This essay examines how work with basic values at acollege in a medium sized Swedish city proceeds. The college serves as anobject of case study and is thought to be representative of a large number ofSwedish colleges. Extra focus is placed on the concepts xenophobia, racism,bullying and violative treatment.

The objective of the essay is to map out the equaltreatment plan of the college, as well as the headmaster’s view of the workwith basic values at the college and the way in which this is implemented inthe teaching. The latter is examined using questionnaires where the studentshave given their opinions about the way their college works with basic values.The essay mainly has a hermeneutic approach since the informants of the casestudy leave some room for interpretation. Another part of the essay has apositivistic perception of knowledge, where an account of the equal treatmentplan at the college will be made, without interpretations.

The results show that the college management takes thework with basic values seriously, that the students can speak openly with theirteachers and classmates, and that the management’s ambition not to condonexenophobia, racism and discrimination is not always fulfilled by the teachers.