Att göra delaktighet i skolan - elevers erfarenheter

This article examines the practice of pupils’ participation in school with a focus on pupils’ own experiences. According to UNCRC, it is important to study pupils’ own experiences, both from a children’s rights perspective, and with a view to learning about democratic processes in school. The empirical data in the article are drawn from a two-year field study among 10- to 12-year-old pupils in their classrooms. The data consist of field notes, interviews, and drawings and essays produced by the pupils. The result shows that informal participation was the most common democratic form where the pupils and teachers negotiated for influence through different processes. These processes are intertwined and take place through interaction. The result also shows that participation is a privilege that pupils must earn in some way, for example by behaving well. Further on, pupils’ participation can also be understood as an individualized process where some pupils have a lot influence and others have only limited influence. Finally, from the pupils’ perspective, it is important that the democratic processes in the classroom be comprehensible and visible, which creates a sense of trust.Utbildning och lärande. Tidskrift