Teachers from Slovenia and Sweden on Teaching (Newly) Immigrated Students

ABSTRACT

Integrating immigrant children in elementary schools is a problem for many school systems. A number of international studies show that in most countries students with immigrant backgrounds do not achieve comparable school outcomes. Some countries – such as Sweden in our case – have developed a range of support mechanisms. We found that Slovenia, in comparison to Sweden, does not provide the conditions to make it easier for immigrant students to learn Slovene and develop their own cultural identity.

KEY WORDS: (newly) immigrated students, mother tongue, teaching adaptation, cultural heterogeneity vs. homogeneity