The main purpose of the study is to investigate teachers' treatment of students who express extreme beliefs. The study also intends to compare educators' treatment of students with right- and left-wing extreme views based on profession, level of education and possible professional experience. The study has been designed based on a qualitative method in the form of a vignette study. The survey consisted of eight interviews with teachers with different backgrounds from different institutions of higher learning. The collected data was analyzed with a thematic analysis where three themes emerged, teachers' reactions and stance towards the students' extreme views, the value base of the education and differences in the response. The results have been analyzed using previous research and Foucault's power of knowledge and the theory of Biesta's three dimensions of education. The results show that left-wing extremist views are more accepted than right-wing extremists in an academic environment, and that teachers lack clear action planning and guidelines in how they should respond to students who express extreme views. It also emerged that laws and practices serve as a handbook for the students during their education but also as social workers to carry out the work in a legally secure manner. All the teachers feel that the social work program did not have special values that speak about how social work students should relate to attitudes and opinions.

I svenska skolan har lärare ett uppdrag att arbeta förebyggande mot “våldsbejakande” extremism. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur lärare ser på sin roll att arbeta med detta samt hur de menar att deras arbetssituation påverkar deras möjlighet att bemöta extrema åsikter hos elever. Empirin utgörs av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med gymnasielärare från Stockholmsområdet. Dessa har sedan analyserats utifrån Lipskys teori om gräsrotsbyråkrater som diskuterar lärares arbetssituation, vilken kännetecknas av balans mellan kontroll och frihet (Lipsky 2010). Studiens resultat visar att lärarna upplever det svårt att bemöta extrema åsikter på grund av otydliga direktiv från organisation samt otillräckliga resurser bland annat i form av tidsbrist. De försöker återta kontrollen genom att exempelvis förenkla arbetsuppgifter och hänvisa arbetsuppgifter vidare till en annan instans. Lärarna arbetar utifrån en ambition att bemöta extrema åsikter genom respektfulla samtal. Detta misslyckades dock stundtals, då lärarna upplever brist på tid och verktyg i kombination med krav att hantera extrema åsikter från organisationen. Detta resulterar i att lärarna låter bli att bemöta åsikter alternativt att lärarna, trots ambitionen att bemöta genom samtal, tillgriper tillsägningar och uppfostrande metoder. Lärares arbetssituation har således stor påverkan på deras möjlighet att arbeta mot “våldsbejakande” extremism hos elever. / Teachers in Sweden have an obligation by law to prevent violent extremism. This study aims to examine how teachers experience their work in violent extremism prevention. Our study serves as a window to an understanding of how teachers’ work situation affects their ability to prevent students’ expressing extreme opinions. The empirical data from six interviews with sixth form teachers has been analysed through the lens of Lipsky’s theory on street-level bureaucrats (2010). Street-level bureaucrats are workers such as nurses, police officers and teachers - teachers being the focus of this study. Their work is characterised by a degree of discretion in their power to exercise control over the services they provide to recipients such as students (ibid). The study has mainly shown that teachers experience difficulties managing students’ extreme opinions due to inadequate resources and vague organisational expectations. In order to retake control teachers tend to develop patterns of simplifications in their work duties and referring responsibilities to others. Despite the teachers’ ambition to tackle extreme opinions through respectful conversation, they sometimes fail due to a lack of resources such as time and support, resorting to reprimands. Thus, the teachers role as a street-level bureaucrat has a high impact on their ability to work with violent extremism prevention.