moves

this “democratic dialogue” to informal situations outside the classroom. The

danger here is that not all students may be part of the dialogue if it is not conducted

in a formal situation. This can be summarised thus – as the school level increases

the time to discuss democracy and democratic values decreases. This in turn

leads to a focus on the symptoms, such as bullying and racism, instead of the

underlying causes.

The National Agency for Education (2000b) describes the Swedish education

system as an “education for all” (p. 1). There is a need for schools to prepare

students “for the complex world which awaits them outside the classroom” (p. 19)

whilst making them aware of the fundamental values on which Swedish society is

built:

• The sanctity of human life,

• The freedom and integrity of the individual,

• The equal value of all...

• Equality between women and men, and

• Solidarity with the weak and the vulnerable. (p. 3)

It is also stated that these principles must be learned through practical application. A student should learn these values through doing and being; not through a teacher

“teaching” democracy with a description of what a democracy should be. The

Swedish “Christian tradition and Western humanism” (p. 19) are also identified as

a base for work in schools, although at the same time all teaching “must be non-

denominational, objective and balanced”. (p. 19)

Schools are viewed as the foundation for life-long learning, a place where every

student has the right to succeed and the right to pass. There is a strong view that

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this shall be achieved through co-operation between the school, teachers, parents

and the student. Progress meetings (utvecklingssamtal ) allow teachers and

students to discuss development and plan for the future. It is both a chance for the

teachers to outline what they would like the students to do and for the students to

ask for assistance in achieving goals which are agreed upon. In this process the

ideals of democracy are evident – the individual is being recognised, valued and

respected – the outcome is an agreed plan for the future. Whilst this is the aim of

all schools in Sweden it should be noted that this is not yet a reality.

Education and Society

Lindensjö and Lundgren (2000) discuss the development of society with regard to

the need for a changing system of education that adapts to the requirements of the

society. The first step for a society or group is to develop to the stage where the

educational components of “production” and “reproduction” begin to differentiate. In

early, basic societies the reproduction of a child and the production of a person into

the group are one and the same: a son follows his father, learns from him and then

completes the same tasks as an adult; likewise, a daughter would follow her

mother, learn from her and then undertake the same activities. As a society grows

and develops, a need arises for education: there is a move from manual towardsmental. If a society is to grow, if civilisation is to develop, there must be a formal

education system. However the form and availability of education is a question of

power, as it continues to be today, and the conflict between social mobility versus

social stability is one that will be faced. Initially it is often social stability that is

emphasised, therefore education is often limited to children of those who already

hold power – children of the ruling class become members of the ruling class

through education, whereas children of the farming class are likely to have no

choice but to become farmers. This phenomenon can be seen in the developmentof the Swedish education system and only in the second half of the twentieth

century was a common education system realised.

The beginnings of more widespread education came to Sweden in the thirteenth

century with the missionaries and the establishment of Christianity in the country.

The first grammar schools (läroverk ) were institutions that trained priests; there

were very few literate people outside the church at this time. The development of

universities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries increased the need for a

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broader education to prepare students for higher studies; also during this time the

schools came under state control. (National Agency for Education, 2000b) Despite

the shift from Church to State, grammar schooling was limited to the ruling classes,

the cultural elite; the majority of the population was limited to the small teachings

they received from the Church. These were in the form of husförhör ; a particularly

Swedish tradition which can be roughly translated to “household hearing” (as in a

court hearing ). The priest would travel to the large farms in the parish where the

people from the area would gather. The priest would then test the people’s reading

skills at the same time as he tested their knowledge of the scriptures. (Hartman,

1995)

In 1842 the first compulsory schooling was introduced in Sweden. The elementary

schools (folkskolor ) that were established came under the jurisdiction of the

municipalities and ran parallel to the already established grammar schools which

were the domain of the state. The appointment of school inspectors in 1861 was

the beginning of a drive towards equality in education that is now one of the

outstanding and fundamental features of the Swedish education system, although

the introduction of independent schools (fristående skolor ) in the past decade is

testing and questioning the ideals of equality within education (see below for further

discussion). At the end of the Nineteenth century, despite compulsory elementary

education and a parallel system, there were few that continued on to higher

studies: 1.7 per cent in 1880, of which all (or the very large majority) were children of

the elite classes. (National Agency for Education, 2000b)

The first half of the twentieth century witnessed a steady move away from a parallel

system to the uniform school system that exists today. It was in 1950 that the

principle of nine years of compulsory schooling was passed in parliament after

which a number of trials were carried out to determine the form and type of systemand schools. The parallel system was finally laid to rest in 1962 when parliament

introduced nine years of basic compulsory schooling for all, with a common

curriculum. Soon after, reforms were made to upper secondary (non-compulsory)

schooling and, in 1968, vocational upper secondary education was incorporated

into the new uniform school system. These reforms saw the state assume control

for education from the first grade to adults, where it remained until the beginning of

the 1990s. (National Agency for Education, 2000b)

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The 1960s were a time of wide-reaching reforms within the education system that

were all designed to lead towards a uniform and equal education system for all.

The 1970s heralded the beginning of greater decentralisation in Sweden,

particularly within the education sector. Local institutions were increasingly given

more control over areas within the education system. At the same time, there was

a changing of focus in the school system from “equal” education to “equivalent”

education. (Lindensjö & Lundgren 2000) There was an underlying drive towards an

environment which would provide equal opportunities for all through an equivalent

education. The idea of an equivalent education was that citizens experience

equality through receiving the same opportunities; in the case of Sweden

exemplified by a state directed and governed, uniform school system.

In 1990, after much debate during the previous decade, the parliament passed

control for compulsory and post-compulsory secondary education to the

municipalities. (National Agency for Education, 2000b) The discussions and

ultimately the change at a bureaucratic level coincided with, and in some ways

reflects, the further development of the idea of equality in education. There was a

greater recognition that providing the same “menu” of education to every student

was not always possible and would not always return the best result for the student

and society. As the state recognised that many benefits could be had by more

localised control of the education system, there was a rising awareness and

acknowledgement that if education is to be equivalent for all then it must be

recognised that certain students will require greater assistance than others. That

is to say that a localised model (for student, school or municipality) will give greater

equality and opportunity of outcomes. This shift was the continuation of the

development of understanding what equality is, can be and should be in education.

The result of these developments is the school system that can be observed today

in Sweden. (Lidensjö & Lundgren, 2000)

The Swedish school system today consists of nine years of compulsory schooling.

Students generally begin school in the year that they turn seven years of age,

however there is the option of attending one year of pre-school at age six. Each

municipality is obliged to provide this if the demand exists. The basic compulsory

schooling is often divided into three blocks of 3 years: primary school, middle

school, junior secondary (lågstadium, mellanstadium, högstadium). After attending

grades 1-9 of compulsory schooling there are three years of upper secondary

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education (gymnasium). All levels of education mentioned above are provided by

the municipalities (kommuner ) with funding received from the state. Although each

municipality receives funding allocated to education it has the right to spend it as it

sees fit.

The decentralisation of the school system at the beginning of the the 1990s was

followed soon after with the introduction of a new set of curricula for the compulsory

and post-compulsory school system. This, in many ways, completed the drive

towards a more individualised and localised education system that allowed for

differentiation and specialisation at a municipal and school level. The new

Curriculum for the Compulsory School System (Lpo 94) was only 20 pages (see

Appendix for contents sheet). This can be compared with the previous edition

published by Skolöverstyrelsen (The National Board of Education), Läroplan för

Grundskolan, Lgr 80 (Curriculum for the Compulsory School System), in which the

section containing the aims and guidelines ran to over 50 dense pages. There is

understandably an emphasis on “fundamental democratic values” and also an

“equivalent” education for all. When discussing the need to stimulate “the

individual into acquiring knowledge”, (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden,

1994a, p. 7) it is interesting to note that “creative activities and play” are described

as essential components.

This exemplifies the Swedish education system’s attempt to move beyond the

didactic instruction and testing of knowledge to a system that nurtures every

individual. The sparsity of detail and lack of a descriptive curriculum has allowed

each municipality and school to develop an identity and to create a niche for itself

according to its own characteristics and skills. This is being taken to student level

even more so now with the introduction of individual study plans, with which it is

able to tailor a study program suited to an individual. It must be recognised that the“national curricula adopted in 1994 prescribe a change of focus in schools from

teaching to learning”. (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden, 2002, p. 5)

Even when looking at the subject syllabuses there is much room left to the school

and teacher to develop their own teaching and learning plan, their own units, their

own lessons. Each subject syllabus contains:

• “Aim of the subject and its role in education” – outlines the importance of the

subject and how it should contribute to the goals of the curriculum.

• “Goals to aim for” – describes the direction and quality of the knowledge that

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students should be aiming for.

• “The structure and nature of the subject” – outlines the core of the subject, as

well as specific aspects and perspectives that should be used in the teaching

of the subject.

• “Goals to attain” (for both the end of the fifth and ninth year of school) – defines

the minimum level of knowledge that should be attained by all students at

these stages of their education. (National Agency for Education, 2001)

The syllabuses are designed to make clear what all pupils should learn, at

the same time as they provide great scope for teachers and pupils to choose

their own materials and working methods. (National Agency for Education,

2001, p. 6)

The underlying message behind these changes to governance, funding, and in

education documents is that a centralised and standardised school system cannot

meet the needs that society is today placing on its education system.

The education system is trying to catch up with society’s requirements and

demands. The development of independent schools (fristående skolor ) was a

result of the Swedish government enacting legislation that enabled any family to

send their children to any school without the need to pay tuition fees. These

schools provide alternatives to already established government schools. An

independent school could be set by an individual or group of people, a religious

association, an education company or an established state school that wished to

be independent – possibly to ensure its survival against falling student numbers

(especially in rural areas) or to allow greater specialisation.

However, Raham (2002) identifies two major issues which may arise as a result of

an enlarged independent sector within the education system in Sweden:• first, the idea of schools as the development ground for democracy through

being a place of education for all may be affected. If niche schools are

established and the school population moves from a heterogeneous to a

more homogenous one, there may be decreased chance of interactions

between different sections of society.

• second, the national curriculum is rigid and is strictly applied to all schools

with no exceptions for social or religious beliefs and values that differ. “The

question of state versus parental rights to dictate the educational

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environment for their children may yet emerge in Sweden.” (Raham, 2002,

p. 20)

Education and Technology

Swedes are, and have always been, open to new technology and the

Swedish society today is permeated by Information and Communication

Technology, ICT. (The Swedish National Agency for School Improvement,

2004)

Sweden is one of the most “connected” nations in the world. Almost all (90%)

households with school aged children have computers and the majority of these

are connected to the Internet. More that half of all 15 year olds surf the Internet at

home. (The Swedish National Agency for School Improvement, 2004) These

statistics exemplify the significant change that has occurred in the past 15 years

with regard to ICT. School students today are now faced with a society where

mobile phones are the norm, computers are commonplace and email a natural

form of communication. The challenge for the education system is to prepare

these students for the world into which they enter at the conclusion of their

schooling. The best way to achieve this is a matter of debate – but it will have tocontain ICT in some form, for this is what they will meet when they enter higher

education or the workforce. It must also be recognised that these students are part

of a society that is likely to be faced with rapid changes in form and content. If these

students are to be able to cope, thrive and prosper after their time in the education

system, they need to be equipped with the skills necessary to continually update

and extend their knowledge. Students must be prepared for a process of lifelong

learning. (Swedish Government, 1998)

The Swedish Government sees the changing demands on the education system

from developments in ICT as a chance to develop a “Future-orientated education for

all”. (Swedish Government, 1998, p. 11) It should be viewed as an opportunity to

develop an inquiring mind in students; where traditionally a class would work out of

a standard text book, students now have the opportunity to seek information

themselves, to answer their own questions. However “technology should be

subordinate to the teaching” (p. 12), the goal should be to use ICT to enhance

learning – a move away from the early focus on teaching programming which often

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subdued or even suffocated the interest a student initially had. It is also recognised

that an increased use of the internet must also be accompanied by an increase in

critical thinking and analysis of the material found to determine its veracity.

There is an emphasis on global education, on global perspectives, that is made far

easier with the advances in ICT that have and will occur. An emphasis on

language, most often English, accompanies a shift to global education, reaffirming

the importance placed on English in the curriculum. The Curriculum for

Compulsory School System (1994), in the section outlining goals to be attained in

compulsory schooling, specifies that all students completing compulsory schooling

in Sweden should be able to “communicate in speech and writing in English” (p.

12). English language instruction often begins in the third grade (age 9-10) and is

a core subject through compulsory schooling and in the non-compulsory secondary

programmes.

Democracy and equality, as has been discussed, is the fundamental pillar of the

education system in Sweden. The development of ICT and its incorporation into

schools is viewed as an opportunity to, once again, address the issue of an

equivalent education for all students. It is recognised that computer technology is

traditionally an area that struggles to attract interest from women, but although they

may not be interested in technology for its own sake, they are, however, interested

in the benefits that can be provided by technology. The implications for teachers

are that they must recognise gender differences in the use of ICT and construct

their teaching in such a way that girls are able to recognise the usefulness and

meaning of ICT beyond the intrinsic value that alone often attracts boys.

Another area requiring attention to ensure an equivalent education is that of class

differences. It is recognised that it is much easier and more common for salariedemployees and graduates to have computers in the home than wage-earners. If

this difference is to be addressed through the education system, then students with

less access to ICT must be given the time and resources to develop an equivalent

level of competence. Democracy is also viewed as a beneficiary of the

developments in ICT. It is a way of bringing the government of the country closer to

the people. The implication for schools is that students need to learn the new

avenues of democracy that have arisen, learn how to be informed and how to be

involved. (Swedish Government, 1998)

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The Development of ICT use in the Swedish School

System

The history of ICT in the Swedish education system before the Government Report

of 1998, “Tools for Learning – a National Programme for ICT in Schools”, can

provide an understanding of the platform from which the ITiS initiative was launched

as a result of the report. The following is a summary of Datorn i undervisningen -

en tillbakablick [Computers in Teaching – a Retrospective] by Gunilla Jedeskog

(1999):

The first state initiative to focus on computers began in the mid-1980s in the form of

a government subsidy to encourage the municipalities to buy computers for their

junior secondary schools. After three years, most junior secondary schools had

eight computers in a dedicated classroom. It was also envisaged that every

student would receive about 80 hours instruction involving computers across a

broad range of subject areas, from maths and science to social studies. However

in 1987 an evaluation showed that although computers had been purchased most

students received less than 25 hours of tuition with computers during their three

years at junior secondary school. It was also noted that most instruction wascharacterised by technical and programming activities and not the cross-curriculum

use that was envisaged.

The accumulated experience and knowledge from earlier projects and research

laid the foundations for the next initiative: Datorn och Skolan - DOS [Computers and

the School]. This was a three year programme (1988-1991) divided into three

levels – central, regional and local development projects – all of which had the

main aim of increasing experience that would lead to an increased use of computers in teaching. Computers were to be seen as a tool to aid teaching and

learning and not as a “carrot” for students. The evaluation of the programme in

1991 highlighted some increases in the use of computers, specifically in Swedish

and remedial classes, however these changes were limited. There had been no

significant increase with regard to teachers’ knowledge of computers nor their

ability to use computers as a pedagogical tool. It was also noted that most of the

teachers that did use computers were self taught.

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In the mid-1990s, further evaluations of the first two initiatives in the area of

computers in education were carried out. It was shown that the early pioneers in

the use of computers in teaching now used them less than during previous

evaluations. These teachers pointed to both physical and psychological reasons

for the decreased use, such as too few or outdated computers and inadequate

competencies. There were other factors not directly related to computers that were

also cited. These mostly related to the changes to the education system and

included decentralisation, the new curriculum (1994), a new grading system, the

reorganisation of the senior secondary schools, introduction of composite classes,

and the introduction of “Progress Meetings” between teachers, students and

parents. However, despite all this, from 1992 until 1996 there were no national

programmes or initiatives in the area of computers or ICT use in schools.

The late 1990s saw a renewed focus on ICT. A programme to stimulate an

increased and broad use of ICT in all municipalities and schools was financed by

the Knowledge Foundation (Stiftelsen för kunskaps- och kompetesutveckling )

established in 1994. Twenty-seven large “lighthouse” projects located throughout

the country were supported. It was hoped that there would be a ripple effect in the

areas surrounding these projects, and in this way all schools in Sweden would be

directly or indirectly influenced by the programme.

Accompanying the increase in money spent to help develop ICT use in schools,

there were a number of policy and other documents that addressed the issue. In

1995 the National Agency for Education and the Swedish Association of Local

Authorities (Svenska Kommunförbundet ) released “The IT guide 1995” with the aim

of ensuring that Sweden would be a country at the forefront of ICT. It is interesting

to note that there was an increasing recognition that ICT must be addressed

primarily as an educational and not a technical issue. Three underlying principleswere stated to ensure a continued and broad use of ICT in schools:

• The foundation for ICT and computer use in schools must be local.

• There is a need for a general level of technical competence with amongst

school staff.

• The teachers and the students must see the possibilities and the practical

uses of ICT in their daily work and the teaching and learning process.

The Government’s proposition 1995/96:125 also addressed the need to broaden

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and develop the use of ICT in schools and followed much the same lines as the

previous year’s “IT Guide 1995”. There was much discussion of the ability of ICT to

develop new means and ways within learning and teaching. There was a

recognition of the changing role of the teacher; to use a cliché, the teacher was

moving from “a sage on the stage to a guide on the side”. The proposition went as

far as saying that all teachers graduating from teacher training at university from

1998 should have knowledge and experience of how ICT can be used in teaching

and learning.

The beginning of 1996 saw the publication of joint documents by both teachers’

unions (Lärarförbundet, Lärarnas Riksförbund – which are the equivalent the

Australian Education Union) and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities that

covered areas such as wages and conditions but one also discussed the

development of the teaching profession. This document talked about the beginning

of a new epoch in Swedish schools following a similar thread to earlier documents:

Teaching is central to schools. So it has been and so it will be. But now the

conception is widening from a focus on a traditional pedagogy of providing

instruction to one where the aim is for students to take greater responsibility

for their own learning. (Jedeskog, 1999, p. 9, own translation)

It is from this background that one should understand the ITiS (IT in Schools)

programme.

Information Technology in Schools programme (ITiS)

As mentioned earlier, the Government Report (1998) “Tools for Learning – a

National Programme for ICT in Schools” provided the basis for the ITiS programme.

The responsibility of the programme was given to the Delegation for ICT in Schools(Delegationen för IT i skola), which was set up to oversee the Report’s

recommendations. ITiS was envisioned primarily as a pedagogical project with ICT

as the medium that provided the tools. It was seen as a chance to develop

teaching and learning in Swedish schools and consisted of the following seven

components:

• in-service training for 75,000 teachers in teams,

• a computer for participating teachers,

• state grants to improve the school’s accessibility to the Internet,

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• email addresses for all teachers and pupils,

• support for developing the Swedish Schoolnet and the European

Schoolnet,

• measures for pupils with special needs,

• awards for excellent pedagogical contributions.

The programme began in 1999 and was due to run for three years (although it was

extended through 2002, increasing the number of teachers involved from 60,000 to

75,000). ITiS covered every level of school, from pre-school to post-compulsory

secondary and adult education. Every municipality in Sweden chose to participate

in the programme.

The primary focus of the programme was pedagogically orientated in-service

training for teachers in teams. This was supplemented by training to aid basic

computer skills, training for facilitators, training for head teachers and seminars for

local administrators and politicians in the area of education and training. The in-

service training was based on the national curricula that emphasise a shift from

teaching to learning, increased student responsibility, interdisciplinary approaches

and a move to problem based learning.

Teachers were exposed to both theoretical and practical elements within their

training. On the theoretical side, some of the areas teachers studied were ICT in

the World, ICT and Learning, and ICT in Practice. The practical side involved a

group of teachers from a school developing a project of work for their students

which was based on the curriculum and the theory the teachers learnt as part of the

programme. “The aim was to develop the working methods of the teachers and

pupils.” (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden, 2002, p. 8) All teachers

completing the ITiS programme received a new model computer, their choice of desktop or laptop, which could be located at school or home for use as a work tool.

The programme also placed a heavy emphasis on providing and improving access

to ICT in all schools. There was also a stated goal that every student and teacher

would have access to an email address by 2001; although it can be questioned

what is meant and understood by access and what can actually be seen in practice.

Another area of infrastructure that received focus and funding was the development

of the Swedish Schoolnet (http://www.skolutveckling.se/skolnet/index.shtml) and

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the European Schoolnet (http://eunbrux02.eun.org/portal/index-en.cfm). There were

also measures introduced to ensure that ICT was used to help provide an

equivalent education for students with special needs, as well as providing a system

of awards to encourage, reward and highlight “excellent pedagogical contributions”

(Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden, 2002, p. 6)

That concludes the literature section, which will help provide a context and

understanding for the documentary film. Next follows a description of the

making of the film.

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The Making of the Documentary

“The School”

The project interviews were conducted during November and December 2003 at a

junior secondary school located in central Uppsala, Sweden. Uppsala is Sweden’s

fourth largest city with approximately 250,000 inhabitants and located approximately

70 km north-west of Stockholm – Sweden’s capital city. The short distance to

Stockholm, coupled with an efficient train system means that many people

commute daily between Uppsala and Stockholm. The majority of the students at

the school are drawn from a catchment area that lies outside central Uppsala and

is more rural in nature; most travel by bus to school.

The school was founded in 1996, due to a shortage of school places, and has

steadily grown to its present size – which is as large as it can be. Despite the

tenfold expansion, it has maintained much of the feel of a small school through the

use of the work groups and close teacher-student contact. The school has actively

sought to have a balanced and varied group of teachers across age, gender,

interests and personalities with the underlying aim that everyone would be able to

work well in the group. The school has approximately 240 students in Years 7, 8

and 9. The students and teachers are split into two workgroups (arbetslag ) or

teams. The teachers within these groups share a room where they each have a

desk and they have weekly meetings to discuss all matters related to the team,

from students with difficulties to cross-curricular projects. During my exchange

semester in Uppsala I completed a 45 day internship (spread over 12 weeks) in

Team A at the School. It was from here that I selected the teachers to be

interviewed.

Interviewees

I interviewed four teachers from the school who had taken part in the ITiS

programme. Three had been involved in the last year of the project, 2001, and the

fourth had been part of the first group from the school that participated. The

teachers were:

• Håkan – a maths and science teacher who has worked at the school since it

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was founded in 1996.

• Ingela – background as a maths teacher, is now the Assistant Principal

(Junior Secondary).

• Ingrid – an english and home economics teacher, as well as team leader for

Team A.

• Michael – a SOSE teacher who is heavily involved in areas of student

democracy within the school.

The latter three teachers all started at the school at the same time, three years ago,

and were in the same group for the ITiS project.

I also had the opportunity and good fortune to be able to interview an IT pedagogue

from the Municipality of Uppsala who works within the Education Section

predominantly on the administration of IT education programmes for teachers.

The students that I interviewed were volunteers from a Year 9 class that I had taught

English during my internship. I conducted the student interviews during the last

week of my time at the school; by this time the students had come to know me quite

well and were more relaxed during the interviews than might have been otherwise

expected. Although, having said that, there was still a certain reluctance to talk in

front of the camera. The students that volunteered represented a wide range of

aptitude and application in regard to school work.

The Video

I filmed the interviews using a digital video camera and then edited them using

iMovie. Before I conducted the interviews I explained my project and what I was

investigating; all the teachers I asked agreed to partake in the project. The

interviews were based around the questions I stated in the introduction, however itwas not a strictly structured interview. I preferred to try to let the teachers talk about

what they wanted to related to ITiS and then guide them to the areas that were

pertinent to the project. A result was that the interview varied between 15 and 30

minutes. This provided much unnecessary footage although I do believe this was

useful, as a number of interviewees became noticeably more relaxed as the

interview progressed.

As my first experience of filming and interviewing I had tried to identify good and bad

21



techniques by watching documentaries and interview programmes. I learned much

during the interviews with regard to technique, I have also learnt that there is much

more to learn!

Results from the video

The video is the primary results section of this project. What follows is a brief

summary of those results, presented as answers to the questions I wished to

investigate, which is similar to the form the video takes.

• What the teachers believed ITiS was attempting to achieve?

There was a difference between the teachers’ understanding of ITiS before and

after they became involved in the project. Before participating, all teachers thought

that it was an IT programme where they would receive the use of a computer on

completion of the project. However after beginning it became obvious that it was

more than just an IT project; it was in fact programme to encourage team work, and

promote the pedagogical development of schools.

• What the teachers believe did happen as a result of ITiS?

All the teachers regarded the project that they completed during the programme asthe primary result. In all cases this was a cross-curricular project of about one

week duration. All other teaching in the subjects involved is suspended for the

week and the students are given smaller tasks within the overall project which

relate to each subject area.

The identification of further effects varied from teacher to teacher. One identified the

positive impact it had on the effectiveness of the work groups, another identified the

more technical, hardware aspects such as being able to share files on a centralserver, while another felt that there had been little in the way of greater effects.

• How it is has affected their teaching?

The responses were not particularly positive with regard to ITiS. The two teachers

that use IT regularly had already done so before ITiS, although it did provide them

with more possibilities. The assistant principal no longer has any teaching hours,

and the fourth teacher had tried to integrate IT but found it to be impractical.

However ITiS did increase the amount of cross-curricular work within the work

22



group and helped to promote the work group idea within the school, which was one

of the programme’s primary aims.

• What the students use IT for at school and at home?

The students identified a decrease in computer use at school due to the closure of

the computer room, unless being supervised by a teacher during class time. All

students interviewed have access to a computer at home and almost all have

access to the Internet. While many student do use the computers to type school

work, the major uses were email and communication (chat programmes),

downloading and listening to music, surfing the Internet and playing games.

23



Conclusion

The Swedish School System, which is based on the ideals of democracy and

strives towards ensuring that value, respect and equality exist within the system,has developed from a specific set of historical circumstances. That system is now

the basis of a society that, despite an increase in its heterogeneous nature, is firmly

based on equality and social democratic ideals. Understanding this helps to

explain why the ITiS programme was such a huge undertaking – all Swedish

school students should have the same opportunities.

In looking at the history of ICT programmes in schools, it can be observed that there

has been shift from teaching how the technology works to how the technology canbe used. ITiS was in some ways a culmination of this transition. The programme

was, despite the name, an initiative that was to encourage the development of

schools and education, not merely a computer skills course. Whilst the results

from this study cannot be extrapolated to provide any greater analysis of the

successes of ITiS, it is interesting to note that in some cases the message or aim

that is envisaged from the “top” is not always communicated to those at the “coal

face”. That is to say, teachers do not always receive the message that the

Government is trying to convey. This surely is one of the greatest problems faced

by any organisation or system – how to ensure effective communication between all

sections.

This study has led me to consider a couple of areas that I believe will be the focus

of research and discussion in the future. In the area of IT and education there has,

as mentioned, already been a shift from how technology works to how it can be

used to benefit education. I believe that further expansions in the use of IT within

schools and education must be guided by sound educational thinking, not merely

the use of technology for technology’s sake.

However an area of greater interest might be that of what it is that the education

system is trying to achieve and how it goes about this. The question I find most

interesting is that of what we should be teaching in schools. What is it that

students take from their time at a particular level of education to the next phase in

their life that is useful to them. Is it the knowledge of facts that they have studied

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and learnt? Or is it the skills they have acquired? I would like to suggest that it is

the skills. That they know how to search the web, that they can use technology to

help them, that they can read and write is key. It is skills that a student takes to the

next level of education, or into the work force that help the person succeed.

25



Reference List

Hartman, Sven (1995). Lärares kunskap. Traditioner och idéer i svensk

undervisningshistoria [Teachers Knowledge. Traditions and Ideas in SwedishEducation History]. Linköping: Linköpingsuniversitet.

Jedeskog, Gunilla (1999). Datorn i undervisningen – en tillbakablick [Computers

in Teaching – a Retrospective]. Stockholm: Delegationen för IT i Skolan.

Lidensjö, Bo and Lundgren, Ulf P. (2000). Utbildningsreformer och politisk styrning

[Education Reforms and Policy Making]. Stockholm: HLS Förlag.

Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden and National Agency for Education

(1994a). Curriculum for the compulsory school system, the pre-school class and

the leisure-time centre, Lpo 94.


(1994b). Curriculum for the Non-Compulsory School System, Lpf 94.


(1998). Curriculum for the pre-school, Lpfö 98 .

Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden (2002). ITiS 1998-2002 .

National Agency for Education (2000a). Democracy in Swedish Education.

National Agency for Education (2000b). Education for All: The Swedish Education

System.

National Agency for Education (2001). Syllabuses for the Compulsory School .

Raham, Helen (2002). Decentralisation and Choice in Sweden’s School System.

Policy Lessons for Canada. Kelowna: Society for the Advancement of Excellence in

Education.

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Skolöverstyrelsen (1980). Läroplan för Grundskolan, Lgr80 [Curriculum for the

Compulsory School System].

Swedish Government (1998). Tools for Learning - a National Programme for ICT in

Schools.

Swedish National Agency for School Improvement. Facts – After ITiS [WWW

document]. http://www.skolutveckling.se/it_i_skolan/itis/english/facts.shtml, viewed

on 13 January 2004.

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Appendix

28

it use in the swedish school system

Documents