ABSTRACT
In Sweden, a great deal of pedagogical attention has been directed towards a political project to implement fundamental democratic values by means of education. My understanding of the project is as follows: In a culturally pluralistic and socially complex society such as Sweden, fundamental democratic values are needed to bind citizens together. The curriculum for the compulsory school, LPO 94, proposes values like “the inviolability of human life”, “individual freedom and integrity”, “equality between men and women”, “intrinsic value of humans” and “solidarity with the weak and vulnerable”. These values are claimed to be a democratic and moral foundation for Swedish society, and are supposed to be in duty “constantly and always” (Swedish National Agency for Education, 1999). All activities in Swedish schools are supposed to be based upon these values, and teachers should embrace the values and make them practical and visible in their teaching. It is not sufficient to impart knowledge of these values. Democratic working methods must be used in accordance with the fundamental values so that, among other things, the pupils’ participation in planning, choosing and evaluating their daily education is secured. Teachers embracing the proposed values should be able to represent a clear ethical standpoint with roots in Christian tradition and western humanism, and they should dissociate themselves from anything that conflicts with these values. On these grounds, teachers in the new millennium should themselves be educated to be competent moral agents and democratic educators, so that they can impart, instil and form in pupils the claimed democratic foundation of Swedish society (Swedish National Agency for Education 1994, 1999; SOU 1999).
