Children of school age, who have just moved to Sweden can either start in a preparation class or in a normal class. There is no Swedish law or national policy that determines how new children will start and continue their education in Swedish schools. The decision is up to the schools or the communes.

This study investigates what kind of educational methods teachers, from a sample of two different schools, are using to educate the newly-arrived students and if these methods are making any contribution to integrating these children into the Swedish school system. The study will raise questions like, how are the new students introduced to the Swedish school, what is the purpose of having the children in preparation class as opposed to normal class, and what methods do the interviewed teachers use to integrate the new children into the school system?

Interviews were conducted with four teachers, an associate professor and a senior lecturer in education, who has done several years of research about children from abroad coming in to the Swedish school system. The primary theoretical frames in this study were the sociocultural perspective, language socialization, integration and inclusion. The results show that by not having a comprehensive policy for the newly arrived students, each teacher has a different educational method and the schools are not given enough recourses to help the student succeed. One of the conclusions is that to have a good integration of new students, the schools need to find a reception method that works for each new student based on a comprehensive policy.