**5. Approach, data, methodology, and analysis**

This study aims to problematize teachers' approaches to newly arrived immigrant pupils underlying competences and continued knowledge development in relation to translanguaging [3–7] strategies. Through an ecological [8] approach to learning, teaching and interaction with the environment and by looking at school as a pedagogical practice teachers' told experiences of teaching are interpreted. Looking at school and teaching as pedagogical practice, I examine teachers' told experiences of teaching newly arrived young people.

Data are generated in one group interview [19, 20] with teachers within the individual program of language introduction directed especially to newly arrived people at one public secondary school. All teachers in this teacher team participated in a 2 hour long interview that was documented electronic and transcribed. Ethical considerations are made and I followed good research practice [21] by informing about the purpose of the study, the voluntary participation in the interview and that results will be reported confidentially.

The interviewed teachers are all qualified subject teachers and have several years of experience instructing their subjects in both the individual program and the national program in the public secondary school. In the interview I asked the teachers to tell me about their instruction in their subjects English, Swedish as a second language, Social Studies, and Mathematics. The interview questions dealt with their approaches to newly arrived immigrant pupils' underlying knowledge, competences, and continued knowledge development and how the immigrant pupils' underlying linguistic and cognitive competencies can be taken advantage of in the different subject instructions. The questions also dealt with knowledge or skills of importance for the pupils' continued education and after their schooling. Other questions concerned native language instruction, study guidance, opportunities, and limitations.

The recorded and transcribed interviews have been interpreted [22] based on what was told and the interpretation is aided by the previous sections in this text. I read the transcriptions' several times in order to clarify themes and to see the connections. In this reading, I focused on what the teachers told, and in the following presentation, the interviewed teachers' voices are illustrated by their own words with quotations [19]. Subsequently, the abbreviation IMS is used to refer to the program of language introduction at this public secondary school.

#### **5.1 IMS – the educational context under study**

In this study, teachers talk about IMS-classes organized using registration interviews and assessments based on when the pupil arrived at the current school, age, previous schooling, subject knowledge, and language skills. The pupils different school histories vary from no or little schooling to started secondary education, and they speak different languages and speak Swedish at a very basic level.

Within IMS, the pupils are offered instruction in the various compulsory school subjects or secondary school subjects at the respective elementary, middle, lower or

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*It is Important to Build on Their Knowledge Teachers' Approaches to Newly Arrived Immigrant…*

upper secondary level. Some are taught three to seven compulsory school subjects, while others study one subject. Still others study simultaneously compulsory school courses and national program subject courses, such as Religion, Social Studies, Technology, and Art. Swedish as a second language/Swedish is nevertheless the basis of all the subject instruction in parallel with the other subject matter.

In the following section, I thematically present what the IMS-teachers' told about their teaching and approach to the immigrant pupils' and education. Based on concepts from previous sections, the presentation is divided into sections named Underlying knowledge and present education, Language skills and learning Swedish as a Second Language, Building knowledge and time for qualification, and

The pupils in IMS have different school histories, separate school experiences from various educational contexts, and they have been in Sweden for different lengths of time. The teachers say that the pupils' views on school and learning vary, and that their ways of learning, their subject knowledge, and experiences of instructional methods are different. Because of this, the teachers plan and design their instruction of different subjects differently depending on the pupils' previous school context. One teacher tells in the following quotation about how different education backgrounds, school experiences, and education cultures influence the IMS-education.

*Yes, and then it may not only be the Swedish culture but also the school culture […] education culture […] and previous schooling may not help in certain cases […] but* 

Cummins [3–5]; García [6], Garcia and Kleyn [7], García and Leiva [16] and Williams [15] writes about underlying knowledge in terms of equally valuable. In the interview, we talk about this and the teachers emphasizes how teaching in IMS can bring out and take advantage of the pupils' underlying knowledge in the different school subjects. In the following quotation, one teacher describes instruction that respects and draws upon pupils' underlying subject knowledge in order to build

*I think it is important to build on their knowledge, and I think that you get everyone involved when you have group discussions with them […] I want to emphasize this because this is when they can show their own methods […] not […] so you may not figure out […] or […] you may not do this […] but […] you think like this and that is good […] or I hear how you think and I understand how you think.*

We continued to talk about the pupils' different ways of completing school assignments and how the pupils can use and demonstrate their underlying knowledge as building blocks in the present educational context and common knowledgebuilding. From what the teachers say and in accordance with Sarstrand Marekovic [17] and Cummins [5], it becomes clear that the interviewed teachers show respect for the pupils' underlying knowledge, skills, and ways of learning. The following quotation from the interview shows reciprocity and how the IMS-pupils' different subject matter knowledge is utilized and becomes a resource in the instruction.

*there is still a big difference whether you have a school background or not.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89510*

Parallel system and limited choice possibilities.

new knowledge for both pupils and teachers.

**6.1 Underlying knowledge and present education**

**6. Result and analysis**

*It is Important to Build on Their Knowledge Teachers' Approaches to Newly Arrived Immigrant… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89510*

upper secondary level. Some are taught three to seven compulsory school subjects, while others study one subject. Still others study simultaneously compulsory school courses and national program subject courses, such as Religion, Social Studies, Technology, and Art. Swedish as a second language/Swedish is nevertheless the basis of all the subject instruction in parallel with the other subject matter.
