ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to describe and analyze how school leaders as key actors in policy enactment understand, talk about and act in relation to Newly Arrived Migrant Students (NAMSs) enrolled in a separate Language Introduction Program in Sweden. Drawing on the work of Stephen J. Ball and colleagues, we argue that a particular discursive formation of NAMSs, operating within constrains of various contextual factors, has a decisive impact on how policy as text is interpreted and enacted. Discursively formulating NAMSs as having multiple challenges, beyond Swedish language and insufficient grades, introduces various barriers. Policy flexibility in combination with power disparities thus allows school leaders, framed within legitimacy of ‘rational explanations’ and ‘affirmative intentions’, to negotiate policy meanings which are not always working in the students’ best interests. Our empirically grounded and theoretically informed discussions showcase why there can be no inclusive education if NAMSs, during a protracted period, are physically, pedagogically and socially separated from mainstream structures. Consequently, and with the support in international research, we call for the overhaul of organizational approaches that allocate Newly Arrived Migrant Students to separate educational forms.

摘要

本文的目的是描述和分析学校领导者作为政策制定的关键参与者如何理解、谈论和采取与在瑞典单独的语言介绍项目注册的新移民学生 (NAMS) 相关的行为。借鉴 Stephen J. Ball 及其同事的工作，我们认为 NAMS 的特定话语形成，在各种背景因素的约束下运作，对政策作为文本的解释和制定方式具有决定性影响。除了瑞典语和分数不足之外，将 NAMS 散漫地表述为具有多重挑战，引入了各种障碍。因此，政策灵活性与权力差距相结合，允许学校领导者在“合理解释”和“肯定意图”的合法性框架内，协商政策含义，这些含义并不总是符合学生的最佳利益。我们基于经验和理论基础的讨论展示了如果 NAMS 在长时间内在物理、教学和社会上与主流结构分离，为什么就没有包容性教育。因此，在国际研究的支持下，我们呼吁彻底改革将新来移民学生分配到不同教育形式的组织方法。