Schools in Stockholm...and a few surprises
Another great week spent visiting schools in Stockholm. That may sound a bit hyperbolic but it’s about the best description I can offer after spending time at two very different schools in Stockholm.
The first of these was the Adolf Fredriks Music School in Norrmalm, a section of Stockholm. Because of my background and involvement in music education, a Swedish colleague suggested that I contact the school to see if they might be open to a visit. A few months before I arrived in the EU, I wrote an e-mail to the school’s headmaster describing my background and interest in the school. He graciously invited me to visit the school and prepared a two day agenda which allowed me not only to visit the school but almost become a part of it. The school, itself, is what is known as a ‘choir school’ spanning grades 4-9, and is devoted to choral singing. It was founded around 1939 and modeled on schools such as King’s College, Cambridge.
Choir singing has a long and esteemed history in Sweden and the school centers around this tradition training students in this musical form. Vocal music is a major part of the curriculum and students have multiple opportunities to partake in some form of musical activity. There is a musical assessment that all applicants undergo for potential admission (involving, mostly, music recognition skills and ear accuracy) and, once accepted, they’re invited to attend the school. Competition is formidable— of about 1000 students, 180 or so are accepted, about a 15% acceptance rate. And once they are accepted into the school, they are allowed to participate in a comprehensive education, musical and otherwise.
In terms of an educational form, the school probably corresponds to a magnet model drawing its population from around Stockholm from students usually not zoned for the school. For comparison purposes, it might best be compared to LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York. During the two days at the school, I visited a number of classes, both music and other core content subjects, and was able to experience some wonderful examples of skillful teaching and, extraordinary singing. The students, themselves, are an amazing group of talented and energetic young people. I met and talked with a number of them and found them to be friendly and engaging—and they had some very interesting questions for me as well.
I was amazed at the way I was allowed to become ‘absorbed’ into the school. From the moment I arrived, the headmaster and his administration were eager to tell me about the school, its traditions, visions, and accomplishments. I think what most gratified me was the fact that a school like this is allowed to exist in Stockholm. At its core, it is basically a school for talented students who travel away from their local municipalities to come here and study. They acknowledged that it hasn’t always been easy to defend the existence of a school like this but because of its immense success and sterling reputation, the school has grown in international reputation and stature and has inspired other schools like it in Sweden (take a look at this video clip to see what I mean). As a veteran of various ‘battles’ to sustain gifted and talented education, I understood their concerns and was happy that they been allowed to flourish.
I was able to meet with the faculty and have some very stimulating conversations concerning the effects of music on cognition. The teachers were amazingly receptive and we all participated in some animated, provocative conversations. I was quite impressed with their level of education expertise and music talent as well.I knew before I came to Sweden that gifted education is something pretty unknown and unpracticed in the country. In a culture focused on access and equity, identifying and accommodating gifted students is really not high on their education agenda. In fact, when I mentioned I visited the Adolf Fredricks School and how impressed I was, other Swedes who were involved in some way in education noted the fact that the school drew the best students from the highest socio-economic (SES) neighborhoods in Stockholm, so how could it not succeed. It seems that this argument is a global phenomenon. I’ve heard it countless numbers of times in the US and suspect it’s repeated as a rationale in other countries as well. Where would gifted education be if it weren’t for SES and good neighborhoods. There couldn’t be anything else in the success formula for gifted education such as a specialized, challenging curriculum, dedicated, trained teachers, and differentiated opportunities. It only and always depends on SES, doesn’t it…
Later the same week, I returned to another Vittra School in the Sodermalm section of Stockholm. A recap…these schools are start-up schools run by a privately-held company, Vittra that has assisted in developing for profit schools, a relatively new but apparently growing concept in Sweden. That they appear to be growing as school options in Sweden is interesting and it certainly will be worth following their progress. If future for profit schools in Sweden are anything like the schools I visited, I think they stand a good chance of success. I met the school’s headmaster who gave me insights into her vision for the school and how she has gone about making the vision happen.
She is a well-experienced educator and has some creative and innovative ideas on how school should be ‘done.’The school, itself, is a bright, modern space with lots of natural light streaming in from floor to ceiling windows. I think lighting and lighting sources can be extremely important to learning and the way the natural light is combined with the in-school sources provides the school with a softer environment climate, free from fluorescent glare. Clean wooden floors throughout the school help establish a close natural connection as well.Students from ages 6 to about 16 occupy various floors of the building. We toured this very striking space (see Gallery 5 for some pictures) and saw classrooms, learning centers, music and art rooms, a ‘chalk-house’ library and a spacious, light-filled eating area which doubles as an assembly space for students. Some students were gathered in various places in the school while others were out on a school trip.
The headmaster emphasized the idea that 21st Century skills were a key part of the school’s philosophy. The curriculum that is used in the school is the same as in any other school in Sweden. In other words, it follows nationally prescribed guidelines. However, teachers and students are free to utilize those processes they feel best maximize the curriculum. Throughout the school there were colorful, creative displays of student work—in fact, the one thing that struck me the most was the vibrant bursts of color all around the school. I think it gave the school a fresh, modern, and lively feel.One note: the school focuses on languages and, as usual, the proficiency in English by everyone in the school was impressive. At this point, I shouldn’t be surprised at this. English is ubiquitous in Stockholm.
But I still am.
