The term refers to a theoretical shift and increased emphasis within various academic disciplines towards considering place and space as crucial factors in understanding social, cultural, and historical phenomena. This shift involves recognizing the significance of physical locations, geographical arrangements, and spatial dimensions in shaping human experiences, identities, and interactions. The spatial turn has influenced disciplines such as geography, sociology, history, education, and cultural studies, encouraging scholars to explore how place and space impact social processes, power dynamics, and the construction of meaning.
Published in Chapter:
Debating the Practice of Separate Plurilingual Programs in Norwegian Schools From a Spatial Perspective
Copyright: © 2024
|Pages: 15
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-0563-8.ch012
Abstract
Applying Edward W. Soja's work on spatial justice as an analytical lens, this chapter discusses the use of separate introductory programs for newly arrived migrant students in Norway. Although the use of separate programs for newcomers has been criticized for counteracting the aims of inclusion, this chapter suggests that from a spatial perspective, separation in itself is not necessarily a sign of exclusion; rather, it is what happens in an introductory program and how the actual space affects practices that matter. Furthermore, a sensitivity toward place and space can help educators pay attention to newly arrived students' backgrounds and needs without separation from their mainstream peers becoming a perceived barrier to inclusion. Acknowledging Soja's idea that social processes and discursive practices also influence place and space, a spatial perspective warns against letting ideological (and sometimes superficial) ideas about inclusion shape and govern practices.