Successes and obstacles in the work of upper-secondary schools with newly arrived students: A constructivist-inspired analysis of teachers’ verbal accounts regarding their schools’ organizational and practical work

Abstract

This study presents new knowledge arising from teachers’ verbal accounts of successes and obstacles in the organizational and practical work of upper-secondary schools with newly arrived students. The analysis reveals several dimensions contributing to the construction and reconstruction of successes and obstacles in the teachers’ accounts. Teachers are constructed as actors with a power advantage relative to the “newly arrived student.” They set the agenda for student behavior, with an inclusive approach that is crucial to achieving success and counteracting obstacles. The approach imposes demands on how upper-secondary schools organize their work with newly arrived students and plays a role in determining supports and room for maneuvering that teachers have. Through the presented analysis, the study contributes to the development of knowledge in terms of four areas. First is the narrative processing of the combination of success and obstacles in the work with newly arrived students. Second is the importance of these stories for the representation of social pedagogical recognition and lack of recognition in the school context. The third area is identity creation and re-creation of professional actors (teachers), and the fourth area of knowledge involves alternative approaches to analysis compared to the typically expected didactic perspective. The study also contributes to the development of knowledge regarding the question of how a school’s morals function in relation to the previous and current experiences of teachers and newly arrived students.