Swedish Classrooms Research Articles

Breaking the Magic of Automation and Augmentation in Swedish Classrooms

This paper provides a critical examination of the domain of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, with a focus on the expectations and practical implications accompanying its integration into teaching. The expectations have been propelled by two interconnected concepts: (1) the potential for AI to automate pedagogical processes, replacing teachers in certain scenarios; and (2) the notion that teachers’ insights can be augmented through AI-based analysis. Drawing on two ethnographic studies in Swedish primary and secondary schools, this paper explores the enactments of pupils, teachers and two AI-based educational technologies. The aim is to demonstrate how automation and augmentation can emerge in teachers’ practice. Utilizing inspiration from a relational epistemological problematisation of socio-technical phenomena, the paper demonstrates how rather than automation and augmentation, AI in education is an act of symmation in which automation and augmentation is co-produced by the technology and teachers’ different hidden work, in this paper conceptualised as adaptations, experimentations, compensations and confirmations. The paper suggests that the study of symmation in relation to the teaching profession can be productive in further exploring the yet limited understanding of AI in educational practice.

Networks in the making: Friendship segregation and ethnic homophily

Recent work focuses on how homophily (tastes for similarity) can lead to network segregation (the lack of intergroup friendships). Yet studies seldom consider whether and how levels of network segregation could also lead to the trend towards homophily over time. Instead, existing cross-sectional studies argue that intergroup exposure exacerbates homophily. By neglecting longitudinal data on changes to friendships and focusing on intergroup exposure rather than initial intergroup friendships, existing studies are likely to present an overly pessimistic view on the benefits of intergroup contact. Using longitudinal data and stochastic actor-oriented models, I study how levels of initial ethnic network segregation between students in Swedish Classrooms with “native” backgrounds and immigrant-origin students are related to subsequent levels of ethnic homophily. Results show that more initial network segregation in classroom friendship networks is linked to more ethnic homophily in network evolution, which suggests that beyond mere exposure, optimal conditions for contact and actual intergroup friendships are crucial for positive intergroup dynamics, and that their benefits can appear longitudinally.

Endogenous peer effects in diverse friendship networks: Evidence from Swedish classrooms

Do students benefit differently from interacting with similar and diverse peers? Using register-linked survey data from a stratified sample of Swedish classrooms I test whether endogenous peer effects in student achievement are heterogeneous by immigrant status. My empirical strategy combines instrumental variables, classroom fixed effects, and a control function to identify the parameter of interest separately from contextual and correlated effects. In particular, by considering partially overlapping networks of peers and family members, I use peers’ parents’ education as instruments for peer behaviour. My findings suggest that endogenous effects are limited to interactions with native peers only, but benefit both native and migrant students. High-ability children of migrants appear to be particularly vulnerable to friendship segregation.

The Emergence of the \u201cFlexTech\u201d Orchestration of Inferential Reasoning on Pattern Generalization

The purpose of this study is to further our understanding of orchestrating math-talk with digital technology. The technology used is common in Swedish mathematics classrooms and involves personal computers, a projector directed towards a whiteboard at the front of the class and software programs for facilitating communication and collective exploration. We use the construct of instrumental orchestration to conceptualize a teacher’s intentional and systematic organization and use of digital technology to guide math-talk in terms of a collective instrumental genesis. We consider math-talk as a matter of inferential reasoning, taking place in the Game of Giving and Asking for Reasons (GoGAR).The combination of instrumental orchestration and inferential reasoning laid the foundation of a design experiment that addressed the research question: How can collective inferential reasoning be orchestrated in a technology-enhanced learning environment? The design experiment was conducted in lower-secondary school (students 14–16 years old) and consisted of three lessons on pattern generalization. Each lesson was tested and refined twice by the research team. The design experiment resulted in the emergence of the FlexTech orchestration, which provided teachers and students with opportunities to utilize the flexibility to construct, switch and mark in the orchestration of an instrumental math-GoGAR.

Sense of agency among frequently anxious learners of English in Swedish primary school: Mismatching beliefs and experiences

Instilling a sense of agency (SoA) in young learners is an important aspect of foreign language instruction, as is the counteracting of emergent foreign language anxiety (FLA). Focusing on learners who frequently experience FLA, this study explores young learners’ beliefs and classroom experiences in relation to teaching and learning of English, in order to highlight the way in which they perceive their own agency, that is, their situated SoA. After initial classroom observations, learners from seven Swedish classrooms, across years 2–5, were seated in small groups to discuss open questions about target language (TL) use, oral interaction, instructional work mode and the role of the teacher and the learners. The present study is based on discussions among 31 of those learners. Qualitative content analysis of the recorded discussions reveals conflicting beliefs and experiences. These frequently anxious learners stressed the importance of extensive input in English and of learners engaging and speaking the TL. However, they also expressed that oral instructions and prompts, which were sometimes incomprehensible, made them feel frustrated and insecure. Considering the risk of embarrassment, they refrained from asking questions or volunteering to speak. Thus, their accounts of their emotional experiences and actions did not align with their beliefs, which hampered their SoA. The findings illustrate the interrelated nature of beliefs, emotional experiences and agency. Implications for primary language teaching relate to target language use and offering plenty of time for learners to practice their oral skills under conditions that they perceive as safe.

Cooperative Learning in Swedish Classrooms: Engagement and Relationships as a Focus for Culturally Diverse Students

The ongoing refugee crisis makes intercultural competence and culturally responsive education crucial issues in schools. At the same time, increased migration poses new challenges for social cohesion in countries around the world. How schools and classrooms can be fair and inclusive in terms of experiences and outcomes for migrant and refugee students is therefore a key question. This paper will explore the increase in migration of newly arrived students in Sweden, and how teachers in this country are catering for diverse students through cooperative learning. I explore cooperative learning as an inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogy that can be effectively used in schools to support all students and especially ‘refugee’ or newly arrived students. Using theory from cooperative learning and Stembridge (2020) as a theoretical framework, I particularly focus on analysis using two of Stembridge’s themes of Culturally Responsive Education: Engagement and Relationships to analyze Swedish primary school classroom observations and teacher interviews and find commonalities between these two themes and the key ideas in cooperative learning. This research is built on the premise that there is more need in education research for up to date observations into the classroom factors that support or hinder learning and the way that within-class groupings can support diversity and inclusivity. Cooperative learning allows participants to develop a commitment to fairness, social responsibility and a concern for others and this particularly caters for our diverse student populations.

Translanguaging through an advocacy lens: The roles of multilingual classroom assistants in Sweden

AbstractThis article examines the intersection between teacher agency and national language policy in Sweden. We present data from qualitative research across multiple urban Swedish school districts that explores the experiences and perspectives of multilingual classroom assistants (MCAs) on their work and in relation to national and district-level policies. We interrogate what it means to uphold translanguaging stances in otherwise monolingual Swedish classrooms. Data showcase the complexity with which MCAs articulate their roles as advocates for their students in translanguaging spaces, and in relation to school, district, and national policies. This inquiry also uncovers the need to position the experiences of MCAs more centrally in educational policy to support alternative visions for inclusion of newly arrived migrant students in school. It concludes with insights regarding the multifaceted nature of teacher advocacy and its relevance to future scholarship on the education of newly arrived migrant children.

Skolan som antirasistiskt rum?

Education and knowledge production have often been portrayed as the worst enemies of racism and xenophobia. However, such claims can be misused to create a narrative of modern educational institutions being “free” from racism and, in worst case scenarios, contribute to hiding the ongoing discriminatory practices in schools. This paper provides a review of Swedish research on migration, ethnicity and racism in schools and introduces the key topics in this special issue of Educare. We explore examples of colour blindness in Swedish classrooms and experiences of meeting racism in school. Further, we investigate how racism and discrimination can be expressed in a school's everyday life without anyone necessarily having malicious intentions. With this, we contribute to understanding that various exclusionary practices based on ethnicity and race can occur even in school settings that promote diversity and anti-racism.

INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION FROM A SWEDISH PERSPECTIVE

I want to make a contribution to understanding the relation between interreligious dialogue and Religious Education based on my own experience of teaching non-confessional Religious Education in Swedish schools, training teachers in Swedish universities for such Religious Education and sharing in Sweden dialogues, rejoicing and disappointment with friends of religious background other than my own, i.e. Bosnian Muslims. I show how our way of teaching, at least in Sweden, often diminishes the readiness for and interest in true dialogue among our students. One reason is that information about religions and religious traditions tends to “make” religions static and non-relational, not showing that lived religion is a life process during which you change and are expected to mature. Another reason is based on the effects of hegemonic discourses within which students interpret our teaching. I discuss which of them are present in Swedish classrooms nowadays, how they determine the identity-discourse of second generation immigrants, and what we can do to help students to understand how these discourses work and to widen them.

‘They don't have as good a life as us': a didactic study of the content of human rights education with eleven-year-old pupils in two Swedish classrooms

Drawing theoretically on the Didaktik tradition, this paper examines teaching and learning content in teacher-planned human rights education with eleven- year-old pupils in two Swedish classrooms. The results suggest that the principle aim for the teaching and learning of rights is to enable good interactions with other human beings. The findings indicate that teaching content and pupils’ learning outcomes are similar. Four dominant themes are identified in teaching and learning: fundamental democratic values; declarations of (human) rights; bullying and violations; and negative life conditions. Human rights are negatively interpreted, with an emphasis on rights violations and children’s need for protection and support. The paper concludes that human rights education is conflated with democratic education. Although teaching and learning are closely aligned with the fundamental and democratic values stipulated in the Swedish Education Act and the national curriculum, children are not expected to acquire in-depth knowledge about human rights.

Time and space in the classroom – lessons from Germany and Sweden

ABSTRACTIn this study, aspects of space and time in German and Swedish classrooms are observed and compared to characterize differences and similarities in classrooms and lessons in different contexts. The organization and control of individuals and their actions in relation to time and space are analysed using categories derived from Discipline and Punish utilizing a model of empirically informed typification analysis. The empirical data consist of field studies conducted by participant observation in German and Swedish classrooms. The type of classroom found in Germany is characterized by fixed boundaries and frameworks. The lessons are uniform, and class time is structured so as to minimize the number of interruptions between different activities. Boundaries are less clear in the type of classroom found in the Swedish material, where the classroom is just one of many places for teaching and learning. The lessons and schedules are less uniformly structured, and a lot of time is spent discussing the plans for instruction.

‘Is It That We Do Not Want Them to Have Washing Machines?’: Ethical Global Issues Pedagogy in Swedish Classrooms

According to sustainable development target 4.7, by 2030, all signatory nations must ensure learners are provided with education for sustainable development and global citizenship. While many national curricula provide a policy imperative to provide a global dimension in curriculum and teaching, mainstreaming an approach to teaching about sustainable development through pressing global issues requires strong attention to what happens between students and teachers in the classroom. In this article, we aim to help teachers think through an ongoing reflexive approach to teaching by bridging important theoretical and empirical scholarship with the day-to-day pedagogies of global educators. This collaborative praxis offers an actionable approach to engaging with values, conflicts and ethical consequences towards bringing global issues into teaching and learning in a critical and fruitful way. Our results show that teachers and students can both experience discomfort and experience a sense of significance and worthiness of engaging in a more critical approach. In addition, if we critically reflect and support students in doing so, as these teachers have done, we open up possibilities for approaches to global issues pedagogy that come much closer to addressing the pressing issues of our deeply unequal world.

Lättläst - en demokratifråga

Easy reading novels for young people have increased rapidly during the last years. Authors, publishers, librarians and teachers regard the novels a tool for teaching, and the books are advocated to offer children and teenagers that are considered demotivated and poor readers suitable texts. The democratic argument is vital for the text type is, i.e. that everyone has the right to have access to literary texts. From a critical literacy perspective, the aim of this article is to highlight and discuss aspects of democracy in Swedish classrooms. The empirical material consists of 18 interviews with authors and publishers and text analysis of 17 novels with material for students and teachers. The article shows that authors and publishers use the democratic argument heavily when advocating for the text type. The novels show a gender stereotype pattern and the instructions encourage an efferent reading. The article argues that it is important to have a critical perspective if using the easy readers in the classroom.

Student behavioural disengagement, peer encouragement and the school curriculum: a mechanism approach

Student behavioural disengagement is a problem in many schools. This paper aims to explain why students’ behavioural disengagement occurs and reoccurs in Swedish classrooms in terms of two mechanisms. Mechanisms that explain student disengagement are tested quantitatively and illustrated qualitatively with primary data consisting of 74 video-recorded classroom lessons from three compulsory schools in Sweden. The regressions suggest that peer encouragement and the school subject curriculum are central for explaining student behavioural disengagement. Qualitative analysis decomposes how the mechanisms of peer encouragement and school subject curriculum increase the risk of behavioural disengagement in real time using transcripts and images. In conclusion, this study shows how both mechanisms provide complementary explanations for students’ behavioural disengagement.

Changes in the Assessment Process in Swedish Compulsory School Classrooms

This paper investigates and analyses changes in the assessment process in Swedish classrooms between two consecutive years in two schools, with students aged 11-13 years. The assessment process is defined as the relationship between learning goals, teaching, and assessment. The first year, there were quite significant differences in the assessment process between the two schools. The second year, end-of-term grading was introduced, and national tests were administered in several subjects. The studiedclassroomslargely consisted of the same individual students and teachers in both consecutive years. The study is based on classroom observations, interviews and document analysis. The results indicated that the changes in the assessment process concerned the more frequent and detailed communication of learning goals and knowledge requirements, greater emphasis on students’ understanding, more focus on discipline in schoolwork, and increased documentation of students’ subject knowledge. The changes highlight that the assessment process in the two schools had more similarities in year 6 than in year 5. The conclusion is that the implementation of end-of-term grading and national tests, which are both based on new syllabuses and knowledge requirements, have strongly contributed to the changes.

Inclusive education in Sweden? A critical analysis

When it comes to pupils in need of special support and pupils with disabilities, Sweden’s compulsory school system is sometimes considered a one‐track system. This article analyses and critically discusses current policy and practices at various levels of Sweden’s compulsory school system for these pupils. The analysis traces three themes at the national and municipal levels: (1) values and goals; (2) organisation and placement of pupils; and (3) importance of categories in obtaining support. A rather complex picture emerges from this analysis. Several conclusions are made: (1) state policies leave a lot of room for interpretation at the municipal and school levels, and this results in an extensive variation; (2) Swedish state policy is not as inclusive as is often stated; (3) celebration of difference seems to be hard to achieve; (4) learning goals can be a double‐edged sword with regard to inclusion; and (5) most pupils appear to enjoy participation in school, and in an international perspective, Swedish classrooms seem to be largely democratic.

The Construction of Facts: Preconditions for meaning in teaching energy in Swedish classrooms

This article investigates the mechanisms that govern the processes of inclusion and exclusion of knowledges. It draws on three cases from Swedish classrooms about how energy is created as an area of knowledge. We are interested in how knowledge is made valid and legitimate in a school context, and in defining and finding tools to identify structures that govern potential meanings in a certain situation. To do this we develop a theoretical model that explains the preconditions for meaning. The purpose is to understand why certain knowledges are legitimated in the classroom and to explain how this happens. The analysis is based on participatory observations in classrooms, audio recordings of students engaged in group projects, educational materials, and the students' own work. The apparatuses of the school offer a wide range of possible meanings concerning energy. At the same time there are forces evolved in the school practice that effectively sift out what counts as values from what counts as facts and valid knowledge. These forces create a certain order and certain effects for what counts as truth. The article investigates the nature of the correlations between the different preconditions identified that makes one discourse more likely and “true” than another.

English and German in Swedish Classrooms: Writing in the two Languages Compared

Swedish learners of English are bombarded daily with authentic communication. Many of them spend hours a day with computer games where they both receive and produce English in an interactive process. The situation for the other major European languages is not quite so favourable. German, for instance, is seldom heard or seen in computer or other media contexts nor is it so generally recognised as important to speak German. This can be assumed to have an effect on both teachers’ and learners’ concepts of the goals for language learning in schools, as well as on the development of language proficiency in the classroom. We have therefore chosen to study an aspect of language proficiency, writing, and compare the results of learners in school and in the first term of university studies in English and German. We focus on the vocabulary in written free production, in order to analyse some of the differences and similarities between Swedish pupils’ proficiency in the two languages. Teachers’ attitudes to and methods of teaching the two languages may well differ and this is also a question we raise in the study.

Social and emotional training in Swedish classrooms for the promotion of mental health: results from an effectiveness study in Sweden

Mental ill-health is a major problem worldwide. It includes depression, aggressive behavior, feeling down and alcohol and drug abuse. Since all children go to school, the school is an obvious arena for health interventions. A set of educational techniques named Social and Emotional Learning, based on the use by teachers of cognitive and behavioral methods, which teaches students self-control, social competence, empathy, motivation and self-awareness, has shown promising results in the USA. This paper reports on the application of similar techniques in Sweden (the Social and Emotional Training [SET] program). The study has a quasi-experimental longitudinal design, with two intervention and two control schools. A wide range of instruments, both Swedish and international, are employed. In this paper, results from the school years 1999-2000 (baseline) through to 2001-2002 are reported. Both the intervention and the data collection were performed by ordinary school staff in a routine school setting. Independent bi-annual ratings of teachers' performance were moderate to high, and teachers' perceptions of the program were generally, although by no means universally, high. However, their performance was poorer with regard to the collection of data. In terms of promotion, findings with regard to the impact of the program on mental health are generally favorable-in particular through the promotion of aspects of self-image, including well-being and the hindering of aggressiveness, bullying, attention-seeking and alcohol use. There was, however, no differential effect on social skills. It seems that SET has the potential to operate effectively as a health-promoting intervention during the school period, although its main impact may rather be to act as a brake on the deterioration in some aspects of mental health that is common during adolescence. Positively significant relationships were found on some but not all of the instrument scales, and effect sizes were medium.

Physiological and psychological stress reactions in relation to classroom noise

This study tested the hypothesis that classroom noise is related to stress reactions among primary school children. Stress was monitored via symptoms of fatigue and headache, systolic blood pressure, reduced diurnal cortisol variation, and indicators of emotional distress. In three classrooms of pupils in the fourth grade (10 years of age), daily measurements of equivalent sound levels (Leq) were made during 4 weeks, evenly distributed from September to December. One day each week of the study, the pupils answered a questionnaire about disturbance and symptoms, and blood pressure and salivary cortisol were measured. In the first and fourth week, the children also performed a standardized drawing test concerning emotional indicators. Daily measurements of equivalent sound levels in the classes (Leq during schoolday) ranged from 59 to 87 dB(A). Equivalent sound-levels were significantly related to an increased prevalence of symptoms of fatigue and headache and a reduced diurnal cortisol variability. Blood pressure and emotional indicators were not significantly related to sound levels. Current sound levels in Swedish classrooms may have a negative health impact, being directly or indirectly related to stress reactions among children. This finding indicates that noise should be focused on as a risk factor in the school environment.