Marketisation reinforced the difference between teachers

The municipalisation and marketisation of schools in the 1990s has reinforced the differences in working conditions between upper secondary school teachers in different locations and schools. This is the result of a ten-year research project.

During the 1990s, three reforms were implemented that made Swedish schools one of the most market-oriented in the world: municipalisation, the charter school reform and free school choice. The reforms have not only affected the composition of the student body but also the working conditions of teachers.

The study shows some differences between teachers' conditions depending on whether they work for a municipal or an independent provider. Teachers at municipal schools feel that they have greater freedom of expression than teachers at independent schools. Teachers at independent schools, on the other hand, feel that they have greater freedom to design their teaching than teachers in the municipal sector. According to Karolina Parding, Professor in Human Work Science and project leader, the latter is not necessarily an effect of the organisational form. The municipal schools in the study are larger organisational units than the independent schools. The size itself, and the fact that there are a number of goals at different levels in the municipal activities, rather than just the organisational form, may be the reason why teaching is streamlined to a greater extent in these schools. Common to both organizational forms is that the administrative burden has increased.

More marketing

“Teachers spend more time than before on marketing and documentation at the expense of traditional teaching tasks.”

Previous studies of teachers' working conditions have often focused on metropolitan schools. The study from Luleå University of Technology has instead chosen to look at the most common types of schools, which in practice consists of three types of municipalities which are characterized as smaller local centers (1000–1999 students), larger local centers (2000–3999 students), and municipal centers (less than 1000 students).

The majority of Sweden's upper secondary students attend a school that falls into one of these three categories.

In total, 30 teachers and 8 principals were interviewed at 8 different schools. The study also includes a nationally representative survey that was distributed to 4733 upper secondary teachers in both municipal schools and independent schools. The response rate was just over 50%.

The issue is engaging

“The fact that so many responded to the survey shows that working conditions are an issue that engages the teaching profession”, says Karolina Parding.

In parallel with the Swedish study, a study of teachers' working conditions in Australia was conducted in collaboration with Australian researchers. Australia has also been through a far-reaching but partly different marketisation. One result in the Australian context is that more teachers have been given precarious employment conditions, as the regulation of employment forms has changed.

“What Sweden and Australia have in common is that teachers have to relate to three logics, or forms of governance if you like: the market, the profession and the bureaucracy. We believe that the profession, i.e. the teachers themselves, need to have more influence over the organisation of work as well as the content of the work. Teachers have a solid education, and they have the skills to be more involved in governance. They know what the business needs.”