The present article addresses the nature and purposes of literary studies in secondary and upper secondary English teacher education programmes in Sweden. It is based on a study of syllabi from all programmes nationally and for the academic year 2017-2018. The article maps the goals formulated for literary studies as well as the literary and disciplinary repertoires foregrounded in these documents, and so provides a snapshot of the kinds of literary studies that student teachers of English had access to. It situates literary studies in the context of steering documents for English teacher education, and it shows that, whilst literary studies were a given part of English teacher education in the studied period, they relied on a narrow conception of the discipline. Literary studies mainly attended to twentieth and twenty-first century prose fiction and regarded literature primarily as a source of worldly knowledge. Indeed, the repertoires mediated seemed based on their potential to cover curricular ground in relation to steering documents for Swedish schools. Given the relative freedom institutions had to define the subject-specific content of teacher education, the results prompt a discussion about the knowledge repertoires that student teachers need as part of their higher education and as preparation for professional practice.
Classifications of pupils as ‘weak’ have featured during the last century in Sweden and are still present in contemporary descriptions of pupils. This study aims to develop knowledge about how ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation has been (re)produced in governmental inquires during 1923–2019 and explores how a temporal perspective might deepen the knowledge on a current classification such as ‘weak pupil’. In focus are the governmental inquiries concerning current or historical compulsory school forms. The following research questions are posed: To what extent has ‘weak pupil’ been present as a classification? How has ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation been (re)produced? Which patterns of stability and change can be identified in the (re)production of ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation? Through social representations theory, this study suggests that classifications and social representations of pupils as “weak” have been present during the last century. There are elements of both stability and change in the themes that construct “weak pupil” as a social representation, but there are indicators that ‘weak pupil’ as a social representation is more fossilized in contemporary writings. Perceptions of pupils in relation to perceptions of ’normality’ seem to be a stable construction over the last century.
I artikeln uppmärksammas språkliga diskurser i skolans svenskämnen: svenska och svenska som andraspråk. Syftet med artikeln är att utforska undervisningen i symmetriska och asymmetriska klassrum och den tänkbara betydelsen för eleverna av undervisning i en flerspråkig skola. Studien som lyfts fram har en sociokulturell teoretisk utgångspunkt med fokus på språk- och literacyundervisning och har genomförts i årskurs 5 i en skola där mer än 50% av eleverna har ett annat modersmål än svenska. Resultatet visar att diskursen är enspråkig i symmetriska och asymmetriska klassrum förutom i ett klassrum där undervisningen visar en ansats att lyfta in elevernas flerspråkiga kompetens och uppmuntrar transspråkande. Slutsatsen är dock att det på den studerade skolan råder en enspråkig diskurs i en flerspråkig kontext.
This study investigates an under-researched Swedish national improvement initiative called “Collaboration for the Best School Possible” (CBS), regarding preschool. The aim of this article was to develop knowledge of preschool teachers’ and head teachers’ conceptions and experiences during the initial phase of CBS. The data are based on semi-structured interviews with 14 preschool professionals. A qualitative content analysis guided by the concept of ideological dilemmas was conducted. The results show imbalances regarding the dilemmas of “a linear logic” versus “a complex practice” and “the top-down governance” versus “the bottom-up influences”. The linear logic for improvements, to which it seemed the preschool professionals had adapted, appears to lack place for complexities. The professionals also appeared subordinated to representatives of National Agency for Education and a specific language use, supposed to be spoken at the agency, “Skolverkiska” as well as a perceived focus on deficiencies. Risks are pointed out for an overly narrow view of the practice in which its conditions are neglected. This article shows the importance of further discussions regarding why, for what and for whom an educational practice needs to be improved.
In this article focus is directed towards Study Guidance in the Mother Tongue (SGMT) and SGMT tutors’ professional roles in Swedish compulsory school. The aim is to study how SGMT tutors are positioned and position themselves in relation to official documents and other actors in school. Questions that are highlighted in the article deal with forms for participation in school activities, opportunities to agency and voice as well as expressions of professionality in the SGMT tutor role. The empirical material builds mainly on interviews with SGMT tutors together with official documents. The results show that there is big variation between individual SGMT tutors when it comes to their possibilities for agency and to make their voices heard, as well as when it comes to participation and influence. Several co-operating factors have been identified that may strengthen the SGMT tutors’ profession where competence and possibilities for co-operation with class and subject teachers appear as crucial. Also questions of organisational art, such as time allocated for preparation, are important for SGMT tutors’ profession.
This article focuses on the role of the Swedish as a second language (SSL) teacher in the LanguageIntroduction Programme (LIP) in secondary schools in Sweden. Policy analysis is used, with policycomprising of three closely intertwined layers: declared, perceived and practised. The material used consistsof official documents, interviews with teachers and principals, and classroom observations. What becomesapparent through these layers is that the SSL teacher’s role is both contradictory and ambiguous. On theone hand, these teachers are trained to teach and plan SSL to support L2 students’ learning throughout theschool day and in different subjects. On the other, neither official documents nor the schools themselvesprovide SSL teachers space for such agency: the space in which they are given agency is restricted to theirown subject. National educational policy to increase knowledge about the educational requirements ofrecently arrived students has not been followed by sufficient changes in the training of and directives forprincipals and teachers. Solving these issues requires that all teachers and principals receive relevant trainingand SSL teachers given more responsibility and training.
This article explores the professional role of teachers of Swedish as a second language (SSL). The study is based on interviews with highly qualified SSL teachers to examine their perspectives regarding their professional identity; the opportunities, if any, that exist for them to have agency; and the changes they believe would lead to them having a stronger voice. Findings demonstrate that their everyday reality as teachers makes their role in education difficult. One contributing factor is that principals and teachers of other subjects lack sufficient knowledge about second language students (L2 students), which makes it unrealistic to assume SSL teachers can lead the type of school development and organisational change that they require to establish a voice in their role. To strengthen their profession, SSL teachers require a new type of role, one in which they not only are experts in the field of L2-student learning and educational needs but are also trained in issues of leadership.