Gymnasieskolan som demokratisk arena? En utvärderingsstudie av demokratimålen i Lpf 94
Student democracyLpf 94High schoolImplementation problemsStreet-level bureaucratsPolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
The essay is an evaluative study of student democracy in the Swedish high school, its departure point being the 1994 national curriculum for the voluntary school forms (Lpf 94). We adopted an interview method, the survey units consisting in a number of high school teachers. The analysis has two principal theoretical departure points, involving democracy theory and implementation analysis, respectively. The former is utilized to help identifying what sort of democracy permeates the governing document and high school daily life, the latter to explain actual outcomes.The study concludes that the 94 curriculum is characterized by a strong democracy with emphasis on participatory democratic processes, whereas in practice there is a thin democracy in both classroom and formal student government contexts. Representative processes are given plenty of room although few attempts at participatory democratic components can be identified.A deeper analysis of the result reveals implementation problems traceable to elements of symbolism in the goals. Furthermore, conflicts of goals can be identified both within the 94 curriculum and in relation to other governing documents such as syllabuses. The desire of individual high school teachers and school boards to implement student democratic work modes greatly influences the outcome.