ABSTRACT
Given the increased segregation of students (based on their class and migration backgrounds) in the Swedish educational system during recent decades, this chapter tells two different school stories. More than 98% of pupils in both schools are descendants of lower-class immigrant families. The first school (South school) is among those Swedish schools identified as ‘failing’, a typical school in a socioeconomically marginalised and segregated immigrant neighborhood with poor educational results. The second school (East school) is also located in a high-poverty district with the same school composition, which has succeeded in improving pupils’ educational achievements. It has been done through the ‘empowerment’ of pupils – that is creating an inclusive and supportive pedagogical school environment for students with working-class and immigrant backgrounds.
This chapter aims to explore how different types of ‘school culture’ may affect initial inequalities, academic achievement and well-being of students with migrant background in marginalized communities. The case of East school indicates that even schools in such areas are able to equalise educational opportunities through building an alliance between students, parents and community activists on the one hand and bi-class and bi-cultural brokers like teachers and social workers on the other.
