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Publications (10 of 59) Show all publications
Alexiadou, N., Hjelmér, C., Laiho, A. & Pihlaja, P. (2024). Early childhood education and care policy change: Comparing goals, governance and ideas in Nordic contexts. Compare, 54(2), 185-202
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Early childhood education and care policy change: Comparing goals, governance and ideas in Nordic contexts
2024 (English)In: Compare, ISSN 0305-7925, E-ISSN 1469-3623, Vol. 54, no 2, p. 185-202Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is changing across Europe, reflecting multiple policy intentions and assumptions about education in early years, and the role of the state in supporting, funding and regulating its institutions. In this article, we examine the evolution of ECEC comparatively in Finland and Sweden, and we explore the shifts in goals, governance mechanisms and policy ideas that have characterised reforms in the sector. We draw on an analysis of policy documents, and argue that the incremental changes achieved over the last 50 years have been in response to changing goals assigned to ECEC and ideas about its roles and functions as part of the welfare and education sectors. The power of ideas in effecting policy change is tempered by established institutional framings, yet is visible in the early dominance of child-centred ideas, and the later controversies over the emergent labour-market and education-driven rationales of the post-2010s.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2024
Keywords
Early childhood education and care, policy goals, governance, policy ideas, Finland, Sweden
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-198194 (URN)10.1080/03057925.2022.2092451 (DOI)000817861200001 ()2-s2.0-85124360377 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-07-18 Created: 2022-07-18 Last updated: 2024-02-23Bibliographically approved
Alexiadou, N. & Rambla, X. (2023). Education policy governance and the power of ideas in constructing the new European Education Area. European Educational Research Journal, 22(6), 852-869
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Education policy governance and the power of ideas in constructing the new European Education Area
2023 (English)In: European Educational Research Journal, E-ISSN 1474-9041, Vol. 22, no 6, p. 852-869Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Twenty years after the Lisbon strategy, education policy in the European Union (EU) is at a critical juncture, with a new set of strategic goals endorsed for the 2021–2030 decade. This article examines the complex interplay of ideas, institutions and actors, in articulating education policy priorities in the new European Education Area (EEA). Drawing on documentary reviews and interviews with policy actors in the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, we trace the rise and fall of policy ideas in the new framework. The negotiations over the definition of EEA reveal new tensions between and within European institutions over specific policy ideas, with “lifelong learning” and “gender” as the most controversial ones. Continuing, longstanding tensions between the education and employment fields remain, and present adifficulty for the construction of a comprehensive and cohesive education policy program.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2023
Keywords
European Union, European Education Area, education policy, policy ideas, governance
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work; education
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-199125 (URN)10.1177/14749041221121388 (DOI)000849899800001 ()2-s2.0-85138304920 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2022-09-05 Created: 2022-09-05 Last updated: 2023-10-06Bibliographically approved
Alexiadou, N., Holm, A.-S., Rönnberg, L. & Carlbaum, S. (2023). Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education: a Swedish education company operating in India. Educational review (Birmingham)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Learning, unlearning and redefining teachers’ agency in international private education: a Swedish education company operating in India
2023 (English)In: Educational review (Birmingham), ISSN 0013-1911, E-ISSN 1465-3397Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Private international education is on the rise, but we still have limited knowledge on how different commercial actors operate in this field and how it affects local teachers and their work in the schools abroad. Swedish school companies have been active in exporting schooling in the international arena, including “Swedish” education models. In this article, we examine one company and their operations in India. We explore the interpretations of the company education model by teachers in the Indian schools, and how this affects their professional capacity. Mixed qualitative methods of interviews, on-site school visits and documentary reviews, were used to examine the possibilities for teachers to exercise professional agency within their working environment. Our findings show that teachers operate within a highly structured pedagogical environment characterised by a given curriculum, a centralised learning platform and training programme, and a set of dominant discourses around values and teaching practices. Teachers are expected to embrace a new professional identity in a process of discarding past experiences and adopting the new professional language given by the company's particular education model. In willingly embracing the company discourses and expectations, teachers’ agency tends to be constrained.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2023
Keywords
Teacher agency, international schools, local teachers, private education, India, Sweden
National Category
Educational Sciences Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-212036 (URN)10.1080/00131911.2023.2228507 (DOI)001020311500001 ()2-s2.0-85164717032 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2018-04897
Available from: 2023-07-16 Created: 2023-07-16 Last updated: 2023-09-05
Alexiadou, N. & Rönnberg, L. (2023). Reading the internationalisation imperative in higher education institutions: external contexts and internal positionings. Higher Education Policy, 36(2), 351-369
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Reading the internationalisation imperative in higher education institutions: external contexts and internal positionings
2023 (English)In: Higher Education Policy, ISSN 0952-8733, E-ISSN 1740-3863, Vol. 36, no 2, p. 351-369Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Sweden has actively pursued internationalisation policies at national level, in parallel to the pursuit of internationalisation strategies of individual universities. Thisarticle focuses on university responses towards internationalisation, and the inter -play between external higher education environments and institutional positioning.We draw on empirical qualitative research in two of Sweden’s largest universities, toexamine institutional responses to internationalisation, expressed through documen-tary material and interviews with 32 senior leaders. Our findings suggest that theglobal research environment acts as a strong discursive driver for internationalisa-tion actions, manifested in the strategic partnerships pursued by the two institutions.An equally powerful driver, is the national higher education sector as a context ofconstant comparisons and competition but also as a source of collaborative learningand exchange. The two universities exhibit strategic autonomy in their reading ofthe internationalisation imperative, and in constructing their actions and responses,although these are significantly framed by size and geography. In the Swedish highereducation landscape, these two dimensions constitute a constraining physical anddiscursive context, underpinning the links between a global, internationalised envi-ronment, and the universities’ self-image and positioning.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2023
Keywords
internationalisation, institutional positioning, size, geography, Sweden
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
education; educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-191059 (URN)10.1057/s41307-021-00260-y (DOI)000739211600002 ()2-s2.0-85122295043 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03434
Available from: 2022-01-07 Created: 2022-01-07 Last updated: 2023-06-01Bibliographically approved
Alexiadou, N., Kefala, Z. & Rönnberg, L. (2023). Through the eyes of the disciplines: Student perspectives and positionings towards internationalisation-at-home. European Journal of Higher Education
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Through the eyes of the disciplines: Student perspectives and positionings towards internationalisation-at-home
2023 (English)In: European Journal of Higher Education, ISSN 2156-8235, E-ISSN 2156-8243Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Debates around internationalisation-at-home (IaH) focus on the benefits accrued to students from the integration of internationalisation dimensions in their studies, curricular developments and interactions with international students, but, with scant attention to how these vary in different subject areas. In this article, we focus on the disciplinary experiences and framings of internationalisation from the perspectives of students in two Swedish universities. Drawing on 67 interviews with students sampled across different subject areas, we examine how the disciplinary definitions of study objects and pedagogic approaches filter the students’ experiences and shape their views around IaH, and their ambitions for the future. Our findings suggest first, a discipline-specific set of positionings regarding the nature of subject areas as lenses through which internationalisation is understood. Second, the students hold strong views around the contribution of IaH in strengthening the disciplines themselves. In addition, the student voices paint a dynamic picture of internationalisation positions, not always consistent with disciplinary stereotypes.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis Group, 2023
Keywords
Internationalisation-at-home, internationalisation, academic disciplines, students, Sweden
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
education; educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-204143 (URN)10.1080/21568235.2023.2168719 (DOI)2-s2.0-85147455872 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03434
Available from: 2023-01-28 Created: 2023-01-28 Last updated: 2023-02-21
Rönnberg, L., Alexiadou, N., Benerdal, M., Carlbaum, S., Holm, A.-S. & Lundahl, L. (2022). Swedish free school companies going global: Spatial imaginaries and movable pedagogical ideas. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 8(1), 9-19
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Swedish free school companies going global: Spatial imaginaries and movable pedagogical ideas
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2022 (English)In: Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, ISSN 2002-0317, Vol. 8, no 1, p. 9-19Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Enabled by market-oriented policies implemented in the early 1990s, a nation-wide for-profit education industry has emerged and flourished in Sweden. As a more recent expansion strategy, Swedish school companies have begun exporting their school and early childhood education and care services internationally. In this article, three such companies and a selection of the foreign operations they have set up are studied to analyse how they describe the education services they are establishing in the new national settings. The findings show that the companies have developed and followed different edu-business models, using and transforming particular pedagogical ideas and connecting them to different spatial imaginaries. These include the Swedish/Scandinavian as both places and idealized spaces, infused with borderless global transformative spatial imaginaries on the creation of autonomous learners and futuristic education visions for global futures. Educational profiles and concepts from the Swedish context are both adjusted and marketed to the foreign settings, and entail stories on spaces and mobilities, encompassing pedagogy, teachers and students.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2022
Keywords
free school, privatization, export, private education delivery, international
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-190934 (URN)10.1080/20020317.2021.2008115 (DOI)2-s2.0-85122131883 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2018-04897
Available from: 2022-01-03 Created: 2022-01-03 Last updated: 2022-03-16Bibliographically approved
Alexiadou, N. & Rönnberg, L. (2022). Transcending borders in higher education: Internationalisation policies in Sweden. European Educational Research Journal, 21(3), 504-519
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Transcending borders in higher education: Internationalisation policies in Sweden
2022 (English)In: European Educational Research Journal, E-ISSN 1474-9041, Vol. 21, no 3, p. 504-519Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article examines the national and European policy contexts that shaped the Swedish internationalisation agenda in higher education since 2000, the policy ideas that were mobilised to promote it, and the national priorities that steered higher education debates. The analysis highlights how domestic and European policy priorities, as well as discourses around increasing global economic reach and building solidarity across the world, have produced an internationalisation strategy that is distinctly ‘national’. Drawing on the analysis of the most recent internationalisation strategies we argue that the particular Swedish approach to internationalisation has its ideational foundations in viewing higher education as a political instrument to promote social mobility and justice, as well as a means to develop economic competitiveness and employability capacity. In addition, internationalisation has been used to legitimise national reform goals, but also as a policy objective on its own with the ambition to position Sweden as a competitive knowledge nation in a global context.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2022
Keywords
Higher education policy, internationalisation, policy ideas, Sweden
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-179263 (URN)10.1177/1474904120988383 (DOI)000618506900001 ()2-s2.0-85100520399 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03434
Available from: 2021-01-28 Created: 2021-01-28 Last updated: 2023-03-28Bibliographically approved
Kefala, Z., Alexiadou, N. & Rönnberg, L. (2021). Internationalisera mera på hemmaplan: Lärarstudenters erfarenheter av utbildningens internationella dimensioner. In: Per-Olof Erixon, Anna Martín Bylund och Jakob Cromdal (Ed.), Per-Olof Erixon; Anna Martín Bylund; Jacob Cromdal (Ed.), Ämnet som blev: rapporter från den fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete. Paper presented at Fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete, Umeå universitet, 19-20 augusti 2019 (pp. 37-52). Umeå: Umeå Universitet
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Internationalisera mera på hemmaplan: Lärarstudenters erfarenheter av utbildningens internationella dimensioner
2021 (Swedish)In: Ämnet som blev: rapporter från den fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete / [ed] Per-Olof Erixon; Anna Martín Bylund; Jacob Cromdal, Umeå: Umeå Universitet , 2021, p. 37-52Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [sv]

Det här kapitlet undersöker lärarstudenters upplevelser av så kallad internationalisering på hemmaplan (IPH) och hur exempelvis interkulturella och internationella dimensioner inlemmas och kommer till uttryck i undervisningen. Den svenska högskolan har en historia av att arbeta proaktivt med internationaliseringsfrågor, men det har ofta kommit att förstås som en fråga om mobilitet och utbyten av olika slag. På senare tid har även IPH lyfts fram som en allt viktigare internationaliseringsambition för landets lärosäten (SOU 2018:3). I detta kapitel analyseras intervjuer med 23 studenter från olika program inom lärarutbildningens område. Resultatet visar att även om studenterna resonerar mycket insiktsfullt om såväl interkulturella kompetenser som färdigheter är de internationella dimensionerna de mött i sin utbildning starkt begränsade. Lärarutbildning som kunskapsfält uppfattas i mångt och mycket som en utbildning orienterad mot den nationella sfären och det påverkar hur studenterna möter de ämnesmässiga inslagen i utbildningen liksom hur de förbereds för det framtida yrkeslivet. En central slutsats utifrån studenternas berättelser är att det finns ett betydande utrymme för att utveckla goda interkulturella och internationella lärmiljöer som kan möta de krav som ställs på såväl en högkvalitativ utbildning som i den kommande yrkesutövningen. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå Universitet, 2021
Series
Tilde skriftserie ; 3
Keywords
internationalization, teacher education, early childhood education, study and career guidance, Sweden
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-187419 (URN)978-91-7855-604-5 (ISBN)978-91-7855-603-8 (ISBN)
Conference
Fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete, Umeå universitet, 19-20 augusti 2019
Funder
Swedish Research Council, Dnr 2017-03434
Available from: 2021-09-10 Created: 2021-09-10 Last updated: 2022-03-16Bibliographically approved
Rönnberg, L., Alexiadou, N., Benerdal, M., Carlbaum, S., Holm, A.-S. & Lundahl, L. (2021). Pedagogiskt arbete i en global tid: svenska friskoleföretag och deras utlandsetableringar. In: Per-Olof Erixon, Anna Martín Bylund och Jakob Cromdal (Ed.), Per-Olof Erixon; Anna Martín Bylund; Jakob Cromdal (Ed.), Ämnet som blev: rapporter från den fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete. Paper presented at Fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete, Umeå universitet, 19-20 augusti 2019 (pp. 125-141). Umeå: Umeå Universitet
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Pedagogiskt arbete i en global tid: svenska friskoleföretag och deras utlandsetableringar
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2021 (Swedish)In: Ämnet som blev: rapporter från den fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete / [ed] Per-Olof Erixon; Anna Martín Bylund; Jakob Cromdal, Umeå: Umeå Universitet , 2021, p. 125-141Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [sv]

Hur friskolor och det fria skolvalet har påverkat det pedagogiska arbetet i Sverige har varit föremål för både forskning och reformdiskussioner. En långt mindre studerad aspekt av denna utveckling handlar om hur reformerna har möjliggjort framväxten av en svensk utbildningsindustri med internationella exportambitioner. Kapitlets syfte är att beskriva och diskutera hur tre stora svenska friskoleföretag beskriver sin verksamhet i skolor och förskolor utomlands. Kapitlet illustrerar hur anpassningar görs både i förhållande till den valda affärsmodellen och till den nya nationella kontexten liksom i förhållande till den tilltänkta elev- och föräldragruppen. I detta profileringsarbete kommer den svenska bakgrunden i företagens verksamhet och pedagogiska ansats till uttryck på olika sätt. Kapitlet bidrar med perspektiv på hur det pedagogiska arbetet transformeras i en global tid och vilken roll kommersiella privata aktörer kan spela i sådana processer.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå Universitet, 2021
Series
Tilde skriftserie ; 3
National Category
Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-187491 (URN)978-91-7855-604-5 (ISBN)978-91-7855-603-8 (ISBN)
Conference
Fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete, Umeå universitet, 19-20 augusti 2019
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2018-04897
Available from: 2021-09-13 Created: 2021-09-13 Last updated: 2022-03-16Bibliographically approved
Alexiadou, N., Kefala, Z. & Rönnberg, L. (2021). Preparing Education Students for an International Future?: Connecting Students' Experience to Institutional Contexts. Journal of Studies in International Education, 25(4), 443-460
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Preparing Education Students for an International Future?: Connecting Students' Experience to Institutional Contexts
2021 (English)In: Journal of Studies in International Education, ISSN 1028-3153, E-ISSN 1552-7808, Vol. 25, no 4, p. 443-460Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article focuses on "internationalization at home" (IaH) for education students in Swedish Universities and its significance for their professional formation and future practice. We draw on research in two large institutions and explore the perceptions and experiences of internationalization of home students in education. We find that while the "intercultural" understanding of students is well developed, the international and intercultural dimensions of experiencing IaH are limited, due to several institutional and learning environment contexts. This has consequences for the social dimensions of future teaching practice. In addition, the perception of the discipline as "national" is significant in shaping the outlook of students toward international questions and their own future personal and professional mobility. We contextualize these findings using documentary analysis and staff interviews, and argue that to achieve intercultural and international learning environments of quality, social relevance, and long-term social benefit, we need to rethink how internationalization perspectives are integrated in teacher education courses.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2021
Keywords
internationalization at home, teacher education, early childhood education, study and career guidance, Sweden
National Category
Educational Sciences Pedagogical Work
Research subject
educational work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-181414 (URN)10.1177/1028315321998498 (DOI)000628945400001 ()2-s2.0-85102430633 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-03434
Available from: 2021-03-10 Created: 2021-03-10 Last updated: 2021-08-11Bibliographically approved
Projects
Internationalising higher education: Challenges and opportunities for Universities and academics in Sweden [2017-03434_VR]; Umeå University; Publications
Alexiadou, N. & Rönnberg, L. (2023). Reading the internationalisation imperative in higher education institutions: external contexts and internal positionings. Higher Education Policy, 36(2), 351-369Alexiadou, N., Kefala, Z. & Rönnberg, L. (2023). Through the eyes of the disciplines: Student perspectives and positionings towards internationalisation-at-home. European Journal of Higher EducationAlexiadou, N. & Rönnberg, L. (2022). Transcending borders in higher education: Internationalisation policies in Sweden. European Educational Research Journal, 21(3), 504-519Kefala, Z., Alexiadou, N. & Rönnberg, L. (2021). Internationalisera mera på hemmaplan: Lärarstudenters erfarenheter av utbildningens internationella dimensioner. In: Per-Olof Erixon, Anna Martín Bylund och Jakob Cromdal (Ed.), Per-Olof Erixon; Anna Martín Bylund; Jacob Cromdal (Ed.), Ämnet som blev: rapporter från den fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete. Paper presented at Fjärde nationella konferensen i pedagogiskt arbete, Umeå universitet, 19-20 augusti 2019 (pp. 37-52). Umeå: Umeå UniversitetAlexiadou, N., Kefala, Z. & Rönnberg, L. (2021). Preparing Education Students for an International Future?: Connecting Students' Experience to Institutional Contexts. Journal of Studies in International Education, 25(4), 443-460
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-8731-4728

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