In school we have not time for the future: voices of Swedish upper secondary school students about solidarity and the future

Abstract

The present article presents results obtained from a survey focusing on attitudes to solidarity among upper secondary school students. A relation between positive attitudes to solidarity and future-orientation was evident. The survey results were reinforced by a second study, exploring how students in the Swedish upper secondary school perceived the value solidarity, and whether the future-dimension was reflected in teaching. Twenty-two third-year students attending theoretical and vocational programmes at five upper secondary schools were interviewed. After coding and transcribing, a thematic analysis was performed, categorizing the interview responses into sub-themes, representing different aspects of solidarity and future-orientation. The analysis revealed that these students were not acquainted with solidarity as a concept. In the cases solidarity had been brought up at all in class, the students primarily contemplated it in a historical context. Notwithstanding, several students expressed a definite ambition and readiness to act in a solidary manner in order to contribute to improved social and ecological justice, also in relation to future generations. The interviews furthermore disclosed that teaching rarely had included the future-dimension; the students considered the future to be an individual rather than a shared challenge. In terms of resolving future challenges, such as the climate threat, their confidence in natural scientists and technologists was high, but few students conveyed trust in politicians, or believed that school, teachers, and students would take on an active role. Conclusively, activating the future-dimension in the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) might be a means to ameliorate the preconditions for youths' environmental moral learning.

Hope and anticipation in education for a sustainable future

“…Thus, according to researchers and experts, the future and the complexity connected to it ought to be an important part of ESD. Torbjörnsson and Molin (2015) have shown, however, that future dimensions are not a common topic in schools, at least not in Swedish schools, when students are asked if they have learned about the future (see also Hicks, 2002). In addition, many studies performed in different countries indicate that people are quite pessimistic about the global future, particularly when it comes to environmental problems such as climate change (Connell et al 1999;Hicks, 2002;Nordensvaard, 2014;Strife, 2012;Threadgold, 2012;Tucci et al, 2007).…”

“…How then do young people perceive the global future-do they feel hope because of utopian collective visions? What studies have shown is that many young people have either a very bleak picture of the global future (Hicks, 1996(Hicks, , 2002Threadgold, 2012), or they have underdeveloped views of it (Torbjörnsson & Molin, 2015). If they have positive views, they are mainly based on techno-optimistic visions where new technological innovations will solve the climate problem (Byrne, Ideland, Malmberg, & Gracea, 2014;Fløttum, Dahl, & Rivenes, 2016;Pettersson, 2011).…”

Improving Student’s Social solidarity Value Awareness through Learning Community-Based Mentoring

“…Thomas Torbjornsson and Lena Molin [15],about exploring solidarity attitudes among high school students in Sweden in 2015, involved twenty-two third-year students. The results of the research show that students do not recognize solidarity because the concept and case history of solidarity have never been raised in the class.…”

Improving Student’s Social solidarity Value Awareness through Learning Community-Based Mentoring

“…The author examines junior high school students and examines the mentoring strategies of the learning community in forming solidarity among students.5. Zhang and Chen [16] analyzed ethnic solidarity education in China in 2014. The result of this research is that the practice of solidarity education in China bears a resemblance to western multicultural education, however, it remains to have a unique characteristic of authentic Chinese education.…”