Many Cooks Will Not Spoil the Broth: Educational Policy in Sweden

This chapter uses some critical policymaking periods in Swedish educational history to illustrate some fundamental aspects of the political culture in Sweden. Like the other chapter authors, I have interviewed a number of former and current actors in the system including the secretary of state at the Ministry of Education, the former secretary of state at the Ministry of Education, the chairman of the largest teachers’ union in Sweden, and a longtime civil servant responsible for schools in the National Association of Kommuns1 in Sweden. However, I also draw on my personal experiences in the National Agency for School Improvement and at the Ministry for Education, and as director general of the National Agency for Education. These positions gave me an insider’s perspective on the processes of the educational policy system.