| 51. |
- Nehez, Jaana, 1974-
(författare)
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Rektorers praktiker i möte med utvecklingsarbete : Möjligheter och hinder för planerad förändring
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on how principals’ practices in improvement work are formed and how these practices affect principals’ possibilities to work with planned change. The study takes its departure from ten Upper Secondary School principals’ improvement work concerning enterprise education. The study has an action research approach and was carried out between June 2009 and September 2010. The aim of the study is to generate knowledge about principals’ practices in improvement work and of action research as a strategy for principals in planned change in relation to these practices. The theoretical framework is based on practice theories (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008; Schatzki, 2002). According to these theories, a practice is formed in a project that shows what the practice is aiming for by practitioners’ sayings, doings and relatings. Furthermore, Kemmis and Grootenboer (2008) claim that practices are shaped by arrangements outside the practitioners; cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements. Findings show that what becomes meaningful for principals to engage in is not formed only by the aim of the planned improvement work, but also by already existing practices competing for space and by arrangements constraining principals’ possibilities to work with planned change. Many practices and projects were competing on the arena where the improvement work was planned to proceed. Some of the projects, ‘leading the improvement work’, ‘understanding what enterprise education is about’ and ‘making changes for enterprise education’ promoted the planned change. Others, projects like ‘organizing the daily work’, ‘avoiding dispute with teachers’ and ‘pretending to succeed’, constrained the planned change. Furthermore, cultural-discursive arrangements like abstract ideas of what the principals were supposed to create conditions for, as well as social-political arrangements like asymmetric relationships between the principals, and expectations from the local school board for quick solutions, enabled practices that constrained the planned change. Practices and arrangements like those in the study made it difficult for the principals to engage in action research as a strategy for change. Based on the results, principals’ possibilities to work with planned change are discussed in relation to the matter of context, dialogue as an improvement strategy, the aim for the improvement work and demands for quick solutions. The thesis contributes with knowledge about planned change and it contributes to the discussion about what kind of arrangements could support principals to initiate and lead school improvement. It also shows the importance of practice analyses in school improvement processes.
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| 52. |
- Nilsson, Lars-Erik, 1949-
(författare)
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"But can't you see they are lying" : student moral positions and ethical practices in the wake of technological change
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today it is considered important that modern digital technology be implemented and that all citizens learn to use it. Students already use mobile phones, personal digital assistants, computers, and their applications to do much of their work. This includes searching for and retrieving information, and collaborating on assignments and writing. Recently, claims have been made in both the media and academic research that student technology use is an important factor underlying an increase in student attempts to deceive on exams and other graded work. For example, it is assumed that students sometimes use the Internet to download other people’s essays, then handing them in as their own, and to make patchwork compositions of other people’s texts using the copy and paste functions. Such claims, however, risk not considering other changes that have occurred, for example, changing forms of exams/assessed assignments. Accordingly, one aim of this thesis has been to go beyond the categorization of students as cheaters and their use of digital technology as the use of unauthorized aids when discussing student use of technology in exams/graded assignments, and consider what rights and duties and what other subject positions are being made available for them. Four studies have been conducted, the first into the work of high-school students on research reports and the other three into interaction in disciplinary inquiries. These studies illustrate how exams/graded assignments and assessment in general introduce dilemmas for students and how it is important to consider how these dilemmas are solved in practice before making assumptions about technology use as cheating. As a contribution to the debate about students’ moral values and their use of technology, this work has demonstrated the importance of distinguishing between actions and the meaning ascribed to them as acts. A general observation is that student use of technology is generally met with suspicion. Cheating functions as a device for making good texts appear as possible downloads, texts with uneven quality as possible patchwork, inadvertent textual overlaps (i.e., unintentional near reproduction of the wording of a source) as intentional plagiarism, and student references to technical problems as probable rationalizations. From a methodological perspective, the utility of investigating cheating as an interactional accomplishment is demonstrated. This approach has made it possible to investigate how students reason about using existing texts and asking others for help. As well, the application of a dynamic perspective on subjectivity has made a theoretical contribution. Through this perspective, it is possible to criticize the normalization of students as cheaters based on how they use technology. That their actions could as easily make other positions available to them is shown.
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| 53. |
- Nilsson, Lars-Erik
(författare)
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"But Can't You See They are Lying?" Student Moral Positions and Ethical Practices in the Wake of Technological Change
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today it is considered important that modern digital technology be implemented and that all citizens learn to use it. Students already use mobile phones, personal digital assistants, computers, and their applications to do much of their work. This includes searching for and retrieving information, and collaborating on assignments and writing. Recently, claims have been made in both the media and academic research that student technology use is an important factor underlying an increase in student attempts to deceive on exams and other graded work. For example, it is assumed that students sometimes use the Internet to download other people’s essays, then handing them in as their own, and to make patchwork compositions of other people’s texts using the copy and paste functions. Such claims, however, risk not considering other changes that have occurred, for example, changing forms of exams/assessed assignments. Accordingly, one aim of this thesis has been to go beyond the categorization of students as cheaters and their use of digital technology as the use of unauthorized aids when discussing student use of technology in exams/graded assignments, and consider what rights and duties and what other subject positions are being made available for them. Four studies have been conducted, the first into the work of high-school students on research reports and the other three into interaction in disciplinary inquiries. These studies illustrate how exams/graded assignments and assessment in general introduce dilemmas for students and how it is important to consider how these dilemmas are solved in practice before making assumptions about technology use as cheating. As a contribution to the debate about students’ moral values and their use of technology, this work has demonstrated the importance of distinguishing between actions and the meaning ascribed to them as acts. A general observation is that student use of technology is generally met with suspicion. Cheating functions as a device for making good texts appear as possible downloads, texts with uneven quality as possible patchwork, inadvertent textual overlaps (i.e., unintentional near reproduction of the wording of a source) as intentional plagiarism, and student references to technical problems as probable rationalizations. From a methodological perspective, the utility of investigating cheating as an interactional accomplishment is demonstrated. This approach has made it possible to investigate how students reason about using existing texts and asking others for help. As well, the application of a dynamic perspective on subjectivity has made a theoretical contribution. Through this perspective, it is possible to criticize the normalization of students as cheaters based on how they use technology. That their actions could as easily make other positions available to them is shown.
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| 54. |
- Ottosson, Torgny, 1954-
(författare)
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Map-reading and wayfinding
- 1987
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the study is to make an analysis of map-reading as a cognitive phenomenon, with the use of a map for finding one's way as the specific focus. As a point of departure, the nature of human beings' knowledge of spatial relationships in their physical environment (here termed macro-spatial relations) is discussed. On this basis a conceptualization of cognitive functions as relational (human–world) phenomena is introduced. It is concluded that macrospatial cognition should be studied as conceptions of topographies. Some basic and general characteristics of maps are discussed. Two different aspects of maps, a referential and a structural, are distinguished and a view of map-reading as a harmonization of different versions of reality is developed. One main conclusion is that an analysis of map-reading should be based on an analysis of the map-reader's conception of the task. The research approach adopted is qualitative-descriptive and four studies of map-reading-for-wayfinding are reported. The first concerns children's map understanding. A total of 37 children, aged 5 to 12 years were individually interviewed and then observed while performing some wayfinding tasks. A result of that study is the identification of three different conceptions of the relation between map and reality: the map as a representation of presence, sequence, or structure. The remaining three studies concern map-reading by performers of the sport of orienteering. Among other things, three different wayfinding approaches are identified. On the basis of the theoretical view developed in the thesis, some implications for teaching map-reading and map understanding are discussed. It is argued that the "view-from-above" metaphor common in introductory map teaching is inadequate and that viewing the map as a miniature provides a better basis. It is recommended that introductory teaching of maps should not take symbolization and projection as its starting-point but, instead, the pupils' conceptions of topographies, as already present.
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| 55. |
- Risenfors, Signild, 1957-
(författare)
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Gymnasieungdomars livstolkande
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis describes and analyses views of life and religion, as a component of „view of life‟,among young people in a Swedish upper secondary school that in the words of the youngpeople themselves is „multicultural‟. The concept „view of life‟ is rooted in a Scandinavian research tradition, and is based on a stipulative definition provided by Jeffner (1973), which includes„view of world and man‟, „values and moral‟ and „attitudes towards life‟. Thedefinition is formulated in a society where secularization is an on-going debate. However, in that secularization is contested, religion has re-emerged in a society increasingly characterized by religious pluralism, but also privatization according to religion. Views of life and religion have become political as well as private issues and, in school, are discussed in relation to the „fundamental values‟ and the subject of „Religious Education‟. In such discussionsthe aim is to help students to form an own view of life, just as long as it is consistent with the normative standards of „fundamental values‟.The focus of this thesis is directed to young people‟s articulations. An ethnographic approach has been adopted and the data consists of field notes, letters and interviews (individually and in groups). The fieldwork has taken place in four graduating classes of a single school year. Using analytical concepts from discourse theory the focus of the analysis is on how the youngpeople articulate the three dimensions of „views of life‟, linguistically and physically through narratives, reflections and staging.The most prominent results of the thesis are that, as well as the positioning of religion, views of life are directed towards the self. Articulations about „being yourself‟ appear as a very open concept that can be filled with different content. In accordance with the notion of staging, the young people demonstrate andtest identity with the quest for „authenticity‟ being central. Through high expectations of the „good life‟, vulnerability is also noticed, especially in the anonymous letters.With regard to values and morals a consensus-perspective appears to a greater extent than specific values. Value questions and moral issues dominate in the public arena while ontological and existential questions dominate in the individual letters and interviews. Here the concept „view of life‟is brought into a field between the private and the public and is especially evident in the subject of Religious Education.Although religion is articulated in terms of tolerance and freedom of choice, these concepts are given connotations of a half-hearted attitude and a consensus perspective rather than interest and curiosity for the faith and religious life of „the Other‟.However, if a religious positioning becomes a political issue, the half-hearted setting is challenged. There is also a difference between those having acquired a religious literacy and those who have not.
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| 56. |
- Schwartz, Anneli
(författare)
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Pedagogik, plats och prestationer : en etnografisk studie om en skola i förorten
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is part of a Swedish Research Council financed project called The School and its Surroundings (Omvärlden och skolan: Vetenskapsrådet, 2005-3440) and is based on a thorough examination of the pedagogical practices that took place in a particular school in a multicultural suburb. A main aim was to analyse these practices and the pupils’ responses to them in relation to descriptions of the school and its needs, attainments and difficulties as provided by the pupils, teachers and others,including the media. The pedagogical practices of the school are based on a particular kind of pedagogy, called Monroe pedagogy. This pedagogy is characterised by strong leadership and places high expectations on pupils. Using ethnographic data, obtained from fieldwork and interviews, and an analysis informed by Bernstein’s theoretical concepts the thesis provides an analysis of the regulation of social interaction in the school and the pupils’ experiences and appreciations of this regulation. As a pedagogical discourse Monroe pedagogy exhibits principles of strong classification and framing (Bernstein, 2003). The thesis is composed of four articles and a kappa. Article one, “Bracketing” backgrounds for an effective school, describes Monroe pedagogy in relation to the school day and pupils’ results. Article two, Pupils’ responses to a saviour pedagogy: An ethnographic study, elaborates on the feedback that pupils at the studied school provide on their education. Article three, The significance of place and pedagogy in an urban multicultural school in Sweden, examines how the location of the school in a ‘multicultural suburb’ is used to attribute deficiencies to pupils and the need for strong leadership and a visible pedagogy. Article four, Complexities and contradictions of educational inclusion: a meta-ethnographic analysis, describes the importance of place for educational expectations and performances in relation to the stigmatisation of the suburban reach and its residents. Collectively the articles depict, principally through an analysis of pupils’ responses, how Riverdale School sells a success concept, based on orderliness, motivation, responsibility and hard work, and how the staff and pupils at the school identify with and believe in this concept. The articles also demonstrate how the pedagogy in use actually fails to become a saviour discourse in practice, as promised, but instead strengthens exclusion and maintains the image of a failing pupil who will be saved from, her-his background and her-his place of residence.
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| 57. |
- 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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| 58. |
- Tyrén, Lena
(författare)
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"Vi får ju inte riktigt förutsättningarna för att genomföra det som vi vill" : en studie om lärare möjligheter och hinder till förändring och förbättring i praktiken
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Initially the overall aim of this thesis was to describe and analyse what was happening in the educational activities when teachers at a school that I have called Tower School introduced the computer as a tool for helping pupils who were learning to write and read. Key questions concerned the issue of improvement. Did introducing the computer as a tool in the teaching and learning process help the pupils with their learning or not and, if so, in what ways. The research approach chosen was an action research approach. Action research is concerned with professional practice and improvement. It is contextual and oriented toward action processes and change. The initial phase of the research went more or less according to plan. I followed the development process of the introduction and use of the computer as a learning tool, met regularly with the teachers and together with them developed a good working relationship. After about a year things changed. With the restructuring that was taking place in the region changes began to take place also at Tower School and this had effects on the research. In addition to the initial aim to research changes related to student learning a second purpose developed. This purpose was to describe and analyse how political governance and underlying societal forces might influence what happens in school development. There were two reasons for this new extra dimension. One was a methodological interest in relation to planning action research projects at times of political change in the education sector. The other was an educational theoretical interest connected to the school as a policy-driven organization. My interest here was for changes in the political economy at the macro level and how the network of macro-political and economic relations affected the micropolitical level of the school, its classrooms, participating teachers in these classrooms, their students and me as a researcher?
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| 59. |
- Wank, Ann-Charlott
(författare)
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Meningsskapande samtal : En studie om barns meningsskapande med fokus på processer och innehåll relaterat till förskolans praktik
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims to contribute to the knowledge of children’s meaning-making by focusing on processes and content in preschool practice. Meaning-making is understood as a situated process that emerges in the mutual interplay of a child’s previous and current experiences and the preschool practice in which the child participates and acts. Content describes what children create meaning about. The study is theoretically grounded in a sociocultural understanding of human development and learning. The methodological approach is based on John Dewey’s non-dualistic pragmatism concerning how meaning is constructed and shared between people who participate in a social practice. The research adopts Dewey’s concept of transaction to study children’s meaning-making as reciprocal, coordinated encounters with their environment. The analysis relies on 20 hours of video observations from two preschool departments in Sweden, which concentrated on communicative interactions between children and preschool teachers in which the participants together focused on a common conversation content and coordinated their verbal actions to develop or deepen the content. The results are interpreted with practical epistemological analysis (PEA), epistemological move analysis (EMA) and Dewey’s concepts of habit and custom. The results show that children’s meaning-making is a multidimensional process in which a child’s individual experiences and knowledge interact with situated scaffolding processes and customs in preschool. Teacher competence is a significant determinant of good conditions for meaning-making communication. When children create meaning in preschool, cognitive linguistic content is in the foreground, often intertwined with socialisation and care. The results suggest that focusing only on the social and cultural environment or on the content offered cannot provide an adequate understanding of children’s learning and meaning-making in preschool; it is also crucial to consider the individual dimension of the child, knowledge of the child’s previous experiences and how these factors interact with the child’s experiences in preschool.
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| 60. |
- Wedman, Lotta, 1975-
(författare)
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The concept concept in mathematics education : A concept analysis
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The notion concept is used in different ways within the field of mathematics education. The aim of this study is to carry out a concept analysis of the notion concept, within some frequently used frameworks describing conceptual understanding. Building on a philosophical literature review resulting in distinctions that can be used for interpreting views on concept, the study addresses the question: Which views on concept may be found in texts using the chosen frameworks, from the perspective of the distinctions mental versus non-mental, intersubjective versus subjective and molecular versus holistic? The design involves a literature review in mathematics education, resulting in a selection of texts. Views on concept, and to some extent on concept image, conception, and schema, are then interpreted with the help of indicators, and represented in 3D matrices. There are two categories of views on concept within the texts: a mental and intersubjective category, and a non-mental and intersubjective category. One difference between the views is whether conceptual structures have molecular or holistic features. Concerning the notions concept image, conception, and schema, there are generally three different views: an individual view and two culturally dependent views. The different views are sometimes combined. One result is findings regarding how language is used within the texts, where non-mental and mental arenas, and terms and meanings of terms, are not always distinguished. The main contribution of the study is to deepen the understanding of views on the notion concept and how terminology is used in mathematics education. This opens the way for a discussion of how the terminology mentioned above may be used coherently within the field of mathematics education.
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