My hardest challenge has not been what I thought it would be when I first set a dream and a goal for where I wanted to do my practical work. The whole project, with me bringing my family, my children, 14 and 12 years at age, to the other side of the world, 17500 kilometers away from Sweden, has also become part of the Liberal Arts in Practice that I wish to share with you.

While Scandinavia is widely considered to be bastions of social democracy and progressive thinking, Sweden is no utopia. Swedish primary school is compulsory, but graduation rates are declining, an indication that there is an education crisis going on, showing a symptom of deeply flawed educational policies, a broken education system that is jeopardizing the future and endangering our children. My youngest son was failing in nine subjects, despite the school’s resources and adjustments. He could barely read, which is an important tool in knowledge seeking. Nor could he write, something that was holding him back massively. There are fine physical skills in learning to write; there are also complex intellectual skills in learning how to encode your own thoughts in writing and to decode other people’s thoughts by reading. My other son was uninspired, lacking any interest in participating in school classes. The eager learner they once had been, had been dampened through the years in primary school. Education is a key to youth, and while learning is a noble pursuit that one should pursue their entire life – this is the crucial time to develop creative and critical thinking and expand their horizons. My project has raised some interesting questions: Are the youth spending too much time in the classroom, and are the pressures of education ruining, what should be the best times of their lives? Does the Swedish compulsory primary school have bearing in a transformative future? See, being in school is not the same as learning. For me it was clear that this journey could be a great practice in life, not only for me, but for my children. I would be able to use my Liberal Arts skills to support my children in their studies by giving them tools they would need to further grow as students and as individuals, teaching them about communication, biology, critical thinking and so forth, inspiring them in their knowledge seeking and encouraging them to develop a love of literature in all its forms.

Real education enhances the dignity of a human being and increases his or her self-respect. If only the real sense of education could be realized by each individual and carried forward in every field of human activity, the world will be so much a better place to live in.
-A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

I went through the formal processes, applying through the municipality for a special course of study for my children. The plan was to do a form of homeschooling, with the support from the schools’ personnel, who were all positive to our travel. They believed this journey to Aotearoa/New Zealand was a great way for my children to learn. They saw the journey that we were about to do as an integral part of learning, a fantastic opportunity that they wished to be part of.  My sons would be following the Swedish curriculum, sending in assignments through internet, cooperating with teachers and pupils in Sweden. However, I was the first one heard of in Kungälvs municipality who had ever aspired to do something like this, and my application was rejectedby the local politicians. Special reasons, such as me doing my practical work here in New Zealand as part of my education would not be considered important by the local politicians, nor by the Operations Developer working for the Sector of Education and Learning. My education was not heard of and I was not entrusted to educate my children when I did not have a degree in pedagogy. I simply was not a teacher, and authorities found that they could not secure my children´s schooling this way. Clearly, the authorities had failed before in securing their schooling, but that had no matter in our case. The message was clear: Children should be in school, no matter if they were learning or not.

Now this is civilized oppression, prevalent in Western industrialized societies, Sweden in general. The governance and systems that are set up in Sweden oppress and subjugate their citizenry. Surely, we swedes can sense the ‘pressing down’ and fear to displease the authorities. Coming to Aotearoa, were people seem to enjoy life more in general has had me pondering over the importance of having dialog about learning. Here children are more active, and homeschooling is widely accepted and homeschooled children are highly appreciated at colleges, both here and around the world. This whole matter has had me cogitate about our first courses in Liberal Arts, debating about what a good environment for learning is. Martha Nussbaum argued in her 2010 book, “Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs The Humanities”: Without support from suitably educated citizens, ‘no democracy can remain stable.’ She further argued that: from the earliest years, education should be based primarily on exploration, understanding in depth, and the development of logical, critical thinking, which produces people capable of questioning authority and perceived wisdom in ways that enhance innovation. Now, many say that knowledge leads to wise action, perhaps even to goodness. How is this achieved when they cannot read or write? How are children supposed to live a fulfilling and prosperous life when they are not equipped the tools they need to succeed?

There are serious issues that needs to be addressed in Sweden to be able to cultivate education, and I see it as an important work for change that Liberal Arts students and scholars are able to do. The school system desperately needs change. To enforce compulsory schooling when it is clearly failing a child, is a socioeconomic, political, legal, cultural, and institutional oppression that we should not accept. Sweden needs creative thinkers that can focus on limiting the oppressive effects of tradition and over bridge the gap between systems and regulations, and the people.

I have had my skills tested, my patience, my strength and endurance pushed. But I was resilient, something I learned to cultivate during my studies. Resistance to any form of oppression should be seen as a moral obligation, an act deemed necessary for the preservation of self and the development of society. I resisted by traveling. The punishment for this is an imposed fine. The state will charge me for everyday that my sons are not attending Swedish school. The reward for traveling: my children can now read and write; among other skills they have developed during these months.

Warmest
Jess