Session Information
26 SES 05 C, Educational Leadership from a Gender and Ethnographic Perspective
Paper Session
Contribution
Principals within Swedish compulsory schools have the responsibility to design and undertake policy of gender equality and diversity work within their organizations, in line with the discrimination and education acts (SFS 2008, SFS 2010). In Sweden, as in all Nordic countries, Australia and UK, these policies are now increasingly formulated within a broader equality and anti-discrimination framework that covers sex, ethnicity, religious or other beliefs, disability, sexuality, gender identity and age (Skjeie and Langvasbråten 2009). In order to accomplish change in power relations knowledge based on intersectional gender theory as well as on theory of organisational change is essential. However, one common argument is that there is a gap between feminist gender theory and the practical implementation in organisations (Meyerson och Kolb 2000). The purpose of this article is to scrutinize the changing interventions in plans for equal treatment established in Swedish compulsory schools by principals, from an intersectional gender and organizational theory perspective. The main research questions are: What gender equality and diversity interventions are strategically considered and on what feministic assumptions do the intervention of change rely? Do the interventions, represented in the equal treatment plans, create prerequisites for change of power relations in compulsory schools and what are the limitations?
Among the most fundamental concern of a welfare state is to provide equal education for its pupils for the purpose of achieving both social and academic objectives within a safe and secure environment. Nevertheless, schools are an arena where pupils are exposed to different types of harassment and bullying whereas action is required by principals (SFS 2008, SFS 2010). Research on harassment and discrimination in Swedish schools are limited (Johansson 2012). However, the knowledge of sexual harassment and other aspects related to gender have increased, particularly within upper secondary schools but the knowledge is still limited in compulsory schools (Gillander-Gådin 2012). Besides that the societal norms of inequality related to gender or diversity are interwoven in schools there are inequalities between adults and pupils which has an influence on how discrimination, harassment and insulting behaviour are recognised and dealt with (Martinsson och Reimers 2008). Several studies have shown that adults tend to trivialise these types of phenomenon (Ahlström 2009; Card 2002; Hägglund 2007). Further, research on bullying and harassment has commonly an individual perspective, with focus on the perpetrator and victim or the group they belong to (Bliding 2004). Therefore the knowledge is limited on what impact organisational factors have. Hence, the contexts in were these harassment or discrimination actually occurs is therefore ignored.
Principals also have responsibility for the promotional and preventive work in relation to gender equality and diversity; still structures of inequality are part of the school context. For example; only half of the populations of pupils with an immigrant background are qualified for upper secondary school when leaving the compulsory school system (Bunar et.al 2015). This may, over time, be an even bigger challenge due to the increased migration to Sweden and the rest of Europe. Another example is, according to the Swedish department of education, that girls have poorer mental health compared to boys and boys receive lower grades than girls. Further more it is major grading differences among pupils depending on the caregiver’s educational background. These types of inequalities have become a part of everyday reality and a risk is that we therefore do not even reflect up on the consequences for the individual pupils. They may have become and perceived as something natural.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Ahlström, B. (2009) Bullying and Social Objectives - A Study of Prerequisites for Success in Swedish Schools. Diss. Umeå: Umeå universitet Bacchi, Carol (1999). Women, Policy and Politics: The Construction of Policy Problems. London: Sage. Bacchi, C. (2009), Analysing Policy: What’s the Problem Represented to Be?, Pearson Education, Adelaide. Bliding, M. (2004) Inneslutandets och uteslutandets praktik – En studie i barns relationsarbete i skolan. Göteborg: Acta universitatis gothoburgensis Card, C. (2002) The Atrocity Paradigm - A Theory of Evil, New York: Oxford University Press. Bunar, N. (2015) Introduktion. I Nyanlända och lärande, Bunar, N (red). Stockholm: Natur och Kultur. Gillander-Gådin, K. (2012) Sexual harassment of girls in elementary school – a concealed phenomenon within a heterosexual romantic discourse, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol 27, No 9, P -1762-1779. Hägglund, S. (2007) Banal mobbning – en vardagsföreteelse i förskola och skola i Thors, C. (Ed.), Utstött – en bok om mobbning, Stockholm: Lärarförbundets förlag. Johansson, E. (2012) Forskningsöversikt om trakasserier i arbetsliv och utbildning. Forskning publicerad vid svenska universitet och högskolor sedan år 2000, Diskrimineringsombudsmannen (DO). Stockholm: Oxford Research. Martinsson, L. & Reimers, E. (red.) (2008) Skola i normer Gleerups, Malmö. Meyerson Deborah and Debra Kolb (2000) Moving out of the Armchair: Developing a Framework to Bridge the Gap between Feminist Theory and Practice”, Organization, 7, pp. 553-571 SFS (2008) Svensk författningssamling, [Swedish Codes of Statutes], Diskrimineringslag, 2008:567. SFS (2010) Svensk författningssamling [Swedish Codes of Statutes], Skollagen, 2010:800. Skjeie, Hege and Langvasbråten, Trude (2009) Intersectionality in Practice? Anti-discrimination reforms in Norway, International Feminist Journal of Politics, 11(4), pp. 513–529.
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