| 1. |
- Danielsson, Louise, 1949-
(författare)
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Det teckenspråkiga klassrummet : en arena för möte mellan elever och lärare
- 2013
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study is to investigate the interaction in sign language in a classroom in the special school for deaf and hard of hearing pupils. Three questions are of particular interest: What characterizes interaction in educational situations where the whole class is present compared to half the class and when the pupils in small groups are solving problems given by the teacher? How are a hearing and a deaf teacher interacting in the classroom? And How are boys and girls interacting in different educational situations?Theoretically the study is based on an educational interaction model. Of particular interest in this model are restrictive and permissive aspects of teaching and factors stimulating pupil participation. Symbolic interactionism has been used in the interpretation of face-to-face interaction in sign language.Video recordings of classroom interaction in natural sciences were documented in a class in the special school comprising 17 pupils and three teachers. A total of seven lessons were recorded consisting of whole class teaching, half class teaching and problem solving in small groups. Of the pupils ten were girls and seven were boys and of the teachers one was hearing and one was deaf. The third teacher was only temporarily in the class and was not included in the analysis. The recorded material was transcribed and analyzed in six steps.The results show that the teachers are most restrictive in whole class teaching while there is more participation from the pupils in half class teaching. In the small group problem solving the teachers seem to be more interested in the group process than in getting an answer to the problem. This gives a lot of room for individual actions and interaction of a relational kind rather than educational. There tend to be some visible differences between the hearing and the deaf teacher. The former uses a more individual approach towards the pupils, I-Gaze, which leaves room for the pupils to be engaged in other activities. The deaf teacher on the other hand keeps all the pupils engaged by using a group approach, G-Gaze. Other differences are the use of literacy tools where the deaf teacher situates the material and keeps the attention of the pupils by telling a narrative. Concerning differences between boys and girls it is evident that the boys are more dominant in whole class and half class interactions while the girls tend to take over the teacher role in small group interaction. These results are discussed in relation to theoretical background and research on classroom interaction in the compulsory school and in schools for deaf pupils.
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| 2. |
- Lundström, Elisabeth, 1953-
(författare)
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Ett barn är oss fött : Att bli förälder när barnet har en funktionsnedsättning - ett beskrivande och tolkande perspektiv
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- “A child has been born unto us”, is the most beautiful expression of humankind’s ability to cherish hope and trust for the world, writes Hanna Arendt. She describes how every child’s birth is the beginning of something new, something that the title is intended to emphasise. “Us” in the title also indicates that the child with a functional impairment becomes a public child in a special way. The purpose of this study is to describe the experience of becoming a parent when the child has a functional impairment. The study is based on a relational perspective. The theoreticians whose ideas have been used are, aside from Arendt, also Buber, Stern and Winnicott. In the analysis of the parental narratives, inspiration was taken from Ricoeur in a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Encounters are the themes in this thesis, and have been formulated as encounters with the child, the environment and the professionals. 30 parents (19 mothers and 11 fathers) were interviewed about their experiences of parenthood. The diagnosis of the child’s functional impairment was a chaotic and upsetting situation for the parents. Many strong, different feelings came into play. The parents could feel that they had been “thrown out into space”, and that their future was suddenly taken away from them. The future was what worried them most, and the question that was singled out was “How can we live this life?” Many professionals became involved in the child’s life, which could be both advantageous and disadvantageous for the family. The professionals’ attitudes and advices had a profound influence on the parents. Even though the child became in a sense a public child, the parents also had a feeling of having to carry on a struggle for their child in society, a” struggle of love” demanding the consideration of the child’s potential. Another “struggle of love” initially involved the parents’ own attempts to establish a relationship to the child. Thus there were two “struggles of love”. In their new, hesitant parenthood they had to “find their place in the world” and a way to exist. In their interaction with the child they had two competing figures of mind during the first period, “to be” and “to act”. The grief the parents had felt for the diagnosis could after a while be separated from the child, and it was the child who helped the parents to handle the grief. In the thesis the parents’ experiences are discussed, based on questions confronting them. How playing and training are interrelated is also discussed, as well as the significance of narration and the responsibility of the professionals. These results can be expected to have consequences for special educational work in this field.
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| 3. |
- Lundström, Kjell, 1928-
(författare)
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Kampen för ett språk : Dövas två språk och tvåspråkighet i skolundervisningen i Sverige 1809-1990
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation deals with the two languages of the deaf, sign language and Swedish. The aim of the dissertation can be expressed in four questions:• What ideas about the deaf and his or her education were influential during various time periods from 1809 to 1990 and what were the reactions of the deaf to the influence of these ideas?• What were the opinions of the teachers on introduction of bilingual education?• What was the pattern of communication in the schools for the deaf when bilingual education was introduced?• What function is fulfilled by bilingualism in the recognition of the deaf from an equality perspective?Four historical periods are analysed. The first has its focus on the mental development of the deaf (The "Spiritual" Man) and the conflict between sign and oral language education. The second period was dominated by oral language and technical audiological assistance (The "Bodily" Man). Johan Prawitz was opposed to this one-sided approach and argued that the deaf needed two languages separated from each other (sign language and Swedish). The third period stressed the necessity to integrate all children in mainstream education (The "Integrated" Man). The deaf defended the special schools and the importance of sign language. The last period is characterized by bilingualism. The Swedish society acknowledged the sign language as the primary language for the deaf (The "Bilingual" Man). During this period sign language was implemented in the special school. Both teacher experiences and classroom interaction have been documented.This historical material has been analysed using a power and communicative approach, referring to Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas.Finally, the results are discussed from a defectological as well as an intersubjective point of view.
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| 4. |
- Olsson, Cecilia, 1949-
(författare)
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The kaleidoscope of communication : Different perspectives on communication involving children with severe multiple disabilities
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of six publications presenting a theoretical framework, a methodological proposal and three empirical studies. The aim of the work is; to gain knowledge on how children with severe multiple disabilities communicate with their caregivers, to analyse how different research strategies can add knowledge from different perspectives on communication, and to develop models for analysing and describing the dyadic interaction.The theoretical framework addresses the impact of multiple disabilities on the child’s communicative development, as well as the role of the communication partner, and implications for interventions. In the methodological framework, different research approaches are discussed and a system theory-based approach is proposed. The empirical studies are focused on pre-school children with intellectual disabilities in combination with vision disability and/or motor disability. When relationships between use of communication and child characteristics and setting conditions were investigated, the results showed relationships between disability and the use of communication but also that children with similar disability profiles could display quite different communicative patterns. When the communicative process was investigated with the proposed system theory-based approach, it was found that the child and caregiver continuously co-regulated their actions and together created consensual frames and that the process went through phases of instability and stability. Models for a system theory-based analysis of dyadic interaction are presented.The discussion is concentrated around how the results from the studies along with the theoretical aspects can contribute to evidence-based practice. The main conclusions are that, in communication involving a person with severe multiple disabilities, meaning is something that is co-constructed and communication cannot be regarded as a personal competence, the competence is within the dyad.
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| 5. |
- von Ahlefeld Nisser, Désirée, 1953-
(författare)
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Vad kommunikation vill säga : En iscensättande studie om specialpedagogers yrkesroll och kunskapande samtal
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is about the role of special educators in (pre)school and about developing democratic communication. It is based on the theory of argumentation developed by Jürgen Habermas. The aim of the study was to describe the conditions that create possibilities for deliberative communication between special educators, parents, students and colleagues in (pre)school. My overarching aim was to contribute to a more distinct description of special educators´ field of knowledge. I have used a social constructionist approach. The project has been based in the field of action research. A precondition for deliberative dialogues in (pre)schools is to start out from a communicative perspective. That means that (1) some theoretical conditions have been made apparent, (2) knowledge about these conditions have been shown to be crucial for using an aware communicative perspective in a speech act, (3) an aware communicative perspective is revealed through procedures of knowledge. These procedures were understood by and made evident to me as a result of network meeting discussions. A communicative perspective, a special educator as facilitator and procedures of knowledge are found to be crucial for collaboration using a deliberative attitude in (pre)schools. Today there is often a lack of pedagogical professionals in (pre)schools who can act as a link between authorities, organisations, professionals and parents, and who have the authority to pose challenging pedagogical questions. This can be changed if the role of special educators is, instead of teacher, defined as communicative special educators working with dialogues on different levels.
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| 6. |
- Wetso, Gun-Marie, 1955-
(författare)
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Lekprocessen - specialpedagogisk intervention i (för)skola : När aktivt handlande stimulerar lärande, social integration och reducerar utslagning
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis expounds special educational development work in (pre-)schools 1994-99 (analysed 2002-06). The work is based on action research. 40 children were identified to be in need of support as they did not get involved in the school’s daily activities. This thesis follows up what happens when work is initiated for changing this predicament. Four activities were introduced: (1) education about play, communication, learning; (2) supervision of teachers; (3) play process; and (4) conversations with parents. Triangulation has been used to collect and analyse the data. Leontiev’s activity theory has been used to highlight how behavioural patterns changed and developed among the children and adults. Theories about learning elucidate the interaction processes and phenomena in the material. The formative work process is described in follow-up conversations with work teams and parents.The relationship individual-activity-environment showed that the children either exploited or did not fully make use of the resources (pedagogical support, interchange with others and use of materials) in “the pedagogical room”. The teachers were in need of training and supervision. The actions of the teacher served to guide the child. A moment’s pedagogy in the encounter determined how to entice the child to take part in interaction and interchange. Eye-ear contact, support through materials stimulated the child to assimilate concepts and language. Varied use of symbolic gestures created a play environment, bringing to life themes where roles were explored. A triad of cooperation between the adults had a positive influence on the child. The pedagogical and home environment overlapped. Behavioural patterns and established structures could be changed. The parents adopted the play process and contributed with materials to support the child’s learning. The children showed willingness to participate in daily activities and interchanges with others. Negative communication patterns were reduced.
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| 7. |
- Andersson, Mona, 1939-
(författare)
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The early childhood environment rating scale (ECERS) as a tool in evaluating and improving quality in preschools
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Author and title: Andersson Mona: The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) as a Tool in Evaluating and Improving Quality in Preschools. Key words: Preschool, preschool classroom, environmental quality, consciousness, process quality, self evaluation, standardization, validity, reliability, quasi-experiment.This is an empirical study exploring the use of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) for the evaluation of environmental quality in preschools.A standardization of the ECERS to Swedish preschools has been carried out. The procedures and findings of this standardization include several tests performed to ensure that the Swedish version of the ECERS would be both valid and reliable.The main hypothesis in this study is that the ECERS can be used to improve environmental quality. This hypothesis was tested in a quasi-experiment. Three separate samples in different preschools were chosen: a Control group, an Information group and an Intervention group. These three groups were evaluated by an independent evaluator before and after the study. The Control group received no information about the ECERS. The Information group as well as the Intervention group received information about the possibility of using the ECERS as a means for the staff to improve quality. In addition, the Intervention group was allowed extra resources such as two hours a month for discussions concerning the results of individual evaluations made by the staff in each classroom.The findings showed an improvement in environmental quality, in the Information group from a mean value of 3.8 to 4.6. In the Intervention group the improvement was even more substantial, from 3.2 to 4.7 whereas the Control group showed a small improvement of 4.1 to 4.3. A statistical sign test of significance was carried out. The changes in the Control group were not significant, while the changes in the Information as well as the Intervention groups were found to be significant at the 95 percent level. It seems as if the hypothesis, that the use of the ECERS could improve environmental quality in preschools, is verified.In supplementary questionnaires and interviews, it was documented that preschool teachers could make better use of their potential competence as they became more conscious of it through the use of the ECERS.
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| 8. |
- Bergling, Barbro, 1936-
(författare)
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A Facet Model of the Logical Operational Structures of Piaget's Theory : Guttman's Facet Design applied to Piaget's Theory
- 1998
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis explored whether the complex structure of Piaget's theory of operational thinking could be synthesized into a facet model by means of facet design. The aims were: (1) to deduce from detailed conceptual analyses of 12 of Piaget's classical experiments the essential parts of the operational structures (Study I); (2) to explore the internal structure of his constructs in terms of a mapping sentence (Study II); (3) to study the hierarchical structure of the interrelationships between the constructs (Study III); and (4) to apply the facet model in the development of test items (Study II and IV).Guttmanís facet design was used in three theoretical studies. Based on Piaget's reports a differentiated classification facet model was elaborated in the form of a mapping sentence consisting of two content facets, Conceptual Instrumentalities and Cognitive Strategies. They were deduced representing the operational systems and the corresponding reasoning strategies. Elements, characterizing these systems of each stage for each facet, were deduced. A hierarchical facet model was elaborated demonstrating the successive acquisition of the operational systems. The structuples, i.e. combinations of elements taken one from each facet, formed the conceptual basis of item construction. In the empirical part of this work 22 items in multiple-choice format, carrying information in each response option, were given to 4 samples of Swedish students. Fifteen items for Grades 3 and 4, and 18 items for Grades 7 and 8 showed acceptable fit to the measurement model, the partial credit model. The overall mean-square fit statistics were in accordance with the model expectations. It was concluded that facet design is a valuable tool for developing a definitional framework of precise clarifications of the complexity of the structures of Piaget's theory. The use of structuples opens up new conceptual possibilities in item construction allowing all response options to carry information about the hypothetical reasoning strategies behind the child's choice of response alternative.
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| 9. |
- Eriksson, Göta, 1943-
(författare)
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Talbegreppets utveckling : ett radikalkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv
- 2001
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I denna studie fokuseras barnets tidiga kunskaps-bildning i aritmetik, med utgångspunkt i den radikalkonstruktivistiska teorin. Enligt denna teoribildning ärtalbegreppet inte statiskt utan en individuell konstruk-tion, som genomgår kvalitativa förändringar underbarnets aritmetiska utveckling. De räknehandlingarbarnet kan utföra ses som beroende och präglade avdet konstruerade talbegreppet.
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| 10. |
- Eriksson, Göta, 1943-
(författare)
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Tidig aritmetisk kunskapsbildning : Ett radikalkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- From a Radical Constructivist (RC) perspective this thesis deals with children’s construction of early arithmetic learning as an evolving process through the cognitive system of self-regulation and self-organising. Thus the child’s learning must guide teaching. RC views early arithmetic as verbal and preceding the system of written arithmetic. The purpose in my thesis is to build hypothetical models of the child’s conceptual progression, in the case of four fundamental rules of arithmetic, and thereby construct the ontogenesis of arithmetic. The material for this is documentations of longitudinal research of the child’s arithmetic carried out over a lot of years and with different children within the RC paradigm. Through analysing about 250 transcriptions from video recordings, included in my material, I construct what concept is lying behind the child’s counting activity, when it solves problems with its counting scheme. Following children’s progression longitudinally, I could make my hypothesis of the child’s knowledge viable. In short, my results show that the child gives through five counting schemes qualitatively changeable meanings to numbers. It begins with perceptual and figurative collections in two pre-numerical counting schemes. In the three subsequent numerical schemes the significations of numbers are a numerical composite, an abstract composite unit and an iterable unit of one. The models provide the discipline of special education a starting point for didactical decisions how to assess and influence the child’s early arithmetic learning. Research is needed to document the children’s progression in the course of schooling in order to elaborate or modify the models. This theoretical perspective makes both teaching and researching viable through longitudinal approaches. Further, it highlights the need to bring research into the practice of education.
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