A Study On The Educational Policy And Its Development In The Nordic Welfare Capitalism

The educational policy in the Nordic welfare capitalism discussed in this thesis refers to the principles institutionalized to guide the educational activities since 1920 s in Nordic countries.The past a hundred years or so have witnessed the formation and development of the public educational policy based on social justice,with an obvious emphasis on universalism,equalitarianism and accessibility regardless personal contribution.The policy as such had attracted worldwide attention from its very beginning because of its free accessibility,and after its successive development over a span of nearly one hundred years in which universalism was confirmed,the policy has become a Nordic Model in the educational sector characterized by its equalitarianism and high quality.From a perspective of social justice,and a framework of policy analysis,this thesis discusses systematically the educational policy formed and developed in the past a hundred years in the Nordic welfare capitalism,and documentary research method is employed as the main technique of analysis.Based on a brief exploring of the historical roots before 1920 s,the educational policies and its practices in different stages are discussed in details,and its characteristics are typified and generalized,and,based on the descriptions as such,an explanation is also conducted in which the main factors brought about the policy and its further development are discussed.There are three sections in this thesis,and the structure of the thesis is as follows:The first section is the introduction,where the research theme,research questions,background and the significance of the research are introduced,and definition of relevant concepts is clarified,and a through literature review is conducted.Also,a discussion about the methodology is offered in this section,and originality of the thesis is discussed in this section,too.The second section is the main body of the thesis,in which there are four chapters.Chapter One is a description about the historical background of the educational policy in the Nordic welfare capitalism.Three historical times,that is,the Viking Age,the Reformation Era,and the time of Folk High School Movement are under intensive examination,because they are the most important historical times that the legacy of today’s educational policy was first emerged in history.Factors believed to have had great influence on the educational policy making,that is,the state,the political institution,the nationality and the culture are discussed in this chapter,by which the context for the development of the educational policy in these three historical times is re-examined.Chapter Two,Three and Four represent the changes of the educational policy in different stages,say,the initiative stage(1920-1945),the maturating stage(1945-1980),and then the adjusting stage(1980 and beyond),respectively.Different ideologies,that is,Marxism,Keynesianism,Social Democracy,Neo-liberalism and the Third Way Theory have proved important discourses that have had a great impact on the policy over the years.It is pointed out in this thesis that different ideologies have played a specific role in different stage.In the initiative time,Marxism,Keynesianism and early Social Democracy played a big role in the formation of the policy,as all the political parties(especially Social Democratic Party)in the Nordic countries were influenced by these ideologies,and the policy under scaffolding had an obvious orientation of social justice and equality.The maturating time witnessed the policy development in which the Social Democratic Party guided by the typical theory of Social Democracy was in power and thus the welfare state enjoyed a Golden Stage,and the educational policy was fully developed in all areas characterized by its universalism and equality.Since 1980 s and afterwards,the educational policy has entered into an adjusting age,in which the Neo-Liberalism and the Third Way Theory has been dominant discourses,and thus under the new social condition,educational policy has been more oriented towards efficiency,while universalism has been maintained at the same time.The third section of the thesis offers a conclusion about the research.It is pointed out that the most distinguished trait of the educational policy in the Nordic welfare capitalism is its equalitarianism,and this positive outcome should be regarded as a result of the sufficient negotiation among different agents throughout the process of policy making.It is also pointed out that the specific tradition and its nationality in Nordic countries,together with the initiatives taken by the Social Democratic Party,and more generally,a balanced social structure,are the main causal factors for the educational policy in the Nordic welfare capitalism.