This paper investigates how immigrant youths from non-western countries experience everyday life in an upper secondary school in Norway. The main question the paper seeks to illuminate are: How does immigrant youth in Norway adapt to the school community? Do they experience school as a place where they are seen and understood? To what degree do they participate in everyday life at school? The youngsters have key information about how they experience school as a place where all are equal and have equal right to education. It is important to get information on how the youths experience school. With this information we can gain some understanding about the values in school; whether they are built on monocultural or on multicultural values.

Upper secondary school in Norway starts after secondary school when the students are about 16 years old. Upper secondary school is voluntary, but everyone has the right to attend. Equality is a fundamental principal of the Norwegian school curriculum. This means that everyone has the right to the opportunity of an education independent of gender or ethnicity.

Based on the well known theory of Etienne Wenger (1998) about communities of practice, we understand that students are participants in different communities of practice in school. A community of practice is characterized by common engagement, common tasks and a common repertoire of members. In order to gain access to the community it is essential that the students are integrated into the culture of the community (Wenger 1998). Through interaction with others and through experiences, youths will have a sense of whether they “fit into” the community of practice (Helleve 2009).

In a community, members share a common understanding of what they are doing and what that means for their lives and for the community. Schools and educational institutions are examples of communities where achieving certain goals define what should be validated as development. What students learn might or might not be what they where expected to learn. But in a school there are several communities, and the question is: In which context are the immigrant students part of the community? Learning occurs; the question is “what (do) they learn and how much of what they learn is expected and valued by the participants” (Matusov 1998, p. 344).

Helleve, I. (2009). Theoretical foundation of teachers' professional development. In J. O. Lindberg, & Olofsson, A.D. (Ed.), Online Learning Communities and Teacher Professional Development: Methods for Improved. Education Delivery. Hersey, PA: IGI Global. Matusov, E. (1998). When Solo Activity Is Not Privileged; Participation and Internalization Models of Development. Human Development, 41, 326-349 Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative Methodes for the Human Sciences. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.