Construction of ethnicity, immigration and associated concepts in Swedish vocational education and training

Per-Åke Rosvall,Kristina Ledman,Mattias Nylund,Maria Rönnlund

doi:10.1080/13639080.2019.1569212

Per-Åke Rosvall, Kristina Ledman + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2019.1569212

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Abstract

ABSTRACTSurges of migration into Sweden and other European countries have raised needs to adjust civic education to provide Bernsteinian pedagogic rights of enhancement, participation and inclusion, both generally and in VET specifically. However, associated issues have received little research attention even in countries with colonial histories and longer traditions of immigration and non-native ethnic minorities. Moreover, most published empirical studies on race and ethnicity issues in VET have had Anglophone settings. Thus, research in other contexts is needed to broaden understanding and distinguish between general and context-specific aspects.This article addresses gaps in knowledge of the construction and significance of race and ethnicity in VET, particularly in Swedish contexts. First, it examines how critical understandings of being an immigrant, immigration and ethnicity are constructed in pedagogic practices in Swedish VET programmes, then analyses students’ and teachers’ discussion of these issues. Content related to immigration and ethnicity was sparse in monitored VET classes, but the presence of immigrants increased instances of both spontaneous and planned content. We conclude that pedagogic practices do not reflect the large increase in numbers of students in Swedish schools with immigrant backgrounds, and greater intercultural awareness is needed to safeguard their pedagogic and general democratic rights.

Highlights

This article addresses gaps in knowledge of the construction and significance of race and ethnicity in vocational education and training (VET), in Swedish contexts
The presentation of results here starts with analysis of when constructions of being an immigrant, immigration and ethnicity occurred in the observed pedagogic practices
Ethnicity arising as spontaneous content in the pedagogic practice As stated above, there are variations in the focal programmes’ traditional recruitment of students with immigrant backgrounds, as proportions of immigrants are highest in Health & Social Care classes, intermediate in Restaurant Management classes and very low in Vehicle & Transport classes

Summary

Introduction

This article addresses gaps in knowledge of the construction and significance of race and ethnicity in VET, in Swedish contexts It examines how critical understandings of being an immigrant, immigration and ethnicity are constructed in pedagogic practices in Swedish VET programmes, analyses students’ and teachers’ discussion of these issues. The overall objective of this paper is to reduce the gaps in knowledge of the construction and significance of race and ethnicity in VET generally and in non-Anglophone contexts by reporting insights obtained in the second part of the ongoing research project ‘Critical education in vocational subjects? The first is to examine how civic education is constructed, in terms of critical understandings of being an immigrant, immigration and ethnicity, in pedagogic practices in courses that are specific components of the Swedish VET programmes. This triggered our interest in the extent and nature of learning processes that can be characterized as civic education in VET subjects, in Sweden, and initiation of the ‘Critical education in vocational subjects? Civic knowledge in vocational programmes, policy documents and classrooms’ project

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