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Some of the most prominent educational institutions within art and culture in Sweden are the folk high schools. Of the 154 folk high schools across the country, most offer aesthetic programs at the post-compulsory educational level, specializing in music, fine art, handicrafts, performing arts or creative writing. The number of students engaged in aesthetic programs has almost doubled over the last twenty years, from approximately 4 000 individuals in autumn 1997, to more than 7 000 autumn 2016. Despite the increasing popularity, nation-wide reach and great variety of courses, there are few systematic studies and evaluations of the role of these programs within the ”cultural ecosystem” in Sweden. In this evaluation report, we outline the ways in which the courses at the folk high schools relate to the overall educational system and labour market, how they are active in cultivating artistic abilities and talent and provide employment possibilities for hundreds of teachers who themselves also may act as cultural workers. Through qualitative and quantitative research methods, we study the social composition and vocational orientation of the aesthetic teachers as well as the educational trajectories of the participants and their transitions from education to work. The first part of the report provides an in-depth account of the participants’ backgrounds, school choices as well as the recruitment and selection processes of the schools. We find that the participants originate from families with relatively high educational merits. This pattern is particularly salient for the participants who specialize in music, creative writing, and the performing arts. The inherited educational resources tend to be more concentrated among the participants’ mothers rather than their fathers, a development that has been accentuated over the last two decades. The participants report three main reasons for their choice of studying at folk high schools. They cite making a break from their previous lives (orienta-tion to the past), being in a specific situation or particular place (orientation to the present), or as a means of getting somewhere else (orientation towards the future). During the period 2005–2010, over 30 percent of the participants came to these programs after completing an upper secondary school program specialized in aesthetics. Approximately 30 percent of these cohorts had studied social sciences or natural sciences and 20 percent had studied more vocationally oriented programs at upper secondary school. One surprising finding was that as many as 27 percent of the folk high school participants, within this time period, had studied courses and programs at university level before embarking on folk high school studies, primarily in the fields of the arts and humanities. The institutional links between folk high schools and enrolment in higher education was generally very strong. For example, after graduating from a folk high school aesthetic program, 60 percent of the participants enrolled in higher education within a twelve-year period, primarily to study the arts and humanities, but also social sciences, education and various teachertraining programs. The second part of the report examines the experiences of the participants of studying at the schools and the experiences of the teachers of these programs. By means of a large-scale questionnaire, we analysed the social and demographic characteristics of the teachers in the aesthetic profile courses. Among the teachers who responded to the questionnaire, we found that an overwhelming majority grew up in Sweden (94 percent), or other European countries (5 percent), while teachers with backgrounds from non-European countries were extremely few (< 1 percent). From an urban-rural perspective, the survey results showed that half of the teachers grew up in smaller villages and towns, a quarter in rural areas, and a quarter from what they classified as larger towns or cities. The teacher collective, that was engaged in the aesthetic subjects, frequently had extensive educational merits, primarily within their respective subject areas within the arts, but also from various educational courses and didactics. Part-time work as adult education teachers enabled many of them to combine being teachers with doing their own artistic projects. This double vocational positioning, as artist and teacher, is investigated and explored further in the report. The dual vocational position and commitment is perceived by the teachers as a means to maintaining their aesthetic competence and the stylistic skills and forms of expression required to teach at this level. The final part of the report focuses on the participants’ anticipated and actual trajectories after their time at the folk high schools. The anticipated educational routes are primarily portrayed through interviews about participants’ plans for the future. The actual trajectories are outlined through descriptive statistics on the former participants’ subsequent educational enrolments and establishment in the labour market. Given the extent to which they continue within higher education (59 percent of participants), it is not surprising that the time it takes for them to secure employment and to become fully established in the labour market is extensive. However, if their establishment status in the labour market is measured 5 to 10 years following the completion of their folk high school studies in the arts and humanities, their position in the labour market is similar to comparable groups in the population at large. Based on the main source of income ten years after examination, very few participants receive unemployment benefits or are living on social welfare. In summary, the report shows that the folk high school could be perceived as an important art college at the post-compulsory educational level. It is argued that these folk high schools are a crucial resource for accomplishing the goals outlined in Sweden’s national cultural policy. A large proportion of the teachers in these aesthetic profiles are themselves working as artists. As such, the folk high schools also help sustain a labour market for Swedish cultural workers. When enrolled at these folk high schools, the participants learn to both create and appreciate cultural work, enabling them to understand, value and contribute to artistic and cultural life. Accordingly, we propose that policies on adult education and culture ought to relate to each other in a clearer way, since these two policy areas are shown to overlap. Based on current policy goals, we suggest ways in which to shape a more inclusive recruitment structure to the aesthetic courses. Folkbildningen utgör en av landets största kulturarenor och är en stor uppdragsgivare för Sveriges kulturarbetare. Folkhögskolans estetiska profilkurser med inriktning mot till exempel musik, bildkonst, hantverk, slöjd, teater, dans och litteratur är en viktig del av denna kulturella infrastruktur. I deltagarantal räknat har dessa estetutbildningar nästan dubblerats under de senaste tjugo åren, från cirka 4000 individer hösten 1997 till över 7000 hösten 2016. Trots dessa utbildningars riksomfattande omfång, genremässiga bredd och tilltagande volym är det sällan som folkhögskolornas kulturpolitiska betydelse uppmärksammas eller undersöks empiriskt. I denna utvärdering ges en överblick av deltagarnas vägar till och från folkhögskolornas estetiska kursverksamhet. Vägarna som leder till folkhögskolan uppmärksammas utifrån närstudier av deltagarnas bakgrund, skolval liksom folkhögskolornas rekrytering och antagningsprocesser. Deltagarna kommer till relativt stor del från familjer med förhållandevis starka utbildningstraditioner. Detta gäller i synnerhet deltagarna i kursprofiler med inriktning mot musik, skrivande och scenkonst. Drygt 30 procent av deltagarna under åren 2005–2010 kom till folkhögskolans estetiska kurser efter att ha läst estetiskt inriktade gymnasieprogram, och ytterligare drygt 30 procent hade läst samhällsvetenskapliga, humanistiska eller naturvetenskapliga gymnasieprogram. Förvånande var att 27 procent av deltagarna hade läst kurser och program på högskola och universitet före folkhögskolestudierna, främst inom området konst och humaniora. Kopplingen till högskolan visar sig överlag vara stark. Efter folkhögskolestudierna sökte sig nästan 60 procent av deltagarna vidare till högskola eller universitet inom en tolvårsperiod – främst till studier inom konst och humaniora, men även inom samhällsvetenskap och pedagogik, och till olika lärarutbildningar. Rapporten skildrar också mötet mellan deltagarna och lärarna på de estetiska kurserna i musik, bild och skrivande samt analyserar den sociala och demografiska sammansättningen bland lärarna med hjälp av en storskalig enkät. En stor majoritet av lärarna som svarade på enkäten visar sig vara uppväxta i Sverige (94 procent) eller andra europeiska länder (5 procent), medan andelen lärare med utomeuropeisk bakgrund är ytterst marginell ( |
