Participation in school for children in socially challenged areas : Achieving and socializing

The Swedish school is not only an institution for learning. It is also the most significant social context for its students. In the Swedish regulatory documents for school the importance of democracy, democratic values and becoming a citizen of a democratic society is emphasized, as is the importance of interaction. When the number of students with foreign background is increasing in Swedish classrooms, there can be cultural and linguistic challenges to this. Getting students, as well as their parents, who might be newly arrived in Sweden or have lesser linguistic skills to participate in the school context demands to overcome language as well as cultural barriers. This research emanates from the notion of positive academic outcomes due to increasing participation in school. The studies focus on the relationships between teachers’ and students’ ratings of availability of school related activities and the frequency of attending them. Students’ and teachers’ ratings are subjected to principal component analysis showing different outcomes where teachers have an academic focus and students have a social focus. Teacher ratings of frequency of attending are related to academic achievement while student ratings are not. Parental involvement in terms of communication with school is also explored showing over all coherence between parents and teachers. Teachers rate the communication and trust between school and home higher regarding students with lower grades. Students with native and non-native mother tongue rate the availability and frequency of attending in school activities differently. Student with a non-native mother tongue rate the availability lower but their frequency of attending higher. Teachers’ ratings do not differ between students with native or non-native mother tongue. This thesis assesses participation in terms of attending but not involvement. A review of studies in the Nordic countries that study participation shows that attendance is often used as a measurement of participation but often rated by an observer. This research shows that the complexity of the concept of participation creates challenges in the pursuit of capturing it in scientific studies. The results show that students experience their school context differently than teachers, there are also differences between students with native and non-native mother tongue. Teachers have an academic focus while students have more of a social focus. This is especially pronounced for students with non-native mother tongue. As the number of students with foreign background is increasing, so is the number of students with non-native mother tongue. In order to promote participation in school for all students and to provide them with the prerequisites to become citizens of a democratic society, school needs to be more receptive to students own perception of the school context