Creating an inclusionary classroom through alternative ways of knowing : A Swedish Case Study

Abstract: In recent years Sweden has witnessed an increasing number of newcomers into its schools from an array of sociocultural and ethnic backgrounds. Rather than see this as a ‘burden’, this case study looks at ways teachers can embrace diversity, build upon students' prior knowledge and experiences and challenge traditional notions of how knowledge is produced in the classroom. Drawing on multicultural and critical pedagogies, 11 class teachers across four subject disciplines and working at 2 different schools, in a provincial town in the south of Sweden, were asked about their pedagogical practices teaching in mainstream classrooms with students of different ethnic backgrounds. The analysis focuses on whether the teachers are able to create spaces for inclusive learning. Findings suggest that while aspiring to a participatory model of teaching which welcomes students’ views and experiences newcomers are largely excluded from such practice further cementing their marginalised status. Furthermore, in navigating dominant discourse around race, ethnicity and cultural diversity teachers, for the most part, end up reproducing stereotypes or rely on common sense understandings of otherness which do not change the status quo. However, some of the teachers’ pedagogical practices demonstrate ways of moving beyond normative practice towards a more critical approach by providing students with alternative ways of knowing that aim to challenge stereotypes, avoid generalisations and disrupt the Western/Eurocentric ideal of the universality of truth.