Anpassning och motstånd. En etnografisk studie av gymnasieelevers institutionella identitetsskapande

Adaption and resistance. An ethnographic investigation of the development of institutional identities amongst upper secondary school pupils

Nearly all pupils in Sweden continue their studies at upper secondary school. A centralpoint of departure in this thesis is therefore to examine how the upper secondaryschool deals with its now both complex and difficult to interpret task of one schoolfor all and to describe and analyse the creation of identity for pupils within thisinstitution. How the creation of identity occurs in different programmes during thepupils period of education is specifically studied with a theoretical starting point inAnthony Gidden s structuration theory complemented with theories that concern pupiladaption and resistance.

The study was conducted at a municipal upper secondary school and used criticalethnographic research and document analysis. The programmes that were included inthe study are the individual programme, the health care programme and the technicalprogramme. Five pupil groups were followed for three school years.

The results show that the differentiation of pupils within the education system isstrengthened in the everyday activities of the upper secondary school. At a generalschool level, an explicit pupil identity is sought after, but in the different programmesdifferent possibilities for the pupils to achieve this are discerned. The pupils are facedwith different demands and expectations depending on which upper secondary schoolprogramme they are studying at. This applies to both their performances and the socialrelations of the positioning processes involved in being a pupil. The creation of pupils’identities is formed and developed in different ways and can also be related to theprevalence of special support, as well as to gender, social background and ethnicity.

During their education most pupils strive towards adapting to the pupil identity thatthe school, at a general level, seeks. But they do so with varying degrees of resistance.In the thesis, the results are discussed in relation to the increased marketisation of theeducation system where individual performance, control and the evaluation of pupilsare becoming more and more central. There is a need to critically examine thesequestions since they have such significant consequences for the future of youngpeople.