ID: 3386 / 26 SES 03 C JS: 426. Educational Leadership Paper (Copy for Joint Session) Alternative EERA Network: 07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education Keywords: migration, newly arrived students, compulsory schooling, Sweden.

Mapping of the Migrating Newcomers' Reception and Educational Situation and their transitions in the School System in Sweden

Kerstin von Brömssen, Helena KorpUniversity West, Sweden,

Presenting Author: von Brömssen, Kerstin; Korp, Helena

Schools and educational practices in Europe are currently challenged by migration and various forms of transnational practices in relation to globalization, war and unequal social conditions (cf. Adams & Kirova 2007; Hamilton & Moore 2004; Rutter 1998).. Migration into Sweden has gone on in different phases and with different intensity since the end of the Second World War and the year 2016, 16% of the population in Sweden are born abroad.

Swedish schools have however adopted slowly and research and national evaluations show low results and a neglect of migrant children and newcomer students’ needs (Bunar 2015; Jonsson & Rudolphi 2010; Nilsson & Bunar 2015). There is however a considerable gap in educational achievement between students who have immigrated after starting school and those who were born in the country or who migrated at a younger age, prior to starting school (Nilsson & Bunar 2015; PISA 2016). Newly arrived students have a double disadvantage in that they in addition to lacking the knowledge of the language often have difficult experiences in connection with the migration. Further, these students are partly seen by teachers and majority students as representatives of ‘the other’, and there is a lack of respect within a dominant discourse on Swedishness (Bunar 2010).

A first aim of this research is to provide a picture of how the newly arrived students are received in school. This will be explored through extensive case-studies in two mid-sized Swedish municipalities which include schools with various experience of multilingual students and arrangements for their inclusion. A second aim is to explore different models and methods, approaches and didactic tools in order to take part in a critical discussion on newly arrived students’ education and possible educational interventions. How newly arrived students are received in schools varies greatly between Swedish municipalities, according to Bunar (2010), and is only sporadically investigated through research at the present.

Research questions

The project aims, through a survey and in-depth case studies in two Swedish municipalities and its compulsory schools:

- Explore how newly arrived pupils are received and included during their first time in the Swedish compulsory school, which models there are for receiving, for teaching and models for transitions, and how the students themselves interpret, experience and handle their education.

- Deepen the knowledge of how the school organization as well as competences, attitudes and approaches at different levels (from administration to the classroom) affects newcomers' opportunities for learning and inclusion.

- Describe examples and general aspects of the organization, approach and didactic tools that promote or hinder newcomers' knowledge and social inclusion.

Theoretical framework

Theoretically we draw on an ecological system perspective as used in work by among others Anderson, Hamilton, Moore, Loewen, and Frater-Mathieson (2004) and Nilsson and Bunar (2015). It builds on the work by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1992) and his development of a theory for understanding child development. In this theory Bronfenbrenner emphasizes the whole social context and the different systems of relationships that form a child’s environment. Bronfenbrenner separates in his theory between five different environmental levels that influence the child; the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem and the chronosystem, this in order to understand and organize patterns of the levels experienced by the child . Of importance is to emphasize that the theory states that we are not mere recipients of the experiences we have when socializing in the micro system environment, but we are also contributing to the construction of such environment. In our work this theory will work as an important organizing tool or lens for understanding different levels influencing the lives of newly arrived children

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe project draws on data from different sources:Interviews at the reception schoolsThe two principals were interviewed individually. Group interviews were made with teachers, L1 assistant teachers and student-health staff. The interviews focused on the function of different professions, on inter-professional cooperation, on the use of students’ assessment results in different domains, and on the students’ transfer to different home schools.Survey to principals in comprehensive schoolsA survey to the principals of all comprehensive schools in the two municipalities. The aim of the survey was to map the schools in regard to their proportion of newly arrived students (children who immigrated within the nearest four years; almost all with refugee-background), and their past experience with multi-lingual children; how they organize for the new-comers learning and social inclusion; their use of assessment information about the new-comers skills and knowledge in different domains; their resources in terms of L1-teachers and assistant teachers etc. School-based case studiesWhile the survey provide a broad image of organizational arrangements and conditions for including new-comer students, 2-3 schools in each of the two municipalities are selected as cases in order to further explore these arrangements and conditions through qualitative methods, and from the views of the main stake-holders: students, parents, teachers and principals. Each case-study is based on 1) ethnographic field-observations in prepatory groups or classrooms, L2 Swedish and L1 lessons, and regular lessons where newcomers are participating,2) interviews with 2-3 new-comer students3) interviews with principal and teaching staffFocus will be on what in the classroom and organization that promote or inhibit educational and social inclusion. We will also look at how the results from initial assessments made at the reception-schools of the students’ skills and knowledge in different domains are used.  Student-based case studiesFor students’ own experiences and perspectives on the transit from the reception schools to regular schools, and on their educational and social situation within different arrangements and school cultures, six students from the reception schools (two from each stage) will be interviewed at different occasions. The first interview includes the students’ parents or legal guardians, and take place at the reception school. The second interview is carried out with after about 3-4 months. Additional interviews are carried out each semester for three years.Data from the survey will be analyzed with simple statistical methods, while the project at large will mainly use interpretive approaches.Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIt is our hypothesis grounded in preliminary analysis of the presently available data and our local personal knowledge about the schools (as lecturers visiting students in internship), that the traditionally multicultural and -linguistic schools tend to be more purposefully organized and staffed to cater for second language-learners’ educational needs, with e.g. some examples of systematic collaboration between subject teachers and L1 support-teachers standing out. These schools also tend to have a more linguistically and ethnically diverse staff. Traditionally mono-ethnic schools have naturally have fewer resources in terms of L1-and Swedish L2-teachers, and less intercultural experience. However, the intense refugee-immigration in 2015, brought a situation where new-comer students were included in almost every school of the two municipalities, even schools with no previous experience. This necessitated and led to changes in school culture and organization as well as teaching methods, and thus learning processes on all levels, even the municipal level since resources and school-development had to be facilitated and distributed on a central level in order for the schools to provide equal opportunities for learning. Through this study we hope to find out how the different contexts and set-ups are experienced by the new-comer students, and how it affects them.