Standardization and Professional Knowledge in Integration Work

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the government in Sweden has developed many activities aimed at facilitating immigrants' integration processes and their sense of belonging; one such activity that emerged in the 2010s is civic orientation. This activity is characterized by a high degree of standardization of both processes and content. The intention is for local activities and participants to adjust to general levels and standards. But even though standards can be seen as a solution for a set of problems, one must consider that standards do not perform any tasks by themselves; their functions depend on organizational routines, resources available, and staff members' use of the standards. Therefore, one must consider how integration workers handle standards and how they bridge standards of routines and procedures with participants, immigrants, responses, and needs. The interest in this study concerns how such a dilemma intervenes at the local level and what it means for professional knowledge and autonomy. This study takes place at an integration unit in Sweden where integration workers meet in workshops to interpret standards and find ways to adapt them to local needs. The results show how cultural and pedagogical awareness form the basis for professional knowledge and how this also creates a space for action but also how standards form a structure through which expectations and demands are understood and form arguments and interaction patterns.