[final thesis IV] Kulturskolan Stockholm - Comparative Management of Cultural Activities in Europe

8/9/2019 [final thesis IV] Kulturskolan Stockholm - Comparative Management of Cultural Activities in Europe

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PART II

MULTIPLE CASE STUDY


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3.Kulturskolan Stockholm

the minstrel told him about his homesickness.

What! said the old man

Are you bored in Stockholm? How can it be?...

Lets go and sit over that bench, Ill tell you about Stockholm.

Selma Lagerlf Nils Holgersson Underbara Resa 1

Europes biggest Culture School

Kulturskolan Stockholm, the Stockholm Culture School, is an arena open to all youngpeople, aged between 5 and 22, who wish to develop their creative talents in the fields of artand design, dance, music, writers workshop, poetry and theatre.

Music schools in Sweden have a long tradition. Earlier, nearly every town had its ownmusic school. About 20 years ago the first school of arts (Kulturskolan) started and since then

there has been a very strong movement towards schools of arts, which means that every yearmany music schools become schools of arts instead.

Kulturskolan Stockholm is a municipal school, part of the City of Stockholm. It was startedin 1996, with the political decision to merge the Our Theatre, established in 1942, and TheMusic School, started in 1958. Two totally different cultures, music and theatre, had to find aco-existence and common creative values. Kulturskolan also contains fine arts and dance.

Kulturskolan today reaches 14.500 pupils in so called subject courses. The School alsocooperates in other activities with leisure clubs, primary and secondary schools. In total,

including these activities, the School has 28 000 participants.The School offers a wide range of high-quality cultural programmes throughoutStockholm, which, for educational purposes, is sub-divided into 12 regional units.

Kulturskolan also has a Resource Centre for children and young people with some kind of disability, it is a regional resource for regular schools and serves as a meeting place for thedevelopment of the learning processes of the future and the role that culture can play in them.2

1

Selma Lagerlf, Nils Holgersson Underbara Resa (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils Holgersson), 1906(trad.it., p.155)2 Sources: Kulturskolan brochure, website (see References) and interview.


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Kulturskolan facts and figures

NORDIC COUNTRIES: Kulturskolan is the biggest Culture SchoolPUPILS: Approx. 31.000 participants (14.500 subject pupils)3

STAFF: Approx. 345 teachers and 45 administrative employeesPREMISES: 12.800 square metres of floor space and 16 theatresEXTRA-SCHOLASTIC ACTIVITIES: Activities in 75 schoolsMOREOVER: Several hundred bands and groups, stock of 10.000 instruments, etc.

EXTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF THE SCHOOL 4

3.1 State: Sweden and Music

Music Education in Sweden

Sweden is considered a model for the coordination among different study levels in musiceducation.

The Swedish cultural orientation is that music must be within everybodys reach andeverybody should have the possibility to learn it. Therefore basic music teaching iswidespread through primary and secondary schools, the music gymnasium5 (15-18 years old),but especially through and coordinated with municipal Music Schools, present in every town,as an afternoon activity. The present situation, in which the number of participants iscontinuously growing, especially in the primary segment, cause some economic and structuralproblems, connected to the number of teachers per pupil6, to funding and to professional

employment of students, as however happens all around Europe. For this reason, schools haveadopted diversified solutions such as giving to more committed pupils the possibility to getsome more lessons per week.

This system produces a diffuse music alphabetization: almost everybody in the country hasan amateur practice with music and sings in a choir, with high quality results7.

3 In 2005/06.4 When not specified, all figures are from the year 2005. All economic values were, of course, originallyexpressed in Swedish Crowns (SEK), which have been considered equal to 0,1. M stands for Millions.5

Here there are some problems caused by the little time assigned to the study of the instrument.6 Therefore to its cost, mostly financed by the public administration.7 Anna Maria Freschi, La Svezia modello di coordinamento, 2004, p.29


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Public Sector Policies

In Sweden the advanced welfare state and the long social-democratic tradition sustain theculture sector and everybodys possibility to afford it. The public administration spends 1,7

billion in culture (1,3% of total State budget8

) in its 3 levels: State provide 800M , regions100M , city councils 777M. In this way, 30% of the culture expenditures are covered by thepublic sector9. In 2005, 180M have been given to Music Schools and Culture Schools10.

WHO PAYS FOR CULTURE IN SWEDEN

State14%

CityCouncils

13%

Regions3%Private

sector70%

WHO FINANCES CULTURE IN SWEDEN

Regions10%

State46%

CityCouncils

44%

DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS TOCULTURE

OtherCulturalExpend.89,3%

CultureSchools10,7%

Legislation

In Sweden, for artists and art teachers income tax deductions and pension supplements areprovided.11 This contributes to the good and secure economic conditions of the Staff of MusicSchools.

Several unions defend music teachers rights in Sweden.

8 While in Italy is between 0,3 and 0,5%. Moreover, employments in the cultural field in Scandinavian countriesare the highest in Europe. In Sweden they represents 3,3% of total jobs, in the United kingdom 3,2%, whileinstead Italy (2,2%) and Spain (2%) have some of the lowest employment rates in the cultural field in Europe.(Source: World Music Central, 2004, see References)9

Source: Kulturskolan.10 Source: SMoK (Sveriges Music och Kulturskolerd)11 Source: European Union - Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe website (see References)


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Music Schools in Sweden

Every town in Sweden has a Culture School, which includes schools of some or all musicsubjects, theatre, dance, art, writing, and all sort of cultural expressions. They are part of the

City Public Administration and get funds from it. There are some other private schools, muchsmaller, connected to study associations, an old tradition of Sweden, or other non-profitorganizations. There are no big profit music schools.

3.3 Stockholm

Music Environment

The importance of culture for the Swedish government and the efforts to make it affordableto everyone, has made Stockholm one of the European capitals with the most animatedcultural life. Even if there is not a great scene or tradition of small and medium private clubswith live music, when it comes to bigger places, like arenas theatres and cinemas, statistics12

say that it is the second capital in Europe13 for total participants to concerts14 and that is in thetop five positions for all other kinds of cultural events15. For this reason it was also selected asEuropean Capital of Culture for the year 1998.

Economic and Social StructureFees are extremely low at Kulturskolan16 to make the courses affordable for everybody.

The purpose of the public administration is to get as many people as possible into culturalstudies, libraries and other cultural expressions: we should reach everybody is the messageand the goal that comes from the politicians. This is the reason why they give so much fundsto culture.

Demographic Structure

The city of Stockholm has about 760 000 inhabitants. Kulturskolan controls schools in allcity areas (12 schools, one for each area) and can, by law, only offer courses in the city of Stockholm, because it belongs to the City Public Administration and is financed with thetaxes of the Stockholm inhabitants.

12 Arts&Culture in Helsinki, Urban facts, City of Helsinki, 200413 Second only to Rome.14

0,7 per inhabitant in 2001.15 Theatre, cinemas, museums, books, etc.16 See Price policies ( 3.4)


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Relations and Funds from the Public Administration

The School is a part of the Public Administration. The head of the School, Mr. HansSkoglund, has to report to the Culture Director. There is also a political board for the Culture

Department, to whom the Culture Director has to report, called Culture Council. It is thisboard that decide politically the goals and funds of the School.

ORGANIZATION OF THE CULTURE DEPARTMENT17

The Public Administration set the goals for the School and have to approve changes infees. Furthermore, all School activities and choices have to receive the agreement, expressedor tacit, of the Culture Council and the Public Administration.18

Kulturskolan gets funds only from the city of Stockholm, 19% of the total culturalexpenditures of the city, nothing from State and Region. The budget for culture is 75M , 13of which go to Kulturskolan, the second biggest cultural expenditure only after libraries. TheSchool revenues for fees are only 2,2M , 17% of total revenues19.

17

Source: Kulturrapport - Stockholm 2005, City of Stockholm, 200518 See 3.419 2005 figures (source: Kulturskolan)

KulturskolanCultureOffice Libraries Museums

House of Culture

Development of culture&integration

HumanResources

Administration& I.T.

Culture Director

Culture Council


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THE BUDGET FOR CULTURE OF THE CITY OF STOCKHOLM

Culture Office1%

Libraries 35%Museums 1%

House ofCulture 11%

Kulturskolan

19%

Department ofCulture &

Integration26%

Admin. &Projects 7%

Competitors

As mentioned before, in Sweden there are other Music Schools connected to studyassociations, very popular in this country. In Stockholm, for instance, there is the FreezeHouse20, that gets money from the city and from private funds, and the Kulturama, whichis another growing school of arts present all around Sweden, focusing more on adults.

Competitors (for funds) should be also considered other organizations present in thecultural field: cooperatives, non-profit organizations, secondary schools that have culturalprograms. 25 years ago there was nothing else than the Music School, nowadays the situationhas changed and there are a lot of actors in the cultural arena. Private schools are the littleAcademy, east-oriented, and the Nordic Gymnasium21. Then there is the old tradition of the study associations. There are 12 study associations. For example there is the WorkersEducation Association, connected to the left wing, the Schools for Grown-up, connected tothe liberals, and many more. They have any kind of cultural courses, from making pottery to

English learning.These organization have been focused on adults, but during the last decade they have beentrying to appeal to children and teenager, Kulturskolans potential pupils. This is also due tothe fact that Kulturskolan often have long queues to get into the most popular courses, such aspiano and guitar. Therefore Kuturskolan is working to change the attitude and education of itsteachers, most of whom were used to one-to-one lessons22.

20

Name translated in English. The original name is Fryshuset.21 Kulturskolan cooperates with it.22 See 3.4


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Relations with the Conservatory

Good and bad. There are 5 conservatories in Sweden, one in Stockholm, the Royal

Conservatory of Music. Most of the music teachers at the Culture School have conservatoryeducation and that is the cause of the historically difficult relations between the two importantinstitutions. What Kulturskolan claims is well explained by the title of the article thatMr. Skoglund wrote at the beginning of its mandate: they are educating pedagogues for thepast. This caused a period of very difficult communication, which now is partly overcome.Some cooperation23 is now starting, but it is a slow process, that has to do with power andtraditionits a very heavy organization to change, like Kulturskolan as well24.

The main problem is that conservatory education is based on old traditional methods25 of teaching and learning, while Kulturskolan offers all kind of courses and is open to all newtrends and tastes in music26, from hip-hop to e-learning in guitar27, and, furthermore, iscommitted in turning the way of teaching from mainly one-to-one lessons to group lessons, toallow more pupils to attend its culture courses. Therefore when the teachers come out fromthe conservatory, after years of studies, they meet a totally different reality, that they are notproperly prepared to meet and it takes years for those of them who are creative enough andhave an high portion of self confidence to adapt. The School has a development project forthese cases.

23 The idea is that their educators should start coming to the School to work together with Kulturskolansteachers, so that they can communicate their experience, and then going back and forth, because that would bethe fastest way to change the Music Conservatories. (Hans Skoglund)24 From Hans Skoglunds interview.25 Even if in the Swedish Conservatory, differently from what happens in Italy, some modern genres like jazzand afro music are taught.26 Many teachers in these subjects do not have a professional education, but they built their experience on thefield.27 There is no kind of music considered superior to another: everyone has today his own taste coming to music,

it is not right or wrong, quality and not quality, because in every subgroup you have good quality and badquality, bad heavy metal and good heavy metal, good rock and bad rock, good classical music and bad classicalmusic. (Hans Skoglund)


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INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OF THE SCHOOL 28

3.3 Shared Values and Mission

Kulturskolans Shared Values and Vision were written during the last years through thework of focus groups of teachers and administrators. Now they are the framework that anyonewho wants to work with Kulturskolan must accept and refer to. That process has been definedand considered as interesting and really important for the School29.

Mission

The focus of Kulturskolans activities is how children and young people learn; theyconsider learning as a stimulating, creative, lifelong process in which understanding andrespect for other cultures play a central role. At School, pupils accumulate new experiences,develop their self-confidence and are encouraged to become actively involved in cultural life.

It is not a Schools objective to educate professionals: Kulturskolan wants kids to havepositive experience of culture during their children hood, from 5 to 22 years old, which is agreat and important part of their lives. It is a fact that every year many pupils from the Schoolenter the artistic universities, and they are very proud of that, but it is not their goal30, it is a

personal decision of the students.Kulturskolan shall offer all children and young people, regardless of their circumstances,

functional abilities and living conditions, a real chance of democratic influence andparticipation in cultural life, artistic experience, knowledge acquisition and artistic creation.All children are entitled to discover their preferred means of artistic expression.

For some of them, the education received at Kulturskolan will prove a decisive factor intheir future life. It is not just a question of education. Kulturskolan is also a meeting placewhere artistic idioms are tested, different interests come together and new forms of expressionarise. There are many reasons for children to come to Kulturskolan: they want to meet friends,

28 When not specified from other source, all information have been gathered from the interview (31/8/2005) toHans Skoglund, Head of Kulturskolan Stockholm, from Kulturskolans publications and from the website (seeReferences)29 Now Im happy because we are one of the few schools that have basic values. I thought that we should havewritten basic values, because when you have a staff of 350 people the risk is that you might have 350 differentkind of basic values, and therefore you have to discuss and find a common platform. The discussion is alwaysthe most important part of the process (Hans Skoglund)30 We dont say to them: we will make a musician/actor of you when I came here the slogan was yourdreams our reality, and that means that pupils have dreams of becoming stars or whatever and that is our realityto take care of these dreams. But now we have changed it because it didnt reflect our real aim, then we have

written our Basic Values & Vision Of course not all the Staff, never in such big organizations, think that theseare good Values, I hope that most of them do but, if you come down to dust, I think someone doesnt like it atall, but I would say that most of our Staff do (Hans Skoglund)


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they want to have fun, they want to be seen and heard, and they want to develop their artistictalents. Children are all different and have different aspirations and expectations. Each childhas his or her own temperament and own individual abilities and reasons for wanting to

participate in Kulturskolans activities.Kulturskolan is a multicultural meeting place with equality between sexes and asatisfactory ethnic balance among both teachers and pupils.

The School has the political mission to double the amount of participants within 4 years: in2002 Kulturskolan had 22.000 participants, so they expect the number to growth to 40.000 by2006.

Shared Values

All Kulturskolans activities should be based on democratic values.The School basic values are grounded on the United Nations Childrens Convention on the

Rights of the Child, which establishes that all children and young people under the age of 18enjoy the same rights: the right to live and develop, the right to grow up in safety and beprotected from abuse, and the right to respect for what they think and believe. The bestinterests of a child must always come first. The Convention establishes norms for childrenshealth, education, social security, a reasonable standard of living, play and recreation. TheConvention also notes that children are entitled to their own language, culture and identity.

Enthusiasm, pleasure and curiosity are important driving forces in all education anddevelopment. For Kulturskolan, they are fundamental to all activities. It is the knowledge andcommitment of the teachers themselves that stimulates enthusiasm and curiosity in the pupils.

Kulturskolan focuses on the individual child. Childrens culture can be created by children,with children and for children.31

Here the children free their imagination, realise their dreams and gain hope for the future.The work in this School is built on Howard Gardners idea of multiple intelligences: pupils

learn easier if they can use the different intelligences they have got. This is combined withideas of emotionally based learning and a theme of tolerance to make the children more

emphatic and care-taking.

31 I can give you an example. I was in an European project, the CIRCUS project - what money for culture2000 financed by the European Found, with Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Nederland etc involved. We had 4groups in our School and 200 kids from a lot of countries playing Ithaca from the Ulysses. There we noticedthat there was a difference between Norway and Sweden: the Norwegians wanted to have a product that was onhigh level, so they want professional composers and they were pointing out at the pupils do this, do that ; weinstead worked with the kids in a different way, they made the music, they made the story, they chose what Godthey want to have, and so on, and the teachers&pedagogues helped them when they needed support to make thearrangement for different instruments and talking to them about the dramaturgy. So it was very interesting to seethat big difference between countries so close. I think that this is the most interesting thing we have: our relation

with kids and kids dreams. I dont want to say that all my teachers are working like that, not in music anyway,but that is the picture of how we should work to make strong individuals that know who they are and with self confidence. (Hans Skoglund)


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BASIC VALUES FOR THE COMMITTED STAFFBasing themselves on their own experience, knowledge and cultural values, teachers meet

the children in a mutual, open-hearted dialogue. Children need committed adults to serve asrole models and guides, to help them open up new worlds, to offer support in their search foran identity of their own. The perceptive teacher, self-assured in his or her role as aneducationalist, constantly develops through meetings with different children. More isexpected of a teacher than just teaching. Instead, teaching should be regarded as an excitingchallenge offering opportunities for personal development and immense job satisfaction.

There is a dynamic force field between the teachers. Curiosity, readiness to cooperate andmutual professional respect are the hallmarks of their work. All of Kulturskolans activitiesare of equal importance to the children, and they are noted for their consistently high quality.

All of Kulturskolans activities are founded on processes in which the entire staff takespart. The administration is largely oriented towards the staff and on cooperation both insideand outside the School.

Kulturskolan is a multicultural meeting place with equality between the sexes and asatisfactory ethnic balance among both teachers and pupils.

EDUCATION TO VALUESKulturskolan organises and finances twice a year two one-day and one 2-days conferences,

called future days with all the staff living together in an hotel. That costs one and a half teacher, but the administrators consider it worth it, because it is the only opportunity for theStaff to see and meet each other, feel that they are one School, one fantastic School, thateverybody can be a part of, that they have a common direction32 in what they are doing butvery big freedom to work within those frames.

Teachers, during those days, work in groups with the activities the School should put intopractice the next year, such as: how they can increase the amount of pupils attending theSchool33, new activities to attract people in the suburbs, etc.

Films of the activities realized by the School are shown, to make everyone aware of them.Finally, they all party and have fun together in the night, with orchestras where some of the

teachers are playing.

32 During those days I make my speech about what have we done, where are we now, where shall we go

(Hans Skoglund)33 We put this base: there is no meaning to discuss if we should or not double the pupils, because its our task todo that, so dont discuss that, discuss how we can reach it instead (Hans Skoglund)


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3.4 Strategy

A couple of years ago Kulturskolan got a demand from the politicians to double thenumber of participants, reach a larger amount of boys and get better ethnical balance amongthe participants. All within the same budget.

The School responded to that by this package of measures:new types of subjects and courses to reach more pupils to a reasonable costnew ways to cooperate with schools and leisure clubsHeads have to create a strong commitment and loyalty in the Staff Staff, especially the teachers in music, needed education to meet the new challenges.

Today Kulturskolan Stockholm is in a thrilling development process34. During the lastyears the whole staff has taken part in focus groups and got inspiration during the future

days, which gave ideas for the development. The European Social Fund gave the School theopportunity to provide good and extensive education to the Staff.

This work led to many decisions, documents and plans. The School was re-organised tomeet the new challenges. The demands from the politicians, the Vision and the results of thefocus groups made Kulturskolan start thirty development projects led by teachers in theAutumn of 2005 to create new forms of education and learning under the umbrella of Culturefor Joy and Learning. Furthermore, many ongoing projects in different schools and leisureclubs, BAS-teams35, short courses and longer courses were created. This also means that it

meets a larger amount of boys, gets a better ethnical mix and, thanks to cultural expressions,the pupils learn easier. Kulturskolan have now succeeded in creating new attractive courseslike e-learning in guitar, digital storytelling, hip hop, steel pan, etc. and have increased thenumber of participants with 30%, but it cannot and will not stop.

Target Market

All children between 5 and 22 years old in the town of Stockholm. Especially boys andespecially children from other countries, to get a better balance among ethnic groups36 andbetween sexes37.

34 The management is trying to develop new ways of thinking, among managers and with teachers. Piece bypiece. I can notice that a lot of teachers are coming out, so to speak, in the new world, although some aresitting in the corners, more and more are coming. Its a very interesting period I think. (Hans Skoglund)35 The politicians only told us general goals, like you should double the number of pupils, then we have tofind the operative way to reach it. So short courses is a result of our thinking and creativity. My task is to explainthat to our staff, stressing the opportunities that these new ways can bring, because they are very afraid of this.But afterwards they feel they have developed themselves. Teachers who succeeded in doing big groups or othernew types of courses feel very strong Not all the teachers want to adapt and try new type of courses, but manydo, its coming more and more. (Hans Skoglund)36 A satisfactory ethnic balance is considered 2/3 of Swedes, 1/3 of non-Swedes (with one parent coming from an

other country), that is the current ethnic mix in Stockholm. This is an ideal target measure for Kulturskolansmanagers, but it cannot be calculated: the School does not have the right to make statistics on these matters,because they could be improperly used.


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In this regard, it has been emphasized the difficulty to attract people coming from someforeign countries, as for example people coming from Africa, Lebanon, etc. that doesnt havethe tradition to go to this type of schools and to pay for it. It is easier if they are coming from

Russia, Lithuania or Czechoslovakiaor south of Europe, where it is a tradition to go intoschools to study music, or people from Iran, who also have an academic tradition.

4P of the School:

Product The School offers subject courses in about 25 different instruments and many other

complementary music courses and activities. New kinds are tested every year. Lessons areoffered in theatre, dance, fine arts, digital and all kinds of cultural expressions.

Subject courses are provided in the afternoon time. In a typical week a pupil come to theSchool, after ordinary school, and attend an instrumental lesson (for 20min), then often s/he isinvolved in an orchestra as well, once a week38.

The School is working to change the attitude and education of its teachers to move from asystem based on one-to-one education, to one based on group education. This is the main wayto reach the political goal of doubling the amount of participants, and, so far, it is beginning togive the first results : in 2002 participants were 22.000, in 2005 31.000.

Students, however, are not forced to take group lessons. Pupils choose what kind of lessons

they want39 to take after short test courses (6 times), where they can start playing aninstrument. Then they attend long-term courses (12 times) in groups. The most talentedpupils are picked to have one-to-one education. After that pupils may enter thePre-Advanced Program, for the more gifted children, and then the Advanced Program.Here they got 1 hour education per week and a second instrument, theory, and they play inensembles and groups.

Subject courses are not effective to attract people coming from other countries that do nothave a tradition to go to Music Schools and pay for it, therefore Kulturskolan managers

decided to offer free activities40

to the ordinary schools in the suburbs41

, where a lot of foreignpeople live. Here they propose what they call Basic Teams (BAS-team)42, shorter courses43

37 In music there are not many problems (45% boys, 55% girls), but in the other disciplines they are trying tofind methods to attract more boys (in dance they are 10%)38 Or s/he attends dance or theatre classes in a group.39 There are Parents Associations that supervise this process.40 Financed with Schools own money.41 These activities are not offered in the ordinary schools in the Stockholm city centre, where more well-off families live.42 A Basic Team is composed by 4 teachers: one in dance, one in theatre, one in arts and one in music. Theywork with 2/3 classes in school, 8 weeks, 3 hours every week, so the kids got 24hrs with the teachers. This cost

the School 200.000 every year. The idea is that we will reach those in the poor areas (culturally poor,economically poor, etc.) In practice, Kulturskolan can give 36 Basic Teams per year, reaching about 2000 pupilsthat way. Then we guess among those 2000 pupils it should be 50% boys/50% girls, normally, that means, in a


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or other types of special courses. Now the School has also started a tolerance project in 3schools, in cooperation with a museum.

Another important field of activity are disabled kids. Here the School has 10 specialized

teachers.Every summer and winter44 the School participate in and help to organize a festival calledYoung 0845, where courses are offered to pupils.

In Kulturskolan some instruments have long queues of pupils waiting to enter the courses.Among those instruments are guitar, keyboards, drums and bass. With the purpose to offereducation to more pupils, some teachers have developed an e-learning method (called Plej)where pupils can train in front of a computer and have meetings with teachers and otherpupils a couple of times every month.46

The School has no final examinations or diploma. Maybe a certificate of attendance will beintroduced in the near future.

Normally the season ends up with a performance or a concert. For instance this year theyrented the entire Culture House (15 stages, outside and on the roof) and organized 106concerts and dances in one day. Most of the staff was working there in one way or another,and there were around 1200 pupils making concerts.

QUALITYAll of Kulturskolans activities are of equal importance to the children, and they are noted

for their consistently high quality.This objective has led sometimes to misunderstandings. According to Mr. Hans Skoglund,Head of Kulturskolan Stockholm, it is important to define quality according to Schoolsvalues, resources and objectives. In this regard, many teachers claim and research high qualityworking more and more and asking more and more resources for just few students oractivities. This mentality is in clear contrast with the Schools goal to give opportunities to allpupils, reducing queues and doubling the amount of participants, and with the limitedSchools resources. Therefore constant reference, training and repetition of Schools values isgiven to teachers to make, not force, all of them accept and share these basic values andobjectives.

The goal of Kulturskolan is to make the participants satisfied. This is the most importantquality measurement applied. In an interesting survey made by the School, to the questionwhat is the most important thing in the Culture Schools? pupils answered to have fun.

school where 70% are from other countries, there will also be 70% in the Basic Teams. Therefore it fulfils thegoal the politicians gave the School, and it is very popular among the kids , they say: Oh yes! Today the CultureSchool is coming!... (Hans Skoglund)43 40 new types in Autumn 2005, to attract more pupils.44 When kids are free from school.45

08 is the Stockholm phone code, so people from the country call people from Stockholm nul otto (o8)46 In PLEJ DVD, CD and downloadable music notes, PDF format and MP3 files are used.


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Kulturskolan is and will always be open and curious about innovations and changes in thesociety, continuously taking and checking new possibilities. This attitude is well representedby Hans Skoglunds56 answer to the question Do you do anything with computer games?,

he replied No, not yet.57

In the future Kulturskolan will be a project oriented organization in continuousdevelopment: an organization where directors, staff and pupils have a possibility to contributeto the development of the School and themselves and feel a lot of joy.

Here is the Vision of the School in 12 points:Kulturskolan Stockholm will be the worlds most cultural school;Kulturskolan will use culture to set up meetings between people;Everyone taking part in Kulturskolan programmes will be enthusiastic participants andexperience a sense of personal development in everything they do;Students at Kulturskolan will dispose of tools for democratic influence at school;Everyone in Stockholm will know where Kulturskolan is and what it stands for;All Stockholmers will be able to experience Kulturskolans programmes at some timeduring their youth;Kulturskolan will in every department be a model of openness and creativity as it facesnew challenges and strives to keep moving ahead;Kulturskolan will be at the cutting edge of educational development in academic andrecreational programmes alike;

Kulturskolan will be the most attractive place of work for cultural educationalists;Kulturskolan will have exciting premises of its own that will also function as localcultural centres;Kulturskolan will have set the standard for the creation of networks for mutualdevelopment and cooperation in child and youth culture in Sweden and the rest of theworld;Kulturskolan will be something of a brand name that positively reinforces Stockholmspublic image.

Stockholm Kulturskolan is also developing international relations and is involved in manyEuropean projects. The objective of these activities is to exchange experiences and ideasabout possible future developments of the School.

56 Head of Kulturskolan Stockholm.57 So its always Shall we do it or not?. And in that we always have the risk that some politician doesntagree for example Graffiti: the right wing said Graffiti is criminal, but the left wing, with which we areworking now, prepared a project with money to develop it, and now we are doing Graffiti. Can we do that afternext election? We think that Graffiti is an art form, some of them are criminal when they are doing it on thewrong canvas or places So now we are having an exhibition in a very well known art gallery. But that is

interesting, because that is the role of culture: to find where are the borders that you have to break trough then,as chief, I have to be prepared to answer what we are doing. (Hans Skoglund)


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In this regard, it is to mention that it will soon become the twin school of a CulturalCentre managed by a foundation in Utrecht (Nederland). The idea they are investigating is tomove from the concept of school, with school calendar and kinds of activities, to the one of

cultural centre, with more kinds of activities, all around the year.

3.5 Structure

Hofstedes Findings: Preferred Organization Types in Scandinavian Countries 58

Low Power Distance (PDI) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) scores, as in Anglo-Saxon

and Scandinavian Countries, lead to a flat, not-centralized structures. Relations between

individuals and units are often open to negotiation and improvisation (as in village markets).

In these countries it is possible and less problematic the introduction of a matrix structure.

This structure, which main characteristic is giving two chiefs to each subordinate, is created

to face the increasing complexity of the activity and the environment. It requires a new way of

thinking and an acceptance of the uncertainty in hierarchical relations, and it is expensive in

terms of time of negotiation and decision.

Organization Chart

Kulturskolan has a divisional matrix organization: the structure is subdivided intoindependent units and have cross-overs to connect common activities in different units. Theorganization has been made flatter in the last couple of years, this has lead to a better Schoolcontrol and more adequate timeliness and accuracy of information for the Head of theSchool59.

The following figure represents Kulturskolan organization chart as it is today.

58 Geert Hofstede,Cultures Consequences , 2nd ed., 2001, pp.372-42159 so this is the new organization, and so far I think it has worked very good, because in the old organizationthere was a chief between me and the other chiefs of unit, so I took them away and made the organization flatter.Now I think it works better, because I got more adequate information, earlier I hadnt that feeling, they were notlying but they always say everything is ok, so that was the problem. Now I think I have a school control, as youcan have in such a big organization, because total control is impossible. We have 13 000 square meters of

premises around town and among those there are 16 theatre, and we are in 70 schools in 250 rooms, so you canunderstand that is impossible for me as a chief to be everywhere. You have to depend on that So I think itslike a miracle. We are sitting here and now everything is working out there. (Hans Skoglund)


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The structure is therefore decentralized: Chiefs of Unit independently decide how to reachgoals given by the Head of the School60, who respects their choices and explanations aboutthe possibility or not to reach those goals. The Head of the School can put pressure on goalsand gives resources and conditions about how to use them61, but the final responsibility of choices is on the Chief of Unit. For this reason this system has been defined decentralizedwith common goals.

60 I put general goals like the number of pupils they should increase, but I know that is not always possiblebecause they must have proper teachers, premises, equipment, etc. (Hans Skoglund)61 For example: we have long queues in piano and guitar and Im prepared to give resources for 3 new teachersin those subjects, but they should be teachers that have group education. They should be able to teach in studioswhere they have 6 keyboards, so one teacher can take 6 pupils. They should not be ordinary teachers, they

should be such teachers. So that is what I told them yesterday, and they asked me premises where it is possibleto do this. I want these 3 teachers to have 500 pupils, they should be prepared to do that when they are hired. Inthat way I can guide their choices. (Hans Skoglund)


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Kulturskolan structure is composed by:The Head of the School;IPPU (Information, Production and Pedagogical Development): is the organ responsible

for pedagogy, as well as the lease of instruments62

and the Schools library;PEA (Personnel, Economics and Administration): is a support unit for the ActivityUnits;12 Activity Units (Divisions): one for each area of Stockholm. They have one Chief of Unit, their own Administration and a Staff (between 25 to 35 people) under him/her.Chiefs have all the responsibility: they set the salaries, they should reach the goals anddecide how to do it. Every unit is like a Culture School working unit, even if they havevery good support from the headquarter: PEA, IT remote support, etc.;Subject groups: it is transversal in respect to the Activity Units. There is at least one foreach subject. It makes possible for teachers of the same instruments to communicateand meet if it is needed;Cooperation with Schools: its function is to connect different schools to deal and talkabout special problems they have in common;Projects & Development Unit: it is responsible for different kinds of special projectsand activities63.

Goals are given by the politicians, then are discussed among chiefs and Head of the

School, finally the Head of the School gives specific goals to each Unit Chief. Unit Chiefshave to report periodically to the Head of the School.64 Therefore the job of the Head of theSchool and the other Chiefs is to translate political goals into Schools activities.

The staff is constituted by 345 teachers and 45 people employed in the administration andmanagement. The two roles are generally separated. Some teachers are half-timeadministrators as for a specific request by the Teachers Unions.

It has been found out that both teachers and chiefs are perfectly distributed among sexes(50% males, 50% female). But this is not a requirement, and it was not obtained by design.

Moreover, there is no difference between sexes also coming to salaries.The School aims also to have a significant part of the personnel coming from othercountries, because if you are a type of multicultural country, it is very important that theculture institutions also have that in the Staff.65

62 Approximately 10.000 instruments that pupils can borrow from us for a small amount of money.63 for instance we have a very big holiday for Santa Lucia (she was from Italy, I think, from Sicily), we havea very nice evening with around 400 pupils and a public of 1200 people in the town hall in Stockholm, where we

have a Lucia light, a performance with all those kids. (Hans Skoglund)64 See 3.965 From Hans Skoglunds interview.


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COMPOSITION OF KS PERSONNEL

Teachers88,5%

Admin. &Mgmt

11,5%

COMPOSITION OF KS PERSONNEL(both Teachers and Chiefs)

Fem.50%

Males50%

Autonomy and Accountability of Each Member and Unit

Under the umbrella of political goals and vision, each chief and teacher is autonomous,

but the Head of the School is responsible in the end, as for a written delegation of responsibility.

In case of problems the Head of the School cannot fire Schools personnel, because of alaw about public employees. There is no way to do it. They can be moved to other functions,but not dismissed. Sometimes, of course, this is a limit for the management, but, in anotherway it is seen as a more human way to deal with problems, very care taking of peopleproblems.66

A slightly different situation have the Chiefs of Unit, who have 3 years contracts,

therefore, at the end of the contract, if the Head of the School is not satisfied, they can bechanged. The Head of the School chooses the new Chiefs of Unit. The former Chief will stillbe employed by the Cchool but in another position.

Relations with the Institution to Which the School Belong

Kulturskolan belongs to the Stockholm public administration. The relations are strong andvery important for the School. This is recognized as one of greatest competitive advantagesand reasons of the success and continuance of the School, even if sometimes the relations are

too much bureaucratic, the process of taking decisions and making changes too long and it hasto pass too many different stages and people before it reaches a result. But again, if seen fromanother point of view, this have positive implications and motivations. Moreover, this is how

66 We dont dismiss, we talk to them and try to make them understand, because it is impossible to dismissemployees in Stockholm. I mean, its a very long process, I can, as a chief, say I dont like how you behave inthis respect, you have to change your behaviour. Next time, if you behave like that again, Ill give you awarning, then you can give them a written warning, then you also have to talk to the union, if this teacher isconnected to the union. And, if it happens that the teacher do the same thing again, you can give a secondwarning, and a third warning, then, after that, you can have a discussion if he should stay in this school. So that

is a very long process, I think there should be 3 warning, before you can discuss to separate him/her from thework. Its a very slow system, but what it gives is that you have to think about the way you work and talktogether. (Hans Skoglund)


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the public administration works and, as Mr.Skoglund says, this is the situation, it is like it is,everybody knows and accepts it67. For further details see in particular 3.2, 3.4 and 3.5.

3.6 Style of Management

Hofstedes Findings: Preferred Styles of Management in Scandinavian Countries 68

Low Power Distance (PDI) scores, as in Anglo-Saxon, German and Scandinavian

Countries, lead to a democratic style of management with participation and consultation of the Staff.

In these countries subordinates: expect to be consulted, have weak need for dependence

on chiefs, criticize symbols of power and social status, can go directly to top management in

case of complaints, etc.

The Style of Management has been defined as democratic with dialogue, but where theHead is responsible according to the delegation order. Chiefs decide, but the Staff haspossibilities, through focus groups and meetings, to express its point of view andsuggestions.69

The rights and claims of the personnel are also defended and expressed by their Unions.They can comment every choice and person in the School, but in the end, the final decision istaken by the Head of the School, who can decide whether to listen to them or not. Then, if they are not satisfied, they will search for other ways to make the Head change his mind.That is our way in Sweden to work with these things, I have always to negotiate decisions,but the important thing is to have the possibility to listen, confirmed Mr.Skoglund.

The relations among managers and between managers and teachers are cooperative andgenerous, which is seen as fundamental for the activities because we are like artists: youcant force a person to make Amlet on stage, he should feel being Amlet, so they should befulfilled, and therefore you have to work with them in a good way. Coaching70 is a goodword, to make them realize that theres a lot of joy in it, to make them curious and hungry,

67 From Hans Skoglunds interview.68 Geert Hofstede,Cultures Consequences , 2nd ed., 2001, pp.372-42169 From Hans Skoglunds interview.70

A coach is a person who teaches and directs another person via encouragement and advice. (taken fromWikipedia the free encyclopedia, see References). The Coaching approach is very popular and discussedin Sweden.


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because just pointing with the hand is impossible, otherwise they would say I cant do that.Consequently, chiefs have to be generous, firm according to the goals, but with an ongoingdialog about the tasks.71

The School has no written rules on how to behave, managers try to make peopleunderstand what is right instead.72 They have an ongoing communication with the Staff,which means giving them positive feedbacks about their work, praising them if they deserveit, but also being firm and straight if there is something negative about their behaviour. This isnot always easy73, but you have to train as a chief to be correct.74

Each problem has to be solved at the proper level of responsibility, if possible. Asmentioned before (3.5), chiefs deal with problems through discussions and negotiation, nohard hand is used and it is not possible to dismiss teachers or other Schools personnel.

POWER DISTANCE AND PARTICIPATIONTeachers know who is head in the organization, they know who is unit leader, they know

that I am the chief. But the head doesnt need to use the position in Sweden, I think, we arevery informal in that aspect75 said Hans Skoglund, the Head of the School, and it is alsoconfirmed by the informal but professional atmosphere of the Kulturskolans headquarters76.

Participation of personnel on the decision making process is a priority. All decisions arefinally taken by the person in charge of them77, but after a series of moments (working placemeetings, focus groups, developing groups, Unions, personal contacts, etc.) where every

person in the organization can bring ideas, indicate problems and suggest solutions.The Schools activities are spread around all the capital (270 rooms in 70 schools) and

among the different cultural expressions and projects, therefore a great importance is given to

71 From Hans Skoglunds interview.72 I think that is ridiculous to write rules on behaviour, because we are grown-up people, we live in a society,many have kids, families you cant say to them how to behave, you can say it afterwards, if the behaving iswrong, I mean, such things happen, then you can talk and try to get to know about what he has doneThatsmay opinion For example, we dont smoke in this school but we havent written that anyway, we take that forgranted, people go out to smoke. Its the same with the mobile phone, sometimes someone forget it, and we just

say remember (while the one with it is blushing!) I think we have another way of solving it. (HansSkoglund)73 Especially in setting salaries, also because in Sweden the salaries of public employees are official. I noticedthat my sub-chiefs dont like to set the lower salaries, even if this person deserves a low salary, its easier to takeit up a little, because then you dont have those difficult discussions afterwards. So that is human in a way, butyou have to train as a chief to be correct. Because if you set an higher salary to a person that doesnt do anything,in the other end theres a person doing a lot, and that person can ask Why should s/he is having more?. (HansSkoglund)74 From Hans Skoglunds interview.75 I worked close to the politicians earlier, the Culture Minister of Sweden was an old friend of mine and when Iwas phoning him he was answering himself in the office I know that a lot of people from abroad think that it isincredible. So he is like a good picture for me (Hans Skoglund)76 Doors open, people busy working, some drinking coffee and discussing about activities in the Schools

kitchen, casual dresses, everyone, from teachers to the Head of the School, is very polite, available (as much aspossible), but straight and clear when they have to, etc.77 At the proper level of responsibility.


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meetings and to availability through telephone and emails, to keep the organization connectedand informed.

Anyone, inside and outside the organization, can easily contact Kulturskolan personnel, at

any level. Direct email and mobile phone number of each member of the CentralAdministration and of the Activity Units are easily available from the Schools website andeveryone answer directly and rapidly to emails78 and phone calls79.

Even so, working time is respected, except in case of emergencies or urgent need, becauseit is seen as a right for a committed Staff that work hard during day time (and more,sometimes too much) for Schools activities.

Furthermore the Staff is constantly informed about the Schools life through the updatedSchool website, emails, papers, discussions and meetings, etc. According to Mr. Skoglund, if the Staff is informed, they feel better, they can influence and criticize decisions. I dontbelieve anything about this old type of management, similar to military organization, it isimpossible in these days and in artistic organizations. People should listen to each other, withheart, and think about good solutions. So I think the most important thing is information andmake the staff be self-confident, also towards me. I think you have to solve those problems inthat way instead of just using power. Because when you dont talk to them, you have a lot of unsatisfied people around, so you have to meet these unsatisfied people to try to reach themand understand what they really want.

COMPLEX FORESIGHT HORIZON80

The Style of Management completely fits the complex reality described in 2.4.According to Mr. Skoglund, organizations are always organic in a way: we can changevery fast if we see that its not working, we dont have a lot of thinking, we say ok, lets testanother way. Because I also think that we are living in a time when you cant say ok, letswork like this for 10 years, it is impossible, the next day something happens that makesthings change. So you also have to be very sensible, and find smart solutions for sometimesshort, sometimes longer periods.

78 Its a big and widely spread school, therefore e-mail is common and direct (Hans Skoglund)79

Within one day, as it is written in the paper called what can our costumer expect from us, given to pupilsparents.80 See 2.4


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3.7 Staff

Hofstedes Findings: Motivation Patterns in Scandinavian Countries 81

Low Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) and Masculinity (MAS) scores, as in Scandinavian

Countries, entail the research and use of motivations by results and belonging. Results will be

measured as collective success that respect the quality of human relationships and the living

environment.

The Personnel of Kulturskolan Stockholm is constituted by 345 teachers and 45 peopleemployed in the administration and management. In this analysis I refer to Staff as a

synonymous of Schools teachers (administrators and managers are analyzed in 3.6 and3.8), while I use Personnel to include both teachers and administrators.

Main qualities

The Schools teachers have been defined as skilled, committed, curious, creative, in aword, fantastic, one of the Kulturskolans major assets. The School is proud of them andthey have to be proud of the School, this is the message that Kulturskolans managers try tocommunicate to the personnel and what most of them feel about their institute. It is

fundamental for them to feel joy in their work and understand that they are a part of afantastic School.82 A consequence of the joy and commitment that most of the Staff put in their work is that

they tend to desire too high quality for everything they do, requiring too many resources,putting too much efforts and working too much for every single thing they do. The job forthem is not only a job, but it absorbs all their energies and it becomes almost as a voluntaryactivity. This is a common problem for persons working in the art and cultural field, wheretheir first passion becomes their job. So this is a problem to face for the organization, asKulturskolans Head pointed it out: It is very important to find the dimension in what we aredoing. You should always say what is the limit for this, its very important. (see Qualityin 3.4)

81 Geert Hofstede,Cultures Consequences , 2nd ed., 2001, pp.372-42182

for me this is really important, all through my life I have to be proud, in all works I have done, I had tohave this proud feeling, because that is my energy, I dont think I could work somewhere if Im not proud, if itslousy between people and I dont find anything that is stimulating. (Hans Skoglund)


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Types of contracts

Types of contracts are essentially three:Short term contract: for temporarily substituting a teacher for holidays, sickness, study

periods, etc. And then, after having worked like that for 3 years83

, they have the right toobtain a lifetime contract;Lifetime contract: teachers are employed by the town of Stockholm. Then the Schoolcan no more dismiss them. Almost all teachers have this type of contract;Contract for a project: it must be clearly defined, with a start and an end. The Unionsmust approve it.

The rules are very strict and protect the teachers rights, much more than in other Europeancountries. There are 8 Unions who defend teachers rights, and the management of the Schoolmust negotiate with each of them for any important issue.

There are no volunteers in the organization. Some university students come to practise inthe School, but no real volunteer or community service people84 work at Kulturskolan.

Autonomy in methods and contents

As already mentioned, the heads decide frames and direction, the teachers choose methods.They are not allowed to go in the opposite direction, but if they zigzag towards it, that ishuman and chiefs have to respect what ability they have to work with.85 The organization isfor this reason defined decentralized with common goals: it is the creativity of staff that isour soul but we have to have common goals.

A lot of emphasis is given to the constant repetition of Schools values and goals, untileverybody shares the same direction. This is not easy to obtain, it is an ongoing process wheremanagers are required to have patience and leave the teachers the time they need to adapt andfeel as their own new ideas and objectives (time of acceptance). Therefore, for example, theSchool does not force teachers and pupils to do group lessons.

Kulturskolan is based on trust towards its teachers, not in controlling them. Sometimeschiefs attend the lessons or activities, and this is not seen as control, but as an opportunity to

have a comment on their work and a feedback of ideas and opinions. (for more details aboutthe Controlling System see 3.9)

83 So we have to look out that those teachers we dont like, dont pass these 3 years, because if you are not agood teacher normally you dont have a lot of fantasy, and you wont find another job, so if they are 25 theywould be here for 40 years! (Hans Skoglund)84

We dont have it, but Im positive if we start that, I think we would have a lot of possibilities to take kids, andsome kids would love to work in our schools. (Hans Skoglund)85 From Hans Skoglunds interview.


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Stress is also given to cooperation among personnel, on being generous more than beingcompetitive. Of course some competitive attitudes are present in some of the teachers, butgenerally they help each other. The aim, expressed by the School and increasingly present in

the organization, is that everyone should be happy for the success of others.

Selection

The Schools Chiefs decide selections criteria and who is to be hired.Now they are focusing more on teachers with group education. For example this is

condition for the Activity Chiefs to obtain the resources to hire 3 new teachers this year86.In the future they will search more and more for broad teachers, in the sense that they

have to be able to work in different ways. This is because Kulturskolan operates in manydifferent environments (ordinary schools, leisure clubs, etc.), not only in Music Schools withone-to-one lessons. Therefore teachers will have to have not only skills, but also creativity toadapt to different situations.

Training

Teachers contract provides for about 100 hours every year they can use to raisecompetences.

Twice a year the future days are organized (see 3.3), where there are discussions aboutSchools activities and lecturers.

Moreover, the European Social Fund gave the School contributions for 30 days of education to raise the competence among the Staff and train it with the modern ways of teaching, to make it employable in the todays society.

Advancements

Advancements in career are on the base of merit. There has been a change in Sweden inthe last decades declared Mr. Skoglund, Earlier they were much more connected to age.

TurnoverKulturskolan has been described as a rather stable organization, also because for music

teachers there are not many other comparable opportunities. Even so, a certain number of teachers do change over the years because of retirements, other music activities, someone whoasks for a period of study87 , etc. Some problems had been detected a few years ago when itwas observed that 25% of the Staff was over 55, therefore near its retirement. In this regard acareful policy of new employments have been realized.

86

2005.87 It is a special right that teachers in Sweden have: they can ask to leave the job for a certain period to deepentheir studies, but they keep the right to have it back afterwards.


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Enthusiasm, passion and joy for his work;ExperienceRespected and able to build consensus and agreements.

3.9 Systems

Informative System

Kulturskolan has a computerized system with an extended data bank for pupils in subjectcourses, who pay a fee. The School sends out bills to their parents, checks payments, contactsthem, etc. There is no data collection for the new types of courses (in ordinary schools, leisureclubs, short courses, young 08, etc.), their participants are just counted.

A data bank has been introduced this year to improve the data collection and its possibilityto provide statistics about trends in the School.

The use of computers is also important for teachers, to communicate, be informed andlearn. This idea lead to a relevant further investment in IT92, so that now there is a computer

every 4 teachers93

.

Meetings: The Cultural Litmus Test

According to Pascale and Athos, Meetings are the cultural litmus test. Culture asserts its

invisible presence on patterns of day-to-day communications. Meetings are the best known

mechanism for efficient information sharing, for accomplishing collective problem solving

and coordinated action. 94

For Kulturskolans managers meetings are a part of the everyday activity. Working placemeetings, subject meetings, project meetings, in unit groups, in the corridors, influence anddetermine Schools agenda and working schedule95. Some of the meetings are more formal(time is set and there is an agenda), others are more informal. They are the most importantmean by which any member of the organization can influence his choices and participate.

92 Information technology.93 Before it was one computer every 12 teachers.94 R.T.Pascale, A.G.Athos,The Art of Japanese Management , 1981, p.13095

This type of work is that when youre coming to work, you dont know really what will happen, sometimesthings happen during the day and you have to leave it all to do something else, so it has always to be variant andflexible. (Hans Skoglund)


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Some of the most important meetings in the agenda of the Head of the School are:With the Culture Director and a small group of Chiefs (of the Library of Stockholm, theCulture House, the Culture School and some more): meet every 14th day, with 7 or 8

persons;Leading group of the Culture School (the Head of the School, three Unit Chiefs,Economist, PA-Consultant, Investigation Secretary and Chief of Development): meetevery 14th days;With all the Kulturskolans Chiefs: the 14th days in alternation;The Free Chiefs Forum: an afternoon every month, where Chiefs, not the Head of theSchool, set the agenda96;With the Centre Union Leader: information meeting every 3rd week. The C.U.L. sayswhat they would like to obtain and the Head explains what the School is doing, so thatthey can comment it.

Planning, Budgeting and Controlling Systems

Hofstedes Findings: Planning and Controlling Systems in Scandinavian Countries 97

In countries with low Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) and Power Distance (PDI) scores, as

the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian ones, the P&C system is less detailed, the Staff

participate in planning and accept big changes, the control system is based on trust in

subordinates, norms support strategic and long-term thinking 98 .

According to the Kulturskolans Head, when you have 350 teachers and 31.000participants, you cant be a control organization, you have to trust and further on he declared,now I think I have the control of the school that is possible in such a big organization,

because total control is impossible99. These sentences explain the basic idea of trust uponwhich is built the budgeting and controlling system of the School. Even when Chiefs attend

96 because they always say: you are setting the agendawe are talking about your things, and we have notime to talk about ours, so then we decided to test that model, where I dont say anything, just sittinglistening (Hans Skoglund)97 Geert Hofstede,Cultures Consequences , 2nd ed., 2001, pp.372-42198 Even if all European and Western countries are generally short-term oriented, on the contrary of the Easternones, as explained by the fifth dimension (LTO) added by Hofstede in the second edition of Culturesconsequences (2001).99 We have 13 000 square meters of premises around town and among those there are 16 theatres, and we are in

70 schools in 250 rooms, so you can understand that is impossible for me as a chief to be everywhere. You haveto depend on that. So I think its like a miracle. We are sitting here and now everything is working out there.(Hans Skoglund)


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the lessons or activities, it is not seen as control, but more as the possibility to have a feedbackof ideas and comments that may help the teacher to improve his/her way of teaching. There is,of course, a certain amount of control on the realization of goals, like for instance the number

of pupils, but also in this case, objections or explanations are accepted (see 3.6 and 3.7).This attitude seems to be in line with the Scandinavian cultural attitude, that does not put toomuch emphasis on control100.

Another important idea is the importance of participation in the process: when you arechanging attitude, you cant do it by order, it comes from heart and understanding101.

These general ideas lead to a system of controls and reports not complex, complete andsystematic like some may expect for such a big organization102.

Main papery reports are:From the Activity Units Chiefs: every 4 months103 on the economics of each Units;For the Culture Director: summary for the same periods;For the Culture Department: summary for the same periods and every year, a budgetand a final statement that compares results with those from last year, with statistics.

Economic Valuations

TOTAL REVENUES

Total revenues of Kulturskolan Stockholm in 2005 were about 11,9 million euros.

COMPOSITION OF KS REVENUES

Fees13%

CityCouncil

87%

100 This is possible, of course, only in countries where there is a general observance of unwritten rules and trust.101 (Hans Skoglund)102 As examples: yes, in a way we can see on every teacher in this new system I told you about, but we haveonly one figure for each teacher, and some teachers are working in 2/3 units, so they are very complex figures totake outbut we have methods to find out if the teacher is doing what he should, and we are making that betterall the time but we cant connect the cost of a teacher with the revenues of his/her pupils, that could be

interesting, but more difficult. Do you have statistics for age distribution of students? Length of attendance?... that is possible in that systembut I dont think we take out that all the time103 Before it was every 3 month.


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The above figure shows the dependence of funds coming from the Public Administration forKulturskolan Stockholm and, broadly, the importance of public funds for cultural activities inSweden. Therefore, it is fundamental for the School to keep good relations with the

politicians, regardless of the political side of the counterpart. This, of course, means that allthe possible efforts in this direction are deployed and that these types of particular skills arepresent in the management ( 3.8). Another consequence, as seen in 3.4, is that Schoolsdecisions do not directly depend on fees, but on more general and political objectives.

COMPOSITION OF KS COSTS

Production ofActivities 2%

AdministrationSalaries 9%other costs

3%

Premises21%

TeachingSalaries 65%

Premises include equipments.Other costs include: general and administrative expenses, computers, telephone and advertising.

The figure illustrates that the majority of the expenditures comes from personnel costs(74%). A relevant part is also assigned to premises and equipment (21%), while littleresources (about 1%) are allocated to communication and advertising (included in othercosts), as seen in 3.4.

Pricing decisions are described in 3.4.

Non-economic Valuations

AGE DISTRIBUTION OF PUPILS

02468

1012141618

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Age

%

The graph shows Kulturskolans target market (3.4) and average age of participants.


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DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN SEXES

Females55%

Males45%

DISTRIBUTION AMONG INSTRUMENTS (at the age of 12)

otherinstruments

2%

WindInstruments

25%Guitar 17%

StringInstruments

15%

Flute 6%

Piano &Keybords

26%

Percussions4%

Vocals &Choir 4%

(This figure changes significantly over the years, for example guitar grows to 24% at 13 years old)

PUPILS SATISFACTIONPupils satisfaction and desires have been investigated and analysed in a special research

made by the School in 2003. Now it has been decided that a similar study will be repeatedevery five years by the Stockholm City Cultural Department.

LENGTH OF ATTENDANCEThe investigation made in 2003 pointed out that after 2 years 40% of pupils leave the

School, and that only 30% of the ones who started at 6-9 years old continues until 12. Thisresult has been discussed in meetings on how to structure courses where some teachers, havea perspective of 10 years training to reach the best results, said that is a type of handicap forthe School. On the contrary, managers claimed that this is a wrong attitude to the problem:they should give the best in 2 years to pupils104.

104

if they are just sitting playing boring exercises for 2 years, a lot of pupils remember that as awful, so youshould give them something, and then give the chance to continue to those who want to go afterwards. (HansSkoglund)


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ETHNIC BALANCEKulturskolan aims also to reach a satisfactory ethnic balance, which is considered 2/3 of

Swedes, 1/3 of non-Swedes105 , that is the current ethnic mix in Stockholm. This is an idealtarget measure for Kulturskolans managers, but it cannot be calculated: the School doesnthave the right to make statistics on these matters, because they could be used improperly.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF TEACHERSNo rigorous system for the performance evaluation of teachers is applied106.

EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATIONNo extensive and systematic analysis is carried out. The School now cooperate with a PR

agency to develop a strategy. Changes are expected in the near future (see 3.4).

Incentive SystemThere are no economic incentives based on results. Salaries are fixed in the monthly

amount and set in consideration of the responsibility, therefore, of course, Chiefs have an

higher salary.

FINAL ASSESSMENT

3.10 Overall S-Consistency of the SchoolAll 7 Ss of Kulturskolan Stockholm and the external environment (Sweden and

Stockholm) appear aligned, connected together in a consistent way and contribute to theSchools success.

The following figure is a graphic representation of the S-Consistency of the School.

105 With one parent coming from another country106 See footnote number 102.


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[final thesis IV] Kulturskolan Stockholm - Comparative Management of Cultural Activities in Europe

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