Our paper is based on school and education as an obligation and a right, as stated by Swedish curriculum (National Agency for Education, 2011) and UN Convention of the rights of the child (UN General Assembly, 1989). In that sense education holds a tension and can be seen as a double-edged phenomenon. With this in mind, what’s it like going to school in Sweden today? What meaning does school have in young people’s lives?

Research has focused on education as children’s right. Further research is needed as it is considered as a vast and assorted field (for instance Quennerstedt, 2011; Roose & Bouverne-De Bie, 2007; Thelander, 2009). It has also been shown that research on children’s rights and education have omitted students who have been regarded as being in need of special support (Quennerstedt, ibid.).

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