In recent years, educational systems in Europe have experienced a rise in the number of immigrant youth. The experiences of immigrant youth facing the challenges of an unfamiliar educational system is of continuous relevance in youth studies. This article aims to explore the schooling experiences of 19 immigrant youth in Sweden, focusing on the institutional obstacles they encounter as students in the national educational system. It draws on semistructured interviews with immigrant youth attending upper secondary school or preparing for it by taking transitional classes. Findings are that familiarity with the majority culture, how the educational system works and how to use the majority language for learning purposes in Sweden constitute crucial knowledge for progress in upper secondary education. However, immigrant students state they have not been adequately prepared for these demands in their transitional classes. The authors suggest acknowledging students' cultural backgrounds and argue for allowing English parallel to Swedish as a transnational language of communication during a transition period, thereby improving students' chances of having their embodied cultural capital validated in the upper secondary school system.
The purpose of this article is to show second-language pupils' experiences in school and their understanding of school through analysis of how they talk about the multilingual primary school and instruction. These stories about school life are studied with a life story approach, and the research process can be described in three steps: tell, analyse and read. The analysis is based on the pupils' own stories, interpreted with post-colonial theory and theories of social capital. Using the database Skrivbanken, 16 essays, written as part of the national exam in 2003, and with the titles 'My School Years' or 'My View of School', were selected. The analysis shows that in school these pupils experience themselves as outside and without a key to the school's linguistic context. Other results show the importance of the majority language for the minority-language-speaking pupils, the pursuit of a common language, and the school's importance for pupils' increased social and cultural capital.
This project sets out to examine how schools identify their assignment to make school to a place of equality. The research questions address how efforts to counteract discrimination regarding sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity are expressed as well as what power structures that can be identified in this respect. In total, 134 documents from compulsory school in municipalities in southern, mid and northern Sweden are collected. The documents are analyzed using Kumashiro´s (2002) four perspectives to conceptualize and work against oppression. The analysis shows different ways that schools address this assignment. Differences regarding what is identified as problems seems to build different approaches in how the work against oppression becomes visible. Double strategies are described in order to both strengthen and challenge the power structure that is prevalent between the norm carrying group and the group the schools identify as marginalized.
In Sweden, the anti-discrimination initiatives and the efforts against degrading treatment are promoted by two laws indicating self-regulatory and transparent actions toward preventing both. To be successful, it is important that everybody involved in the work has the same understanding of the task and that everybody understands written formulations of local policy documents, here labelled equity plans, in order not to reinforce inequalities when counteracting discrimination and degrading treatment.Our aim is to explore the world-views that are expressed by the schools in their equity plans. We ask what are the perceived causes of discrimination and degrading treatment within the schools, what solutions in the equity plans emerge and which subject positions are constructed and made possible. The analysis rendered three discourses of which we can see recurring signs in the material and these have been labelled The perfect school discourse, The designated discourse and The educational discourse. These discourses are different in how they relate to discrimination and degrading treatment in school and they also provide different opportunities for students. We conclude that policy-making is important as a means to change discriminatory patterns and we suggest how to avoid drawing on discourses that are likely to counteract the goals. | 575 LUNDIN and TORPSTEN | INTRODUC TI ONMany countries have recently developed laws to counteract discrimination (European Commission, 2009). This legislation includes not only administrative institutions, but also the education system. Within the school system,there are examples of strategies to counteract discrimination, promote equity and intervene against degrading treatment. To be successful, it is important that everybody involved has the same understanding of the task.Edelman (1987, 1988 ) points out that a vague understanding of a challenge may result in counter-productive solutions. This article addresses the ways in which Swedish schools relate to anti-discriminatory efforts. To avoid the pitfall pointed out by Edelman, one must understand written formulations, labelled here equity plans, in order not to reinforce inequalities when counteracting discrimination and degrading treatment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.