Creation of a school subject from below?

The aim of the project is to investigate the school subject "livskunskap" which has emerged in Swedish schools from below during the last decade. There is no national curriculum, no formal teacher qualification, and it has been almost unnoticed by researchers. Aims and contents often focus on moral education, personal development and social relations, conflict resolution, health and citizenship issues. Many primary, secondary and upper secondary schools develop their own plans and practice, often in cooperation with local educational authorities and private consultants. How should this developing phenomenon be interpreted?

The research questions are:

• What is "livskunskap"?
• Why has it emerged in Swedish schools?
• Which problems and opportunities arise from the practice of "livskunskap"?

To answer this, we will do a national mapping study, a qualitative field study on different school levels in two Swedish municipalities, and a small comparative study of the way issues related to "livskunskap" are treated in Norwegian and English education. We will make use of theory focusing on personal and social identity in modern societies, educational theory focusing on life questions, citizenship and values and epistemological perspectives on gender and on the construction of school subjects. The results from the project will be communicated in different ways, targeting school level, the research community, and policy makers.