Building social cohesion in multiethnic schools

On the importance of care, respect, and solidarity

Abstract

How is an inclusive social environment created in schools? And how does the opposite develop, that is, school milieus of mistrust, segregation and degrading treatment? These questions are important for all schools to consider, but are brought to the fore when municipalities seek to counter school segregation by redistributing students from schools in structurally disadvantaged areas to schools in other areas.  The responsibility for counteracting the negative effects of school segregation lies primarily with the municipalities and, in practice, the schools at the local level. In this article, we track and analyze a municipal initiative of redistributing students from  a structurally disadvantaged area to four schools in  other parts of the city. The analytical focus is on the social processes that occurred in these four schools, and the obstacles and possibilities experienced by the “new” students in their efforts to integrate into their new school communities. These schools were often characterized by different school cultures and dominant norms than their original school. The empirical data consists of interviews with 60 students and 55 teachers, as well as over 300 observations  in the four schools, made over a period of two and half years.

Our analysis is guided by Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition, in which different forms of moral recognition are described as necessary for individuals to develop their identity and maintain a positive self-image and  relationships with others. Honneth also shows how the violation of recognition has detrimental effects on the way people view themselves and interact socially.In the article we use Honneth’s theory to identify, conceptualize and illustrate how the manifestation and  violation of different forms of recognition (i.e., care, respect and solidarity) affected the new students’ ability to develop a positive self-image and positive relationships with others, something that played a decisive role in their opportunities to learn and develop. The results highlight the need to pay attention to the complex power relations that permeate social environments in schools and the varying needs of different groups of students. The results can be used by teachers and other educational staff to reflect on power relations and how to create an inclusive social environment in schools, as well as how their own relational work can be developed and adjusted in relation to different groups of students.