”Verden som klasserom”: Perspektiv på overganger mellom læringskulturer i en postmoderne tid

The international and mobile labour market causes many Norwegian children and youth to attend schools abroad, later to return to Norwegian Schools. This Master thesis is based on a qualitative interview study with eight informants aged 12-18 years, all of whom have gone to schools abroad and experienced such a transition. The aim has been to acquire more knowledge and understanding on how these young people are experiencing the transition to the Norwegian schools. During the analysis it became apparent that there were academic, social and attitude related challenges in the transition to Norwegian Schools. Learning experiences were important too. Compound perspectives are utilised to illustrate the problem formulation and the informants’ stories. Together with elements of the post modern perspective and the PISA survey results, I draw on Bourdieu’s theory of Capital and the theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation and Communities of Practice by Lave & Wenger. Academically, half of the informants struggled with the subject Norwegian language, but all the informants believed that they had a higher academic level than their Norwegian classmates in some subjects. Their need for professional support and new challenges were met differently in the transition. All informants said the social transition from schools abroad went well. Commanding the language, knowing someone from earlier, starting school in Norway at a natural school change, and the schools emphasizing inclusion and social activities, were regarded crucial. Entering the learning community, the informants felt the importance of being active and taking initiative, but also experienced that gaining access also depended on the willingness to include them. Being a peripheral participant gave knowledge about the habitus of the group. The informants also indicated a drop in efficiency and educational pressure, where pupils in Norway had a more relaxed attitude to school and school work, showed less respect for the teachers and were noisier than the students at the school abroad. The PISA survey has similar indications. According to the informants, meeting new [learning] cultures and communities have given greater self-knowledge and understanding of other cultures, made them more tolerant, adaptable and have affected their identity, where just half of the informants feel they are fully Norwegian. Most feel they have mastered the challenges of the transition between [learning] cultures, and wishes to work or study abroad. There is evidence that the informants have acquired experience, strategies and knowledge on how to acquire cultural and social capital, regardless of the culture. Such cultural sensitivity can prove valuable competency in today's global world. In the [learning] cultural transition it is imperative for young people with such academic, social and cultural background, to feel that they belong in Norwegian schools. A prerequisite to succeed in this is that schools and individual teachers know and understand the students' background and appreciate how this affects the students' identity and learning