What is the significance of participating in study circles? Does the state achieve its objectives for providing financial support to study circles? This evaluation seeks to answer these questions based on register data, focus group interviews and a survey involving circle participants during 2012 who were 65 years or older.
Nineteen per cent of the population at large is 65 years old or more. In the study circles, 36 per cent were at least 65 years old, which means that almost 240,000 older people participated in study circles in 2012, 70 per cent of whom were women. The proportion of study circle participants in the age group 65+ has increased steadily over the last twenty years. Two-thirds of the older study circle participants were found in ABF and Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan, while this age group was underrepresented in the other eight study associations.
The study includes an analysis of the state’s objectives for supporting folkbildning. The current objectives have grown out of a process following the introduction of management by objectives in 1991. For most of the century during which the state has provided support for study circles, however, there have been no expressly stated objectives. Nevertheless, there are clear historically entrenched ideas and motives for supporting activities that benefit culture and democracy and for that folkbildning has a role to play both at the individual and the societal level. The analysis summarises the state’s objectives in that these focus on contributing to increasing the opportunity of all citizens to participate in various aspects of social life on an equal and democratic basis.
The evaluation makes references to research on democracy, citizenship, social capital and civil society. For issues involving older people, the research involves, among other things, successful ageing and activity theory.
There is a significant distance between the reality of study circles and the state’s objectives in providing them with support. The objectives also extensively overlap one another, something that is discussed and problematised in the report. Bearing these difficulties in mind, the results of the evaluation can be presented broken down into the different objectives.
The first objective: To support activities that help to strengthen and develop democracy
The first objective is that the state support for folkbildning should “support activities that help to strengthen and develop democracy” (freely translated). Study circle participants aged 65+ are found to vote in elections to a greater extent (90 per cent) than the same age group in the population as a whole (84 per cent). Study circle participants are also more involved in voluntary work than others in the same age group; they are more active in voluntary organisations, and they use their study circle skills as members of these organisations. Study circle participants who are also involved in voluntary work use their study circle skills to a greater extent than others to influence society. The study cannot provide an answer to what causes what; there is probably some interaction, so that those who are already active have a higher propensity to engage in more, something that is known as ’cumulative citizenship’.
The study circle ideal of participatory influence and collaborative work within the group has become stronger since a similar survey in 2008. Study circles can be considered as functioning as ’schools of democracy’ and serve as a recruiting ground for civil society organisations. Many study circle participants believe circle participation made them better at working together (30 per cent) and better at listening (40 per cent) – skills that can be said to strengthen their ability to be active citizens. The numbers are even higher for persons with disabilities.
The second objective: To help make it possible for people to influence their own life situation and create commitment to participate in community development
The second objective is “to help make it possible for people to influence their own life situation and create commitment to participate in community development” (freely translated). The study shows that study circle participation often leads to increased feelings of happiness and well-being (90 per cent) and some people felt more confident as a person (25 per cent). A sense of community is a strong incentive for participating in study circles, and this in no sense contradicts the fact that participants feel they have gained useful knowledge and skills. Very few people felt that they had been badly treated in the study circle. Many people aged 65+ make new friendships in study circles. It can be said that study circles provide bonding social capital. They create meaning in everyday life and help to make it possible for the individual to feel in control and have power over their own life. Study circles contribute to what can be called “successful ageing”.
For at least half of the study circle participants, the study circle, regardless of the subject, acted as an arena for discussions about social issues. This is particularly true in association- and companion circles. Discussions on such matters are not just a safety valve for airing opinions. Almost a third say that these talks influenced their own opinion. The same percentage says that discussions about social issues in study circles also led them to act in contexts outside the study circle.
The third objective: To help level out educational disparities and raise the level of enlightenment and education in society
The third objective for the state support for folkbildning is “to help level out educational disparities and raise the level of enlightenment and education in society” (freely translated). For study circle participants aged 65+, study circles have an important function for them to be able to study in a systematic way. Many people in this age group have not previously had that many opportunities to study, and study circles can compensate for deficiencies in schooling, thus helping to raise the level of enlightenment and education in this group.
Although computers were hardly used in the actual study circles among older people, 40 per cent of the study circle participants say that they have been inspired to use the internet. For learning in general, the study circle leaders play an important role. For most participants, study circle participation has inspired them to learn more about the subject or to join more study circles.
The fourth objective: To contribute to broadening the interest in culture and increase participation in cultural life
The fourth objective is “to contribute to broadening the interest in culture and increase participation in cultural life” (freely translated). Two-thirds of the older study circle participants state that study circle participation, regardless of the subject, has positively influenced their creativity. This figure is even higher for persons with disabilities. More than half had been inspired to participate in cultural activities. Of those who said that the study circle, regardless of subject, had given them new skills, which was the majority, one in twenty stated that they made much use of the knowledge and skills they gained in the study circle as practitioners in cultural activities.
Summary assessment
The study circle experience is largely positive. Most study circle participants aged 65+ feel they have gained knowledge and skills, they have increased their social network and they have participated in meaningful activities.
The report illustrates the difficulties in answering the question of whether the state’s objectives have been met. It is unclear, for instance, whether the intention is for these to be fulfilled in every study circle, or simply in study circle activities as a whole.
In light of this, the overall assessment can be made that the state’s objectives in supporting folkbildning are met in a variety of different ways based on how study circle participants in the age group 65+ perceived their own study circle participation.