Att utforska nyanländas erfarenheter och kunskaper. Om kartläggning som ett didaktiskt redskap i nyanlända elevers utbildning

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to reach a deeper understanding of the process whereby the knowledge and experiences of newly arrived students are mapped when they start their education at their new school. A sociocultural perspective is taken, in which learning and knowing are seen as situated processes and where interaction during the mapping activities is regarded as a series of occasions where the resources and knowledge of the students are construed and validated. Research on and knowledge of newly arrived students’ learning process in the Swedish school context are lacking in the Swedish school (Bunar 2010, 2012; Skolinspektionen 2009, 2014). The methodological approach chosen is qualitative with an emic perspective. Observations of the mapping process and interviews with the teachers and their principal charged with that responsibility were conducted. The research questions guiding this study are: What information about the students is collected? How is this information collected? How is the collected information used in the continuing education? What promotes and restrains the expected outcome of the mapping process? Several different mapping activities are conducted in and outside of the preparatory classroom. Particularly group activities where newly arrived students' interact are seen as valuable sources of information about knowledge, cognitive skills and social capabilities of the students. Mapping and teaching are closely linked and the mapping process is incorporated in the teachers’ overall formative assessment. Through the involvement of mother tongue teachers in the process, the students' linguistic resources are made use of in the mapping process as well as in their learning. The contribution of multilingual teachers in the process also facilitates the identification of the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky 1978). The group of teachers surrounding the newly arrived students manifest a combined broad subject matter and linguistic competence, which facilitates both the mapping process and the use of the information in the further education of the students'. Participating teachers as well as their principal point to the lack of time for a deeper collaboration and information exchange as the greatest challenge to the mapping process.