In the last five years, reports of violence at primary and middle schools in Sweden have increased by approximately 60 percent. The majority of reports concern violence against teachers.
One reason may be a changed educational trend, according to university lecturer Martin Karlberg, who researches leadership in the classroom at Uppsala University.
– We have gone from a more authoritarian school system to a school system where we demand a higher degree of responsibility and participation from the students. It is sometimes a responsibility and a participation that they are unable to handle, he says.
Great inequality
At the same time, he points out that there are many schools and classrooms that function well, but that it differs greatly across the country.
– A serious problem with Swedish schools is that there is a large inequality in how difficult it is at different schools and in different classrooms.
A few unruly students can be handled by the teacher and positively influenced by their classmates, says Karlberg. But a classroom with several students with problems risks affecting the whole group in the other direction.
– There is research that shows that, approximately, it takes eight well-functioning students to be able to influence a disruptive and messy student in a positive direction. If there are then schools where there are several unruly students per class, then the positive group processes will not come into their own. Then you get a negative spiral instead.
What can be done to solve the problems? Hear Martin Karlberg in the video above