| 1. |
- Eklöf, Anders, 1956-
(författare)
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Project work, independence and critical thinking
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis studies how students do projects in a Swedish upper secondaryschool. The students have to produce products and at the same time provethem self as independent in relation to the teachers, and negotiate therequirements of the project setting and the written instructions within thegroup. The study focuses on what comes out as problematic for the students,how they solve these dilemma situations and what resources are used in orderto do so.A choice was made only to analyse student group interaction in parts ofthe project process where the teachers were not physically present thus fillinga research gap.The empirical material was collected during three years in sex secondaryschool classes through filmed sessions of groups or pairs working with theirproject.Each of the four articles primarily focuses a special dilemma; structure,independence, instructions and critical thinking. By combining Goffman’sframe analysis with the concepts of risk and uncertainty from a Risk – societyperspective, issues related to what it means to do project work asindependent, critical 21st-century learner are illustrated and discussed.The choice to look only at situations in which students have to managewithout the aid of a physically present teacher illuminates several practicalconsequences like an unwillingness to go to the teacher and ask questions andan increased concentration on and interpretation of the written instructions. Adevelopment of Miller and Parlett’s (1974) discussion of student approach tocues are suggested. The concept of the cue choosing student are constructedin order to better respond to demands from an individualised interactionsociety. The study also emphasises how the students have to balance differentframeworks in order to be both authors and assessed students. Byimplementing a risk society perspective new ways of analysing andunderstanding independence and classroom interaction is suggested and arecontextualization of critical thinking proposed.
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| 2. |
- Bredmar, Anna-Carin, 1966-
(författare)
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Lärares arbetsglädje : Betydelsen av emotionell närvaro i det pedagogiska arbetet
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims to explore teachers’ ‘work enjoyment’ and thereby deepening our understanding of teachers’ work and professionality. Positive emotions in teachers’ work are an underestimated and under-researched dimension of teacher practise and professionality. Through interviews that have generated the empirical material, the work enjoyment of nineteen teachers is focused on and analyzed from a phenomenological lifeworld approach. The results are presented in two parts; the first one consists of descriptions of teachers’ work enjoyment that reveal seven themes of meanings that signify joy in teachers’ work. The themes include Supporting meanings, which are mood, power source and presence awareness, as well as Widening meanings, which are context and connectedness, rhythm and balance, opening and after heat. In the second part of the result the meanings of the phenomenon are interpreted further and conclusions are drawn. The conclusions highlight the importance of the relation between lived experiences and teachers’ work enjoyment. These themes are To be present, To feel a rhythm, To be “occupied” by work, To be both personal and professional and Teachers’ work as a tapestry of life. Enjoyment of work is fundamental; i.e. like a safe floor to stand on. The experience of joy also means opening and involves an expectant foreshadowing. Based on a safe floor, teachers can open up to different options of how to be or to act. Joy as opening extends across time and space through the longing and hope that it is connected to. In times of struggle, joy enables teachers to find their way back to what is meaningful in their work. Teachers’ work enjoyment is related to the involvement in children’s development and learning. The result shows how work enjoyment provides emotional presence in teachers’ work, both letting oneself be involved by work and involving oneself in the work. Emotional responsiveness is enjoyment of work; it makes the teachers relate to their work with openness and insight. Such responsiveness contributes with sensitivity to the whole classroom situation and towards what is essential in their work, and shows how the emotional and the rational are intertwined. This study provides an understanding of the meanings of teachers’ work enjoyment and what lived experiences of joy can imply for ordinary schoolwork. Given the results of this study it is problematic that positive emotional dimensions of teachers’ work are a relatively unexplored area. The study indicates that work enjoyment is of fundamental importance to teachers’ work.
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| 3. |
- Eklöf, Anders
(författare)
-
Project work, independence and critical thinking
- 2014
-
Doktorsavhandling (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- This thesis studies how students do projects in a Swedish upper secondaryschool. The students have to produce products and at the same time provethem self as independent in relation to the teachers, and negotiate therequirements of the project setting and the written instructions within thegroup. The study focuses on what comes out as problematic for the students,how they solve these dilemma situations and what resources are used in orderto do so.A choice was made only to analyse student group interaction in parts ofthe project process where the teachers were not physically present thus fillinga research gap.The empirical material was collected during three years in sex secondaryschool classes through filmed sessions of groups or pairs working with theirproject.Each of the four articles primarily focuses a special dilemma; structure,independence, instructions and critical thinking. By combining Goffman’sframe analysis with the concepts of risk and uncertainty from a Risk – societyperspective, issues related to what it means to do project work asindependent, critical 21st-century learner are illustrated and discussed.The choice to look only at situations in which students have to managewithout the aid of a physically present teacher illuminates several practicalconsequences like an unwillingness to go to the teacher and ask questions andan increased concentration on and interpretation of the written instructions. Adevelopment of Miller and Parlett’s (1974) discussion of student approach tocues are suggested. The concept of the cue choosing student are constructedin order to better respond to demands from an individualised interactionsociety. The study also emphasises how the students have to balance differentframeworks in order to be both authors and assessed students. Byimplementing a risk society perspective new ways of analysing andunderstanding independence and classroom interaction is suggested and arecontextualization of critical thinking proposed.
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| 4. |
- Hedberg, Marie, 1977-
(författare)
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Idrotten sätter agendan : En studie av Riksidrottsgymasietränares handlande utifrån sitt dubbla uppdrag
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study aims to describe and analyse the actions of the school coaches at the National sport upper secondary schools in light of the conditions that govern and shape the activities at those schools.The theoretical standpoints are based on Lave and Wengers' (1991) theoretical concept community of practice, and as an explanatory theoretical framework Scott's (2008) interpretation of new institutional theory is used. In the analysis of the coaches’ space for actions given the current conditions, Berg's (2014) free space theory is used.The study has a qualitative approach and the design is based on four case studies, where interviews and document analyses have been used to produce the data.The main findings can be summarized in that the cultural-cognitive conditions are very strong, whereas the regulatory and normative conditions play a less significant role. The coaches belong to a community of practice, where the sport’s inherent culture becomes the reference point for how the practice will be run, even though they are part of the school.
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| 5. |
- Langelotz, Lill
(författare)
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Vad gör en skicklig lärare? : en studie om kollegial handledning som utvecklingspraktik
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis takes its departure from the on-going debate about teachers´(collective) ‘continuing professional development’ (CPD). Teachers’ CPD through an imposed nine-step model of peer group mentoring (PGM) is focused on. The study draws on data from a two and a half yearlong interactive project that took place in a teacher team in a Swedish school. The general aim of the thesis is to study a practice of professional development in a teacher team involving peer group mentoring and to find out how and what kind of teachers’ expertise that is constructed. Furthermore, the aim is to examine how the PGM-practice was constrained and enabled and what kind of CPD was made possible. The theoretical and methodological framework is mainly based on practice theory. Practices and practitioners are seen as mutually interrelated. Practice architectures (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008) are used to uncover the relations between the PGM-practice and its historical, material-economic, social-political and cultural-discursive conditions. Furthermore, Foucault’s notion of power was adopted as an analytical tool to examine how power came into play during the mentoring sessions and how the teachers’ discursively constructed a ‘good teacher’ and teachers’ expertise. The methodological approach is action research. A main finding of the thesis is that professional and personnel development may be imposed through peer group mentoring. Furthermore, democratic processes increased during the PGMmeetings and seemed to have an impact on classroom practice and the practice of parent-teacher meetings. The results show how the PGM–practice and its outcomes are deeply interconnected to global and local historical, material-economic, social-political and cultural-discursive arrangements which constrained and enabled it. When economic cut downs (i.e. materialeconomic arrangements) began to take effect in the local school, along with a neo-liberal discourse (i.e. cultural-discursive arrangements), democratic processes were challenged and threatened. The focus in the PGM discussions shifted from the teachers’ perceived need for pedagogical knowledge development to talk about students as costs. The constrained nine-step model disciplined some individuals more than others. The teachers disciplined each other through e.g. confessions, corrections and differentiations. Inconsistent discourses about good teaching and teachers’ know-how were constructed and the teachers positioned themselves and each other as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ teachers. The interactive research approach partly enabled the PGM-practice but at the same time effected the teachers’ positioning of each other. The interactive research approach disciplined both the teachers and the researcher. Anyhow, power relations became fluent and mutual among the participants. A collegial approach and the ability to carry out reflexive cooperation were both fostered by the model and articulated in the PGM-practice as important teacher skills.
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| 6. |
- Thorsen, Cecilia, 1976-
(författare)
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Dimensionality and Predictive validity of school grades : the relative influence of cognitive and social-behavioral aspects
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the relative influence of cognitive and social-behavioral aspects on compulsory school grades and the importance of the different dimensions for the predictive validity of grades. Data is retrieved from the Gothenburg Educational Longitudinal Database (GOLD) and the Evaluation Through Follow-up (ETF) database. The sample in Study I consisted of three cohorts each of about 100 000 students in Grade 9, in Study II of about 4000 students in Grade 9, and in Study III of about 9000 students who were followed-up through compulsory school. All analyses were conducted using structural equation modelling (SEM). Both criterion-referenced and norm-referenced compulsory school grades were found to be multidimensional, reflecting both subject-specific dimensions and a common-grade dimension, cutting across grades and teachers. The common-grade dimension, which in previous research has been found to be related to social-behavioral aspects, contributed to predict study success in upper secondary school, indicating that social-behavioral aspects partly contribute to explain the predictive power of school grades. The influence of cognitive aspects was substantial. Fluid abilities had a continuous direct influence on the development of knowledge and skills throughout compulsory school, which is in line with the predictions from Cattell's (1987) Investment theory. Substantial indirect effects of fluid abilities on school grades were found, although no direct effects. In sum the results in the present thesis show that both cognitive and social-behavioral aspects contribute to explain the predictive validity of school grades.
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