07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Paper
Integration on Whose Terms - The Case of Civic Orientation for Newly Arrived Adult Migrants in Sweden
Simon Bauer1, Tommaso Milani2, Kerstin von Brömssen3, Andrea Spehar1
1University of Gothenburg, Sweden; 2Pennsylvania State University, USA; 3University West, Sweden
Presenting Author: Bauer, Simon
Over the last few decades an increasing number of countries in the Global North have introduced so called Civic Integration programmes, often referred to as ‘the Civic Turn’ (Joppke, 2007; 2017). These are a form of educational provision that aims to through teaching integrate migrants into what is presented as the country of arrival’s ‘culture’, ‘values’, and laws (Jensen et al, 2017). As such, it is expected that those who take part will internalise a loyalty towards ‘democratic and liberal values’ (Mouritsen et al. 2019). The programmes vary in form, but do not seem to have an observable effect on neither social nor economic integration (Wallace Goodman & Wright, 2015). Therefore, it may rather be understood as a form migration governance (Mouritsen et al. 2019). In Sweden this form of education has been conducted since 2010 (SFS 2010: 1138), and currently involves 100 hours of teaching, and is referred to as Civic Orientation for Newly Arrived Migrants. It is offered in migrants’ ‘mother tongues’, and according to policy documents, should be based on dialogue and respect (SFS 2010:1138). Previous research on this has shown that the classes seem to be working to discipline the participants (Abdulla & Risenfors, 2014), in order to change the participants’ views and behaviours (Åberg & Mäkitalo, 2017; Milani et al. 2021). This is in tension with the expressed aim of Civic Orientation to give participants “ability to shape not only their own lives, but to also take part in the shaping of Swedish society” (SOU 2010:16: 14). However, as argued elsewhere in the Swedish context: “adult education (as education in general) becomes a site for the normalization of students, aiming at adapting individuals into what is deemed desirable in terms of how a citizen should be and act” (Fejes et al. 2018). In a diverse setting such as Civic Orientation, this tension is evermore palpable.
In line with the ‘social justice turn’ in the social sciences and humanities, in this paper we investigate inclusion and participation in the context of classes in civic orientation for adult migrants in Sweden. Theoretically, we draw upon the work of American political philosopher Nancy Fraser, who famously argued that “justice requires social arrangements that permit all (adult) members of society to interact with one another as peers” (Fraser 1998: 5). Analytically, this means investigating “whether institutionalized patterns of interpretation and valuation impede parity of participation in social life” (Fraser 1998: 4). We apply Fraser’s theoretical ideas to an analysis of interviews with “key actors” involved in civic orientation, ethnographic data collected in 6 civic orientation classes (3 in English and 3 in Arabic) in three large Swedish municipalities, as well as focus group interviews with former participants. More specifically, we illustrate a tension between a genuine commitment on the part of the Swedish state to create multilingual and multicultural spaces for dialogue and reflection about Swedish society, on the one hand, and problematic monolithic views about how migrants are expected to behave in order to ‘fit in’, on the other. Ultimately the question is: on whose terms are migrants expected to integrate and participate in Swedish society?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe paper draws on a number of qualitative research methods in order to paint a rich picture of the complex relations between policy and bureaucrats, the teaching in classrooms, and the experiences of those who have been taught. Firstly, we draw on 14 semi-structured interviews with ‘key actors’ involved in organizing Civic Orientation locally in three large Swedish municipalities. These were conducted in the fall of 2019 and provide a plethora of views and understandings of the purpose of Civic Orientation, its challenges, as well as how it is conducted in various settings, seen from different perspectives.
Secondly, we draw on ethnographic data from six different civic orientation classes in English (three) and in Arabic (three) from three large Swedish municipalities. These were conducted over four months in the spring of 2020, around the onset of Covid-19. Therefore, about a third of the data was collected in person, but then the rest had to be obtained online through Zoom and Skype. As those conducting the ethnographies speak English and Arabic, there was no need for interpreters. Within the ethnographies we took the position as participant observer, meaning that whilst we did not interrupt the class we spoke when asked to and actively participated in break times. The ethnographic fieldnotes were taken by hand and anonymized before analysis. In total about 600 pages of fieldnotes were compiled. The data was then analysed thematically (cf. Emerson et al. 2011). Through this data we get a rich illustration of Civic Orientation in practice within different classes.
Lastly, we draw on focus group interviews with former participants conducted in the spring of 2023. In these, the participants reflect and discuss their experiences of Civic Orientation as well as how this compares to their own experiences of living in Sweden. These were organized as casual discussions where the participants were encouraged to lift their own perspectives and discuss their experiences in a neutral environment.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThrough comparing and contrasting the results from the various forms of data, we hope to put forward a granular analysis of how inclusion and diversity play out in practice through Sweden’s Civic Orientation. Analytically, we investigate “whether institutionalized patterns of interpretation and valuation impede parity of participation in social life” (Fraser 1998: 4) from the institutions’ patterns of interpretation through the individual interviews, into practice in the classes, and out into wider society through the focus group interviews. As such, it is expected that both aspects of inclusivity and desires to promote multiculturalism as well as aspects of social cohesion and assimilationist views will come forth in the tensions between expectations, practice, and experiences as suggested in previous research on welfare and integration programmes in Sweden (cf. Dahlstedt & Nergaard, 2019; Milani et al. 2021).
The paper hopes to contribute to debates on Civic Integration in Europe, which at its core lies in utilizing civic and citizenship education as a tool to create avenues for migrants to integrate and become part of society, as well as discussions on social justice more broadly. Going back to the research question, “on whose terms are migrants expected to integrate and participate in Swedish society”, the paper will both outline on the one hand the terms outlined by the organizers of Civic Orientation and on the other those the migrants themselves face on a daily basis in Sweden.
ReferencesAbdullah, A and Risenfors, S. 2013. Kursen samhällsorientering för nyanlända: Mobilisering och integration för deltagare. In: Eriksson, L, Nilsson, G and Svensson, LA (eds.), Gemenskaper: Socialpedagogiska perspektiv, 117–138. Göteborg, Sweden: Daidalos.
Dahlstedt, M. & Neergaard, A. 2019. Crisis of Solidarity? Changing Welfare and Migration Regimes in Sweden. Critical Sociology 45(1), 121-135.
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I. & Shaw, L. L., 2011. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. 2nd ed. London: The University of Chicago Press.
Fejes, A., Dahlstedt, M., Olson, M. 2018. Adult education and the formation of citizens: A critical interrogation. London: Routledge.
Fraser, N. (1998). Social justice in the age of identity politics: redistribution, recognition, participation. Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Organization and Employment, FS I 98-108, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
Jensen, K. K., Fernández, C. & Brochmann, G., 2017. Nationhood and Scandinavian Naturalization Politics: Varieties of the Civic Turn. Citizenship Studies, 21(5). 606-624.
Joppke, C. 2007. Beyond national models: Civic integration policies for immigrants in Western Europe. West European Politics, 30(1): 1–22.
Milani, T, Bauer, S., von Brömssen, K., Spehar, A., Carlson, M. 2021. Citizenship as status, habitus and acts: Language requirements and civic orientation in Sweden. Citizenship Studies, 25(6): 756–772.
Mouritsen, P, Kriegbaum Jensen, K and Larin, SJ. 2019. Introduction: Theorizing the civic turn in European integration policies. Ethnicities, 19(4): 595–613.
Mouritsen, P., Faas, D., Meer, N. & de Witte, N., 2019. Leitkultur debates as civic integration in North-Western Europe: The nationalism of 'values' and 'good citizenship'. Ethnicities, 19(4). 632-653.
Samhällsorienteringsutredningen (2010). Sverige för nyanlända: Värden, välfärdsstat, Vardagsliv (SOU: 2010:16). Stockholm: Integrations- och Jämställdhetsdepartementet.
SFS 2010:1138. Förordning om Samhällsorientering för vissa nyanlända invandrare. Arbetsmarknadsdepartementet.
Åberg, L. & Mäkitalo, Å., 2017. Integration work as situated communicative practice: Assuming, establishing and modifying cultural differences. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 15. 56-68.
07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Paper
Perceptions and Experiences of Newly Arrived Immigrant Parents Collaborating with Schools in Norwegian Context.
Sultana Ali Norozi, Nassira Essahli Vik
Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Norway
Presenting Author: Norozi, Sultana Ali;
Essahli Vik, Nassira
Educational institutions such as schools and Early Childhood Education and Care-institutions are important meeting places for children, families, and adults from different backgrounds. Yet, the parents are the children's most important caregivers. Parents are also the schools´ most significant partners in the work to ensure children's education and development. The home-school relationship is considered important by educators, teachers, parents, and researchers. Parents' involvement is one of the most important predictors not only for academic achievement but also for the whole child's development. Thus, parental involvement has become the center of attention of teachers, researchers, and policymakers. Earlier research points out that it is difficult to establish a good home-school relationship, particularly in schools serving newly arrived immigrant children (Lea, 2012; Sibley and Brabeck, 2017). In the face of the constantly increasing number of immigrant children, newcomer parents’ perceptions and experiences are exceptionally important to take into account for a successful and holistic education of immigrant children. Newcomer parents want their children to become well-educated as they see education as a way to a successful life in a new society (Lea, 2012; Sibley and Brabeck, 2017; Norozi, 2022). Newly arrived immigrant parents grapple with challenges related to a new language, and culture, and adjusting to a new and different lifestyle and society. It appears that newcomer parents are dubious about the values in the schools, especially regarding religion as part of their identity and culture (Barry, 2001; Vogt, 2016; Spernes, 2018). Newly arrived immigrant parents´ perceptions and experiences of collaboration with schools are under-researched in the Norwegian context. This study aims to get insights into newcomer parents’ perceptions and experiences of collaboration with schools in the Norwegian context. Thus, the two guiding questions are: How do newly arrived immigrant parents perceive and experience collaborating with schools in the Norwegian context? And what kind of support and challenges do newly arrived immigrant parents face in their involvement in children´s education? The theoretical framework is based on theories on inclusive education; Biesta (2011) states that inclusion is a central – if not the most important – value in democracy. On another level, we address how newcomer parents, and school staff, apply different strategies to develop a relationship with each other (Ericsson & Larsen, 2000; Sand, 2020; Essahli Vik, 2022). The relationship between parents and schools is dependent on many factors. For example, how parents are invited and involved in their children's schooling. Yet, it is significant to understand how both parents and staff's strategies affect the relationship between the school and the newcomer parents.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedIn the qualitative paradigm, the method that was employed to collect data was in-depth semi-structured interviews with newcomer immigrant parents. The schools were contacted to reach out to newcomer parents. Screening of participants was done by in-person meetings with them to ensure that they satisfy the criteria e.g., they have recently arrived in Norway and have a school-aged child/ren. Informed consent from each participant was obtained and a detailed explanation of the purpose, procedures, potential risks, and benefits of the study was shared written and verbally. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with each participant were conducted. Interviews were audio-taped, and each interview lasted a maximum of I hour. Since the newcomer parents can not speak Norwegian, interviews were conducted in either English (those who can) or in their mother tongues. Both the researchers are multilingual and can speak the mother tongue of the participants i.e., Arabic, Dari, Pashto, and Farsi. Professional interpreters were arranged for Ukrainian participants. This was mentioned in the consent form. The data will be transcribed and analyzed by identifying themes and patterns. This will involve coding the data, creating the coding scheme, and using qualitative data analysis software e.g., NVivo. The confidentiality and anonymity of the participants would be ensured by using pseudonyms, keeping data secure, and destroying data once it is no longer needed. The research project is approved by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe study may uncover common barriers that newcomer parents face in collaborating with schools, such as language barriers, cultural differences, and lack of understanding of the school system. The study may highlight the importance of clear and effective communication between schools and newcomer parents, including the need for effective and quick arrangements for translation services, regular meetings, and accessible information. The study may reveal the extent to which newcomer parents are involved in their children´s education and the factors that influence their level of involvement. Furthermore, the study's preliminary analysis recognizes the role that cultural awareness and sensitivity play in facilitating collaboration between schools and newcomer parents. The study is expected to provide some recommendations for improving collaboration between schools and newcomer parents, including the need for better resources and support for newcomer parents. Last but not least, this study will contribute to increase understanding of the perspectives and experiences of newcomer immigrant parents in collaboration with schools and inform the development of policies and practices that support newcomer parents’ involvement in their children´s education.
ReferencesBarry, B. (2001). Culture and equality: An egalitarian critique of multiculturalism. Cambridge: Polity.
Biesta, G. J. (2015). Good education in an age of measurement: Ethics, politics, democracy. Routledge.
Epstein, J. L. (2010). School, family and community partnerships: Caring for the children we share. Kappan 92, 81–96. doi: 10.1177/003172171009200326
Epstein, J. L. (2018a). School, family, and community partnerships in teachers’ professional work. J. Educ. Teach. 44, 397–406. doi: 10.1080/02607476.2018. 1465669
Epstein, J. L. (2018b). “Use the framework to reach school goals- stories from the field,” in School, family and community partnership: Your handbook for action, 4th Edn, ed. J. L. Epstein (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin), 63–84. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsa. 2021.06.003
Ericsson, K. & Larsen, G. (2000). Skolebarn og skoleforeldre: Om forholdet mellom hjem og skole. Oslo: Pax Forlag
Essahli Vik, Nassira (2022). Familieformer og foreldresamarbeid i barnehagen i et mangfoldsperspektiv. I Bjerklund, Monica & Nassira E. Vik (2022b). Familiemangfold og profesjonsutøvelse i barnehagen. Universitetsforlaget.
Lea, Martha. (2012). Cooperation between migrant parents and teachers in school: A resource? CPES Journals. 2. 105-124.
Norozi, S. A. (2023). The Important Building Blocks of Newcomer Immigrant Students’ Education in the Norwegian Context. Frontiers in Education, 7(2023), p. 1040.
Sand, S. 2020. Ulikhet og fellesskap. Flerkulturell pedagogikk i barnehagen. Oslo: Cappelen Damm AS.
Sibley, E., and Brabeck, K. (2017). Latino Immigrant students’ school experiences in the United States: The importance of family-school-community collaboration. School Community Journal. 1:27. 137-157.
Spernes, K. (2018). Den flerkulturelle skolen i bevegelse: teoretiske og praktiske perspektiver [The multicultural school in motion: theoretical and practical perspectives], 231- 243. Oslo: Gyldendal.
Vogt, A. (2016). Rådgiving i skole og barnehage: mange muligheter for hjelp til barn og unge [Counseling in school and Kindergarten: many opportunities for help for children and young people]”, 348- 361. Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk.
07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Paper
When Asylum is Denied and Return is Not an Option: Children’s Rights and Enactment of Childhood and Parenthood in Deportability
Helena Korp1, Kerstin von Brömssen1, Tove Samzelius2
1University West; 2Malmö University
Presenting Author: von Brömssen, Kerstin
This paper concerns children and families in Sweden whose application for asylum has been rejected but who are not eligible for deportation, and who remain in the country for an indefinite time with formal status neither as asylum-seekers, refugees, irregular or residents. In the international literature this group is sometimes referred to as Non removed rejected asylum seekers (NRAS), a term that will used hence forward (Atac, 2019). While there is a body of important critical research on refugee children’s political rights, agency (or lack thereof) and vulnerabilities in regard to/produced by Swedish asylum politics (c.f. Josefsson, 2017; Karlsson, 2019; Wahlström Smith, 2021; Lind, 2019; Lundberg, 2020), an initial review of literature showed that NRAS, and particularly children in families, is a group that has received little attention in migration-research, both in a European and a Swedish context. The latter was noted also by experts that we talked with at the Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) and DELMI (the Delegation for Migration studies). Rejected asylum seekers are however often targeted in the migration-critical political discourse of the new right wing coalition that came into power in Sweden in October 2022, supported by a far right radical ethno-nationalist party (cf. Rothstein, 2023). Recent policy propositions include that rejected asylum-seekers should be detained and closely surveilled until deportation. In this context, investigating how deportability affect NRAS children is urgent from the perspective of children’s human rights as declared in the UN Child Rights Convention (CRC), which was made Swedish law 2020-01-01. As children’s rights and agency are tightly connected to the situation of the family and to parents’ capacities to see to their needs, and as for NRAS parents these capacities are constrained by extreme legal and economic vulnerability (Samzelius, 2023), the study will also highlight parenthood and family-life in the context of deportability.
Research questions
- What is known about NRAS children in Sweden and their situation
- through statistics from the Migration Agency, e.g. their age, country of origin, time in Sweden, household, housing?
- by experts in authorities (e.g. Migration Agency) and civil society know about the situation of NRRA children and their families?
- through research (also international research and NRAS children generally)
- How are childhood and parenthood enacted in the context of deportability for NRAS families in Sweden, and how do children and parents understand and cope with deportability, as a part of their every day-lives?
- How does deportability affect NRAS children’s agency and rights directly, as well as indirectly through the parents’ positions as NRAS?
Objective
The objective of the study is to highlight the situation of NRAS children in Sweden, and how deportability affects their everyday lives, rights and agency, both directly in regard to e.g. education, well-being and relations, and indirectly, through their parents’ positions as NRAS. We thus want to contribute to the critical discussion of asylum-politics and their effects on children in regard to CRC and social justice from the perspective of NRAS, but also to sensitizing institutional practice to children’s and parents’ perspectives on their situation and needs in their position as NRAS.
Theoretical and conceptual framework
The study will combine theories and concepts from different fields, mainly from sociology of childhood and migration studies, but also policy studies may be relevant as part of the theoretical framework. Central concepts include agency, children’s rights, lived rights, deportability, migration regimes and vulnerabilities.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe study will be organized in two work packages:
1. Mapping
1 a) Collection and analysis of statistics concerning NRAS to map the group in regard to available data on age, nationality, time since asylum-application, family constellation and housing.
1 b) Interviews with experts and officers at SMA, and NGO:s that meet NRAS (possibly also professionals such as teachers/head masters and social workers) about how they perceive the children’s situation and needs.
1 c) A scoping literature review including research and reports from authorities and civil society, focused on studies that include NRAS, but also more generally childrens’s rights and ageny in deportability and extended precarious migration situations, and studies about parenting in these conditions.
2. Ethnographic studies
We plan to involve 10-12 NRAS families in ethnographic field studies that include shadowing in their everyday life during approximately three days (ideally focusing at one family-member each day), taking field-notes, having field conversations, but also suggesting a range of creative art-based methods depending on the age and interest of the children (cf. Lenette, 2019; Nunn, 2022). We will also interview the children on two occasions based on a time line, and on material from the above, and on a time-line starting with their first memory of migration and reaching to an imagined adulthood. We will include families who live in asylum accomodations as well as other housing, single- two parent families and families in rural and urban settings.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsAs the research about childhood and parenthood in the context of deportability generally is very scarce, and especially related to NRAS we hope by the mapping and synthesizing existing research and reports to fill an important knowledge gap concerning the situation for this group, and the policies that condition their lives and access to human rights, but also identify need for further, empirical studies. Through seeking to use and develop participatory, creative methods and decolonializing ways of representation, we further hope by our ethnographic studies to get close to the lived experience of doing childhood and parenhthood under protracted conditions of deportability, and how rights and agency are enacted and constrained in different instances.
ReferencesAtaç, I. (2019) Deserving Shelter: Conditional Access to Accommodation for Rejected Asylum Seekers in Austria, the Netherlands, and Sweden, Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 17:1, 44-60, DOI: 10.1080/15562948.2018.1530401
Josefsson, J. (2017). Children's Rights to Asylum in the Swedish Migration Court of Appeal. I International Journal of Children's Rights, 25 (2017) 85-113
Karlsson, S. (2019) ‘You said “home” but we don’t have a house’ – children’s lived rights and politics in an asylum centre in Sweden, Children's Geographies, 17:1, 64-75, DOI: 10.1080/14733285.2018.1474173
Lenette, C. (2019). Arts-based Methods in Refugee Research: Creating Sanctuary. Springer Singapore.
Lind, J. (2019). Governing vulnerabilised migrant childhoods through children’s rights. Childhood, 26(3), 337–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568219847269
Lundberg, A. Undocumented children, In Cook, Thomas D. (eds), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies : Sage Publications; 2020. ISBN: 9781473942929
Nunn, C. (2022). The participatory arts-based research project as an exceptional sphere of belonging. Qualitative Research, 22(2), 251-268.
Samzelius, T. (2023). Starka mammor-Trygga barn: En rapport om asylsökande och nyanlända ensamstående mammors situation i Sverige.
Wahlström Smith, Å. (2021) Challenging the deportation regime: reflections on the research encounter with undocumented refugee children in Sweden. Children's Geographies 19:1, pages 101-112.
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