Construction of ethnicity, immigration and associated concepts in Swedish vocational education and training

Abstract

Surges of migration into Sweden and other European countries have raised needs to adjust civic education to provide Bernsteinian pedagogic rights of enhancement, participation and inclusion, both generally and in VET specifically. However, associated issues have received little research attention even in countries with colonial histories and longer traditions of immigration and non-native ethnic minorities. Moreover, most published empirical studies on race and ethnicity issues in VET have had Anglophone settings. Thus, research in other contexts is needed to broaden understanding and distinguish between general and contextspecific aspects. This article addresses gaps in knowledge of the construction and significance of race and ethnicity in VET, particularly in Swedish contexts. First, it examines how critical understandings of being an immigrant, immigration and ethnicity are constructed in pedagogic practices in Swedish VET programmes, then analyses students' and teachers' discussion of these issues. Content related to immigration and ethnicity was sparse in monitored VET classes, but the presence of immigrants increased instances of both spontaneous and planned content. We conclude that pedagogic practices do not reflect the large increase in numbers of students in Swedish schools with immigrant backgrounds, and greater intercultural awareness is needed to safeguard their pedagogic and general democratic rights.

Racialised Integration: Arabic-Speaking Refugees and Immigrants’ Experiences on the Paradoxes of Integration

“…The most expressed criticism was that the guidance should have been more specific' (MEAE 2020b: 5). Studies also show how refugees and immigrants struggle more than any other unemployed group (Jervelund, Krasnik & De Lasson 2020) and how guidance and teaching do not tackle racism in services or integration practices (Masoud, Holm & Brunila 2019, see also Rosvall et al 2019 on the Swedish context).…”

More than a matter of qualification: Teachers’ thoughts on the purpose of social studies and history teaching in vocational preparation programmes in Swedish upper-secondary school

“…When the role of civic education in vocational preparation programmes has been examined, the studies have more often been based on different educational sociology perspectives (cf. Holtsch et al, 2019;Ledman et al, 2018;Rosvall et al, 2018). In both these and in the less frequent cases, where the more general pedagogical aspects of the civic function and emancipatory potential of vocational education have been studied, the aim has usually been to examine the qualifying and socialising effects of the teaching (cf.…”

Vocational students’ experiences of power relations during periods of workplace learning – a means for citizenship learning

“…Taking a student perspective, several studies have also found that VET students would like to learn more about politics (Ledman 2015), structural inequalities based on gender (Brunila and Ylöstalo 2015) and ethnicity (Rosvall et al 2018;Rosvall and Öhrn 2014), and how to exert influence and exercise active citizenship (Furlong 2009). However, European cross-country studies have shown that VET includes little education in political and historical issues (Ledman 2015), and stimulates less political participation than academic education (Persson 2012).…”