“Culturalization” of the referral process in policy discourses
The study aims at identifying and critically interrogating the structure and performativity of policy discourses conditioning the referral process preceding enrollment of students with migration background in accommodated compulsory schools for children with intellectual disability (ACS) in Sweden....
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| Gepubliceerd in: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/alterjdr, |
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| Hoofdauteur: | |
| Formaat: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Taal: | Anglais |
| Gepubliceerd in: |
Alter
2025
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| Onderwerpen: | |
| Online toegang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Samenvatting: | The study aims at identifying and critically interrogating the structure and performativity of policy discourses conditioning the referral process preceding enrollment of students with migration background in accommodated compulsory schools for children with intellectual disability (ACS) in Sweden. 620 policy texts have been reviewed after an initial search, with four texts included. Two main identified discourses are difference and homogenization of experiences, and deficiency. The underlying discursive practice generating and reflecting discourses is the “culturalization” of the referral process, enabled by: the gap between policy as text and policy as practice; location of the root of the gap and concomitant tensions in the value-laden social constructions of parents and children as a culturally different and homogenous group; a call for social (policy) action urging professionals to devise their strategies based on those very value-laden constructions of “culturalized” difference. One major conclusion is that the construction of “culturalized” difference in discourses significantly conditions the referral process, diverting attention away from understanding the nature of learning disability to understanding migration background. I argue that overrepresentation of children with migration background in ACS is created in and through this unreflexive maneuver, ascertained by unequal power relations between policy actors. |
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