Report 2009:24 R

Capturing Bildung

This aim of this report is to map the use of the concept of Bildung (education) within higher education in Sweden. In order to carry out such a survey, a stipulative definition of the concept of Bildung has been created and three vocational programmes have been selected, namely teacher training, medical training and legal training. Interviews have been carried out with teachers and students on these programmes. Qualification descriptors and syllabi for the programmes have also been studied.
 
The stipulative definition that has been used in the interviews is that Bildung is a perspective on knowledge, in which awareness of the values on which knowledge is based and its contents go hand in hand. It deals with specialised knowledge that is integrated with the person that is learning and his or her value system. In order for the programme to be characterised by Bildung it must be conveyed in a context that is characterised by critical thinking, reflection, ethics and communication. A central issue is that of developing the student's ability to make independent assessments within his/her field.
 
In order to reach this definition, the report begins with a broad summary of what Högskoleverket (Swedish National Agency for Higher Education) has written about Bildung since 2001, when the Bildung project began. The views of researchers and others about the concept are also included in the summary.
 
This preliminary study has shown that the concept of Bildung is not used, as such, in programmes, but that there are perspectives and elements that can be traced to a desire for Bildung or which are compatible with this. However, there are plenty of targets in the qualification descriptors and in the programme syllabi that reflect central parts of the concept of Bildung, i.e. critical thinking, reflection and communicative ability. In general, teachers are highly aware of the concept of Bildung, while this is not always the case for the students, or they do not see the concept's relevance. Teacher training is the one of the three that were examined on which the concept seems to be most prominent. One problem with the study is that it is not possible to limit Bildung in such a way that makes it possible to state that Bildung is the reason for these elements. The concept´s long history indicates that its use should be continued.