Dumbing Down : The Crisis of Quality and Equity in a Once-Great School System--And How to Reverse the Trend.
- 1st ed.
- 1 online resource (222 pages)
Dumbing Down -- Preface -- Contents -- About the Authors -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 Introduction: The Rise and Puzzling Fall of the Swedish Educational System -- The Miracle -- Sweden's Educational Crisis -- The Purpose of the Book -- Outline -- 2 The Silver Age of Swedish Education -- The Pedagogy of the Old School System -- The Teachers -- In Sum -- 3 Educational Performance in Swedish Schools-What Are the Facts? -- Test Results and National Economic Performance -- Sweden's Downward Trajectory -- TIMSS -- TIMSS Advanced -- PISA -- Later Results and Comparability to Previous PISA Assessments -- The PISA Assessment of Creative Problem Solving -- Other Relevant Comparisons -- PIAAC -- The Diagnostic Test in Mathematics at Chalmers University of Technology -- The Macroeconomic Effects of the Knowledge Decline -- In Sum -- 4 The Malaise in the School System -- The Students -- Grade Inflation -- Boys versus Girls -- Undemocratic Attitudes and "Fake News" -- A Dysfunctional Work Environment -- Mental Health -- The Teachers -- The Low Status and Shortage of Teachers -- Working Conditions -- A Lost Professional Ethos -- In Sum -- 5 Two Views of Knowledge and Teaching -- The Classical View -- The Contradictory View -- In Sum -- 6 The Rise of "Post-Truth" Schooling -- The End of Herbartian Education -- The Unity School -- The 1994 National Curriculum -- In Sum -- 7 The Deinstitutionalization and Fragmentation of the Swedish School System -- Governance Transferred to Municipalities -- The Voucher School Reform -- The 2011 National Curriculum -- The Main Features of the Curriculum -- Grading in the 2011 National Curriculum -- Calibration of Grades and National Tests -- In Sum -- 8 A Perfect Storm -- The Decline in Knowledge and Rise in Grades -- The Students (and Boys) -- The Teachers: The Vicious Circle. 9 The Way Forward for Sweden and Other Western Countries -- The Denial of Human Nature -- The Virtuous Circle -- Concluding Remarks -- Appendices -- Appendix A -- Index.