The Praxis of Cultural Narratives in International Mobility

Abstract

Many discourses encourage the international mobility of students as a proof of intercultural openness. The studies abroad are included in all the curricula and satisfy the international profile of future candidates coming in the labour market. In this context, the international mobility of high school pupils is also promoted to acquire a form of personal autonomy with the acquisition of a new language. There is a strong mobility of international pupils that spend a year abroad in another educational system. In Sweden, the choice of a high school depends on the grades obtained earlier but also on what the high schools offer in terms of short international mobility (study trip to England). The programme “One Year in France/Spain/Germany/Austria” was created at the end of the 1980s with the board of international programmes from the Swedish Ministry of Education, some embassies and cultural centres from the concerned countries, the Swedish Institute in Paris. The chapter analyzes the narratives of the students who took part in the programme.