Summary:

This doctoral dissertation investigates the challenges “foreign teachers' “experience in the encounter with the new school context and the possibilities they have to man-age challenges and to establish themselves as teachers in the Swedish school system. After certifying their knowledge of Swedish, completing a supplementary teacher training program and receiving a valid teacher certificate, the participant teachers of this study were newly employed in the pre-school, the primary school and the secondary school. The material includes interviews with 21 teachers and, as a complement, observations at the workplaces of five of these teachers. Principals and colleagues of the observed teachers have also been interviewed as well as administrators and teacher educators of supplementary teacher training programs. Activity theory has been used as a heuristic tool for relating the retold experiences of the teachers to the school seen as an activity system. This made it possible to analyze challenges as tensions between acting agents and the context. From this perspective, interaction with pupils or problems with questioning parents could be analyzed with regard to communities of practice, rule system or division of labor in the activities of the school. Not unexpectedly, the shift of language of instruction causes challenges and demands time and energy from the teachers in preparing the lessons. Here the teachers mentioned knowledge and correct use of the subject specific vocabulary as well as the ability to use every day language in the process of building a bridge to the more academic language of the subjects. Sometimes the teachers encountered difficulties in the interaction with colleagues and parents due to the teachers being positioned as less competent due to their second language speaker status. Some examples also reveal that everyday interaction demands knowledge of social practices that are not always familiar to these teachers as newcomers to the communities of practice that exist at school. The value of individual assets (e.g. motivation, profound subject knowledge, study aptitude, officially recognized Swedish teaching qualifications, multilingualism, language learner experiences, pedagogical knowledge and professional experience) is enhanced when school principals recognize the resources of these teachers and make use of them in the communities of practice at school. In conclusion, this thesis emphasizes the importance of a critical discussion of existing norms, values and hierarchies in local school contexts if schools in Sweden in general are to be seen as learning and working contexts for teachers as well as pupils of all backgrounds.

Language: Swedish