ERIC Number: EJ1240526
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1839-7387
EISSN: N/A
"Yes, the Power Is in the Town": An Ethnographic Study of Student Participation in a Rural Swedish Secondary School
Johansson, Monica
Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, v27 n2 p61-76 2017
This article is based on an ethnographic case study and highlights the importance of spatial dimensions and spatial inequality as means of understanding the participation of a group of youths living in a sparsely populated rural area of Sweden. The analysis took as its starting point Doreen Massey's conceptualisation of place and space as comprising extended social relations that are in a state of constant change connected to power relations. The data analysis focused on the activities that the youths took part in and how they expressed their participation and agency in society at local, regional and national levels. The results point to variability in youth participation at different levels and indicate that visible and meaningful social relations are important for youth participation and their understandings of participation. The trends suggest that student agency and statements in relation to possible and actual participation are strongest at both school and local levels, and decrease and change to more resistance and silence at regional and national levels.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Rural Schools, Secondary School Students, Student Participation, Power Structure, Inclusion, Social Life, Social Justice, Space Utilization, Classroom Environment, Interaction, Neighborhoods, Grade 8, Grade 9, Interpersonal Relationship, Environmental Influences, Place of Residence, Natural Resources, Athletics, Transportation, Wildlife, Food, Rural Urban Differences, Student Attitudes
Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia. P.O. Box 659, Wembly, Western Australia 6913. Tel: +08-9285-0626; e-mail: admin@spera.asn.au; Web site: http://www.spera.asn.au/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Grade 9; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

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