Just over half of the country’s folk high schools work with the Study‑motivating folk high school course, or SMF. Now Åsa is taking the initiative to host a networking inspiration day aimed at strengthening both its own SMF work and that of other schools.

On Thursday, April 23, the course format will take center stage as colleagues from across the country gather at Åsa. This will mark the first SMF Day—hopefully the first of many.

More than 25 people from around a dozen folk high schools nationwide have registered. During the day, they will exchange experiences from SMF work, test new ideas, and build bridges between their respective schools—ultimately for the benefit of the course participants.

The initiative comes from Charlotte Kvarnhem, SMF coordinator at Åsa. Currently, the school offers two different three‑month study‑motivating courses in cooperation with the Swedish Public Employment Service.

Both courses target jobseekers who lack both a completed upper secondary education and basic eligibility for higher education. One of the courses, is aimed at a target group that particularly needs to develop its Swedish language skills.

The goal of the SMF Day is for participating school staff to strengthen both their own work and the national SMF network through the exchange of methods, knowledge, and good examples.

– Every SMF course includes approaches and experiences that deserve to be shared. When we meet, they grow, says Charlotte Kvarnhem.

One item on the day’s program is a workshop led by drama educator and psychodramatist Julia Fries. Julia—who has also served as a substitute SMF teacher at Åsa—will demonstrate how expressive methods can be used to deepen discussions during the day and taken back into participants’ own teaching practice.

The SMF Day will conclude with a Q&A session and a joint evaluation together with Kajsa Borgström, who works with labor market assignments at the Swedish National Council of Adult Education (Folkbildningsrådet).

Text: Henrik Wising