The horses you see on this page are a product of the discussions we've had about identity. The students were asked to design, on paper how they would decorate two horses in a way so that they would demonstrate who they are and what they are iinterested in. The form of the horses is typical for as "Dalahäst" (pictured) which symbolizes Sweden. We live in Sweden and we let this form represent living in Sweden. The decoration on the horses would describe who we are within this form.

This week, one teacher and three of our student from the ninth grade are visiting our friend-school in Paraköy, Turkey. This school is one of a few schools that are involved in the Comenius project named in this blog. The students took with them som napkin-holder horses (see the other pictures in this blog) that we made in our art project with them to show what we've been doing. We hope that they like them as much as we do. The rest of the class has autumn recess this week and will continue with their horses next week. The next stage after the horses are completed is to write a short article about what diffrent symbols and picture are found on each horse and what they imply or describe. We hope to post some examples within a few weeks.

Svenne? Blatte? Categorizing creates cultural boundaries

In our exercise where we brainstormed "What is Swedish and not?" and "Am I Swedish simply because I'm born in Sweden?" we found that the students had a great deal of questions about their identity.

One aspect of the identity crisis showed itself to be the words we use to describe ourselves. Could it be that when we call ourelves something other than "Swedes" in order to show respect for the cultures our parents represent we separate ourselves from the Swedish society?

We discussed popular nicknames which have an inherent negative connotation such as "Svenne" (100% Swede inside and out) and "Blatte" (meaning an imigrant with dark hair and a culture from the Middle East and or eastern Europe). We discussed how these words hinder rather than help people assimilate into the Swedish society and workplace. We also discussed that it is important to be connected to and proud of one's cultural background while one also embraces and appreciates the opportunites afforded in Sweden.

Here we cames to discuss freedom, the right of free speach, voting, equal opportunity in the workplace and so on. We came to the conclusion that it was important to appreciate these opportunities.

Brainstorming - the first phase of term 3

In order to get started with the term 3 part of the project, our ninth-graders were asked to brainstorm from the question "What is Swedish and what is not?". They were given a large posterboard and some markers. Many divided their board inteo two sides: Swedish and not Swedish. They mentioned different foods, buisnesses and attitudes that are primarily Swedish or typically found in Sweden:
Foods: Swedish meatballs, pickeld herring, surstömming, cinamon rolls, reindeer meat?
Buisnesses: Ikea; H + M; Volvo; SKF; SAAB are worldwide and well known.
Attitudes: "Lagom", i.e. "just right - not too much"; "Jantelagen", i.e. "Don't stick out, be like everyone else norm"; the tendancy for swedes to have everything look nice on the outside: clean neat and tidy Ikea homes; focus on fashion; saftey first - Volvos 3 point safteybelt, focus on childrens safety in parks; Childrens books - Astrid lindgrens many books about Emil and Pipi, Bamse by Rune Andreasson; and much much more.

Even here we began to discuss gray zones: Is kebab Swedish now even if it came from the Middle East? Everyone eats it in most cities in Sweden nowadays! Are Swedes the only ones in the world who eat meatballs? Not really.

They began to brainstorm around one more question, too: "Am I Swedish just because I was born within its limits?"
Most of the students in the class come from different cultural backgrounds. They are, what we say, new Swedes or second generation Swedes. Many of them had put their own names on the side designated by themselves as "Not Swedish". We teachers wondered why. After all they were born here, live here and kan speak fluent Swedish.

They said that the problem was identity. Really, they didn't know whether or not they wanted to be called Swedes and didn't want to be completely Swedish because their own cultural background was of such vital importance to them. Still they were glad to live here, go to school and have friends in Sweden. So which side should they take?

Identity - What is Swedish and not?

During the fall term 2008, our students in the ninth grade have been working with the theme "Identity" as a part of a European Comunity-funded project within the Comenius Network. We wished to address the question:

"What makes us who we are?

What is being British/Turkish/Czech/Swedish etc.?"

The three following terms comprise the answer to this question about identity:
Term 1 involves language focusing primarily on familiar phrases for meeting and greeting; defining "culture" and "cultural hertiage" by looking at stories, songs and musictastes in the respective countries.
Term 2 involves dance and costume design - fashion. What is unique for each country?
Term 3 is about art and artifacts (painting, 3D work and drama) which are typical for each culture/country.
This blog is thought to be a link from our school's homepage where you can see what we are doing within term 3 - art and artifacts.