Individualisation in Swedish Adult Education and the Shaping of Neo-liberal Subjectivities

In this article we have analysed the ways a discourse on individualisation is taking shape within adult education in Sweden, how it operates, and what effects it has in terms of shaping student subjectivity. Drawing on a post-structural theorisation we analyse interviews with teachers and students in municipal adult education and folk high schools (FHS). The analysis illustrates how both institutions contribute to the shaping of individualised subjectivities, although differently. At the end, a general question is raised about what happens with the democratic function of adult education in general when a discourse on individualisation operates in the ways described and, more specifically, asks what is happening to FHS as an educational practice that upholds its self-image as a last bastion of a collective notion of learning and subjectivity and nurturing an educational practice of learning democracy?     

Group discussions and test-enhanced learning: individual learning outcomes and personality characteristics

This paper focuses on the factors that are likely to play a role in individual learning outcomes from group discussions, and it includes a comparison featuring test-enhanced learning. A between-groups design (N = 98) was used to examine the learning effects of feedback if provided to discussion groups, and to examine whether group discussions benefit learning when compared to test-enhanced learning over time. The results showed that feedback does not seem to have any effect if provided to a discussion group, and that test-enhanced learning leads to better learning than the discussion groups, independent of retention interval. Moreover, we examined whether memory and learning might be influenced by the participants’ need for cognition (NFC). The results showed that those scoring high on NFC remembered more than those who scored low. To conclude, testing trumps discussion groups from a learning perspective, and the discussion groups were also the least beneficial learning context for those scoring low on NFC.     

Dissonant futures: occupational trajectories,gender and class in contemporary municipal adult education in Sweden

The aim of this article is to problematize the ways class and gender are played out in adult students’ narratives about their occupational choice and future. Drawing on Beverly Skeggs, we analyse how students think about future occupations, what motivates them towards these and how they are able to form their future in relation to them. Taking on Sweden as a case, our results show that students’ narratives on their future occupations are classed as well as gendered. In their vision of future occupations, working-class students tend to focus on occupations helping and caring for others, while middle-class students tend to focus on work more as a means of fulfilling themselves as individuals. These differences are also gendered. Female students are more likely than their male counterparts to picture their future occupations in relation to having children and a family. This tells us that in the female students’ narratives, there tends to be a strong focus on caring – for their families as well as in future occupations.     

Towards a Theory of Pedagogic Text Analysis

The present study examines why businesses and government ministries use and need occupational second foreign language (L3) skills, but fail to mention these in job advertisements. It contrasts data from two quantitative surveys of language use in business and government domains with two studies of the mention of L3 skills in job advertisements. While the former show that L3 languages are still used and still considered important and relevant, the latter show that such skills are hardly mentioned in job advertisements, not even as cautious requests in positions where these would be highly relevant. The authors discuss whether this may be due to the lack of L3 skills among new employees or due to the belief that English is sufficient, also known as “Anglophone complacency.”     

Teacher Education for Research‐based Practice in Expanded Roles: Finland's experience

Preparing teachers for a research‐based professionalism has been the central mission of teacher education in Finland since the mid‐1970s. More recently, as a result of such national policy developments as school‐based curriculum development and local decision‐making, the conception of teachers' work and professionalism has expanded. Drawing on experience within the teacher education programmes at the University of Helsinki and Åbo Akademi University, this paper discusses some of the programmatic issues that these developments have raised in class‐teacher, i.e. “elementary”, teacher education programmes. We focus in particular firstly on the research thesis that is a part of every teacher education programme in Finland, and the hallmark of the research‐based professional ideal; and, secondly on the emerging issues that derive from the need to incorporate the expanded understanding of the teacher's role within the curriculum of teacher education.     

Informal math coaching by instant messaging: Two case studies of how university students coach K-12 students

The aim of this study is to describe and explore how instant messaging (IM) can be used to support informal math coaching. We have studied two projects where university students use IM to coach K-12 students in mathematics. The coaches were interviewed with a focus on how informal coaching works by examining coaching challenges, how coaching can be organized, whether coaching should be anonymous or personal, which tools can be used and how informal math coaching supports learning. Research shows that generating and answering questions are important in the process of understanding and learning, which means that both the students and the coaches can learn math through this type of project. The coaches perceive informal math coaching as complementing online math forums. For students to learn effectively, the coaches need to be able to interpret the students' competence level in order to coach on a level that is within their development zone. It seems particularly challenging to coach at the right level when using IM and, therefore, it is important to establish a personal relationship with the students.     

Project work in university mathematics education

This article discusses project work in university mathematics education. The practice perspective is obtained as students and teachers from Aalborg University share their experiences. A theoretical framework is introduced. It includes the following key-terms: Problem-centered studies, interdisciplinarity, participant-directed studies, and the exemplarity principle. The contrasting of this theoretical conception of project work with the practice shows that the original notion of project work has been modified as a consequence of its encounter with practice. The modification can be perceived as both a success and a failure. To discuss this, different perspectives on project work in mathematics are suggested.     

Inter-project learning: processes and outcomes of knowledge codification in project-based firms

In this paper, we argue that the literature on knowledge codification has been overly concerned with the economic properties of its outcomes, neglecting the importance of its underlying learning processes. Following Zollo and Winter [Organisation Science, 2001, in press], the paper distinguishes three learning processes: experience accumulation, knowledge articulation and knowledge codification and suggests a framework to analyse the learning abilities of project-based firms. We propose that mechanisms for inter-project learning draw upon these learning processes and can be found at various levels of the project-based firm. Using empirical evidence from six case studies, we discern three empirical patterns, that we defined learning landscapes, of such mechanisms. Implications for the literature and practice of knowledge codification are discussed.