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Empowering Teacher Students for Diversity in Schools: Mentorship Model as a Mediator in Sweden

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Cultural and Social Diversity and the Transition from Education to Work

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Abstract

Swedish society has become more socially diverse in terms of ethnic background and cultural differences. In response to this fact, it is emphasised that teachers should have the skills to develop a culturally responsive pedagogy. The study described in this chapter focuses on how the mentorship model which is a part of the teacher training programme at one university supports teacher students in their efforts to develop this competence. The mentorship model is an attempt to ease teacher students’ efforts to develop professional knowledge and their transition from becoming a teacher to working as one. The present study focuses on how the mentorship model achieves its aim by promoting the teacher students’ professional reflection and preparation about culturally diverse school settings.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Teacher student is a term used in Sweden interchangeably with student teacher, pre-service teacher, prospective teacher, teacher candidate and such similar concepts, referring to students having teacher education at pedagogy departments. The term pupil, on the other hand, refers to school kids. Therefore, they are going to be used accordingly throughout the text.

  2. 2.

    One school for all is a concept that was first introduced in the curriculum of 1980 in Sweden. It conceptually has evolved over time to cover cultural differences, class, gender, ethnicity and religion as well as special needs of pupils. The decision contains a political vision that the compulsory school in Sweden should provide education for all which addresses the individual needs and a high level of participation resting on inclusive understanding of schooling as it is formulated in Salamanca Statement in 1994 (Haug et al. 2006).

  3. 3.

    Unlike in UK for instance, in Sweden, the law for the students in need of special support is not contextualised including gifted and/or talented pupils. It is recognised through the recent emerging political debates that the talented pupils should also be specially supported.

  4. 4.

    According to the Swedish Education act (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden 1985:1100) and the regulation for the school for intellectually disabled (Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden 1995:206), pupils that are considered unable to reach the expected learning goals in the compulsory school have the right to attend a school for intellectually disabled. This is a type of school for retarded pupils or other comparable disabilities according to the school act.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Foreign Languages Unit, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey

    Ayse Kizildag

  2. University of Borås, School of Education and Behavioural Sciences, Borås, Sweden

    Anita Eriksson

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  1. Ayse Kizildag
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  2. Anita Eriksson
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Correspondence to Ayse Kizildag .

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  1. Université de Limoges, rue de Saint-Gence 168, Limoges, 87100, French S.Territ

    Guy Tchibozo

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Kizildag, A., Eriksson, A. (2012). Empowering Teacher Students for Diversity in Schools: Mentorship Model as a Mediator in Sweden. In: Tchibozo, G. (eds) Cultural and Social Diversity and the Transition from Education to Work. Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5107-1_8

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