Is mother tongue instruction culturally empowering?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24834/educare.2024.1.854Keywords:
mother tongue instruction, culturally empowering education, culturally relevant pedagogy, agency, legitimacyAbstract
In this paper, I formulate a position on the dissemination of ‘cultural empowerment’ in schools through a critical discussion of its relation to my research field, mother tongue instruction (MTI) in Sweden. In addition, I compare the ideals of the culturally empowering pedagogies and praxis of MTI, which I see as related through the underlying utopian visions of the multilingual and multicultural school. Both are forms of education which place a focus on the validity and importance of students’ individuality and their pre-existing knowledges from outside the curriculum. In discussing the marginalisation of MTI via the discourse of its threat to ‘Swedishness’, I hope to highlight some of the underlying problems inherent in cultural empowerment as an individualising practice carried out within the universalising framework that is the state education project. The implementation of MTI demonstrates a need for change targeted not only at the level of teachers and researchers but also at a level where legitimacy is granted to such change.
References
Banks, J. A. (1998). The lives and values of researchers: Implications for educating citizens in a multicultural society. Educational Researcher, 27(7), 4–17. DOI: 10.3102/0013189X027007004
Brubaker, R. (2004). Ethnicity without groups. Harvard University Press.
Brubaker, R. (2015). Grounds for difference. Harvard University Press.
Bottiani, J. H., Larson, K. E., Debnam, K. J., Bischoff, C. M., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2018). Promoting educators’ use of culturally responsive practices: A systematic review of inservice interventions. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(4), 367–385. DOI: 10.1177/0022487117722553
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1996). The state nobility: Elite schools in the field of power. Polity Press.
Bourdieu, P., Champagne, P., Lenoir, R., Poupeau, F., Rivière, M.-C., & Fernbach, D. (2014). On the State: Lecture at the collège de France, 1989–1992. Polity.
Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Polity.
Criado-Perez, C. (2019). Invisible women: Data bias in a world designed for men. Abrams Press.
Ellsworth, E. (1989). Why doesn’t this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy. Harvard Educational Review, 59(3), 297–325. DOI: 10.17763/haer.59.3.058342114k266250
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed). Continuum.
Ganuza, N., & Hedman, C. (2017). Ideology vs. practice: Is there a space for
translanguaging in mother tongue instruction? In Paulsrud, B-A., Rosén, J., Straszer, B., & Wedin, Å. (eds.), New perspectives on translanguaging and education (pp. 208–226). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Ganuza, N., & Hedman, C.(2015). Struggles for legitimacy in mother tongue instruction in Sweden, Language and Education, 29(2), 125–139. DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2014.978871
Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.
Ghandchi, N. (2018). Who is the authority? The study of language registers and ideologies in two mother tongue classes in Copenhagen. Multilingua, 37(6), 649–680. DOI: 10.1515/multi-2016-0011
Grenfell, M. J. (2011). Bourdieu, language and linguistics (1st ed.). Continuum.
Hedman, C., & Magnusson, U. (2022). Adjusting to linguistic diversity in a primary school through relational agency and expertise: A mother-tongue teacher team’s perspective. Multilingua, 42(1), 139-164. DOI: 10.1515/multi-2021-0070
Hedman, C., & Mannish, S. (2021). Student agency in relation to space and educational discourse. The case of English online mother tongue instruction. English in Education, 0(0), 1–14. DOI: 10.1080/04250494.2021.1955618
Hedman, C., & Rosén, J. (2020). Modersmålsämnets legitimitet i ett förändrat politiskt landskap—En analys av svensk riksdagsdebatt under 2010-talet [The mother tongue subject’s legitimacy in a changing political landscape – an analysis of Swedish parliamentary debate during the 2010s]. Utbildning & Demokrati – tidskrift för didaktik och utbildningspolitk, 29(3), 31–50. DOI: 10.48059/uod.v29i3.1542
Hutton, C. M. (1999). Linguistics and the Third Reich: mother-tongue fascism, race, and the science of language. Routledge.
Hübinette, T., & Lundström, C. (2022). Den färgblinda skolan: Ras och vithet i svensk utbildning [The colourblind school: Race and whiteness in Swedish education]. Natur & Kultur.
Hyltenstam, K., & Milani, M. (2012). Flerspråkighetens sociopolitiska och sociokulturella ramar [The Sociopolitical and Sociocultural frameworks of Multilingualism]. In Vetenskapsrådet. Flerspråkighet: En forskningsöversikt. Vetenskapsrådet.
Interpellation 2022/23:234. Modersmålsundervisning och Tidöavtalet [Mother tongue education and the Tidö agreement]. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/interpellation/modersmalsundervisning-och-tidoavtalet_HA10234
Karrebæk, M. S., & Ghandchi, N. (2015). 'Pure' Farsi and political sensitivities: Language and ideologies in Farsi complementary classrooms in Denmark. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 19(1), 62–90. DOI: 10.1111/josl.12106
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into practice. Culturally Relevant Teaching, 34(3), 159–165. DOI: 10.1080/00405849509543675
Lainio, J. (2013). Modersmåls erkända och negligerade roller [The recognised and ignored roles of the mother tongue]. I: Symposium 2012: Lärarrollen i svenska som andraspråk (pp. 66-69). Stockholms universitets förlag.
Leeman, J., Rabin, L., & Roman-Mendoza, E. (2011). Identity and activism in heritage language education. The Modern Language Journal, 95(4), 481–495. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01237.x
Liberalerna. 2022. Överenskommelse för Sverige – Tidöavtalet [Consensus for Sweden: The Tidö Agreement]. https://www.liberalerna.se/nyheter/overenskommelse-for-sverige-tidoavtalet (Accessed: 2023-03-30).
Morrison, A., Rigney, L-I., Hattam, R., & Diplock, A. (2019). Toward an australian culturally responsive pedagogy. A narrative review of the literature. University of South Australia..
Motion 2021/22:2921. Slopad rätt till modersmålsundervisning [Decreased rights to mother tongue instruction]. https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/motion/slopad-ratt-till-modersmalsundervisning_H9022921
Municio, I. (1987). Från lag till bruk: Hemspråksreformens genomförande. Centrum för invandringsforskning, Univ.
Porto, M. (2010). Culturally responsive L2 education: An awareness-raising proposal. ELT Journal, 64(1), 45–53. DOI: 10.1093/elt/ccp021
Reath Warren, A. (2017). Developing multilingual literacies in Sweden and Australia : Opportunities and challenges in Mother Tongue Instruction and multilingual multilingual study guidance in Sweden and Community Language Education in Australia. [Doctoral disseration, Stockholm University]. Department of Language Education, Stockholm University.
Reath Warren, A. (2016). Multilingual study guidance in the Swedish compulsory school and the development of multilingual literacies. Nordand, 11(2), 115–142. http://su.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1057276/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Rychly, L., & Graves, E. (2012). Teacher characteristics for culturally responsive pedagogy. Multicultural Perspectives, 14(1), 44–49. DOI: 10.1080/15210960.2012.646853
Salö, L. (2021). De nyvunna synsättens inympning: Modersmålsundervisningens tillblivelse i Invandrarutredningen 1968-1974 [The proliferation of newly acquired viewpoints: The emergence of mother tongue instruction in the immigration commission 1968-1974]. In: Salö, L. (Ed.), Humanvetenskapernas verkningar: Kunskap, samverkan, genomslag. [The workings of the humanities: Knowledge, cooperation, breakthrough].Dialogos.
Salö, L., Ganuza, N., Hedman, C., & Karrebæk, M. S. (2018). Mother tongue instruction in Sweden and Denmark. Language Policy, 17(4), 591–610. DOI: 10.1007/s10993-018-9472-8Shealey,
Monica W. (2007). Urban teachers examine reading instruction through culturally responsive pedagogy. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 3, 127–146.
Schwarz, D. (1971). Identitet och minoritet: Teori och politik i dagens Sverige. Almqvist & Wiksell.
Skelton, M., Wigford, A., Harper, P., & Reeves, G. (2002). Beyond food, festivals, and flags. Educational Leadership, 60(2), 52–55.
Skolverket [Swedish Ministry for Education]. (2021). Kommentarmaterial till kursplanen i modersmål utom nationella minoritetsspråk – Grundskolan [Commentary material for the curriculum in mother tongue instruction excluding minority language education]. https://www.skolverket.se/publikationsserier/kommentarmaterial/2021/kommentarmaterial-till-kursplanen-i-modersmal-utom-nationella-minoritetssprak---grundskolan
Skolverket [Swedish Ministry for Education]. (2022). Beskrivande statistik: Elever och skolenheter i grundskolan läsåret 2021/22 [Descriptive statistics: Students and School units in elementary school for the academic year 2021/22]. https://www.skolverket.se/download/18.68c99c081804c5929ea58cf/1655292646380/pdf9573.pdf
Skolverket [Swedish Ministry for Education].(2023). Beskrivande statistik: Pedagogiskt personal i skola och vuxenutbildning 2022/23 [Descriptive statistics: Pedagogical staff in schools and adult education for the academic year 2022/23]. https://www.skolverket.se/getFile?file=11343
SOU 2019:18. För flerspråkighet, kunskapsutveckling och inkludering: Modersmålundervisning och studiehandledning på modersmål: betänkande. [ For multilingualism, knowledge development and inclusion: Mother tongue instruction and multilingual study guidance in the mother tongue: report.] Norstedts Juridik.
SOU 1974:69. Invandrarutredningen 3: Invandrarna och Minoriteterna [Immigration Commission 3: Immigrants and Minorities]. Liber/Allmänna förlag.
SOU 1971:51. Invandrarutredningen 1: Invandrarnas utbildningssituation, Förslag om grundutbildning i svenska för vuxna invandrare [Immigration Commission 1: Immigrants’ education situation, suggestion for an elementary education in Swedish for adult immigrants]. Liber/Allmänna förlag.
Spetz, J. (2014). Debatterad och marginaliserad: Perspektiv på modersmålsundervisningen. Institutet för språk och folkminnen. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:sprakochfolkminnen:diva-1194
Straszer, B., & Wedin, Å. (2020). Modersmål, minoriteter och mångfald: I förskola och skola [Mother tongue, minorities and diversity: In preschools and schools]. Studentlitteratur.
Subero, D., Vila, I., & Esteban-Guitart, M. (2015). Some contemporary forms of the funds of knowledge approach: Developing culturally responsive pedagogy for social justice. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 4(1), 33–53. DOI: 10.4471/ijep.2015.02
Szelei, N., Tinoca, L., & Pinho, A., (2020). Rethinking ‘cultural activities’: An examination of how teachers utilised student voice as a pedagogical tool in multicultural schools. Teaching and Education, 79, 176–187. DOI: 10.1016/j.tate.2018.12.020
Trankell, A. (1971). Fem studier i invandrar- och minoritetsforskning: En samlingsvolym. IMFO-gruppen.
Wearmouth, J. (2017). Employing culturally responsive pedagogy to foster literacy learning in schools. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2017.1295824
Wickström, M. (2013). Conceptual change in postwar Sweden: The marginalization of assimilation and the introduction of integration. In P. Kivisto & Ö. Wahlbeck (Eds.), Debating multiculturalism in the Nordic welfare states (pp. 110–139). Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI: 10.1057/9781137318459_5
Wingstedt, M. (1998). Language ideologies and minority language policies in Sweden: Historical and contemporary perspectives. [Doctoral dissertation, Stockholm University]. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-63155
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Scarlett Mannish
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
