Tore Persson

 Study circles

The study circle is the most common form of all adult education in Sweden. Every year almost 300.000 study circles are organized, with almost two million participants. Since many people participate in more than one study circle per year the real number of individual participants is about 800 000 a year – of a total population of 9 million.

The Swedish study circle is a small group, normally with five to twelve participants. The constructive-minded discussions and dialogues between the participants is the essence of the study circle method. In study circles the participants are expected to take part in discussions with an open mind, being prepared to listen and to learn from others and to change themselves. And each participant is expected to contribute with his or her knowledge, experiences and ideas.

For study circle leaders, learning and knowledge building is process-based, a continuous ongoing questioning, an everlasting testing of thoughts and ideas in a social and cultural context. The meeting and the discussions between the participants is the most characteristic quality of the study circle.

Another fundamental value behind the idea of study circles is that every individual has the ability to be wise. People just need, as Confucius declared, guidance. Unfortunately, that is not always something that characterizes the school systems, where many of the students instead ”learn” to look upon themselves as more or less stupid. That is a devastating side effect of immature school systems, which creates huge problems not only for a lot of citizens but also for the nation. Many adults therefore have to free themselves of such prejudices before they can start learning again; often the study circle functions well as a correction against such self-images.

The ideals…

The ideal features of the study circle are:

• Participation is voluntary. No one may be forced to take part and no one may be excluded.

• They are small group studies with normally 5-10 participants; the size shall allow every single participant to be an active participant.

• Most study circles meet once a week for two to three hours and continue during one, two or three months. Usually the study circles meet in the evenings, when most people can join.

• Most study circle leaders are ”experts” in one way or other; for example, he or she might be a teacher in Chinese or an experienced ornithologist. The leader could also be one in the group who has no special qualification but volunteer to take a special responsibility to keep the group focused on their target etc.

• The work during the study circle meetings is based more on dialogues than on lectures.  

• The participants are equal, with the leader as one in the group (that is the reason we call it a ”study circle” because you are supposed to sit in a circle where each participant can see all others).

• The individual participants’ own knowledge, experience and ideas are of outmost importance for the end result. You always try to apply what you read and discuss to the participants’ everyday situation.

• The group decides together the goal for the studies, the content of the studies, which books to read, how to co-operate in the group etc. The whole group is responsible for the outcome of the studies.

• No grades or exams are given in study circles, but for some participants the study circle become the first step on their way to further formal education.  

• There are certain topics that are popular and common, but there are no formal limits and any subject could be studied in study circles.

The reality…

Ideals do not always meet reality and a number of study circles are less than ideal when it comes to the features mentioned. There are for example study circles where there are more lectures by the expert leader than discussions among all participants.

The participants volunteer to join a special study circle, but in most cases the topic is already decided and the leader already chosen when the participants arrive for the first session.

Non-Governmental organizations

In Sweden study circles are organized by study associations, which are deeply rooted in a number of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and which get government subsidies. For more than a hundred years, Swedes have had a strong tradition of forming such popular organizations. Sometimes Sweden has been called ”an organization democracy”. It has also been called ”a study circle democracy”, for example by our former prime minister Olof Palme.

There are thousands of local organizations in Sweden. Sometimes the same kind of  local organizations are established in many places around the country and then they often unite in one national organization (federation or association) with local branches.

There are hundreds of different national organizations and around 250 of them are member organizations in one of the study associations. Many other organizations have a close cooperation with study associations at the local level.

Tore Persson