Folkhögskolan och pandemin

Om nostalgi i pedagogisk exil

Abstract

For Swedish folk high schools that traditionally value the interpersonal meeting, restrictions invoked during the Covid-19 pandemic actualizes interesting tensions between practical dimensions of the transition to online and distance education on the one hand, and its educational implications on the other. The aim of this article is therefore to analyze rhetorical dimensions of the perceived uniqueness of Swedish folk high school in relation to folk high school teachers’ educational experiences during the pandemic. The empirical material derives from an online survey and subsequent focus group interviews with folk high school teachers. The concept of nostalgia constitutes the analytical lens and results are presented in the following themes; The journey as metaphor and meaning-making practice, A pedagogy for life and A (folk high school) historical meeting. Together these themes indicate that although the pandemic gave rise to educational unclarities during a new temporary reality, this unclarity surrounded both understandings of the past, as well as perceptions of the present.