This project deals with mother tongue tutoring in Swedish schools. Tutoring in the mother tongue aims at supporting knowledge development for multilingual students who do not have sufficient knowledge to follow the education in Swedish (SFS 2010:800, kap 3, § 12). The municipalities, which are responsible for arranging mother tongue tutoring, have organized this activity in different ways, which also makes the quality uneven for many of the students (Skolinspektionen 2017). The National Agency for Education only gives recommendations on who and how many hours the students are entitled to mother tongue tutoring. In addition, there are no professional requirements for employment as a mother tongue tutor; it is the principal who assesses whether a person is suitable for employment (SOU 2019:18). It also needs to be mentioned that tutoring should not be mixed up with the subject “mother tongue”, even though many tutors in the mother tongue are also mother tongue teachers. Tutors in the mother tongue are those who provide tutoring in the mother tongue in a subject other than the subject mother tongue (Skolverket 2019).

Mother tongue tutoring in Sweden has been discussed in a number of studies (Rosén, Straszer & Wedin, 2019; Avery, 2017; Warren 2016; Paulsrud, Warren and Toth 2015), especially concerning identity and work situation (Korp, et al, 2019; Rosén, Straszer & Wedin 2019; Nilsson 2017) or in what way mother tongue tutoring is to be organized pedagogically through direct inclusion in a class or in preparation classes/language classes (Sheikh, 2019; Gareis, Oxley, & Warren 2020). A key factor to a successful approach to tutoring in the mother tongue is dialogue between tutors in the mother tongue and subject teachers (Sheikhi, 2019, Skolverket,  2019, Warren, 2021), which is my area of interest. Previous studies show difficulties in collaborations due to imbalances between the professions, ambiguity regarding how to use each other’s expertise, and a vague organization (Sheikhi, 2019; Skolverket,  2019; Skolinspektionen, 2017).

This study is based on a discourse-analytical approach, which on an overall level aims to capture a specific way to talking about and understanding reality “… ett bestämt sätt att tala om och förstå världen” [a concrete approach to discuss and understand reality] (Winther Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002, p 7), with the focus on how and why language is used as it does (Börjesson, 2015; Jørgensen, 2000; Svensson, 2019; Ringström, 2021; Ekholm & Vesterberg, 2020). By analyzing the organizational and professional positioning of tutors in the mother tongue at schools, and which factors affect collaboration between tutors and subject teachers, the overall aim of this study is to gain an increased understanding of mother tongue tutoring based on principals, heads of the mother tongue unit and subject teacher’s knowledge, experiences, and commitment about collaboration with tutors in the mother tongue.

This pilot project draws on qualitative data from eight interviews: one principal, three unit heads, two of which is both principals and responsible for tutors in the mother tongue, two teachers in Swedish as second language (SvA in swedish), and two subject teachers. The interviews took place on-line during spring 2021. The questions focused on organization and collaboration with tutors in the mother tongue and require developed answers. This led me to choosing semi-structured interviews; a more flexible method which provides the opportunity to both deviate from prepared questions and ask follow-up questions (Hallen & Halin, 2018; Kvale, 1997; Thompsson, 2011; Trost, 2014). Semi-structured interviews gain flexibility, both in terms of asking questions and the opportunity to hear the interviewers' own stories, opinions, and views. The interview questions were based on trying to make visible the principals, heads of the mother tongue units and subject teachers’ perceptions of how tutoring in the mother tongue works in different activities, i.e., in admission units, in schools with their own employed tutors in the mother tongue and / or tutors in the mother tongue from mother tongue units. I chose to interview people who are active in different schools and in different municipalities. Although the interview questions concerned collaborations with tutors in the mother tongue, they also varied, because they were aimed at different professions. Each of the participants gave their consent to the study, which follows the ethical guidelines God forskningssed [“Good research practice”], (Vetenskapsrådet, 2017). In the light of a discourse analytical approach the analysis method is about capturing different articulations according to collaborations with tutors in the mother tongue. Assuming several subjective truths about the tutoring in the mother tongue, its purpose, and about the collaboration between tutors in the mother tongue and subject teachers, means that I find several subjective realities to understand and interpret. I tried to be as open and flexible as possible. At the same time, I could not escape my own experience of teaching in the mother tongue and my theoretical knowledge, which probably guided, at least, questions for the interviews. I was not afraid to choose informants I had a working relationship with (Bryman, 2011). I wanted to allow principals and subject teachers to provide a definition of the purpose of tutoring in the mother tongue, the assignments of tutors in the mother tongue, to share their reality of organizing tutoring in the mother tongue, of collaboration with tutors in the mother tongue etc.

The National Agency for Education (Skolverket, 2019) mentions collaboration between subject teachers and tutors in the mother tongue in the pedagogical context as the most important prerequisite for successful tutoring in the mother tongue. In the school context, functional collaboration between subject teachers and tutors in the mother tongue is mentioned as an aspect that affects the performance of daily pedagogical tasks, both for teachers and for tutors in the mother tongue. Interviewed subject teachers, who agree that a good collaboration gives the best results, believe that a lack of collaboration with tutors in the mother tongue depends on several factors. Knowledge of the purpose of the tutoring in the mother tongue and the tutors in the mother tongue assignment influences expectations, attitudes, positioning and initiatives in both subject teachers and tutors in the mother tongue. The lack of clear guidelines and eligibility requirements for the employment of tutors in the mother tongue is an important issue for principals and unit heads alike. All interviewed principals point out that it would have been much simpler and above all fairer to equivalent teaching (this means tutoring in the mother tongue) if there were clear eligibility requirements for tutors in the mother tongue. Heads of the mother tongue unit mean that tutors in the mother tongue, who are employees at the mother tongue unit work closely with the unit's SvA teachers and that competence development in the subject of tutoring in the mother tongue takes place continuously and emphasize that the level of knowledge in schools is lower. Likewise, the school staff's knowledge of the purpose of the tutoring in the mother tongue and the tutors in the mother tongue’s assignments, as well as of tutoring in the mother tongue as an issue for development in the municipality.

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