Adult education and teachers’ work under a market code

In this article we investigate the implications of a market orientation of adult education for teachers’ work with the curriculum and for the goals and purposes of education. By focusing on municipal adult education (MAE) in Sweden, we provide a unique case. Firstly, Sweden has one of the most market oriented systems in the world, and secondly, the market orientation of adult education is not well researched in Sweden nor elsewhere, thus providing strong empirical ground contributing to the wider international discussion. Drawing on Bernstein’s concept “pedagogic code” we analyse interviews with 63 teachers within MAE. Our analysis illustrates how the market steering leads to conflicts between goals stated in the curriculum and goals that emerge from a market-oriented code narrowing the aim of MAE, isolating it from broader goals such as being compensatory and meeting the needs of students replacing them with goals such as profit-making and competition.