Knowledge and Solidarity: The Norwegian social-democratic school project in a period of change, 1945-2000

Between World War II and the end of the millennium two major educational reform periods are identified in Norway: reform period I in the 1950s and 1960s and reform period II in the 1990s. The Labour Party led both reforms. While the educational reforms in the 1950s and 1960s undoubtedly were part of an overall Nordic social-democratic project, the reforms in the 1990s took place at a time when traditional social-democratic values were under pressure in a world with a global economy. The main question in this paper is to what extent the Norwegian educational reforms in the 1990s followed social-democratic ideas. To what extent were the educational reforms in the 1990s a continuation or a break from the educational reforms in the golden age of the social-democratic projects in the 1950s and 1960s? The question will be approached within a personal angle, comparing the educational philosophy of Helge Sivertsen and Gudmund Hernes as the leading educational politicians for reform periods I and II, respectively.