Can all children flourish in Nordic communities? A study of how elementary school children perceive their well-being

Few Nordic studies put children’s experiences of social inequality at their centre. This article explores the children’s perceptions of their education and well-being within two Nordic cities. The participants in this cross-national comparative qualitative study are children living in polarised urban metropolitan areas in Norway and Sweden. Our analysis is based on 27 group interviews with 91 boys and girls between the ages of 9-10 and 11-12. Theoretical inspiration is found in the term ‘to flourish’ as utilised by Erik Olin Wright and Erik Allardt’s theory for operationalising well-being from a childhood welfare perspective. The researchers interviewed the children regarding a) belongings and resources (having) b) interests and connections to their surroundings (what they love), c) how they experience their role in their environment and d) in their educational system (being). The findings reveal that even though the Nordic education systems attempt to ensure educational equity, the children in this study indicate a lack of communication between educational communities within and between schools, disparities in available resources, and great differences in what the school communities require from them. The findings show that pupils of lower SES families are excluded, and many show resilience; those children living in upper socio-economic status (SES) areas are given the opportunity to adapt more to the system’s requests without a system that adapts to their needs. Nordic cities still provide unequal childhoods for all children, which has both immediate and long-term impacts on their lives. The study shows how the Nordic educational systems produce competitive systems and school segregation that cannot compensate for inequality and offer well-being and the possibility for all of their students to live flourishing lives.