‘So incredibly equal’: how polite exclusion becomes invisible in the classroom

Abstract

This article focuses on the discrepancy between school staffs’ views of a permissive, inclusive classroom climate, and high-performing minority students’ stories of social exclusion. The students are seemingly well-integrated into the Swedish school system, they have good grades, high ambitions, and attend a prestigious school. However, students with migration backgrounds describe recurring experiences of polite exclusion in the form of subtle, often unspoken, distancing from the students termed ‘the Swedes’, while school staff describe an equal and inclusive class climate, welcoming and accepting of all students. This study is based on participant observation in a prestigious high school, as well as interviews with students and staff.