Learning Identities, Education and Community
Young Lives in the Cosmopolitan City

This book explores how 'learning identities' are forged through complex interplays between young people and their communities.

Ola Erstad (Author), Øystein Gilje (Author), Julian Sefton-Green (Author), Hans Christian Arnseth (Author)

9781107046955, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 July 2016

274 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.54 kg

'In this compelling book, Erstad and his colleagues welcome the reader to the Grorud Valley in Norway, where we meet children and youth as they negotiate significant points of transition. This text profoundly honors the Norwegian concept of 'Bildung' as the authors capture the children's knowledge and interactions in the world as they move through school.” Catherine Compton-Lilly, University of Wisconsin, Madison

This book offers a case study of children and young people in Groruddalen, Norway, as they live, study and work within the contexts of their families, educational institutions and informal activities. Examining learning as a life-wide concept, the study reveals how 'learning identities' are forged through complex interplays between young people and their communities, and how these identities translate and transfer across different locations and learning contexts. The authors also explore how diverse immigrant populations integrate and conceptualize their education as a key route to personal meaning and future productivity. In highlighting the relationships between education, literacy and identity within a sociocultural context, this book is at the cutting edge of discussions about what matters as children learn.

List of tables
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: the learning lives of Groruddalen
2. Groruddalen: Norway goes global
3. From studying young people to creating narratives of learning lives
4. Negotiating cultural identities: outdoor play, classroom discussions, and future orientation
5. Learning identities: on the boundaries between work and play
6. Forming learning identities through narrative
7. Making choices to make a 'future': how community, the valley and the nation frame possibilities
8. Schooling for tolerance: dealing with conflict and controversy
9. Conclusion: the learning lives of new Norwegians
Appendices: 1. The education system in Norway: schools, levels, and transitions
2. A map of Groruddalen
References.

Subject Areas: Schools [JNL], Philosophy & theory of education [JNA], Urban communities [JFSG], Cultural studies [JFC]