Education and transition - the aspect of newly arrived pupils Anita Norlund, ph. d. associate professor Marianne Strömberg ph. d. senior lecturer

The aim of this paper is to shed light on perspectives from newly arrived pupils and their responses to the conditions that they are surrounded by.

Procedure Photo elicitation interviews (see Richard & Lahman, 2014). Three of the municipal schools Nine newly arrived pupils of differing ages from various parts of the world The pupils were asked to take pictures, showing places “where you like to be”, ”where you think that good things happen or have happened” and ”where you learn/have learnt things”. Inspired by Epstein et al. (2006) a final question was added, “If you had a magic wand what would you change about it?” The data consists of interview transcripts and approximately 90 photos.

Social capital theory (SCT) The theory takes an interest in “social networks, the reciprocities that arise from them and the value of these for achieving mutual goals” (Schuller, Baron & Field, 2000, p. 1). A conceptual set: Bonding social capital - the relationship within a homogeneous group Bridging social capital – ”tends to bring together people across diverse social divisions” (Field, 2003; ONS, 2001) Linking social capital –“pertains to connections with people in power, whether they are in politically or financially influential positions” (Woolcock & Sweetser, 2002:26), also includes vertical connections to formal institutions (Woolcock, 2001; Mayoux, 2001) Space - an emergent theme from SCT-oriented case studies made by Allan and Catts (2014): territoriality, horizontal space, hierarchical space Concepts from Basil Bernstein’s theoretical frame (f. ex. Bernstein 2000), framing, vertical discourse

P: You can keep your things in the locker, books and bags and … like that. And sometimes when the benches outside the classroom are occupied, I stand by the lockers with my friends and hang around.

Comment A space created by the school as an institution and by tradition (but also speedened up by the newly arrived on her own) Associated with a sense of territoriality in parallel with interaction Makes up a practice that supports the bridging to new acquaintances Supports the pupils’ chances of engaging in the social part of educational life

P: I often play here. … if the other spaces are occupied.

Comment Hierarchical space - cultural barriers due to older pupils’ privileges Makes up a practice that constrains bridging to new acquaintances and limits the pupils’ chances of engaging in the social part of educational life. However, this is overcome by the interviewed pupils who make new spaces themselves – or take advantage of existing interspaces

I: So why aren’t you taking the test in the classroom? P: Because we don’t study at the same pace. I do the maths tests with the class but most often the other tests with the study tutor. Because, then I can ask questions if I don’t understand. I: Okey, but you told me that it wasn’t at the same pace? Study tutor: Yex exactly, because sometimes they might not … the class took their test last week, chemistry test for instance, and we hadn’t been able to go through it all. So we came to an agreement with the subject teacher that it was okey to do it the week after.

Comments Horizontal space – the staircase is a physical barrier, but overcome with the help of the study tutor However, the space allows the weak framing of pace (see Bernstein, 2000) which risks limiting the pupils’ educational success and a potential linking –facilitating practice might be threatened.

Conclusions - The pupils make the spaces and the spaces make them. The results are comforting both for the pupils’ possibilities of making new acquaintances and for their academic success. However, there are aspects, particularly concerning the latter, that need to be considered by the project management.

Alla, J. & Catts, R. (2014). Schools, social capital and space. Cambridge Journal of Education, 44(2), Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: theory, research, critique. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Epstein, I., Stevens, B., McKeever, P. & Baruchel, S. (2006). Photo Elicitation Interview (PEI): Using Photos to Elicit Children’s Perspectives. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5(3), Field, J. (2003). Social Capital. London: Routledge. Mayoux, L. (2001) „Tackling the Downside: Social Capital, Women‟s Empowerment and Micro- Finance in Cameroon‟. Development and Change, 32(3), Richard, V. M. & Lahman, M. K. E. (2014). Photo-elicitation: reflexivity on method, analysis, and graphic portraits. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, Schuller, T., Baron, S., & Field, J. (2000). Social capital: a review and critic. In S. Baron, J. Field, & T. Schuller (Eds.). Social Capital. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ONS Social Capital: A Review of Literature. Office of the National Statistics, UK. Woolcock, M The place of social capital in understanding social and economic outcomes. Isuma 2 (1): Woolcock, M., and A. T. Sweetser Bright ideas: social capital—the bonds that connect. ADB Review 34(2):26-27.