This article examines challenges to the classical paradigm of education in Sweden that followed in the wake of state-initiated attempts at school reform in the first decades of the nineteenth century. When the internal disputes of the so-called 'Genius Committee' resulted in a failure to overcome the increasing divide between reformers, a prolific…

The article explores how education promotes social change. Using the philosophical foundations of adult education outlined by Elias and Merriam (2001, "Philosophical foundations of adult education" (3rd ed.), Krieger) as an analytical framework, the article compares the similarities and differences between popular education forms in two…

Older adults in Sweden lack access to funding for education and training, a gap partly filled by popular education. Study circles, one form of popular education, enable older adults to learn and adapt to the challenges of global society. They promote humanistic rather than economic goals of education. (SK)

Contributions of the Swedish scholar and social critic Wilhelm Sjostrand are discussed. His interests included educational psychology, comparative education, and the history of education. (RM)

Recent Swedish reforms in higher education have as objectives increased access to education, diversification, and democratic organization, but they are also threatening an overemphasis on science and technology and a loss of the varied traditions of knowledge. A reassessment of admission policies, institutional organization, faculty…

The "folkehojskoler," innovative Scandinavian secondary schools based on radical humanistic ideas, are examined from both empirical and philosophical perspectives, focusing on three elements: ideology; the student experience; and the teaching culture. Implications for goals, objectives, assumptions, forms, and practices in American…

Western preschools and schools find it important to nurture democracy. However, in order to succeed in nurturing democracy, democratic ideas must be implemented in all situations. Education alone, therefore, is not enough. All children must experience real influence over their situations, and experience the opportunity for self-determination in…