스웨덴교육에서의 학력관 및 국가수준학업성취도평가

Social implications of the Swedish national assessment system

이 논문은 스웨덴에서 1990년대 이후 실시된 분권화 개혁의 의의와 1994년부터 시행되고 있는 국가학업성취평가의 함의와 시사점에 대해 평가적 국가로의 전환에 따른 자율과 책무라는 관점에서 논의하고 있다. 전세계적으로 학력에 대한 관심이 높아지고 평가가 강화되고 있는 경향이 있으나 국내의 교육관과 논쟁의 성격에 따라 그 수용 양상은 다르게 나타난다고 할 수 있다. 스웨덴에서는 사회적 가치에 기반한 다면적 학력관을 중시하고 있으며, 학교의 일상적 교육평가활동을 지원하기 위한 목적으로 복합적 능력을 심층적으로 평가하는 국가학업성취도평가를 실시하고 있다. 스웨덴에서 실시되는 국가학업성취도평가는 학교단위 분권화와 교사의 전문적 자율성(교육내용, 방법, 평가자율성)에 기초하고 있고, 절대평가의 공정성을 보장하기 위한 목적에서 시행되고 있다. 기본적 목적은 학교 교육활동에 필요한 기초자료를 제공하고자 하는 것으로, 장기간에 걸쳐 체계적으로 준비되고 분석되며, 정규적 교육활동의 일부로 실시되고 있다. 스웨덴에서의 국가수준학업성취도평가는 교사의 자율성과 학생의 학습을 지원하는 성격이 강하며, 고부담책무성평가의 일부로 강한 제재조치를 수반하는 국가들의 사례와는 구분되는 특징을 지닌다고 할 수 있다.

This paper is an overview of the recent changes in the governance of the Swedish system, in the way that it affected the role of the teachers and the assessment system in education. Up to the early 1990s the Swedish system had a highly centralized and effective public school system, successfully implemented after the postwar comprehensive school reform in 1962. Since the early 1990s, however, Sweden saw a radical shift towards decentralization, in reaction to the simultaneous challenges from various sectors of the society as well as the changing international context. In an “evaluative state,” more autonomy is delegated to the schools but schools are still dependent on the centrally determined goals and standards since they are evaluated by the results they produce. Sweden was not an exception in the shift to such a “decentralized, yet evaluative” state. In 1994, the new curriculum and the national assessment system was introduced and a formerly sample-based assessment system at the national level was replaced by a test for all students at designated grades (as of 2010, the national assessment applies to grade 3, 5, 9, 10). It is important to note that the function of the national assessment system of Sweden is not identical with the ones that have shown negative effects of high-stake accountability mechanisms, such as the USA, the UK or, recently, in South Korea. It is designed not only to assess the degree of attainment of various subject goals against national standard, but is primarily aimed at assisting the teachers in the final grading of the students by providing information of the students' performances based on various abilities tested by various means, to ensure fair and equal grading. The global transfer of policies cannot be sufficiently explained without taking into account the values and particular needs rooted in national systems. Sweden has developed a system of education based on “solidarity,” where the strong support the weak to construct a community, and a system of grading that could ensure that everyone is reaching the standard. Sweden, after an extensive debate in the 1970s and 1980s, adopted a standard-referenced grading scale in place of the norm-referenced grading, to indicate the actual level of knowledge or skill rather than the rank of the students. It was not only to encourage the slow learners but also to let students direct their studies toward their own learning goals and plans. The aim of the national assessment in Sweden is to ensure reliability, equity and fairness in grading in the particular context of Swedish education. The national assessment system of Sweden is, on the one hand, in line with the global interest in raising educational standards, but, on the other hand, an example of how autonomy and accountability in education are balanced in improving teaching and learning in the schools.