Entreprenörskap – Vår tids skolpolitiska filosofi? En ideologikritisk analys av Lpf 94 och Skola 2011

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine the ideological currents that have influenced the swedish school system since the 1990's. The background of my interest is the lively debate in schools and media about the new School reform 2011. My hypothesis is that education in 2011 largely will be influenced by neoliberal and neoconservative values. The method I`ve used is discourse and ideology critique, which examines the relationship between rhetoric and power. These concepts are useful to explain the ideological change in different policy documents and in curricula, for example Lpf 94 and School 2001. The theoretical framework is based primarily on the neoliberal and the neoconservative agenda, which are two distinct political rationalities in the contemporary postmodern world. Alongside this framework I have used scientific, educational, philosophical, sociological and cultural literature. The reason that I have included philosophical texts, is to put education issues in a wider context On the internationally published research articles there are literature, which criticize the neoliberal and neoconservative education discourse. This ideological thinking appears through a number of American scientists, such as Michael Apple, who advocate a different kind of education - a corrective to the mainstream - education, that denies ―grand narratives‖ such as class oppression in favor of the pedagogy based on control. Their theories are interesting and seem to be sustainable but are not very much discussed in the Swedish educational debate or education plans today. The conclusion is that the swedish school system is influenced by neoliberal and neoconservative values, through the plans to establish law and order, measurable criteria and entrepreneurship in education