| 1. |
- Abdulla, Afrah, 1975-
(författare)
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Readiness or resistance? : Newly arrived adult migrants' experiences, meaning making, and learning in Sweden
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is about newly arrived adult migrants’ meaning making and learning in Swedish society during the two years’ introduction period, after they have received the residence permit. I have specifically studied Arabic speaking adults’ meaning making and learning, by carrying out observations and individual in-depth interviews with 12 migrants. The introduction period consists mainly of three so called introduction measures; the civic orientation course, Swedish for immigrants (SFI), and different work related activities, such as internship at different work places.The results show that etablering is about shaping the newly arrived adult migrants into ”good” citizens, through the introduction measures, among other things in the civic orientation course, which is regulated through the policy documents, and which so to say provides meaning to the newly arrived. The “good” citizen has some specific characteristics, which, roughly, are that he or she is independent (and advocates individuality), free, equality thinking, secularized, law-abiding (which includes being honest), responsible, and a “good” parent. These characteristics are expressed in different ways in the civic orientation course, for instance through the course material. The Swedish society is described as something desirable, and different from what is implied to be ”Arabic” values and ways of thinking. The idea of the “good” citizen appears to aim at constructing the adult migrants’ (and their families’) identity, something which many of the study’s respondents make a resistance to.As concerns the migrant’s new experiences, it is, for example, those which the migrant get through the contact with the Swedish Public Employment Service (SPES) that affect the meaning making in the new society. The meaning which most of the respondents have made of the SPES’s measures for them is that this authority only offers “prepackaged” solutions, and does not provide the help or support that they need. Also the experiences which the migrant has in the civic orientation course, and the meaning which ”old” migrants give to him or her, play a role when he or she makes meaning of Sweden and Swedes, and of his or her new life situation. Further, it has been shown that it is those experiences that the adult individual has been socialized through, and those which he or she has gained through work or education in his or her country of origin, which affect his or her meaning making in Sweden. It is mostly values which concern child upbringing and religion that lead to a certain understanding and construction of one’s new life. These values, when related to the values which are included in the ”good” citizen idea, also lead to either a resistance or a readiness towards the meaning giving that is embedded in the ”good” citizen notion.
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| 2. |
- Avby, Gunilla
(författare)
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Evidence in practice : On knowledge use and learning in social work
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Against the backdrop of the transformations in the entire framing of professional work, social work has come under close scrutiny in many countries, including Sweden. Doubts have been raised about practitioners’ existing knowledge base, and the importance of practitioners engaging in learning and the renewal and extension of professional capacities has been emphasized.The present thesis concerns knowledge use and learning in the daily practices of child investigation work. The aim is to explore processes of knowledge use and learning in practice. The study is based on a mix of qualitative approaches, basically from ethnography, comprising methods such as participant observations, interviews, reflective dialogues and documentary analysis of case data.The main findings demonstrate that investigation work is characterized mainly by the use of practice-based knowledge. Research-based knowledge is predominantly used as a means of explaining a client’s situation or to underpin and legitimize one’s own beliefs and decisions made on other grounds. Professional learning is largely adaptive in character, as the social workers learn to handle tasks in a fairly routinized way on the basis of rules or procedures that draw on existing knowledge in the practice setting.Two conclusions are drawn: First, the use of knowledge in child investigation work bears little resemblance to principles of evidence-based practice. Second, the reproduction of professional knowledge is largely implicit and taken for granted. The study offers insight into the much-discussed topic of putting knowledge into practice, which is of importance to strategies for organizing profes sional learning and knowledgeable practice.
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| 3. |
- Bolldén, Karin, 1980-
(författare)
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Online teaching practices : Sociomaterial matters in higher education settings
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study was to describe and analyse online teaching practices in the Swedish higher education context. The study had an online ethnographic approach and was based on empirical data on the teaching in two university courses. The study rested primarily on observational data but interviews and available documents also formed the basis for analysis. Empirical data were analysed with a perspective of practice theory – a perspective within a sociomaterial account. The results showed that online teaching was characterised by an embodied sociomaterial practice. The teacher’s body could be understood as both multiple and closely interwoven with technology. Furthermore, the teacher’s body was used in the teaching situation to reduce technological complexity but also, along with other forms of materiality, to prefigure what kind of teaching would take place. Teacher interventions in online environments could furthermore be understood as relational to both technology (that is the virtual material arrangement) and teachers’ doings and sayings (that is the teaching practice). Teacher interventions were aimed at making the arrangement intelligible for the students. The study showed that teacher interventions arranged both students and information and communication technology (ICT) in order to make them work as a teaching practice. The teaching practice that emerged was characterised as an interplay between virtual materiality and social practice, where asymmetricrelations between teachers and the ICT prevailed.
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| 4. |
- Bredlöv, Eleonor, 1982-
(författare)
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Shaped for beauty : Vocational and gendered subjectivities in private education for the beauty industry
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis was to answer the question: How are vocational, gendered subjectivities produced in vocational education for the beauty industry? Drawing on Foucault and poststructural feminist theory, this question is answered in four papers, in which the material consists of beauty-school recruitment and marketing material, interviews with skin and spa therapy students and observations of practical skin and spa therapy training. These are educational arrangements that are closely bound to the economic sector of the beauty industry, and they have remained remarkably unexplored. Various aspects of subjectivity production are explored throughout these papers: Paper I shows how the potential beauty student is shaped through processes of responsibilising and individualising in recruitment; Paper II shows how a scientific and caring professional emerges; Paper III shows how students learn to adopt a critical gaze towards bodies; and Paper IV shows how students are produced as emotional workers and learners, taking Hochschild’s term “emotional labour” as a point of departure. The results show how (medical) scientific knowledge becomes a resource in the production of the skin and spa therapy professional, mobilising gender relations of power, and neglecting other types of skills and knowledge. However, relational and caring aspects of work and learning emerge in the study through the way in which wider discourses of femininity inform the ways in which students are produced as professionals.
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| 5. |
- Colliander, Helena, 1977-
(författare)
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Being and Becoming a Teacher in Initial Literacy and Second Language Education for Adults
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the thesis is to explore what being and becoming a teacher of Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA) mean. The study, which applies situated learning theory combined with some Bourdieuan concepts as thinking tools, seeks to depict how the professional identity of LESLLA teachers can be understood from their memberships in different communities of practice. The empirical study is based on observational data and on semi-structured interviews, which have been analysed thematically. The results show that the LESLLA teachers construct professional identity in regard to the particular nature of the learners, i.e. that the learners are simultaneously adult emergent readers and second language learners establishing themselves in a new society. This is, for example, seen in the teachers’ teaching actions and in how they respond to learning opportunities and changes. Likewise, the results illustrate that becoming a LESLLA teacher is an ongoing process in which some periods are particularly critical for learning. It takes place in a number of different communities of which the teaching practices are the most crucial. When it comes to the other communities to which the teachers belong, their significance differs from teacher to teacher. Moreover, power plays a central role in the identity formation. Societal forces, and the position and trajectory of the teacher in different communities in the landscapes of LESLLA teaching and Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) contribute to it.
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| 6. |
- Ekeblad, Annika
(författare)
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A Randomized Trial of Interpersonal Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder : Predictors of process and outcome
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are both evidence-based treatments for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Several head-to-head comparisons between these methods have been made, most of them in the US. There is a need for more trials in different treatment settings. This thesis is based on a randomized controlled trial of CBT and IPT for MDD in a community-based psychiatric outpatient clinic. In the trial, treatment outcome and mentalization change was compared between the methods. In addition, the significance of pre-treatment mentalization for subsequent alliance and outcome was analyzed. Ninety-six patients, about half of them with personality disorders, were randomized to 14 sessions of CBT or IPT. The hypothesis was that IPT would not be inferior to CBT which was confirmed. CBT had a significantly higher drop-out rate. Initial capacity for mentalization predicted alliance and outcome in both IPT and CBT. The level of mentalization was changed in IPT but not in CBT
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| 7. |
- Elofsson, Jessica
(författare)
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Children’s early mathematics learning and development : Number game interventions and number line estimations
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Children’s early mathematics learning and development have become a topic of increasing interest over the past decade since early mathematical knowledge and skills have been shown to be a strong predictor of later mathematics performance. Understanding how children develop mathematical knowledge and skills and how they can be supported in their early learning could thus prove to be a vital component in promoting learning of more formal mathematics.In light of the above, with this thesis I sought to contribute to an increased understanding of children’s early mathematics learning and development by examining effects of playing different number games on children’s number knowledge and skills, and by investigating children’s representations of numbers on number line tasks.Two number game intervention studies were performed, and effects of three different number game conditions (linear number, circular number and nonlinear number) were investigated by examining 5- and 6-year-old children’s pre- and posttest performance on different numerical tasks. The findings indicate that playing number games in general support children’s development of number knowledge and skills, where the specific learning outcomes are affected differently depending on the type of number game utilized.To elucidate children’s representations of numbers, their performance on two different umber line tasks have been analyzed using a latent class modeling approach. The results reveal that there is a heterogeneity in 5- and 6-year-old children’s number line estimations and subgroups of children showing different estimation patterns were distinguished. In addition, it is shown that children’s number line estimations can be associated to their number knowledge as well as to task specific aspects.The findings presented in this thesis contribute to the discussion of the value of selecting game activities in a conscious way to support children’s early mathematics learning and development. They also add to the discussion regarding the number line task and how children’s number line estimations can be analyzed and interpreted.
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| 8. |
- Forsberg, Camilla, 1983-
(författare)
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Students’ Perspectives on Bullying
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the present thesis was to listen to, examine and conceptualise students’ perspectives on bullying. Students’ perspectives have not been commonly heard in research and less qualitative research has been conducted. This study contributes with students’ perspectives on bullying using semi-structured interviews with students from fourth-to eighth grade.This thesis includes four studies. The aim with paper I was to investigate how bystander actions in bullying situations and reasons behind these actions were articulated. Paper II was a comparison study between Sweden and US, focused on how students articulate and discuss what factors influence students’ decisions to defend or not defend victims when witnessing bullying. The aim in Paper III was to study how students themselves discuss, reason and make sense of how and why bullying processes emerges in their social worlds. In paper IV the aim was to study how junior high school girls discuss and understand bullying. Findings reveal that students’ reactions as bystanders to bullying depend on how they define the situation. Explanations to the emergence of bullying were understood through a complex social ordering of belonging process. Students position themselves and others in striving to belong, and when defining victims as responsible for bullying. Social norms and negotiation of identities were also discussed among the students. Students discussed how gender and a normative peer structure, where a pressure to fit in, interlinked with how they understood bullying.
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| 9. |
- Frankl, My, 1968-
(författare)
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Psychotherapy for Substance Use Disorders – the importance of affects
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Substance use disorder (SUD) is a serious disorder with severe consequences for the individual, the family and for society. Comorbidity is common in the SUD population and the diversity of the disorder calls for a multiplicity of treatment options.The overall aim of this thesis was to explore the role of affects in psychotherapy for SUD. Further aims were to investigate affect-focused therapeutic orientations, demonstrate the importance of common factors and evaluate a measure of affect phobia.In Study I a naturalistic design was employed to examine how the discrepancy between patients' expectations and experience of psychotherapy related to alliance in 41 patients: 24 in individual therapy and 17 in group. An additional analysis concerned whether different dimensions of role expectations predicted retention in psychotherapy. Study II was the first psychometric evaluation of the Affect phobia test – a test developed to screen the ability to experience, express and regulate emotions. Data were collected from two samples: A clinical sample of 82 patients with depression and/or anxiety participating in a randomized controlled trial of Internet-based affect-focused treatment, and a university student sample of 197 students. Data analysed included internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor analysis and calculation of an empirical cut-off. Study III focused on the feasibility of individual 10 week Affect Phobia Therapy (APT) for patients diagnosed with mild to moderate alcohol use disorder (AUD) and problematic affective avoidance in a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design. Study IV comprised an evaluation of the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of APT adapted to a structured group format for patients (n=22) with comorbid substance use disorder and ADHD with core features of affective avoidance/emotion dysregulation in an open design.In Study I an overall discrepancy between role expectations and experiences was significantly related to a lower level of therapeutic alliance in group therapy. This relationship was not found in individual therapy. Expectations prior to psychotherapy characterized by defensiveness correlated negatively with therapy retention, even when controlling for waiting time for therapy. In Study II the internal consistency for the total score on the Affect phobia test was satisfactory but it was not for the affective domains, Anger/Assertion, Sadness/Grief, and Attachment/Closeness. Test retest reliability was satisfactory. The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a six-factor solution and only moderately matched the test´s original affective domains. An empirical cut-off between the clinical and the university student sample were calculated and yielded a cut-off of 72 points. In Study III patients reported no adverse events due to the treatment and finished the whole study period. The patients had different trajectories of alcohol consumption and craving and the hypothesis that heavy episodic drinking would subside during the time in therapy did not hold true. In Study IV patients reported significant pre-to post changes in increased self-compassion and decreased affect phobia but no change in psychological distress or emotion dysregulation. Craving fluctuated throughout the study period and patients’ drinking pattern changed in the direction of more social drinking.Main conclusions are the following: The Affect Phobia Test is a useful screening instrument for detecting emotional difficulties related to psychological malfunction. APT in both group and individual format are feasible treatments for the SUD population and has the potential to broaden the treatment options for some patients with SUD. Investigating expectations and fears prior to therapy may be means to prevent attrition.
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| 10. |
- Grönlund, Agneta, 1959-
(författare)
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Återkoppling i analoga och digitala klassrum : Spänningsfyllda verksamheter i samhällskunskapsundervisning
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Studiens syfte är att synliggöra lärares återkoppling i samhällskunskap i analog och digital kontext med särskilt intresse för återkopplingens formativa syfte. Studien är genomförd med ett verksamhetsteoretiskt perspektiv. I delstudie ett utforskas återkoppling i det analoga klassrummet och i delstudie två återkoppling i lärplattform. I studien används kvalitativ metod med inspiration från etnografin. Datamaterialet består av skriftliga dokument med återkoppling, observationer av återkoppling i klassrum och i lärplattformars kursrum samt kvalitativa intervjuer med sammanlagt 11 gymnasielärare.Resultaten visar att olika sammanhang och redskap ger olika möjligheter för formativ återkoppling. Såväl i den analoga kontexten som i lärplattformen framträder en summativ återkoppling med ett fokus på betyg. De sammanhang som framstår som gynnsamma för formativ återkoppling är när återkoppling ges under pågående arbetsprocess. Likheter framträdde mellan de bägge delstudierna i form av både formativt och summativt orienterade verksamheter. Dessa präglas av skilda normer, traditioner och roller men är sammanvävda i undervisningspraktiken. Spänningar mellan verksamheterna har beskrivits där handlingar i den ena verksamheten kan te sig kontraproduktiva i den andra verksamheten.En skillnad mellan de olika kontexterna är förekomsten av den dokumenterande verksamheten i den digitala kontexten. Denna verksamhet är orienterad mot skolans och lärarens behov av dokumentation av betygsunderlaget i lärplattformarna. Den skapar en sammanblandning av återkoppling och betygsdokumentation som inte förekom i den analoga kontexten och en slutsats är att användning av lärplattform har bidragit till formandet av denna summativt orienterade verksamhet.Förutsättningar för formativ återkoppling diskuteras i termer av ett ökad intresse för återkoppling, i relation till ämnets tradition och till de spänningar mellan ideal och rådande praktik som framträder. Vidare betraktas de möjligheter att skapa sammanhang för återkoppling där fokus riktas mot elevers lärande som förutsättningar för förändring.
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