To Örebro University

Skolsegregationens negativa konsekvenser har på senare år kommit alltmer i fokus. Den här rapporten har studerat Örebro kommuns arbete med integration och måluppfyllelse vid kommunens skolor, och då specifikt nedläggningen av högstadiet på Vivallaskolan och dess omorganisering till fyra anvisningsskolor i kommunen under 2017–2020.

Forskarna har följt arbetet på de fyra skolorna under två och ett halvt års tid och intervjuat 128 personer: elever, lärare, skolpersonal, skolledning, politiker och tjänstemän – tillsammans bildar de en väv av röster som beskriver från en rad olika perspektiv hur omorganiseringen av Vivallaskolan har uppfattats och vilka effekter det har fått på olika nivåer.

Rapporten visar på både möjligheter och utmaningar att lära av, och genom det kastar den ljus över vilka processer som har bidragit till minskad segregation, samt ökad integration och måluppfyllelse. I en förlängning kan kunskap om dessa processer komma att gynna alla elevers lärande och utveckling.

This contribution is based on an ongoing study on teachers' anti-racist actions. The project is based on John Dewey's moral philosophy with an interest in teachers' experiences of racism and anti-racism in education. In the 25 teacher interviews conducted so far, teachers express that they have a moral responsibility to counteract racism among the pupils. But what should they do when a colleague expresses racism?

Our study shows that this is a common experience among the informants, visible in colleagues’ racist jokes, speech and actions. In situation like this, there seems to be an uncertainty about their moral responsibility leading to professional ambivalence. On the one hand, the teachers feel that they are obligated to the values in the curriculum, on the other hand, they are uncertain about whether the moral responsibility could be applied in relation to colleagues.

The interviewed teachers act in relate to this ambivalence in different ways. Some describe their moral responsibility as general and choose to counteract all kinds of racism in school, even among colleagues. Other states that this is beyond their moral responsibility as a teacher, and choose not to act or to inform the principal. The choice not to act has in previous research also been explained in terms of loyalty between colleagues. The uncertainty that occurs among the informants shows how the boundaries of moral responsibility becomes erased when moving from classroom to staff room.

The aim of this article is to shed light on teachers’ actions to counter racism expressed by their colleagues. Based on qualitative interviews with teachers in Swedish upper secondary schools, the article presents a narrative analysis of three teachers. The article highlights the complexity of what it means to be a colleague in anti-racist work and argues that this brings different risks and possibilities for White teachers and for teachers of colour. By relating the narratives to research on racism and teacher professionalism, the article contributes to a better understanding of the prevalence and character of racism expressed by colleagues, and points at the need for further research.

Sessionen fokuserar frågor som berör rasism och antirasism i skolan. Här presenteras fyra papers som fokuserar hur lärare agerar när de upplever olika former av rasism, både bland kollegor och elever som i skolans organisering. Sessionen presenterar preliminära resultat från det pågående forskningsprojektet "How to counteract racism in education" (Vetenskapsrådet), men tar också avstamp i boken "Att motverka rasism i förskolan och skolan" (Arneback & Jämte, 2017). Sessionen är öppen för alla som är intresserade av frågor som berör rasism och antirasism i skolan. Det kommer också lämnas utrymme för gemensamma samtal och frågor kring forskningsfältet i stort.

Paper 1:

Att motverka rasism i skolan (Arneback & Jämte)

Presentationen fokuserar lärares antirasistiska handlingar och visar en palett av didaktiska arbetssätt lärare använder för att möta olika uttryck för rasism i skolan. Vidare fokuseras hur lärares egna erfarenheter av rasism påverkar deras agerande och förståelse av problemet.

Paper 2:

Mediediskurser om rasism och antirasism i skolan (Wiklund)

Lärares antirasistiska arbete är beroende av hur de förstår begreppet rasism och mediers sätt att använda begreppet är viktiga källor för denna förståelse. Dessa antaganden ligger till grund för denna presentation av hur rasism definieras i medietexter om händelser där rasism aktualiseras i skolsammanhang.

Paper 3:

Om kommunikationens möjligheter och begräsningar i arbetet mot rasism (Arneback & Englund)

Bidraget behandlar villkor för lärares agerande i bemötandet av elevers rasistiska uttalanden. Vår teoretiska referens är primärt John Deweys (1922) bok Human Nature and Conduct. Bidraget analyserar den deliberativa kommunikationens möjligheter och gränser i förhållande till elevers potential, klassrumsklimat samt lärares egna kunskaper och upplevda kapacitet.

Paper 4:

Har lärare ett ansvar att agera när kollegor ger uttryck för rasism? (Bergh & Tryggvason)

Uttryck av rasism är utmanande frågor som lärare möter och hanterar i och omkring undervisningen. Läroplanen är tydlig med att lärare har ett ansvar att motverka alla former av rasism i skolan. Men hur agerar lärare när kollegor ger uttryck för rasism? Den här presentationen utforskar ett ansvar som många gånger är osäkert och riskfyllt.

This article studies how local autonomy meets international and national quality policy rhetoric. The research question asked is: How can the local doing of education be understood in relation to international and national quality policy rhetoric, and how does this affect teachers’ autonomy to realise nationally formulated goals? To answer this, two sets of theoretical concepts are combined: horizon of expectation and space of experience (Koselleck, 2002) and autonomy and control (Cribb & Gewirtz, 2007). An earlier study (Bergh, 2010) of how the use of the quality concept has successively changed in Swedish authoritative educational texts from the 1990s and onwards provides a broader context for the local study, which empirically builds on interviews with local politicians, civil servants, school leaders and teachers. The results show that the national policy rhetoric has a strong impact on local practice, but also that certain interpretations are taken further in the local context, such as an emphasis on market forces. Although possible conflicts in the national context are concealed by the use of positive concepts like quality, these conflicts eventually erupt in the local setting, often with far reaching consequences for its different actors and for the education in question. 

This article analyses a specific part of the actions taken to improve the quality of Swedish education, namely the expectations formulated in national policy documents for the quality work that local authorities, schools and teachers are supposed to undertake. For the empirical analysis of how these expectations have changed over the last two decades, two sets of theoretical concepts have been combined: management of placement and management of expectation and autonomy and control. The specific research question is: How can local systematic quality work be understood in an age of accountability and what are the implications for teachers’ practices? The results show that expectations for local quality work have changed radically during the studied period. There has been a significant change in the language used, the content of education has been recontextualised and there are obvious changes in the relation between local autonomy and national control. It is argued that these changes are a consequence of the changed design of the education system, rather than an answer to a content-related question of what is educationally desirable. As a consequence, paradoxical expectations land at the local level and have to be resolved by teachers.

The aim of this paper is to discuss what actors and which social issues first generated a discussion which inturn opened opportunities for multiple prevention and promotion programs in Swedish education. Theprogram phenomenon is thus not only understood in relation to specific individuals or groups, but as amaterialized result of a discursive struggle between different actors and interests (Chouliaraki & Fairclough1999). The starting point is taken from some central concepts (health, value base and bullying) that are used ina selection of programs to legitimize their existence. In the paper those concepts are analyzed from how theyare used by a selection of national authorities, chosen because they are frequently mentioned in the programs(National Agency of Education, National Board of Health and Welfare, Swedish National Institute of PublicHealth). The analysis is based on texts produced since the late 1990s. The result shows that the way theconcepts are used has changed over time and that they partly overlap. As the national authorities authorizesome interpretations and set limits for others, the linguistic force can in the next step be used by programconstructors as a way to legitimize their arguments and actions.

For 25 years, quality work has been highlighted as a policy means to improve equivalence and quality. However, rather than bringing questions of educational quality at the center, earlier research has demonstrated that quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) has become the main objective for education policy (Bergh 2015, Kauko et al 2018). The aim of this presentation is to put the light on a complex educational question by analysing how a Swedish municipality has tried to challenge segregation through education. Empirically, it builds on interviews with local politicians and civil servants who try to navigate between local complexity and national policy expectations on systematic quality work. The result demonstrates that the conflicts that are concealed in the maximized and recontextualized policy language erupt in the local setting, with challenging consequences for its different actors and for the education in question.

Research topic/aim: The concept of quality has been high on international and national education policy agendas since the late 1990s. However, rather than bringing questions of educational quality at the center, earlier research has demonstrated that an instrumental emphasis on quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) has become the dominant use of the concept of quality at international and national policy levels (Bergh 2015, Kauko et al 2018). Instead of taking its starting point in a decontextualized and “empty” policy concept, the aim of this presentation is to put the light on a complex educational quality question in the practical, and to discuss implications for teaching and learning activities. More specifically, the focus is at the local meso level, with an empirical interest to study how a Swedish municipality has tried to challenge segregation through education. 

Theoretical framework and methodology: Inspired by Joseph Schwab’s (1970/2013) writing on the practical, a curriculum theoretical approach is used to study the relation between hope and happening (Lundgren 1983). The hope, in this case to improve educational quality, goal achievement, integration and equity was formulated by a Swedish municipality that in 2016 decided to close a school and instead spread the students to four other schools. 

The empirical focus is at the hopes expressed by local politicians and the actions taken at the local administrative level. Data has been collected through interviews, five with politicians and eight with civil servants. In order to approach quality as a question that is done by these actors, with respect to organizational, pedagogical and social aspects, curriculum theory is complemented with insights from school development research, didactics and perspectives that enable intersectional analysis (De los Reyes & Mulinari, 2005; Hudson & Meyer 2011; Jarl et.al. 2017; Wahlström, 2016).

Expected conclusions/findings: The study demonstrates challenges and possibilities the local meso level actors meet when they try to navigate between local complexity and national policy conditions. A condition that limits the local room for maneuver is caused by the relation between, on the one hand juridical regulations, and on the other, student’s freedom of choice. In the next step, the local decision to close one school and move the students put great demands on teaching and learning activities and thus on school leaders and teachers at the four new schools. 

Even though education has a great potential to challenge segregation, closing down a school is in itself far from an easy way to improved quality, goal achievement, integration and equity. Altogether, the result demonstrates that conflicts that are concealed in the maximized and recontextualized policy language erupt in the local setting, with challenging consequences for its different actors and for the education in question. 

In the article an educational policy concept is discussed, a concept that since the late 1990s has received an increasing amount of attention in Swedish education policy: systematic quality work. When the government in 1997 introduced written quality reports as a new element in the governance of education the emphasis was on the annual reports (Skr 1996/97: 112). A few years later the term "systematic" was added. At the same time as the expectations linked to systematic quality work increased, the National Agency of Education recurrently reported on difficulties and shortcomings which they claimed to find, both by the Authority's development-oriented activities and by the education inspections. In the new Education Act (SFS 2010:800), the requirement of quality reports is removed, while systematic quality work, now linked to the concept of influence, has been given a stronger legal position. The article raises questions about the expectations directed at systematic quality work in current educational reforms and ask if, and in that case how, these have changed over time. Questions are also asked how systematic quality work can be understood in relation to concepts such as evaluation and follow-ups, plus the possible consequences that might follow for the pedagogical practice, and in relation to the educational policy ambition to strengthen quality and equivalence.

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate what linguistic meanings the concept of quality is imbued with in different educational arenas and to discuss the consequences of such meanings for education. From this aim the main research question is: What does the concept of quality do to education and what does education do to the concept of quality? The question indicates an interest in understanding how the concept of quality and education mutually influence each other.

The empirical material consists of national texts written by the government and the national school authorities, mainly between the years of 1997 to 2008, as well as interviews with different people from three local school authorities and schools. Theoretically the approach is inspired by Quentin Skinner and speech-act theory as well as Reinhart  Koselleck and conceptual history. While Skinner is mainly interested in the rhetorical use of concepts, Koselleck’s interest lies in investigating how concepts carry historical time. For this study, some analytical concepts are lifted from these two theories and are applied to the empirical material.

From the analysis, four concluding criteria of application are formulated: education quality, result quality, market quality and system quality. The result shows that certain meanings, which for a long time have been connected to education and, in this study, are incorporated under the umbrella criterion education quality, have been challenged and partly  marginalized. Instead, the dominance of result quality, market quality and system quality lead to an acceptance of new social perceptions in education. The different national and local structures that are developed to measure quality have a high impact on local practice. As a consequence of a shift from goal to result, overriding goals are clarified and made juridically controllable. The changes also lead to consequences for the different actors in the education system, as well as for teachers, national politicians and for national and local school administrations.

Historically the concept of quality has been used for a long time in different contexts, including, to some extent, that of education. Since the emphasis on quality that is made explicit in the Swedish government’s development plan (Skr 1996/97:112) in the year of 1997, the concept of quality has spread quickly within and between different arenas in the Swedish educational system. In one way, it is hardly surprising that, within education, a concept such as quality has spread so rapidly. There are few who would contest the importance of educational quality. The focus in this paper is directed towards the question of why the concept of quality has become such a central part in educational policy and what, or which, qualities the Swedish government strive for between the years of 1990-2010.

This article analyses why the concept of quality has become such a central theme in Swedish education policy, and what quality or qualities successive governments have pursued between 1990 and 2010. The analysis is based on a close reading of a collection of policy texts from the late 1980s onwards. With a linguistic and historical perspective, the theoretical approach is inspired by Quentin Skinner (1988a, 1988b) and speech act theory. The study shows that certain “criteria of application” long associated with education have gradually been challenged and partly marginalised by criteria highlighting results and relating to market and system needs. As a consequence it can be argued, with support from speech act theory, that use of the concept of quality has led to an acceptance of new social perceptions in education.

The main purpose of this article is to focus what meanings the concept of quality is given in the political development of Swedish upper-secondary school. By using Quentin Skinner’s speech-act theory comparisons are made between the meanings formulated in the early 1990s and the now current investigation Framtidsvägen (SOU 2008:27). The result shows consequences for the goal- and result oriented steering system as well as changes in the perspectives of citizenship education and ideolology.

How does juridification condition the teaching profession’s work with educational knowledge and values? Over the last twenty years the governance of Swedish education has radically changed. As a specific part of this transformation, the aim of this article is to investigate how juridification conditions the teaching profession’s work with educational knowledge and values as formulated in the national curriculum. The article makes use of two governing logics – the management of placement and the management of expectation – that position teachers’ assignments and possible actions in different ways. The empirical material consists of national policy texts. The analysis points to different dilemmas that result from juridification, namely that teachers are expected to shoulder a decentralized moral responsibility and at the same time be controlled against nationally formulated rights and obligations.

In this chapter, we take interest in a specific part of the extensive changes that have been made in the governance of Swedish education during the last two decades: the increase of legal regulations. This increase is a sign of what in earlier research is called juridification, which may lead to a variety of tensions that we currently know too little about. More specifically, the aim of this chapter is to study how juridification of education conditions teachers’ work on the knowledge and values expressed in national policy documents. The empirical material consists of Swedish national education policy texts produced from the early 1990s and onwards. Methodologically, we make use of two theoretical concepts that position teachers’ assignments and possible actions in different ways: management of placement and management of expectation. The results demonstrate that the increase of a juridical language clearly condition teachers’ professional work. In the worst case, the legal concepts may result in more instrumental relationships where teachers focus on their role as assessors and monitors. At the same time, it depends on how the legal concepts are interpreted and enacted by school staff. Here, there is a need of further studies on how different emphasises and combinations of a juridical vocabulary and a pedagogical vocabulary condition the relationships that are formed in local school practices.

How does juridification condition the teaching profession’s work with educational knowledge and values? Over the last twenty years the governance of Swedish education has radically changed. As a specific part of this transformation, the aim of this article is to investigate how juridification conditions the teaching profession’s work with educational knowledge and values as formulated in the national curriculum. The article makes use of two governing logics – the management of placement and the management of expectation – that position teachers’ assignments and possible actions in different ways. The empirical material consists of national policy texts. The analysis points to different dilemmas that result from juridification, namely that teachers are expected to shoulder a decentralized moral responsibility and at the same time be controlled against nationally formulated rights and obligations.

This paper sheds light on how teachers act and reflect on their actions in response to expressions of racism among colleagues. The empirical data consists of qualitative interviews with 27 high school teachers in Sweden, but, in order to dig deeper into the experiences of teachers, this paper focuses on three teachers (Tove, Fatima and Hannah). The result points at a professional ambivalence on how to act, since there is no common ground among teachers for how to act when colleagues express racism. To act against racism comes at high costs and very much depends on each teacher’s previous experiences of life and work. Consequently, each teacher is provided a unique space and resource base for reflection and action.

This article demonstrates how changes in the language of Swedish education policy have opened up a new social perception of education, in which space has been created for new actors, models and solutions in terms of managing activities in schools. Specifically, it seeks to illustrate how various promotion and prevention programmes have been authorized and disseminated without critical inquiry or resistance in the education sector. To this end, we analyse how the specific, essentially contested concepts of health, value base and communication have been employed in authoritative national documents over the two last decades. For our analysis, we draw on speech act theory, with a focus on linguistic performativity, as we have been interested in analysing how concrete authoritative actors have ‘performed’ various arguments. The analysis helps us to understand how the linguistic force originating from authoritative agencies can be used by different actors as a way to legitimize their arguments and actions. The results demonstrate how different national authorities, as a consequence of their use of the three concepts analysed, have contributed to the establishment of promotion and prevention programmes in education.

This paper analyzes and discusses possibilities and challenges for teachers to use collegial mutual deliberation as a way to counteract racism. A starting point is taken from research on teacher collaboration that has emphasized the importance to locally create conditions for critical discussions that exceed coherence and simple solutions. To do this, we turn to the idea on deliberative communication, which in the paper fills two purposes: First, as a means for a teacher who, supported by us as researchers, leads a discussion about racism with colleagues, and secondly, as a theoretical lens to analyze that same discussion. The study provides theoretical and empirical knowledge about how collegial deliberation potentially can contribute to the development of a communicative teacher community.