The emergence of a new profession: The knowledge base for integration workers in civic orientation
2017 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (One Year)), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Sweden has been a target for immigrants since the Second World War. However, in the last few years a huge number of immigrants had moved to Sweden. To integrate the new immigrants fast in the society, Sweden has updated the integration policy. One of the changes in the integration policy is to offer a mandatory course about the Swedish society for immigrants, called civic orientation course. The course is conducted in the immigrants' mother tongue which increases the recruitment demands for integration workers who master two languages (Swedish and immigrants' mother language) and have a pedagogical knowledge. Integration workers teach immigrants with different backgrounds, ages, and educational level. In addition, the demands for such a job have a dynamic nature that depends on the immigrants' need of the course. This study is an exploratory research that aims to investigate the knowledge and skills for the integration workers and the organization's role in developing the integration workers' competence. This research is carried out by comparing two case studies in Trollhattan introduction centrum and Gothenburg integration centrum. The data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews; eight interviews were held in Gothenburg integration centrum and two in Trollhattan introduction centrum. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis method. The results showed that integration workers have different backgrounds and expertise and they integrate their previous experiences into their job. There is an agreement on some certain skills as classroom management, conflicts handling and dialogue activation. The integration organizations offer different activities to develop the knowledge of the integration workers. However, the organizations under the study face challenges in benefiting from the integration workers' individual knowledge and activating sharing knowledge inside and outside the organization. A cooperative knowledge creation model for the integration organizations is suggested to enhance the knowledge management process and push for establishing a shared knowledge base for the field of integration work in civic orientation. Wiki is suggested as a mean for implementing the cooperative knowledge creation model. Wiki is a collaborative tool that can stimulate the knowledge creation and enable knowledge sharing at both individual and organizational levels. Moreover, it can enhance the organizations' collaboration. Thus, it can direct the integration organizations towards standardization in course's design and the development of the integration work field.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2017. , p. 49
Keywords [en]
knowledge management, knowledge creation, Wiki, integration worker, civic orientation, integration
National Category
Information Systems
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-11105Local ID: EXI802OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-11105DiVA, id: diva2:1119383
Subject / course
Informatics
Educational program
IT och verksamhetsutveckling
Supervisors
Examiners
2017-07-042017-07-042020-04-29Bibliographically approved