Belonging and participation as portrayed in the curriculum guidelines of five European countries

This study seeks to explore how the belonging and participation, as well as its related concepts, are framed in the national curriculum guidelines of the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. We employed a scoping study with concept-mapping methodology. The results reveal macro level principles related to human rights and values, multiliteracy and language, policy measures and ideologies. Meso level principles stressed that education is supposed to guarantee a child’s overall development and skills acquisition, participation involvement in the activities related to a child’s environment and cultural heritage. The micro level principles were indicative of the need for inclusive and accessible physical and social environments, along with teaching methods which foster positive attitudes about diversity and teachers’ expertise levels to address diversity. We also found the importance of designing opportunities that encourage socializing, building relationships, and belongingness. Additionally, the results show how frequently the chosen key concepts are represented in the guidelines. Based on our study we can conclude that curriculum guidelines do not provide sufficent frameworks for promoting children’s belonging and participation. Further exploration on those concepts is needed, along with increased scholarly attention within the spheres of ECEC and compulsory education practice to enable inclusion for all children.publishedVersio

Ungas samspel i sociala medier : Att balansera mellan ansvar och positionering

The growing communication that takes place between young people today causes concern. The purpose of this study is to develop in – depth knowledge of the interaction that young people engage in online. The pedagogic interest is based on an investigation of conditions for social learning and social integration that exist in practice, which unfolds in virtual spaces created by social media. The technology referred to in this thesis is considered to be a social construction, which entails that values circulate between people, technology, and society. The theoretical point of departure is based on a pedagogic theory, which proposes that people develop their ability to cooperate, their social identity, and their understanding of the world through interaction with others. This dissertation includes three studies. The first study investigates support and harassment online (for example, insults). The second study is conducted for the purpose of revealing the discursive patterns in young people’s argumentation, based on a series of interviews. Finally, a text analysis of Facebook’s policy document was performed, with focus on the democratic values that are mediated via this document. The overall result is that considerably more young people feel that they are supported in social media, than those who are harassed. Both a supportive culture and a harassing culture can be defined however. The more often young people support their friends, the more often they find themselves to be the recipient of support. The same relationship pertains for harassing communication. Reciprocity, respect, and being responsible are dominant themes in a close circle of friends. In interaction with friends who are not members of the close circle of friends, communication is characterised by asymmetry and control. The imposition of discipline takes place as a function of both gender and status. The risk of being subject to reprisals is great, if the prevailing system of norms is violated. Young people’s social interaction in virtual spaces tends to be dominated by marketization where strategic behaviour, which primarily is a function of the individual’s social position and profit interest, is observed

The Importance of Belonging : A Study About Positioning Processes in Youths’ Online Communication

The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge of young peoples’ communication in social media. A total of 32 boys and girls aged 14 to 15 years old, from two schools in Sweden, participated in this study. A hermeneutic interpretation process formed the basis of the analysis process. The data were thematized based on patterns found throughout the material. Theoretical perspectives concerning normalization processes related to the use of language were connected to the data to deepen the understanding of themes and patterns. The result shows that there is an ongoing negotiation with reciprocal processes in which both boys and girls have lots of reference points to consider, when they interact online. There are social norms and rules related to the online arena itself, as well as normative expectations connected to gender orders. The gender category is intertwined with sexuality and group hierarchies, which give the youth different power positions to act online

The importance of belonging – a study of young people’s online communication in a Swedish context : -

Purpose The aim of the study presented in this session is to deepen the knowledge about young peoples’ communication in social media by focusing on positioning processes in their online interactions. Online communication has become an important arena constituting everyday practice for young people. Smart phones and mobile Internet have been of great importance for the development of interactions in social media. For example, in a survey conducted by Swedish Media Council[1] 2017, 75 percent of 12-15 year old Swedish students are found to be daily users (ibid). An American survey from 2015 reports that 88 % of American teenagers have access to smartphones and 90 % of these exchange texts. A typical American teen sends and receives 30 texts per day (Pew Research Center[2], 2017). This technology gives young people many possibilities to interact beyond time and space. Online spaces can from this perspective be regarded as more equal than offline spaces. Irrespective of background, people can be brought together around mutual interests (boyd and Ellison, 2008). But, for many young people adolescence is a time of turbulence, in which establishing social affiliations is an important element. Struggles about power, about popularity and status are key aspects, which include both inclusive and exclusive processes. Context-bounded expectations to act according to social norms are developed both in the class and in school as a whole, which follow into online interactions. A lot of examples of both possibilities and restrictions for being a young person, a girl or a boy, become visible online (boyd, 2008; Davis, 2012; Vallor, 2012). Certain identities are placed in the center while others are marginalized and by the youths’ acts both normality and deviation are constructed (Kumashiro, 2002). The students in this study are not categorized as solely boys or girls. Behind the gender category there are other categories that affect their position in thepeer group and the power to act, both offline and online. The endeavor is to uncover the relation between the students’ multiple identities and their acting space online. From the students’ point of view, this study asks the question: -          In what ways are the students’ acting spaces online affected by their position in the peer group? Theoretical framework In this study, focus is put on positioning processes highlighted in the students’ argumentation about their online interactions. The students actively use language to interpret the world, both offline and online, and depending on how language is used different discourses are developed in the social practice. (Foucault, 1972; Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 1999). There is a relation between discourses and power, and with the concept ‘regime of truth’ Foucault (1972) points out that power is created and embodied by discourses and in this way the discourses are allowed to rule the understanding of the world (ibid). It can also be verbalized as the world is interpreted through the discursive patterns the students are exposed to. In this way, discourses condition both the constitution of the subject and the structures in society as a whole. Structures exert power and contribute to keep the social practice in order (Foucault, 1972; Chouliaraki and Fairclough, 1999). By their acts ‘normality’ is constructed and according to Kumashiro (2002) otherness and deviation are known and maintained only by inference, often in contrast to the norm (ibid). This is a question of inclusion and exclusion, leading to both inequality and social stratification. Normalization processes concerns how certain identities become naturalized while others are unthinkable, for example on the basis of gender, sexual orientation or disability. Instead of looking at power relations as dichotomous and binary in which different groups appear as antagonistic, this study has an intersectional point of departure (Crenshaw, 1995; Foucault, 1972; Kumashiro, 2002). Data material and analysis process The empirical data is based on observations and interviews and are collected in two classes in two separated schools situated in a medium–sized city in Sweden. In one class 12 youths (4 boys and 8 girls) of 23 from Grade 8 (15 years) participated. In the other class 20 youths of 24 (9 boys and 11 girls) from Grade 7 participated. Altogether there were 13 boys and 19 girls taking part in the study. Before the interviews I attended each class as an observer for approximately 40 hours in order to get to know the students as individuals, but also to get an insight into their reciprocal friendships. The majority of interviews were designed in pairs, and the time for all interviews totaled 12 hours and 38 minutes. The interviews were semi-structured, which means that a list of questions and topics were constructed that had to be covered during the interviews (Bryman, 2016).  The endeavor was to give the students a voice by letting them, as freely as possible, describe their experiences of interacting in social media. My task, as a researcher, was to ask follow-up questions when needed to get a deeper understanding. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. A hermeneutic interpretation process formed the basis for the analysis process. The analysis began with a reading of the empirical data to get an overall understanding. Thereafter the data was thematized based on patterns found by reading through all the text several times. By connecting theoretical perspectives to the data, the understanding of themes and patterns deepened (Lindseth and Norberg, 2004). Results This study shed light on inequalities in students’ acting spaces online, contributing with perspectives of positioning processes in young people’s everyday lives. The results show that the online arena works as a leisure center for most of the students. There are social norms and rules connected to the online arena, irrespective who you are, which are important to be familiar with. But, there are also normative expectations, connected to different social categories in the peer group, which also affect the acting space online. Both aspects are central in order to be successful in the peer group. On one hand all students in this study are constructed as part of the same category. They are young people in Grade 7 or 8 interacting in social media, but on the other hand they also are constructed in different ways in the same category. The students belong to different peer groups in school and their social identities are constructed in relation to how they identify themselves as a member or not a member of these groups. There are normative expectations depending on group membership, for example what kinds of photos that can be published without risking being insulted online. ‘Horse girls’ publish photos when they jump with their horses and ‘skate boarders’ publish nice moves when they skate. These students do not publish photos exhibiting their body.  Some students are regarded as ‘geeks’ with weak social affiliations and they are closed out from social media. Being online is dangerous for them. No one will protect them if someone is mean.   Gender is another aspect that affects the students’ acting space online. To be an appropriate boy or girl that is accepted and respected by peers, it is important to act in accordance with the prevailing order in the specific context, but also according to the general expectations in society. It appears that successful boys are controlled, and they are acting online in accordance with appropriate masculinity. Mostly, the boys are ‘doers’; they publish photos where they act in contrast to girls who publish photos objectifying their body. Related to the hierarchical order between men and women boys and girls have different access to each other’s acting space. It is easier for girls to use the boys’ acting space, for example publishing photos when they are acting. The opposite condition prevails for most of the boys. There is a danger for boys publishing photos where they are exposing their body, since there is a great risk of being insulted. At the same time as there is a struggle about power related to gender and group membership, processes are also taking place, that derive from other positioning processes, in this case sexuality. It appears that it is very shameful for the boys to be looked upon as a faggot. ‘Doing’ masculinity does not relate to being homosexual. This means that boys who actively use markers to show their hetero-normativity and masculinity are more likely to be marked as real men/boys. It can also be expressed as this kind of intertwining between sexuality and gender gains hegemony in the peer group (and in society), which comes with less risk of being insulted online. Thus, this intertwining is loaded with sufficient power to guard normality in the peer group. In contrast to boys, girls in general do not need to prove their hetero-normativity in their online interactions. Instead, they need to be aware of the prevailing view upon girls’/women’s sexuality. This opinion is common in the girls’ statements in this study. They use the word ‘slut’ when they describe some girls in school and what kind of photos they publish (photos where they exhibit their body). These girls risk to get negative comments.   But, the analysis also shows that some positions in the peer group are loaded with adequate power and possibility to challenge the intertwining between gender and sexuality. The more status the more power to challenge normative boundaries. Some girls in school are popular, especially among boys, and they have the power to act in a norm-breaching way without risking being insulted online. If a girl publishes provocative photos without being abused, the power to act online is reinforced. On the contrary, these girls get positive comments and even higher status. Some peer groups’ positions among boys are also loaded with power and can challenge the prevailing order of how to be a proper boy/man without risking being called a faggot. These boys can publish female-coded photos, such as objectifying their bodies, without being abused. To conclude, the processes of belonging are complex, dynamic, and power-loaded phenomena. The students act from their social position, in terms of expectation based on their position in their peer group and fear of reprisals. The intersection between gender, sexuality, group membership and status between groups give the students different positions to act online. There is an ongoing and constant negotiation in which the students have lots of reference points to take into account in order to be an appropriate and accepted young person. References boyd, danah. (2008). Why Student Heart Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life. In David Buckingham (Ed.) Student, Identity, and Digital Media. Cambridge, Mass,: MIT Press. boyd, danah m. and Ellison, B. Nicole. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. Journal of Computer–Mediated Communication, 13: 210–230. Bryman, Alan. (2016). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chouliaraki, Lilie and Fairclough, Norman. (1999). Discourse in Late Modernity. Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Crenshaw, Kimberlé. (1995). Critical race theory. The key writings that formed the movement. New York: New York Press.  Davis, Katie. (2012). Friendship 2.0: Adolescents’ experiences of belonging and self-disclosure online. Journal of Adolescence. 35: 1527–1536. Foucault, Michel. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. London: Penguin. Kumashiro, Kevin. (2002). Troubling Education. Queer Activism and Antioppressive Pedagogy. New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Lindseth, Anders and Norberg, Astrid. (2004). A phenomenological hermeneutical method for researching lived experience. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 18(2): 145-153. Pew Research Center. (2017). Teens, Social Media and Technology Overview 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/ [2017-11-02]. Statens Medieråd. (2017). Ungar and Medier 2017. Stockholm: Kulturdepartementet. [Swedish Media Council. Children and Media 2017. Stockholm: Ministry of Culture]. Vallor, Shannon. (2012). Flourishing on Facebook: virtue friendship and new social media. Ethics and Information Technology, 14(3): 185–199.       [1] Swedish Media Council is a knowledge center that investigates the media habits of children and youth. They conduct yearly studies on youths’ experiences and attitudes toward the use of different media (Statens Medieråd, 2017). [2] Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank based in Washington (Pew Research Center , 2017)Ej belagd 20191205</p

Between responsibility and positioning – a study about young people’s interactions in social media

This article examines young people’s argumentation about their communication in social media. The purpose is to uncover what is taken for granted in their experiences and illuminate discursive patterns in their representation of everyday life online. 32 youths (14-15 years old) were interviewed. The result shows that there are three discourses involved that in different ways condition the youths’ acting space online. The discourses are called ‘taking responsibility’, ‘saving face’ and ‘social positioning’. There is a struggle between the discourses and they take on different power positions depending on the relation between three parameters: with whom the interaction takes place, the content that is to be published and the online characteristics. The discourse ‘taking responsibility’ is superior in interactions with close friends, unlike interactions with peripheral friends, where ‘social positioning’ is superior. The discourse ‘saving face’ is found in interactions with both close and peripheral friends

Swedish Boys’ Narratives on Sexual Harassment and their Ways of Doing Masculinity

When #MeToo was the most intensive, many girls, women and non-binary people’s voices were heard about being exposed. Knowledge on boys’ perspectives is important as they need to be involved to provide change. In research, boys’ and men’s voices are missing unless accounted for in settings associated with violence or harassment. This project contributes knowledge about schoolboys’ positionings with respect to masculine hegemony and sexual harassment. The analysis of pair interviews with 22 participating boys, aged 14–16, suggests three ways in which they relate to the topic. With respect to the discursive patterns labelled equal boy and let-go boy, gender issues are competently expressed and these two patterns convey knowledge about the power that the gender culture exercises. These two discursive patterns also suggest a proficient way of taking the gender order into account to fit in with the peer group. Nevertheless, the third pattern, labelled the dominant boy, suggests settings when a traditional masculinity culture exercises power. We conclude that discussions on situations where different discursive patterns are overt would facilitate a shift towards gender equal discourses with less risk of sexual harassment

Att förstå sexuella trakasserier – tre förklaringsmodeller och deras pedagogiska implikationer

I föreliggande studie är syftet att presentera ett pedagogiskt verktyg för att sortera könsrelaterade resonemang relevanta för diskussioner om sexuella trakasserier, samt att lyfta fram och tydliggöra de pedagogiska implikationer som ett visst grundantagande för med sig. Detta pedagogiska verktyg appliceras på två kvinnliga gymnasieelevers berättelser om erfarenheter av sexuella trakasserier under sin tid i grund- och gymnasieskolan. Tre olika förklaringsmodeller används i analysen. Dessa är ’med könsskillnader i fokus’, ’med den könsneutrala individen i fokus’ samt ’med könsnormer i fokus’. När könsskillnader framhålls som förklaringsmodell, blir slutsatsen att pojkarna styrs av sin biologi och att de därför inte kan hållas ansvariga för sina handlingar. Om könsneutralitet betonas, blir konsekvensen att sexuella trakasserier inte kan knytas till ett specifikt kön. Istället är det den specifika situationen eller individen som är den avgörande faktorn. När könsnormer är i fokus kan sexuella trakasserier förstås som något unga män i grupp använder sig av som ett sätt att stärka och bekräfta maskulinitet i en heteronormativ ordning. Vissa förklaringsmodeller kan underlätta och andra kan försvåra arbetet för att motverka sexuella trakasserier.In the present study, the purpose is to present a pedagogical tool for sorting gender-related reasoning relevant to discussions about sexual harassment, as well as to highlight and clarify the pedagogical implications that a certain basic assumption entail. This pedagogical tool is applied to two female high school students’ stories of experiences of sexual harassment during their time in primary and secondary school. Three different explanation models are used in the analysis. These are named ‘with gender differences in focus’, ‘with the genderneutral individual in focus’ and ‘with gender norms in focus’. When gender differences are emphasized, the implication is that boys are ruled by their biology and therefore they cannot be responsible for their actions. If gender neutrality is stressed, the consequence is that sexual harassment cannot be linked to a specific gender. Instead, it is the specific situation or the individual that is the triggering factor. When gender norms are in focus, sexual harassment can be understood as something that young men in groups use to strengthens and affirm masculinity in a heteronormative order. Some of the explanation models may facilitate and others may complicate the work of counteracting sexual harassment

Beating Around the Bush – Swedish Schoolgirls’ Coping Strategies and Impact Processes of Sexual Harassment

The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about Swedish school girls’ perspectives of sexual harassment and their relations to peers when exposed to violence in terms of sexual harassment, both online and offline. The empirical data was collected through pair interviews where 28 girls participated. The theoretical framework was based on coping strategies that people use when facing stressful situations. The transcribed empirical data was read and interpreted based on what appeared to be important and decisive related to the theoretical framework. The found strategies are divided into three main categories, namely, problem-focused behavioural strategies, emotion-focused cognitive strategies, and emotion-focused behavioural strategies. The results show that the girls use different strategies depending on if the harassment occurs online or offline and if the perpetrator is known or unknown. Problem-focused cognitive strategies are used due to the specific context. Emotion-focused cognitive strategies are foremost used if the perpetrator is a known friend

Likabehandlingsarbete — en reproduktion av rådande maktordning?

 This project sets out to examine how schools identify their assignment to make school to a place of equality. The research questions address how efforts to counteract discrimination regarding sexual orientation, gender and ethnicity are expressed as well as what power structures that can be identified in this respect. In total, 134 documents from compulsory school in municipalities in southern, mid and northern Sweden are collected. The documents are analyzed using Kumashiro´s (2002) four perspectives to conceptualize and work against oppression. The analysis shows different ways that schools address this assignment. Differences regarding what is identified as problems seems to build different approaches in how the work against oppression becomes visible. Double strategies are described in order to both strengthen and challenge the power structure that is prevalent between the norm carrying group and the group the schools identify as marginalized.