National oversight by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate

About:

The Swedish Education Act establishes that learners should be kept informed on issues that concern them. They must also continuously be stimulated to take an active part in developing their education and educational environments. Furthermore, information and forms of participation must be adapted to learners’ age and maturity. The Act also establishes that learners’ guardians should be informed and given avenues to participate in education-related decisions, such as developing plans for individual support needs.

Within this context, government agencies are expected to listen to the voices of learners. This can be done through locally-implemented surveys and interviews or through invitations to reference groups or other consultation avenues.

The Swedish Schools Inspectorate works to maintain high-quality, equitable education across the country by ensuring that schools comply with national laws, such as the Swedish Education Act and policies. The Inspectorate supervises and reviews school activities and communicates necessary improvements to school leaders.

One way to achieve this is through regular voluntary school surveys aimed at learners of different ages, learners’ guardians, as well as school and pre-school educators. In the 10 years since these surveys started, the Schools Inspectorate has collected 2.5 million responses (980,000 from learners, 340,000 from educators and 1.2 million from guardians). The results are analysed as part of the overall work to identify specific schools or focus areas for further inspection, such as challenges in teaching and learner support needs.

The Inspectorate also conducts school visits and quality audits. These involve voluntary group or individual interviews with learners, teachers, school health workers and school leaders. The Inspectorate obtains consent and informs participants and guardians about the purpose of the interview and how their information will be used. When conducting interviews, the inspectors aim to:

• start with open-ended questions;
• follow the interviewees’ own stories;
• give interviewees time to think and speak;
• listen actively.

For group interviews, inspectors are taught to ensure a diverse group composition and to give everyone an opportunity to share. The inspectors are mindful in their selection of interview locations and times of day, and they keep in mind asymmetric power structures, ensuring sensitivity and flexibility to respect learners’ feelings and integrity. They also provide participants with information about where and how to get in touch with inspectors afterwards with any questions or concerns.

Additionally, keeping in mind learners’ rights, learners and families have the option to self-report school issues to the Inspectorate. Based on the information received, the Inspectorate decides whether to investigate potential misconduct. Examples include lack of support for learners or abusive situations. The Inspectorate also includes a Child and School Student Representative, who is responsible for safeguarding individual learners’ rights and addressing abuse and misconduct. Finally, the Inspectorate regularly invites national learner and disability organisations to submit comments on its activities.

Outcomes:

The Swedish Education Act lays the national policy foundation for schools to listen to and act upon the needs of learners. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate creates a channel between the local school environment and national policy. It also establishes a system of monitoring and accountability.

Every report to the Schools Inspectorate about schools is saved and enters the Inspectorate’s aggregate processing of information. A single report may not lead to an immediate inspection but could be used in future inspections. Both before and after school inspections, learner contributions have the potential to inform decisions.

Key element(s) of the VIA Framework:

The Swedish approach from national policy level through to local implementation and evaluation via the Inspectorate exemplifies SPACE, VOICE and AUDIENCE. The Swedish Education Act ensures a fundamental understanding of the need to create safe spaces for learners and families to share their perspectives about schools and to participate in decision-making about issues that affect their school lives. The Inspectorate takes this further by evaluating how well schools put this into practice. Inspectors are trained to approach learners, families and other stakeholders with sensitivity, ensuring informed consent.

Learn more about the Swedish Schools Inspectorate