Teacher education cultural diversity, social justice and equality: Policies, challenges and abandoned possibilities in Swedish teacher education

Abstract

There is a history of policies from the late 1940s to 2000 for the introduction of research based knowledge in Sweden for supporting the intellectual preparation of future teachers for an integrated and inclusive school system. The development of these policies was initiated following the National School Commission Inquiry into the possibilities for a common unitary comprehensive school, which had identified the historical divisions (duality) in teacher education as an obstacle. Pulling these divisions together and educating teachers in a shared content developed from a common research base in the education field about the challenges faced in the realization of the comprehensive school vision was expressed as a possible solution. However, the project failed. The divisions have remained. Schools have not overcome social reproduction. And in recent decades challenges have intensified as hyper-diversity, globalization and a recent turn towards market governance have added new complications.