An Interview about the Changing Roles within Swedish Adult Education Institutions
Now, this is becoming less and less common, as the institutions have instead been increasingly subsumed into the national education system, acting a bit like its ”cleaning-lady” by providing a second chance for students who did not pass high-school, and by offering courses important from a labour-market perspective. The teachers within the schools have had their work professionalized and streamlined to become more and more indistinguishable from that of teachers in general.
None of this is wrong per se, Wijkström emphasises, but it is important that the institutions are aware what runs the risk of being lost in the process: the role as an idea-driven environment for new perspectives on societal development, based on the foundational ideas behind each institution. Wijkström argues that the present-day situation is also an opportunity for the institutions to reconnect with this heritage, in light of today’s challenges.
The full article in Swedish can be read
