Country fiches
Sweden (2023)
7.1.1. ENSURING THE QUALITY OF MOBILITY EXPERIENCES
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. The country has taken actions that cover the following dimensions:
Language preparation
It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that learners are prepared which includes linguistic preparedness. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. UHR provides linguistic support through the Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support site. Language assessment is mandatory for participants in mobility actions, and participation in language courses is voluntary. It is the responsibility of the sending school to ensure that students have received proper linguistic and intercultural preparation, setting up learning agreements, etc. There are also examples of schools that take in language teachers or mother tongue teachers in the groups that will participate in a mobility action to prepare the students through an introduction in general and professional aspects of the target language.
Stay monitoring
It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that the stay process is monitored and evaluated so that the process can be improved. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Schools allocate someone responsible for planning mobility. Usually it is a teacher or an international coordinator. This person plans the before, during and after, including how to integrate the students and monitor the stay process. In most cases a teacher or an international coordinator accompanies the students to the receiving country and performs parts of this work there. There are schools that send teachers for all or parts of the mobility duration to the receiving country. The schools do not only have to monitor the stay in order to guide and integrate the students, but also to follow up their learning process since the mobility almost always is part of the mandatory work-based learning included in all VET-programmes. The school has to have mechanisms for assessing the learning to include it in the grading of the courses and subjects. Teachers communicate with the students trough internet, or skype and telephone. Students have to document their learning which has to be related to knowledge requirements and goals of the subject syllabuses. Formerly students documented their learning process by writing journals, these are now replaced with blogs, including photo- and videoblogs. Examples: A mobility project coordinator has argued that for successful mobility, one must monitor and support students and trainers throughout the mobility period. The coordinator calls them frequently and goes there to visit them. Another coordinator has stressed the importance of including the students in the whole process, to write to the workplace in which they will train, provide information at meetings with students and their parents and make students involved in writing the learning agreements. The coordinator also stresses the importance of assuring that the workplace can provide work-based learning in which all elements of the subject syllabus is provided in the duration of training. Both statements show actions that point to a process of monitoring the stay and ensuring the quality of the mobility. A teacher has explained that she travelled and stayed with her students during the mobility to support them.
Feedback collection
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that feedback is collected and the stay is evaluated so that the process can be improved. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Feedback is collected by the school for its own quality assurance and assessment of the learning. Schools collect feedback on both practical issues regarding mobility in general (what went well and what needs to be improved) and the learning induced through the mobility action. The methods of collecting feedback are not regulated, but surveys, written reports, diaries/blogs open-ended questions are commonly used. Feedback is also collected for reports on the mobility to UHR on the same grounds.
Transport, housing, catering
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to organise transport, accommodation and catering. There are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Since education is free of charge in Sweden, any mobility that is part of the learners' education must also be free of charge for the learner, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. Thus all costs must be provided for by the school organiser. Since education is decentralised, it is up to the schools to develop its methods for providing accommodation and transport. In most cases the school allocates someone responsible for planning mobility, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. In the Erasmus+ programme, housing, catering and transport are eligible costs for the organiser of mobility to apply funding for. If there are exchanges between schools in Sweden and another country, students often stay at each others' homes. There are examples of schools that have had the students planning practical aspects like transport and catering as part of the preparation or part of a course in the Hotel and tourism programme.
Language preparation
It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that learners are prepared which includes linguistic preparedness. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. UHR provides linguistic support through the Erasmus+ Online Linguistic Support site. Language assessment is mandatory for participants in mobility actions, and participation in language courses is voluntary. It is the responsibility of the sending school to ensure that students have received proper linguistic and intercultural preparation, setting up learning agreements, etc. There are also examples of schools that take in language teachers or mother tongue teachers in the groups that will participate in a mobility action to prepare the students through an introduction in general and professional aspects of the target language.
Stay monitoring
It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that the stay process is monitored and evaluated so that the process can be improved. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Schools allocate someone responsible for planning mobility. Usually it is a teacher or an international coordinator. This person plans the before, during and after, including how to integrate the students and monitor the stay process. In most cases a teacher or an international coordinator accompanies the students to the receiving country and performs parts of this work there. There are schools that send teachers for all or parts of the mobility duration to the receiving country. The schools do not only have to monitor the stay in order to guide and integrate the students, but also to follow up their learning process since the mobility almost always is part of the mandatory work-based learning included in all VET-programmes. The school has to have mechanisms for assessing the learning to include it in the grading of the courses and subjects. Teachers communicate with the students trough internet, or skype and telephone. Students have to document their learning which has to be related to knowledge requirements and goals of the subject syllabuses. Formerly students documented their learning process by writing journals, these are now replaced with blogs, including photo- and videoblogs. Examples: A mobility project coordinator has argued that for successful mobility, one must monitor and support students and trainers throughout the mobility period. The coordinator calls them frequently and goes there to visit them. Another coordinator has stressed the importance of including the students in the whole process, to write to the workplace in which they will train, provide information at meetings with students and their parents and make students involved in writing the learning agreements. The coordinator also stresses the importance of assuring that the workplace can provide work-based learning in which all elements of the subject syllabus is provided in the duration of training. Both statements show actions that point to a process of monitoring the stay and ensuring the quality of the mobility. A teacher has explained that she travelled and stayed with her students during the mobility to support them.
Feedback collection
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to ensure that feedback is collected and the stay is evaluated so that the process can be improved. Therefore there are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Feedback is collected by the school for its own quality assurance and assessment of the learning. Schools collect feedback on both practical issues regarding mobility in general (what went well and what needs to be improved) and the learning induced through the mobility action. The methods of collecting feedback are not regulated, but surveys, written reports, diaries/blogs open-ended questions are commonly used. Feedback is also collected for reports on the mobility to UHR on the same grounds.
Transport, housing, catering
Swedish education is governed by curricula and decentralised. It is up to the local school that arranges mobility to organise transport, accommodation and catering. There are a multitude of actions, mechanisms and methods used, some of which are described below. Since education is free of charge in Sweden, any mobility that is part of the learners' education must also be free of charge for the learner, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. Thus all costs must be provided for by the school organiser. Since education is decentralised, it is up to the schools to develop its methods for providing accommodation and transport. In most cases the school allocates someone responsible for planning mobility, which includes the provision of accommodation and transport. In the Erasmus+ programme, housing, catering and transport are eligible costs for the organiser of mobility to apply funding for. If there are exchanges between schools in Sweden and another country, students often stay at each others' homes. There are examples of schools that have had the students planning practical aspects like transport and catering as part of the preparation or part of a course in the Hotel and tourism programme.