This work discusses how the complex relationship between welfare policies of equity and market efficiencies/deficiencies of education policies is handled in local practices. It offers contributions from the five Nordic countries - Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland - and pays special attention to questions about access and diversity in upper secondary education. The book draws on a wide range of theoretical frameworks and research projects and provides multiple perspectives of how upper secondary staff and students have experienced reforms of education governance during the last two or three decades. The research projects range from in-depth case studies to the analysis of large-scale data sets and inform practitioners, policy makers and researchers about practices of education policy that are highly influenced by market forces.

This book critically analyses the current education political strategy of cultivating excellence in education. It shows how the new policy for selecting talented students in Denmark deconstructs the compromise from which the comprehensive school was built and reduces equal opportunities. It discusses how the current practice of measurement, selection and guidance of talented students brings about significant changes in education policies, in pedagogic practices, a restructuring of school organisations, and changed requirements of teachers. It explains how the internal differentiation of education systems based on self-selection and free choice, but also on new assessment techniques, tends to widen the inequality gap between students. The analysis clearly shows the relationship between the circulation of new ideas and normative frameworks at international level, and their transfer into national policies, while situating these developments in a socio-historical perspective. The book illustrates by means of a concrete case study with important empirical data that demonstrate the reality and influence of this new policy on the day-to-day work of teachers.

This book critically analyses the current education political strategy of cultivating excellence in education. It shows how the new policy for selecting talented students in Denmark deconstructs the compromise from which the comprehensive school was built and reduces equal opportunities. It discusses how the current practice of measurement, selection and guidance of talented students brings about significant changes in education policies, in pedagogic practices, a restructuring of school organisations, and changed requirements of teachers. It explains how the internal differentiation of education systems based on self-selection and free choice, but also on new assessment techniques, tends to widen the inequality gap between students. The analysis clearly shows the relationship between the circulation of new ideas and normative frameworks at international level, and their transfer into national policies, while situating these developments in a socio-historical perspective. The book illustrates by means of a concrete case study with important empirical data that demonstrate the reality and influence of this new policy on the day-to-day work of teachers.