Kapittel 12: Being international and not being international at the same time

Abstract

The challenges of peer relations under mobility 1 TUBA ARDIC, IRINA PAVLOVA OG JAN SKROBANEK Høgskulen på Vestlandet SAMANDRAG Denne artikkelen tar for seg ungdomsgruppa som flyttar på seg i samanheng med elevutveksling på vidaregåande skule. Fokuset er retta mot jamaldergruppa og spesielt effekten av å vere saman med jamaldra frå same heimland under utanlandsopphaldet. Jamaldra frå same heimland har ei mangesidig rolle under mobilitet. Dei kan fungere som eit ankerpunkt som skapar tryggleik i vertslandet, men kan også danne ei nasjonal «kulturfelle» som held ungdommen borte frå den nye kulturen og nye relasjonar.

Capturing agency in different educational settings. A comparative study on youth perceptions of mobility-framing structures

“…living independently from parents, housekeeping and managing the household budget) which take place in the protected environment of the compatriot group. However, retrospectively, hindering group effects are also reported: one's companions from home can function as barriers to the culture and the people of the host country (corresponding with results from Ardic et al, 2018), and leave less space for individual learning and growing up.…”

Why is it so hard? And for whom? Obstacles to intra-European mobility

“…This is not the case with shorter stays, where the aim is to visit rather than to live in a country: contact with the locals/nationals is desirable but not critical to short-term stays in a foreign country. For mobile HE students, pupils and apprentices, as well as working 'expats', locals/nationals may be substituted by contact with other international or compatriot peers (Ardic et al, 2018). The Norwegian case illustrates how compatriot peers tend to stick together: "When we came, we were that many Norwegians that we could just be with each other and we were talking in Norwegian to each other in class.…”

“…(…) So if I could change one thing, I would be more open and maybe try a little bit harder to make friends with the English people." (Nora, pupil mobility from Norway to UK) While peers help each other to tackle the challenges of new situations, they may also lead to cultural trap hindering the mobile youth from embracing the new culture and new relations as well as keeping them away from their intended mobility goals (Ardic et al, 2018).…”