Utbildning för en okänd framtid: : Om adequacy och utbildning för asylsökande barn och ungdomar

Sammanfattning: In the fall of 2015 over 100 000 refugees came to Sweden, seeking asylum. As a result, Swedish schools are now educating children and young people, whose future is uncertain, since some of them will not continue to live their lives in Sweden. The Swedish curriculum is adapted to the needs and values of Swedish society. It can be questioned if this is the best education for asylum seekers who are not allowed to stay in the country. Amy Gutmann has introduced the idea of adequacy in the philosophical debate about education. According to this theory, an adequate education is one that makes it possible for all educable children to take part in the democratic processes as adults. Elizabeth Anderson has developed the theory further, from the point of view that a society is governed by an elite. She concludes that it is important that this elite consists of representatives from all socio-economic tiers in a society to be democratically viable. For this to happen, schools need to be more integrated than they are today. It is the aim of this essay to see if the education of asylum seeking pupils in Sweden is adequate in fostering active democratic citizens. The author therefore looks at the way the Swedish school system handles asylum seeking pupils and their parents. UNHCR’s Educational Strategy is also used as a guide to an adequate curriculum. The author reaches the conclusion that adequacy points to certain changes in the curriculum and organization of schools, which would better prepare individuals both for a life in Sweden, and for a return to their native countries. Furthermore, adequacy gives us a reminder that people seeking asylum are also part of the democratic processes in the host country.