Knowledge and Solidarity: The Norwegian social‐democratic school project in a period of change, 1945–20001

1. This article is based upon Volckmar (2005). Fra solidarisk samværskultur til kunnskapssolidaritet. Det sosialdemokratiske skoleprosjekt fra Sivertsen til Hernes [From solidary public spirit to knowledge solidarity. The social‐democratic school project from Sivertsen to Hernes; in Norwegian]. Doctoral thesis. Trondheim: Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The thesis was part of a larger educational history project, “Utdanning som nasjonsbygging”, funded by the Research Council of Norway.

Abstract

Between World War II and the end of the millennium two major educational reform periods are identified in Norway: reform period I in the 1950s and 1960s and reform period II in the 1990s. The Labour Party led both reforms. While the educational reforms in the 1950s and 1960s undoubtedly were part of an overall Nordic social‐democratic project, the reforms in the 1990s took place at a time when traditional social‐democratic values were under pressure in a world with a global economy. The main question in this paper is to what extent the Norwegian educational reforms in the 1990s followed social‐democratic ideas. To what extent were the educational reforms in the 1990s a continuation or a break from the educational reforms in “the golden age” of the social‐democratic projects in the 1950s and 1960s? The question will be approached within a personal angle, comparing the educational philosophy of Helge Sivertsen and Gudmund Hernes as the leading educational politicians for reform periods I and II, respectively.

Keywords:

• Social‐democratic school project
• Welfare state
• Educational reform
• A common school

Notes

1. This article is based upon Volckmar (2005). Fra solidarisk samværskultur til kunnskapssolidaritet. Det sosialdemokratiske skoleprosjekt fra Sivertsen til Hernes [From solidary public spirit to knowledge solidarity. The social‐democratic school project from Sivertsen to Hernes; in Norwegian]. Doctoral thesis. Trondheim: Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The thesis was part of a larger educational history project, “Utdanning som nasjonsbygging”, funded by the Research Council of Norway.

2. In the mid 1960s school committees for further elucidating of upper secondary and higher education were appointed, but they did not finish their work before 1970.

3. All citations in Norwegian are translated by the author.

4. Actually, NOU, 1976, p. 46 Levekårsundersøkelsen. Utdanning og ulikhet was a replication of the Coleman project officially reported in 1966, Equality of Educational Opportunity.