In recent decades education has been suggested as an important solution to current problems of the population's health. A high level of education in general is construed as essential for the nation's well-being and competitiveness. In this article we problematise the ways in which discourses on education, learning and health have become…

In this article, we direct our focus on some of the recent activities undertaken by popular education institutions in Sweden in relation to the refugee challenge in 2015. The aim is to analyse how these popular education activities are shaped as specific communities of practice, through the ways they are described by those who organised these, and…

Despite previous critical studies on the method, Suggestopedia has re-emerged as a popular method for second language teaching and learning in Sweden. In this article, we focus on what characterises Suggestopedia teaching in Swedish as a second language for adult migrants. Taking a sociocultural perspective, specifically regarding the concepts of…

In this article we have analysed the ways a discourse on individualisation is taking shape within adult education in Sweden, how it operates, and what effects it has in terms of shaping student subjectivity. Drawing on a post-structural theorisation we analyse interviews with teachers and students in municipal adult education and folk high schools…

The Bologna process aims at harmonising the higher education systems in the Europe. One of the most important tools proposed for such a purpose is the European Credit Transfer System. A significant element of this system is a common seven-step grading scale. It has previously been shown that assessment characteristics impact on students'…

The focus of this article is the discourse of entrepreneurship education in Sweden. Drawing on a genealogical approach, the analysis draws attention to how this discourse is shaped in the curriculum today, and how it has come to emerge. Focusing on two key events that constitute this discourse, responsibility and problem-solving, and tracing these…

The role of adult education in the shaping and fostering of democratic citizens is prevalent in current transnational and national policy discussions; a significance which has been further infused by the past few years' historically high migration flows. This article focuses specifically on the role of adult education in shaping asylum seekers…

Today, there is a widespread idea that parents need to learn how to carry out their roles as parents. Practices of parental learning operate throughout society. This article deals with one particular practice of parental learning, namely nanny TV, and the way in which ideal parents are constructed through such programmes. The point of departure is…

This article focuses on the idea of the educable adult subject in Sweden and the ways this idea has re-emerged in different practices during the twentieth century. It's a policy analysis where official documents from the twentieth century and early twenty-first century concerned with adult education in Sweden are analysed based on the Foucauldian…

In this article, we focus on how a discourse on inclusion operates through language learning programmes for migrants. We direct our attention to a new form of activities funded by the Swedish government, "Swedish from day 1," organised by popular education institutions. These activities emerged in connection to the migration flows in…

This article focuses on the tensions between mobility, knowledge and recognition, and what the impact of migration could be on lifelong education and society. This is discussed with the case of Sweden as the starting point. The main issue in Sweden concerning migration is the admission of refugees. Sweden has had a relatively open policy…

Initiatives in the recognition of prior learning (RPL) have been taken in Sweden in recent years, mainly focusing on prior vocational learning among immigrants. The government started different projects to find methods for recognising a person's prior learning in the field of vocational competence. This article presents a study of how these…

In the last couple of decades, there has been a shift from speaking about employment to speaking about employability. The interest in this article is directed at how discourses on employability are mobilised in the wider discursive terrain of governance. How does governance operate, what subject is produced and, more specifically, who is…

This article focuses on the recognition of prior learning and the figure of thought it represents in Swedish policy on adult education. It can be seen as a technique for governing the adult learner and a way of fabricating the subject. We are tracing this thought back in time to see how it has changed and what it consists of. The material analysed…

This paper explores the ways in which the adult learner has been governed in recent years and whether the techniques for doing this have changed over the last 50 years. The focus is first on which adult subject (adult learner) is constructed in the material analysed. What kinds of subjects are governed? This is followed by an analysis of what…