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- Sandlund, Monica, 1955-
(author)
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Lärare med utländsk bakgrund : Sju yrkeslivsberättelser om möten med nya skolsammanhang
- 2010
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Studiens övergripande syfte är att öka kunskapen om lärare med utländsk bakgrund och deras möte med den svenska skolan genom deras berättelser. Studien har sin grund i ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv med förståelsen att mening skapas i interaktion med andra. Berättandet ses här som en handling och en dominerande uttrycksform för identitetsskapande. I avhandlingen lyfts sju lärare fram genom deras yrkeslivsberättelser om den svenska mångkulturella skolan. Studien är en longitudinell undersökning och empirin består av fjorton livsberättelseintervjuer som gjorts i två omgångar med ett till fyra års mellanrum. Med hjälp av livsberättelseansatsen som teoretisk och metodologisk utgångspunkt analyseras följande frågeställningar: Vilka yrkesethos framträder i lärarnas berättelser om möten och relationer i den svenska skolan? Vilka positioner intar och tillskrivs lärarna i sina berättelser? Hur gestaltas legitimitet i lärarnas berättelser? Resultatet diskuteras i relation till teorier och diskurser om skola, lärarprofession, mångkulturella/interkulturella intentioner samt sociala strukturer. Studien visar att lärarna gör identitetsframträdanden i sina berättelser gällande legitimitet. Detta sker genom konstruktion, dekonstruktion och rekonstruktion av yrkesethos. I avhandlingen framkommer indikationer på att det i skolan förutsätts att det är de utländska lärarna som ska anpassa sig efter rådande normer och att toleransen för alternativa förhållningssätt är begränsade. Lärarna positionerar sig i berättelserna genom att både acceptera och göra motstånd mot kraven på konformitet.
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| 2. |
- Hjort, Simon
(author)
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Kritiskt tänkande i klassrummet : En studie av didaktiska val och manifesterat kritiskt tänkande i samhällskunskaps- och filosofiundervisning
- 2014
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Developing students’ ability to think critically is an important goal of Swedish upper secondary school education. The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse critical thinking at the classroom level from a didactic perspective. Using participant observation and interviews, two groups of students and their two course teachers are being studied during two months. The groups study philosophy and social studies respectively. The thesis explores in what way critical thinking is manifested in the classroom and how the teachers view critical thinking in relation to their teaching. Didactic decisions and challenges are identified and discussed.The findings show that critical thinking is manifested in the classroom dialogue. Focus, relevance and precision are distinctive qualities of critical discussions. The teachers use different strategies to scaffold critical thinking, such as developing what the students say, questioning assumptions and supporting with distinctions. Some of the challenges facing the teachers are finding ways of assisting students to be independent in their thinking, disputing what they say without being perceived as biased and creating the right atmosphere in the group allowing for critical thinking to take place. It’s concluded that critical thinking at the classroom level is a highly complex phenomenon that involves more than just thinking skills which is the dominant view among researchers in the field.
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| 3. |
- Ruterana, Pierre Canisius
(author)
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The Making of a Reading Society : Developing a Culture of Reading in Rwanda
- 2012
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Following a growing concern among education stakeholders about the lack of a reading culture and low literacy levels among Rwandans in general and university students in particular, the aim of this thesis is to increase the awareness of Rwandans about the development of a reading culture and early literacy. To achieve this aim, four studies with participants representing different experiences related to reading culture were performed. These qualitative studies draw on different perspectives on the development of a reading culture and emergent literacy by using open-ended questionnaires and interviews. The thesis takes sociocultural and emergent literacy theories as points of departure.The first study investigates students’ reflections on their previous reading experiences, and discuss ways to develop literacy and a reading culture in Rwanda. The next one sheds light on parents’ involvement in literacy practices at home and the third study concerns what literacy knowledge teachers expect from their pupils when they start nursery and lower primary school. An example of a literacy event (storytelling) is given in the fourth study where children’s narratives of fairy tales are followed by their discussions on gender issues, which in turn can develop the children’s interest in reading. This can also help them relate texts to their life and teach them to think critically.In sum, the studies show that there is a limited reading culture in Rwanda. That is attributed to the colonial and post-colonial education system, reliance on verbal communication, limited access to reading materials, and ultimately the low status of the mother tongue Kinyarwanda within the sociolinguistic configuration of Rwanda. Also, the participating students and teachers point out the necessity of involving parents more in the creation of an environment that nurtures children’s emergent literacy development so that it becomes a shared responsibility translated into a teacherparent partnership for children’s success at school. Hence, the findings inform the use of this thesis which is to promote literacy and a reading culture in Rwanda by engaging the whole nation in a national effort to build a sustainable culture of reading. To paraphrase the old African saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’, I want to conclude by saying that it takes a nation to develop a culture of reading.
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