There is a general conception among those who are involved in the school-sector that there is a relation between resources and results. Better qualified teachers, smaller classes and schools with more finacial funding are regarded as better learning and development conditions for pupils (Gustafsson 2008). In spite of these widespread understanding, educational and economic research studies at the beginning of the 20th century had reached the verdict that resources have no bearing on educational results (Gustafsson 2008). The Swedish board of education (Skolverket) have published several reports, studies and surveys regarding the relation between resources and student outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the message of six publications from the Swedish board of education around the relationship between resources and student outcomes on the basis of the decentralization of the Swedish school in the 1990´s. The central question at issue is whether the Swedish board of education has been consistent in their message about the relationship between resources and results in the six publications between 1994-2009? I have also attempted to answer the resulting questions of my conclusion. This study is based on a qualitative text analysis. This means that text, in this case the publications from the Swedish board of education, is the object of the analysis. The result of this study is that the Swedish board of education in the middle of the 1990´s conveyed the message that there is no relationship between resources and results, or in any case that their and a large number of other research studies indicate this. This message has since changed. In their publications from the 21st century they distinctly express that such an relation does exist. This study consequently demonstrates that the Swedish board of education has not carried a consistent message in their publications. In the paper two possible explanations for the divided message from the Swedish board of education are presented. The first is that the Swedish board of education has been a victim of the methodological difficulties within the field of research. The second explanation is that the inconsistent message is a result of economic thinking from the Swedish board of education. The paper also goes on to discuss the Swedish board of educations use of human capital theory and the view on knowledge and learning.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:sh-3439 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Mirsaeidi, Leyla |
| Publisher | Södertörns högskola, Lärarutbildningen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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