The focus of this presentation is on work integrated learning in higher education that takes place in a cultural context different to that which the student is accustomed to. In higher education internationalization is often stated as a central vision both in relation to education and research. This is commonly expressed in policy documents in statements such as working for an open and border crossing university and having a distinct international perspective in all forms of higher education. The research project “Work integrated learning from the perspective of internationalization” is designed to highlight some of the conditions that surround such visions by examining learning in international settings from students' experiences of practice-related activities abroad. This involves activities that are directly work-oriented or field work carried out within the framework of a university course and / or a bachelor thesis. In the project we are thereby examining students' situated learning and thus highlight the contextual practice community they can access in an international environment. This includes both specific and more general aspects of learning in which different aspects are highlighted. Specific training related to special education programs focus on the development of professional identity while generally learning affects students from all programs in which learning outcomes such as wider perspectives and critical thinking are included.Our research focus is of exploratory nature where the approach is to examine students’ experiences of practice-related learning from the perspective of internationalization. This is being researched from three relating aspects. • Emotional and identity transformational aspects of learning. What does it mean to be in a relatively unknown social environment and there be faced with work-related tasks? What kind of interpretations and understandings of the situations occur? • Communicative aspects of students' practice-oriented learning – the importance of language and cultural codes. • Comparative aspects of students’ learning – the importance of comparisons for perspective taking and development of knowledge.Previous researched has been done on students’ practice-related learning in the field of work integrated learning. The forms of practice-oriented learning are of various kinds. It may be learning through the use of practical training related to establishing a profession-specific knowledge and identity. Other forms are the use of direct working connections or cultural settings outside the university through project work in course moments and / or for a bachelor thesis. What is common to these various forms is an endeavor of higher education to make the arena and cultural settings outside the university to a direct part in students’ learning. Given that the internationalization of higher education has increased, it is important also to examine students’ learning in various international contexts. The relevance of this can be found in theories of learning particularly those focusing on the contextual meaning from the idea that learning originates from the experience of interaction with the environment. Social aspects such as the relational and dialogic qualities are central already in the work of Vygotsky (1962) but according to Cooper (2008), it is only recently that this has been researched from an international perspective.

Method

The study is based on qualitative interviews with post graduate students who have completed internship or field work abroad. We have conducted in depth interviews using a guide with thematic questions focusing on emotional, communicative and comparative aspects of work integrated learning abroad. When processing the raw information the interviews were digitally-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The sample includes 12 in depth interviews, three students from each four different departments (social work, teacher, health promoter, cultural studies and engineering) at a smaller Swedish university. Another category of material is the interviewed student’s written reports from their field work. A content-analysis is performed on all parts of the material according to the three mentioned aspects. The analysis is abductive, which means that it uses theoretical concepts in making sense of the material, but is also sensitive to the participants' own ways of conceptualizing their experiences and learning. Common as well as unique features in the students' stories will be presented and discussed and considered in regard to the students' personal, institutional and cultural contexts.

Expected Outcomes

Preliminary analysis suggest in line with previous studies that the interviewed students' experiences of practice-related learning in a different cultural context show linkage with the phenomenon of sojourning which means taking up temporary residence in another culture. The previous, more linear psychological explanatory model of "adapting" the self in a new country to study or work does not suffice to explain the students' various experiences and learning in their field of study/professional development or on a more general. Our primary analysis of the material rather indicate that these processes are best understood as a complex web of shifting links between mastery of communication, social interaction and personal development. It is the management of this web which gives the result of cross-cultural adaptation and renegotiation of the "identity". As previous studies in the field have shown, personal, educational and psychological factors are as important as organizational and social-cultural factors for influencing the learning outcome (Qing et al 2010). And when it comes to identity formation practice related learning abroad also shows deeply personal transformative possibilities (Ryanand & Viete 2009).

References

Cooper, G. (2008) "Assessing International Learning Experiences: A Multi-Institutional Collaboration". In: Phi Kappa Phi Forum/ Vol. 88 Qing, G., Schweisfurthb, M. & Daya, C. (2010) "Learning and growing in a 'Foreign' Context: Intercultural Experiences of International Students" In: A Journal of Comparative & International Education. Vol.40, No. 1. Ryan, J. & Viete, R. (2009) “Respectful interactions: learning with international students in the English-speaking academy”. In: Teaching in Higher Education, Vol. 14, No. 3 Vygotsky, L. (1962) Thought and language. Cambridge: MA: M IT press

Motivational strategies are underresearched, and studies so far conducted have been in sociolinguistic contexts where English is not extensively encountered outside the classroom. Given also that little is known about strategies relating to the design and content of classroom activities, the purpose of this study is to identify and critically evaluate strategies focusing on activity design and content in classroom activities that, in a setting where students have extensive extramural English encounters, teachers have found to be effective in generating motivation. Using Dörnyei's (2001) taxonomy of motivational strategies as an analytical tool, 112 descriptions of motivational activities provided by a randomly drawn sample of secondary EFL teachers in Sweden (N = 252) were content-analyzed with a focus on design and content. Providing support for Dörnyei's proposals, the results reveal the prominence of activities that enable students to work with authentic materials (cultural artefacts produced for a purpose other than teaching) and in ways that can be experienced as authentic. Activities involving digital technologies which provide opportunities for creativity are also prominent. Use of authentic materials places high demands on teachers' pedagogical and linguistic skills. In contexts where students respond positively to such activities, teachers' language awareness skills become of significant importance.

Students’ declining motivation to learn English in school presents a major challenge for teachers (Ushioda, 2013) and motivation researchers need to help them “find ways of eliciting, enhancing, and sustaining students’ motivation” (Guilloteaux, 2013: 3). While recent publications (e.g. Dörnyei & Kubanyiova, 2014; Gregersen & Macintyre, 2014) offer theoretically-based, practically-oriented guidance on generating motivation, focus tends to be on the development of language-speaker/user self-concepts over longer timescales. In the research literature on materials design, itself an under-explored area (Gilmore, 2012), focus has been directed to the effectiveness of tasks as classroom input, rather than their motivational qualities. Faced with a daily need to deliver motivating activities, teachers are poorly supported by principled advice. With the aim of contributing to the development of effective practice, and recognizing that “the accumulated wisdom of best practices in the teaching profession considerably exceeds the significance of the findings of empirical investigations” (Dörnyei, 2009: 267), the purpose of the research presented here is to examine the language learning activities teachers themselves consider motivational.

An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 325 teachers of English from a randomly-drawn sample of 65 secondary schools in Sweden. An open-ended question invited teachers to describe an activity carried out in the current/previous term which they experienced as generating student motivation. Quantitative and qualitative content analysis techniques were employed in the analysis of these descriptions. Drawing on activity-relevant motivational factors outlined by Dörnyei and Csizér (1998), Ushioda’s (2011) principles for motivating learners ‘to speak as themselves’, and Henry’s (2013) identification of the motivational potential of activities with ‘affinity space’ features (Gee, 2007), analyses were guided by five overarching motivational characteristics; Interest, Personal relevance, Autonomy, Invoking transportable identities and Affinity space features. Recurring themes, frequencies, and exemplar activities are presented and tentative proposals are made for practice development.

SUMMARY

In delivering motivational activities, teachers are poorly supported by principled advice. The research objectives were to examine activities teachers consider motivational. Descriptions of activities provided by Swedish EFL teachers from a randomly-drawn sample (N=325) were analysed. Themes, frequencies, and exemplar activities are presented. Proposals for practice development are offered.

A sample of 226 Swedish high school teachers from various knowledge domains completed self-report measures of intelligence regarding implicit theories and scientific theories of intelligence. A mixed ANOVA showed that teachers from language, social science and practical disciplines had a significant preference for an incremental theory of intelligence compared to an entity theory of intelligence whilst the teachers in mathematics did not. One of the conclusions was that entity theories of intelligence may be more pronounced among teachers in mathematics. Second there is a significant relation between naïve beliefs in intelligence as fixed and inborn, entity theories, and the scientific g-factor theory. Last, it was the oldest and most experienced and youngest and least experienced teachers who preferred an entity theory of intelligence the most

This study is based on an ethnography that was carried out in the Transport Programme (TP) in a Swedish upper secondary school (in this paper referred to as Rockmeadows High). The research is part of a larger project focusing on discourses on Intelligence in Swedish upper secondary school, and how these are produced and used in different educational contexts. The title of the article quotes Emily, a hardworking and high-achieving TP student. Emily is disappointed that the academic courses much of the time operate on a rote level, and that teachers' expectations on the students in the programme generally are quite low. The present study also indicates, in line with several studies of vocational education in Sweden, that academic courses in vocational programmes often seem to provide scarce opportunity for theoretical learning and higher order thinking. Others suggest that the vocational courses present better conditions for such learning. The present article explores learning and instruction in different subjects and the conditions that are structuring them. It discusses the possibility that performativity pressure is one of the structuring forces. 'Performativity' is used here to refer to the notion that individuals and systems are valued based on their measured performances in regard to standards, and identified by those standards. Thus ascribed values become ends in themselves and render the use value of knowledge subordinate to the exchange value. This means that not only knowledge but also the pedagogical interaction and relationships become commodified. This is exactly what happens when new managerialism and economic rationality are imposed on the education system, as it has been throughout the Western world in the last decades. Swedish educational policy has gone far down this road, focusing measurable outcomes, individual choice and competition on all levels as means for quality. Still, not all spheres of education are dominated by the economistic rationality, as this articles aims to demonstrate and discuss. © 2012 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

I den här kunskapsöversikten sammanställs forskning inom området bedömning och den riktar sig främst till lärare och rektorer. Kunskapsöversikten behandlar frågor som: Hur påverkas elever av de bedömningar som de är med om i skolan? Hur lär sig elever? Vad har elever rätt att lära sig i skolan? Vilka kunskaper är värda att överföra till nästa generation? Hur kan man som lärare veta vad någon annan kan och vet?

Kapitlet handlar om hur nationella prov används i gymnasiet och hur de fungerar som stöd för likvärdig betygssättning i olika program och ämnen. Det tar också upp olika modeller för betygssättning och diskuterar bedömning, betygssättning och likvärdighet i ett vidare perspektiv.

This article is based on an ethnographic study of the transport program, a vocational education with strong masculine tradition, in a Swedish upper secondary school. It looks at the ways that notions of intelligence and smartness are culturally produced and used in the daily practises of students and teachers. In the article, I discuss how such notions inform, but also limit, students' learning and their constructions of identity in school, with possible consequences for their futures, and for the reproduction of social and gender-based inequalities in the wider society. My aim is to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about cognitive ability and school results, and to point to the capacity of the concept of smartness as such to contribute to producing unequal outcomes in a school system, which allegedly offers all students, regardless of social background and gender, equal chances to succeed. © The Author(s) 2011.

Kapitlet beskriver intelligensdiskurser som kontext.

På Nord-Yrk 2023 vill vi ta upp insikter från vårt pågående ULF-projekt Att begreppsliggöra yrkeskunnande inom olika praxisgemenskaper, och hur vi kan använda dem för att utveckla våryrkeslärarutbildning och oss som lärarutbildare. ULF-projektet handlar om hur yrkeskunnande kopplat till gymnasial yrkesutbildning och yrkeslärarutbildning begreppsliggörs, medieras och lärs i olika utbildningssammanhang, och i ett livsvitt perspektiv. Exempel på frågor vi har haft som utgångspunkt är: - Vad kan och gör en skicklig yrkeslärare, och vilka processer, erfarenheter, platser och relationer är viktiga för att utveckla dessa färdigheter och förmågor? Frågorna kopplar i sin tur till yrkeskunnande i arbetslivet: Vad kan/gör/utmärker en skicklig yrkesperson? På samma sätt behöver vi som yrkeslärarutbildare rikta dessa frågor mot yrkeslärarutbildningen och oss själva; hur vi förstår och känner igen yrkesskicklighet hos yrkeslärare är en fundamental fråga för hur vi organiserar och gör yrkeslärarutbildning. Exempel på tillämpliga teoretiska begrepp är kunskapsformering (Walton & Ruznyak, 2020), vocational bildung (Tyson, 2017), yrkesblivande (Wyzynska Johansson, 2020) och phronesis (t.ex. Kinsella & Pitman, 2012).Metod Inom ramen för ULF-projektet som har pågått under två läsår, har vi dels intervjuat lärarutbildare (kollegaintervjuer inom gruppen) (N=8) och verksamma yrkeslärare (N=8), dels gjort fallstudier (N=4) i klasser på gymnasier och komvux, där vi bland annat har gjort observationer, samlat in uppgifter och intervjuat elever. Materialet analyseras tematiskt med fokus på hur yrkeskunnande begreppsliggörs och utvecklas i de olika sammanhangen, och hur dessa processer och tankefigurer kan länkas till varandra.Resultat En tematik som framträder genom materialet är Bemyndigande och bildning. Medan vi i intervjuerna med yrkeslärarutbildare och yrkeslärare identifierar detta som en diskurs där agens, omdöme, självständighet, kritiskt tänkande och kreativitet är viktiga aspekter av yrkeskunnandet, ser vi i fallstudierna exempel på hur det görs i undervisningen. Av eleverna själva och i våra analyser av observationer och material, kopplas detta till olika former av arbetsintegrerat lärande som systematiskt integrerar teoretisk som praktisk kunskap och där kroppsligt erfarande och affekter spelar en betydelsefull roll i reflektion och begreppsliggörande. Ett nästa steg blir att använda resultaten som utgångspunkt för praktikutveckling och kollegialt lärande i relation till yrkeslärarutbildningen (t.ex. Billet, 2009).

This article addresses how vocational knowing and becoming are cultivated in vocational education and training (VET) as part of upper secondary and adult education, as well as in vocational teacher education (VTE). It is based on a study within a Swedish government initiative aimed at promoting the development of school-relevant research and educational practice in partnership between the academia and the school sector and draws on interviews with VET and VTE teachers. Our findings show that VET and VTE teachers share similar ideas of what a good teacher is and does, and how these qualities are cultivated through participation in various communities of practice. VET and VTE teachers also share ideas of what their students need to become skilled professionals. These ideas include critical judgement, the integration of theory and practice, ethical reflection, and the propensity to handle diversity and relate to the Other. We identify and discuss these as aspects of VET and VTE teachers’ vocational phronesis. Implications for VTE include the need for supporting students’ educational journeys, developing teachings strategies for vocational phronesis and reflecting on the purpose of education.

Introduction

This paper explores multi-sited ethnography (Marcus, 2011) as a research strategy in L2 classroom research in regard to a specific project: Bridging the Gap between in and out-of-school English: Learning from good practice (hence forth BTG). Using an online survey, we aim to identify English teachers in Swedish lower secondary schools (grades 6-9) who in their teaching are committed to exploring and drawing on students’ experiences and use of English in their free-time. After establishing contact and reaching agreements with selected teachers, we plan to do in-depth classroom studies through observations, interviews with teachers and students, collected instructional materials and student work, and other possible sources. We will also collect data from students in these classes about their use of English outside of school. The classroom studies will be carried out by three or four researchers, each spending about three weeks with four teachers which means that we will get data from the classrooms of about 16 teachers (which means approximately 48 weeks of classroom studies). Such a design, where a phenomenon is elicited based on the analysis of observational and other kinds of data from several settings has been termed “multi-sited ethnography” Coleman & von Hellermann, 2011).

With this design we hope to combine many of the benefits of classic ethnography, based on rich data from the extensive study of one case, with the opportunity to explore the complex interplay between learning tasks, processes, teaching and classroom culture in various pedagogic contexts. We also intend to examine what kind of tasks that are motivating for different students, and which students get the opportunity to feel that their cognitive and cultural resources are recognized and drawn upon in class. Realizing that we can never predict how a pedagogical action or task would be interpreted and work out in a new context or from all students’ point of view (Willis & Trondman, 2000), our hope is still that we will be able to convey the results of BTG in such a way that teachers could use them, not as a manual, but as a starting point for reflecting on how such processes could develop in their classrooms, with their students.

The purpose of the current paper is to discuss how ethnography, and particularly multi-sited ethnography could be applied in our project, given the purpose and theoretical framing of the study as well as practical concerns. We will do this through a review of literature on methodology in classroom ethnography and of second language (L2) studies in the same vein as our project.

The review is not based on a systematic selection of readings, but is an effort to outline a map of the methodological and theoretical landscape where we, at this moment, see it as relevant to place and discuss our study. Another purpose of this paper is to provide it as a point of departure for critical and creative discourse with experienced ethnographers in OEC about design and methods, and thus help us work these out soundly. Willis & Trondman (2000, p. 12) argue concerning theory in ethnography that

the criterion for relevance is maximum power in relation to the data for purposes of illumination, not theoretical adequacy or sophistication for its own sake. ‘Analytic points’ can be made without recourse to a full account of the whole intellectual history of the traditions from which theory is drawn: the necessity is for sufficient, perhaps quite brief, account of the specific theoretical work that a concept or view can bring to the subject of study, its usefulness in context.

The paper is organised as follows: a presentation of the purpose and theoretical framing of the project, the literature review, an outline in more concrete detail of our planned design of the project BTG (based on our application for grants, and inspired by the accounted readings and by other empirical L2 studies in the same vein). We conclude with some ideas and questions regarding our research project.

The purpose of this questionnaire-based study is to investigate whether differences in ways in which teachers of English view the challenge of generating pupil motivation, and the nature and qualities of the activities they regard as motivational, are related to (i) school-type and (ii) pupil demographics. The study is part of a larger project investigating ways in which teachers relate to pupils’ increasing encounters with English in out-of-school contexts as observed recently in the Nordic countries (Simensen, 2010; Sundqvist, 2009). The study draws on responses of teachers (n = 111) who completed an online survey sent in 2014 to a randomly-drawn sample of grade 6 – 9 English teachers (N =250). The questionnaire comprised Likert-scale items focusing on factors identified as having a positive impact on language learning motivation (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011; Henry, 2013). These were: (i) self-reported recognition of the value of youth culture in goal-directed teaching, (ii) knowledge and use of digital medias, (iii) creation of networked environments, (iv) creation of activities emphasizing creativity and self-expression, and (v) attempts to link out-of-school English experiences with in-school learning. The questionnaire additionally included an open-ended question inviting teachers to describe a task they found particularly motivated their pupils. Mean scores were calculated for the scales and cluster analysis was used to identify teachers with differing approaches to generating motivation. Responses to the open question were content analyzed and quantitatively coded. Preliminary analyses indicate that teachers who report types of practice that draw on pupils’ out-of-school encounters with English, create learning activities that engage with pupils’ interests and identities and which embody features of networked communication are overrepresented in (i) independent schools and (ii) schools with relatively high proportions of pupils from academic home backgrounds and a low share of pupils with minority backgrounds. In that performance is mediated by motivation (Dörnyei, 2009), the presence of such patterns sheds light on school- and pupil-related differences in attainment found in Nordic and other settings.

Contribution

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how newly arrived parents construct and reconstructed parenthood post-migration; of challenges and opportunities they see in regard to the upbringing and education of their children in a new host-society; how they navigate to provide the best conditions and support for their children given the resources they have access to. Based on the parents’ views, the paper further suggests how parental support might be tailored to meet the needs of newly arrived parents

The paper draws on theories and concepts from research on parenthood in the context of migration and ethnic diversity and on parental engagement in school.

Ochocka & Janzen (2008), explain that international (especially forced) migration involve reconstructing oneself as a parent under new social, cultural, political and existential conditions, a process that entails interpreting and assessing norms and practices in the new context as well as reinterpreting and reassessing notions of parenting that might have been taken more or less for granted in the home-country. What are seen as “natural” and “right” ways to act as a parent in different situations relates to (mostly implicit and taken for granted) ideas about children, family and parenthood, “parental ethno-theories“. These are formed in the cultural contexts of which the parents are part (Harkness & Super (2013). Further, the same kind of parental support may be valued equally but expressed differently in various cultural contexts. Neely & McBarber (2010) conclude from a cross-cultural study that “(s)tudies of supportive parenting based on measures developed, typically, by majority, middle-class scholars in the United States may ignore or misinterpret ethnotheories present in other cultures” (p. 606).

Parents’ engagement in their children’s education has been found in several studies to benefit children’s academic results (Wilder, 2014), especially for children with migration or ethnic minority background (Sibley & Dearing, 2014; Epstein, 2011), and improves children’s attitudes to education and sense of belonging in school (Suarez-Orozco, Onaga, de Lardemelle, 2010). Immigrated parents generally, across educational levels and national backgrounds, consistently show higher educational aspirations for their children and value education higher than native-born parents (Areepattamannil & Lee, 2014).  Even so, studies from different high GPD countries indicate that the relationship between school and parents with migration or minority is often laden with complications Schneider & Arnot, 2018 a; Antony-Newman, 2019). Research on parental engagement across countries shows that the expected and rewarded forms for parents’ involvement in school are typically modelled on the values, life-circumstances and communication-styles of a white national resident middle-class patterns parents (Antony-Newman, 2019). Parents who do not share these circumstances have been found to frequently fail to get their parental resources, support and interaction-modes recognized and validated by school staff (Schneider & Arnot 2018 a; Kim, 2009; Dahlstedt, 2009). On a societal level, due to patterns of downward mobility often associated with migration, migrant parents’ school engagement is oftentimes mitigated by school-segregation and under-resourced communities, as well as by economic scarcity, long shifts and extensive travel time (Antony-Newman, 2019). While these conditions are shared not only by many migrant parents, but also by many in-born ethnic minorities and working-class parents, linguistic obstacles, loss of social networks in connection with the migration process and lack of knowledge about the national education system and cultural norms exacerbate the effects (ibid.). For parents who arrived as refugees, the capacity to support their children’s education may in addition be adversed by pre- peri and post-migration trauma, including the consequences of state migration policies (e.g. deportability, extended asylum-processes, obstacles for family-reunification, undocumentedness (Martin et al., 2018; Wahlström Smith, 2018).

Method

The study is based on data from qualitative interviews with 11 newly arrived parents, 5 women and 6 men, who took part of a five-week study-circle organized by the municipal integration office with the aim to offer parents information about the Swedish school-system and policies that bear on parents’ responsibilities and children’s rights in the family, as well as opportunity to discuss with other parents, and thus strengthen the parents’ capacity to support their children constructively, especially in regard to school. They had resettled in Sweden between 2015 and 2018 and came from Iraq (1), Syria (7), Eritrea (1), and Afghanistan (2). The interviews were semi-structured, based on an interview-guide with open questions, and followed an active mode of interviewing, inviting the participants to reflect and elaborate further on their experiences and views (see e.g. Holstein & Gubrium, 2016). With Dari-speaking participants, interviews were carried out in Persian by researcher 1. For interviews with Arabic-speaking participants, an interpreter was involved. The group-interview was supported by an Arabic-/English-speaking assistant and carried out in mixed languages (Swedish, Arabic and English). All interviews were transcribed and translated into Swedish. The names of participants in our study are pseudonyms. The material was analyzed using a qualitative approach: Both researchers read all transcripts in order to grasp the major themes and variations within themes; in this process we both wrote analytic memos; several meetings were held where the interpretations and outcomes were compared and assessed in regard to the data and to previous research; a common coding scheme was worked out as a result and tested on the material and modified to capture the complexity of the material; the themes were described through accounts of variations and sustained by exemplary quotes from the participants.

Expected Outcomes

The findings reflect that the migration process induces reflections about what it means to be a good parent. These reflections on parenting were paralleled by reflections on the school-system. The parents’ accounts show that they struggled to balance “traditional” norms (e.g. strict parental/teacher control, emphasis on discipline and respectability) which they associated with the former home country, and liberal norms (bi-directional parent-child relationships, child-centered pedagogy, emphasis on independence and democracy) which they attributed to the new. Parents took different positions in this, talking about the normative and political context for education and upbringing as either aligned or opposed to their own parental belief-systems; as either allowing them to relate to their children in a deeper and more authentic way, or alienating the children from their parents and original culture. The parents showed a strong commitment to develop working parental strategies for the new context, but also concern about how losses of economic, social and cultural capital (e.g. downward social mobility, leaving significant parts of social networks behind, lacking adequate linguistic skills and knowledge about the education-system) adversed their capacity. In addition, the parents worried that their children (1) did not get sufficient linguistic support to keep up in the subjects, (2) met low teacher expectations, (3) lacked peers and risked bullying. These concerns reflect real and general challenges that newly arrived families from the global south and with refugee-background typically face in Sweden and other high-gpd countries, well documented through research. Recognizing parents’ engagement and the forms of support they do provide, while also realizing the impact of structural and linguistic conditions on children’s educational situation and parents’ capacity to provide productive support, is fundamental for understanding and defeating observed achievement gaps in the Swedish school-system and in tailoring parental support.

This study is based on an analysis of a sample of so called Individual Education Plans (IEP) from 233 Swedish students in grade five. It addresses three questions:

·         What forms of knowledge and modes of learning are focuses in the EIP:s?

·         How can the information in the IEP:s be interpreted in terms of its potential contribution to students’ learning and control over their learning?

·         Does the potential contribution of the IEP:s to students’ learning and agency vary between schools according to the parents’ education, the proportion of students with foreign background, the proportion of students that passed the national assessment and to whether the IEP is digitalized.

The framework involves sociological theories (e.g. Bourdieu and Bernstein), as well as educational theories about assessment and learning. The results will also be discussed in regard to the wider issue of performativity in a European context (e.g. Ball, 2003).

Formally the IEP serves two purposes in the Swedish school system – to summarize the students’ achievements in regard to objectives and standards for each subject in order to inform the students and their parents, and to guide future learning. Unlike in most countries, the IEP:s are mandatory for all students in the Swedish compulsory school system – not only students with special educational needs.

The IEP should be elaborated and revised in a parent-teacher conference twice a year, but should, according to policy, be used by the students and the teachers throughout the school year in planning, guiding and evaluating learning. Thus, the idea of IEP is well in line with the notion ofassessment for learning, which stress that assessments in regard to pre-specified criteria that mirror learning objectives are powerful in enhancing students’ achievements, self-efficacy and motivation.

There is much empirical evidence that assessment for learning indeed have these effects, and moreover that students from educationally and economically less privileged families, second-language learners and students with weak school results tend to benefit the most (William, 2010; Hattie & Timperley, 2007). However, for assessments to have these effects, they must meet certain criteria, e.g. for feedback to be clearly related to the target, detailed and concrete, directed at the process and supportive (Shute, 2007). Conversely, assessment/feedback that focuses on students’ personality, is judgmental or compares students to one another, are likely to debilitate students’ motivation, self-efficacy and future achievements (Harlen & Deakin Crick, 2002).

Morover, IEP can, through its gentle and student-centered appearance also reinforce the control function of the school at the expense of the students’ power and control, and particularly so for students whose cultural and social background have made t them less prepared to interpret the school’s “hidden curriculum” (Bunar, 2001; Dovemark, 2004).

Thus, the consequences of the use of IEP-practice is contingent, since in theory it seems to hold the potential to empower students (in general and students with weak cultural capital in particular) as well as the opposite – to disempower them. 

Method

The study includes 233 individual development plans from students in their fifth grade (aged 11-12), in five municipalities and thirty one schools in western Sweden. The plans were obtained by a systematic sampling at each school, where alphabetical lists from all classes in the relevant grade in each school were sequenced and every fifth name on the list was drawn. The written assessments and the formative comments will be analyzed and coded in regard to forms of knowledge and modes of learning; potential effects on learning and control over learning. Bi-variate analyses will then be carried out on the material in regard to school variables related to the parents’ education, the proportion of students with foreign background, the proportion of students that passed the national assessment and to whether the IEP is digitalized.

Expected Outcomes

Preliminary analyses, in line with previous studies, suggest that the feedback and feedforward provided in the IEP often include statements about students behavior and personal qualities, focus mostly on Swedish, mathematics and English, and tend to focus on atomistic knowledge rather than higher order thinking (Andreasson, 2007). The information is mostly too scarce and vague to be useful as guidance for students in planning future learning. Thus, generally the IEP:s do not seem to meet the criteria for assessments that increase students control over their learning or boost their results and self-efficacy. However, as previous studies too have shown, there is a variation between schools. Our most significant observation is that schools with digital IEP:s tend to provide richer and more curriculum aligned feedback than other schools. We have not yet systematically explored the variation in the content of the IEP:s in regard to the schcools’ student population or results. Such patterns do not seem to stand out, however.

References

Andreasson, I. (2007). Elevplanen som text: om identitet, genus, makt och styrning i skolans elevdokumentation. Göteborg: Acta Universitas Gothoburgensis. Ball, S.J. (2003). The teachers’ soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18 (2), 215-228. Bunar, N. (2001). Skolan mitt i förorten: fyra studier om skola, segregation, integration och multikulturalism. Diss. Växjö : Univ., 2001. Eslöv. Dovemark (2004). Ansvar – flexibilitet – valfrihet: en etnografisk studie om en skola I förändring. Göteborg: Acta. Harlen W, Deakin Crick R (2002) A systematic review of the impact of summative assessment and tests on students' motivation for learning. In: Research Evidence in Education Library. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. Hattie, J. & Timpeley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77, s. 81-112. Shute, V.J. (2008). Focus on Formative Feedback. Review of Educational Research. Vol. 78, No. 1, (s.153–189). William, D. (2010). An Integrative Summary of the Research Literature and Implications for a New Theory of Formative Assessment. I Andrade, H.L. & Cizek, G.J. (red.) Handbook of formative assessment. New York: Routledge.

In Swedish compulsory school, individual development plans (IDPs) are mandatory for all students up to 6th grade. The purpose is to summarize and facilitate pupils' learning and tune instruction to national standards. In this study, 233 IDPs drawn up for 5th grade pupils were analyzed with focus on qualities that have been found to impact students' learning and learner identities. The results show that the IDPs rarely display the qualities that would make them effective as tools for enhancing students' learning, and that there is a gender difference in the quality of the documents, as well as differences regarding the pupils' academic background.

This paper aims to highlight challenges and opportunities connected to collaboration between municipal school administrators, principals, teachers and researchers. The current study was formulated in cooperation between researchers and administrators from two rural Swedish municipalities. The study was based on their concern on large gender gap in grades, and on a notion held by some principals and teachers that the motivation for school is low for many students, especially among low-achieving boys.

The project was co-designed in close collaboration between administrators, principals and researchers. The negotiated purpose was thus collaboratively broadened to include not only gender patterns but also other sociological aspects that affect learner identities and motivation. Project information was provided through on-site visits where the project was presented for all staff members at each school in each municipality. During the first year, observations were carried out in grade 6 in five schools, and grade 9 in three schools. Two researchers followed each class one week, by teacher invitation. The focus was on the conditions for learning and motivation offered in class, and on factors supporting and hindering the learning and motivation of girls and boys with different backgrounds and resources. Semi-structured interviews with teachers in the targeted classes (N=18) were held. The interviews focused on the teachers' notions of student achievement and motivation in regard to gendered norms, curriculum and classroom practices. Teachers were also asked to reflect on the possibilities to change prevailing patterns. Semi-structured interviews with students, mostly in pairs (N=70; 39 girls, 31 boys) were carried out. The topics for these interviews were the students' notions of how school, home and peers interplay with their views on learning, motivation and their aspirations for the future. In addition to the practice-based research activities, organizational development and competence building were key ambitions in the cooperation between the two municipalities and the university. The model for this was a one-day workshop for the entire pedagogical staff in the schools at the respective municipality (N=195, N= 65). During these days, local experiences and observations were discussed in relation to presented research concerning study motivation and gender patterns.

Groups of teachers sat together and shared their understandings and reflections. All group conversations were documented in shared online documents for capturing and spreading thoughts and understandings. These shared documents provided a source for further discussions after the actual competence development day. The same model for data gathering will be carried out in year two of the project in order to have a solid foundation for analysis and further recommendations and suggestions. So far, our mutual experience from the range of roles participating in the project, is that the model for co-designing a project combining competence development arrangements with research activities is a fruitful cross-fertilizing process for knowledge creation and professional learning.

Background: Sweden has experienced waves of migration into the country since the end of the WWII. Pull-factors for migration were opportunities to get a job in the industries right after the war as Sweden was not much effected, but also due to the world’s conflicts, effects from the climate change and a desire to live a better life.In recent years, there has been a larger increase in the number of foreign-born. In 2020, just over 2 million people were born abroad, which is 19.7 percent of the population in Sweden. The most common country of birth for foreign-born is currently Syria, followed by Iraq. Finland was for many years the most common country of birth, but is today the third most common country, followed by Poland and Iran. The migration from the African Horn is also quite extensive, where Somalis are the largest group from Africa in Sweden (in 2018 there were more than 100 000 Somali people living in the country). Since the start of the new millennium, Sweden has experienced an intense debate over migration and several new laws have been passed in order to restrict migration. This is also the case in several other European countries. However, Sweden used to be described as one of the Nordic welfare states and have enjoyed an international reputation for combining generous welfare state entitlements with rapid economic growth, low unemployment and very high levels of labor force participation, particularly among women. This welfare model, characterized by generous, non-tested benefits, a strong element of redistribution in the systems and thus high taxes, was developed after the WWII, but had ideological roots in the labor movement back from the late 1800s. One example of the welfare model is that Sweden offers free education from age 6 to19 and also free school lunches. Over the last twenty years the welfare model has been challenged due to globalization and migration and an increase in international financial competition which also have affected education with reduced resources. However, a large body of research show that education plays a significant role in the health and wellbeing as well as for integration in the “new society”, and education is pointed out as one of the most important institutions for newly arrived migrant children. This paper builds on research investigating reception strategies and inclusion for newly arrived children in schools in two municipalities in Sweden, as well as the migrant students own reflections on these issues. The research was carried out over the years 2016-2018.

Methods: The empirical for the study consisted of two parts. The first part built on interviews with educational leaders at primary schools and staff at reception units in the two municipalities, partly through questionnaires (N=39) with supplementary telephone interviews to the principals (N=24). The second part explored the newly arrived migrant students’ reception and conditions for learning and social inclusion out from their perspective. This part of the study is based on ethnographic work from eight school units with different conditions and way of organizing teaching for newly arrived migrant children.

Results: The study showed that there are currently established guidelines and organization for the assessment and reception of newly arrived students in Sweden, however in practice various known and applied. Among the eight school units included in the study were schools with long experience of receiving newly arrived students, and teaching students with different cultural, linguistic and educational backgrounds, but also schools that can be described as ‘monocultural’, whose experience of receiving newly arrived students were very limited. The differences between schools in student composition reflects a school segregation that is linked to housing segregation and strengthened by the free choice of school introduced in the beginning of the 1990s’. The study describes how newly arrived students' everyday lives and conditions for learning and inclusion emerge in the diverse environments and how different structural and organizational conditions have consequences for students' learning and social inclusion.

This article reports part of a research project that investigated the learning and social inclusion conditions of ‘newly arrived students’ in Swedish primary schools in two municipalities. Newly arrived students are the category of students who have lived abroad and started their education in Sweden when they were seven years old or older within the last four years. Most of these children and youth have a history of migration. This article focuses firstly on the Swedish migration context, the ‘migration crisis’ in 2015 and the changes in the Swedish reception system that took place soon thereafter and, second, ethnographic observations from Primary Schools of two specific perspectives in education, namely a perspective on ‘Framing of the day and the lesson’ and ‘Study tutoring in the mother tongue in regular teaching’. The results indicated that strong supporting structures and structured social interaction are needed as well as caring and empathy on the part of teachers to promote learning and social inclusion of newly arrived students are required. Furthermore, study tutoring in the mother tongue in regular teaching seems to be important while the study tutors’ view of their mission varies.

The Swedish Parliament and the Government draw up the overall national goals regarding the educational system. Education in Sweden has had a strong element of redistribution in the systems and thus high taxes, which was developed after the Second World War, but had ideological roots in the labor movement back from the late 1800s. One example of the welfare model is that Sweden offers free education from age 6 to 19 and also free school lunches. However, over the last twenty years the welfare model has changed due to globalization and an increase in international financial competition. The Swedish school system's organization and capacity is currently challenged as many newly arrived children and youth arrive in the country. Thus, pressing questions among others are: How are newly arrived children included and integrated into the Swedish school system? What are these childrens’ rights and possibilities of getting an equal education in comparison to Swedish-born children and youth? In documents form the Swedish National Agency for Education it is stated that the top priority is to include all newly arrived pupils into ordinary education as soon as possible, which is in line with a strong discourse of inclusion in the Swedish educational system.  This paper will discuss newcoming and asylum seeking childrens’ and youths’ rights and obligations in the Swedish school system, as well as political tensions in the system expressed by local representatives working within the Swedish educational system. The data come from document studies and interviews in the project, “Mapping of the Newcomers' Reception and Educational Situation, and their Transitions in the Swedish School System” (KAN) located at University West, Sweden.

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.

This chapter is divided into five sections. The first section starts with a narrative from one of our research projects on inclusion and equality for newly arrived students in elementary schools, which was a case study in two municipalities in Sweden (Korp et al., 20191). This narrative will be used for discussion on race and racism in the following sections, both in a historical and in a contemporary perspective. As argued by Martin Eriksson, there is quite a lot of research on race and racism in Sweden during the time period 1900–45, but Eriksson looks for research that does not stop at the end of this period, and studies the continuity between current racism and racial intolerance and those of earlier periods (Eriksson 2016, p. 17). This is a discussion we want to contribute to, arguing that racist discourses are vicious social constructions which both live on as historical memories, as well as being constantly renewed (cf. Schierup, Ålund & Neergaard, 2018). The issues of race and racism discussed in this chapter were not at the front of our initial research questions, but came to be an important result in relation to inclusion and equality for newly arrived students in Swedish elementary schools (Korp et al., 2019). The chapter ends with a section on silencing racism in school and how this can be related to a strong welfare state. Reflections on education, racism and silences on racism conclude the chapter.

General description

This research deals with tutoring in the mother tongue to support newly arrived students in Swedish elementary schools. Although Sweden has received many migrants for a long time, educational policies and organization for these students have been fragmented and poorly developed (Bunar, 2010, 2015; Nilsson, 2013). Students with a 'foreign background' have on average lower school results than pupils with a Swedish background (OECD, 2010; The Swedish National Board of Education, 2016). The proportion of students with 'foreign background' has gradually increased since the beginning of the 1990s. Also, in recent years there has been a marked increase in students who immigrated after school start (7 years of age). Many newly arrived students in Sweden don't obtain grades to continue to upper secondary school after grade 9. The proportion of students in this group increased from 37 percent in 2006 to 50 percent in 2015 (The Swedish National Agency for Education, 2016). These results are especially challenging as it is stated in The Swedish Educational Act that "All children and youths shall have equal access to education". It is further stated that "teaching should be adapted to each pupil's circumstances and needs. It should promote the pupils' further learning and acquisition of knowledge based on pupils' backgrounds, earlier experience, language and knowledge." (The Curriculum for the Compulsory School System, the Preschool Class and the Leisure-time Centre, Lgr 11; cf. Guadalupe, 2013). Thus, the Education Act stipulates that the education provided in each school form and in the recreation centre should be equivalent, regardless of where in the country it is provide. Until recently, the most common way to receive newly arrived students in elementary schooling in Sweden have been introductory classes, with the aim of learning Swedish and getting an introduction into Swedish society (Avery, 2017; Simola & Hansson, 2017). This organization have left students with very heterogeneous backgrounds (language, age, capabilities) in the same classroom, which led to uneven equality and arbitrariness in the education (Bunar 2010; Nilsson & Axelsson, 2013). As a consequence of school results and a growing criticism of education for newly arrived students from professionals and researchers, new rules were introduced in the Education Act concerning the this group on January 1, 2016 (Andersson, Lyrenäs & Sidenhag, 2015; Swedish National Agency for Education, 2016). As it is the responsibility of the municipality to implement and organize education for newly arrive students, the local organization differs widely (Avery, 2017). Thus, several models of organizing education for newly arrived students have been added (Avery 2017) and new models are developed. Currently models of direct inclusion in regular classes with language support from tutors in the newly arrived student's mother tongue is given in the Swedish ordinary classroom seem to increase. However, research on school organization for newly arrived students and their actual support in their local schools are scarce. With this research we want to make a contribution to the ongoing European discussion on how to make education available and with a good quality to all newly arrived students (cf. Avery, 2017; Bukus, 2016; European Commission, 2015; Terhart & von Dewitz, 2017; Torbjørnsen, 2017).

Objectives

The objective of the study is to explore organizational models of receiving and supporting newly arrived students in two Swedish municipalities. The study will provide opinions and perspectives of different supporting models for newly arrived students from headmasters, teachers, student tutors as well as from newly arrived students themselves.

Theoretical framework

Theoretically, our contribution builds on a theory of practice developed by O'Reilly (2012) where external structures as well as internal structures in the researched compulsory schools are taken into account. Practices take place in a perspective or "horizon of action" and involve active agency, communities of practice and conjuncturally-specific external structures (O'Reilly, 2012). The concept of situated learning proposed by Lave and Wenger (1991) is used to analyze how wider structures are both preconditioning and limiting variables for outcomes of action. Also a perspective of culturally responsive teaching inspired by Gay (2010) is of importance when analyzing teaching practices.

Methods/methodology

The project draws on qualitative data from seven elementary school and two reception units. These case studies explore arrangements and organizational models of receiving newly arrived students and their support. The data includes interviews with headmasters, teachers, tutors and newly arrived students as well as ethnographic data from observations.

Expected outcomes/result

The analysis show that elementary schools, even within only two Swedish municipalities, varies widely in their organization and support for newly arrived students. This seems to have a background in the school's history and habit of receiving newly arrived students, in the school's leadership and their interest and knowledge of policies and research in the field as well as opportunities for recruiting competent staff. Several of the schools have altered their organizational models for supporting newly arrived students during the last year (2016-2017), working towards involving student tutors in the mother language to support students in their regular classes. These students' tutors have the task of supporting pupils' knowledge development in different subjects and helping the students to the extent possible to the goals of the education. In order to do so they are supposed to plan together with the class-teachers and the subject matter teachers, an organization that is complex and seems quite difficult to accomplish. Our research show that the student tutors' qualifications vary significantly, their position and status and opportunity for participation in the schools vary, their assignments and awareness of the assignment vary, as well as the teachers understanding of what study supervision is and can be and their will and ability to interact as well as the organizational conditions. Under certain conditions the student tutors' have great potential to work as a significant professional, making a positive difference for new students' chances in the education system, and under other conditions more like an assistant. Student tutors in the mother tongue demonstrate concern for the students' emotional and physical conditions, thus creating a caring climate. However, questions on the tutors' language competency and their knowledge level in subject matter areas can be raised in relation to these arrangements.

FramingULF-projektet Att begreppsliggöra yrkeskunnande inom olika praxisgemenskaper syftar till att belysa innebörden och utvecklingen av yrkeskunnande inom olika praxisgemenskaper (Kemmis & Smith, 2008). Lärprocesser i förhållande till tre huvudsakliga aktörer: yrkeslärarutbildare, yrkeslärare samt yrkeselever fokuseras i undersökningen. Studien utgör ett empiriskt bidrag till forskning om hur deltagande i forskningsprocessen kan främja utveckling av professionella lärandegemenskaper (Stoll, 2006) och således även erbjuder potential för att stärka yrkeslärarprogrammets vetenskapliga kvalitet. Den statliga satsningen på praktiknära forskning genom ULF öppnar upp möjligheter för att stärka yrkeslärarprogrammets vetenskapliga kvalitet men medför även nya utmaningar. ULF-projekt kan främja demokratisering av forskning men ställer nya krav på deltagandeprocesser i relation till engagemang och kontinuerlig kollektiv själv-reflexivitet gällande förtrogenhet med forskningsprocessens olika delar, vilket fokuseras i studien (Rönnerman & Salo, 2012). Forskningsfrågorna utgår från ett didaktiskt intresse för sammanflätning av kunskap och blivande som yrkesperson i sammanhang av yrkesutbildning. Teorier om kumulativ kunskapsformering i professionsutbildning där arbetsintegrerat lärande är centralt används i studien (Walton & Rusznyak, 2020). Methodology/MethodProjektet bygger på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med lärarlaget kring yrkeslärarprogrammet på Högskolan Väst (N=10; vårterminen 2021) och med verksamma yrkeslärare som tagit yrkeslärarexamen vid lärosätet (N=9; höstterminen 2021), samt kortare aktionsforskningsstudier (se Rönnerman, 2012) i gymnasial yrkesutbildning (N=4; vårterminen 2022). Ambitionen med dessa är att bidra till kunskapsutveckling inom yrkesdidaktik i kontexten av arbetsintegrerat lärande såväl som till professionsutveckling, samt att skapa långsiktig samverkan mellan högskola och gymnasieskola/vuxenutbildning, bland annat inom ramen för övningsskolor. Outcomes Studiens resultat förväntas bidra till tre kunskapsfält, ett yrkesdidaktiskt, metodologiskt inom praktiknära professionsforskning samt arbetsintegrerat lärande (AiL). Preliminära resultat belyser de olika aktörernas (yrkeslärarutbildares, yrkeslärares och yrkeselevers) kollektiva förståelse av de arenor, relationer, roller och aktiviteter som de anser är betydelsefulla för att utveckla yrkeskunnande och en positiv yrkesidentitet. Lärarutbildarna begripliggör didaktiska handlingar genom att främst positionera dessa mot ämnesdidaktiska men även allmändidaktiska principer, därigenom transformeras studenternas yrkesspecifika kunskaper till ämnesdidaktiskt stoff. Både yrkeslärare och yrkeslärarutbildare betonar olika sätt att bidra till att bemyndiga medmänniskor, till exempel genom att skifta positioner som yrkeslärare i förhandlingar med arbetsplatser.