The high dropout rate of students in vocational education and training (VET) has been considered a serious problem in policy of education in the last decade in Denmark as well as in the other Nordic countries. In the Danish VET system only half of the students, who take up a vocational programme, complete the programme. The dropout rate has stayed on a high level despite a large number of initiatives to increase retention. This article argues, that the problem lies not only with the measures to reduce dropout, but also in the conceptualisation of the dropout phenomenon. We examine the concept of dropout and argue that the concept covers a range of different strategies among students in vocational education. Empirically the article is based on a large interview study among vocational students in Denmark. In addition the article is based on international research that uses a process related concept of dropout, which we connect to research in young peoples' school to work transitions. In this conceptualisation dropout is seen as the result of the interplay over time between the transition system, young people’s conditions of life and young people’s own strategies and choices.
Research has shown that literature discussions can scaffold pupils’ understanding of texts, but there are few studies focusing pupils´ perception of such discussions. This article is based on interviews with pupils in the ninth grade and aims to contribute with further understanding of literature discussions in grades 7-9. The main focus lies on how the pupils reflect on their usage of reading strategies and discussion strategies. A tool based on Bernstein’s conceptual pair, vertical and horizontal discourse, is used to analyse the pupils’ reflections on literature discussions. The result shows that literature discussions seem to enable a movement towards a vertical discourse, which represents a school-valued, specialised discourse rather than an informal one. It is suggested that, in relation to literature discussions, teaching should include both reading strategies and discussion strategies.
In addition to presenting the concept of pedagogical rhythm, the article has a dual purpose. In the theoretically informed text, arguments are made partly to claim that the concept of pedagogical rhythm can help us to better understand the prerequisites for teachers’ work and partly to claim that the concept can open up opportunities for a more nuanced criticism of teachers’ work based on the terms of the profession. The discussion is conducted in a pragmatic Dewey tradition, in which the concept of pedagogical rhythm is understood as a consequence of the interaction that takes place in educational settings. The conclusion drawn is that the concept of pedagogical rhythm, if put into use as an analytical tool, can strengthen the ability of teachers and ultimately the teaching profession to take professional responsibility.
This study aims to increase the understanding of how learning environments have been developed for newly arrived immigrant pupils in need of special educational support measures according to special educators. In this way, knowledge can be deepened about obstacles and opportunities in the school system regarding the development of learning environments, which can have an impact on these pupils' learning. Free text responses from an e-questionnaire were analyzed through conventional content analysis. The analysis revealed varied descriptions of what characterizes the development of learning environments at schools. For example, many respondents described what characterizes as general adaptations as a kind of one size fits all solutions. Special educators also described support for language learning and language understanding in small groups, training for school staff and enhanced collaborations. The characterization of special educators´ descriptions is deepened and discussed with regard to obstacles and opportunities in the school system. To deepen the understanding, the results from this study are analyzed together with previous research and Skrtic's (1991; 2005) concept of the school system, reflecting school bureaucracies and adhocracy. The obstacles in the development of learning environments are found in special solutions, lack of efforts and unclear areas of responsibility, while successes are found in training for school staff and enhanced collaborations in joint professional work.
The aim of this paper is to shed light on how teachers’ talk about children’s physical activity in school-age educare can be seen as part of comprehensive social discourses concerning education and physical activity. Focus-group interviews with a discourse-analytic approach have been carried out with staff from two municipal school-age educare in Sweden. The transcriptions was analyzed with inspiration from critical discourse analyze which is the theoretical standpoint. In the result the discourses of risk, shortage, activity, complement and joy of movement are the most prominent. In analysis these discourses are seen as inter-discursively influenced by the public health discourse wherein concepts as activity rate, discipline, joy of movement and organization are central. These discourses, concepts and possible implications for school-age educare are discussed. It is also argued that a social pedagogical discourse of care with focus on children’s relation making and conflict management seems to be manifest within Swedish school-age educare.
Studies of ethnicity's impact on the Swedish school system often focus on students with migrant background in segregated, marginalized areas. This study focuses on how school staff in a prestigious school perceive high-performing students with migrant background as formally and socially included, while students voice experiences of exclusion. School staff describe inclusive, allowing students who accept and value each other's differences. Students with a migrant background, however, recurrently mention the subtle, often unvoiced distancing they experience from classmates they view as Swedes. This article focuses on the discrepancies between the staffs' description of an accepting and inclusive class, and the students' descriptions of exclusion. The study is based on participant observations in a prestigious high school, as well as interviews with students, school staff and their school leader.
Education is the cornerstone for developing a democratic society, and vital to the work of fostering new generations of citizens. Therefore, knowledge about how to work with democracy in school and in teacher training is important. Education is often considered as the arena where society can transfer democratic values and give people insights into the meaning of democracy. However, there is a lack of empirical research conducted in classrooms, which urges us to investigate the interpretation of how the doing of democracy in education is carried out. In this case study we explore how democratic values are or are not, manifested by teacher students and teachers in teacher education. In order to understand democracy in education, we ask questions about student influence, reciprocity and critical thinking. The empirical material consists of observations and narratives of teacher students, and the analysis is done by using Cultural analysis. The findings show that teacher educators’ and teacher students’ engagement, and mutual responsibility, is significant for democratic education. Also, critical aspects are identified concerning students' expectations, teachers' limited space for action and an inflexible organizational structure. To conclude, we have revealed a need for more research, to continue the debate of democracy in teacher education.
The aim of this article is to shed light on 1) how representatives of a certain research field, i.e. neuroscience, view problems in the classroom and 2) how and by whom these problems should be addressed. This is done through a critical discourse analysis of four strategically selected articles published in two teacher union journals where neuroscientifically oriented researchers and teachers are interviewed about the potential of brain-based education. Our analysis follows five steps. Firstly, we identify how the problem of learning is constructed by neuroscientists and teacher union journals in combination and, secondly, what measures are suggested as appropriate to address the problem. In a third step, we identify the network of practices in which interviewed neuroscientists make up the hub. Towards the end, we report the inconsistencies and gaps emerging from the analysis and reflect on potential methodological problems. The overall conclusion is that representatives of neuroscience apply brain research to teaching and learning in ways that de-professionalise teachers.
Expectations and demands on principals to address pedagogical leadership is high. However, conceptualization of what pedagogical leadership encompasses and how it can be turned into leadership practice is rare. This paper reports on principals’ changes in their pedagogical leadership after a three-year professional development initiative in a Swedish municipality including all 70 principals. Theoretical point of departure is sensemaking and dimensions of pedagogical leadership. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with 15 of the participating principals. The analysis shows that participating in the initiative gave principals knowledge about their pedagogical leadership that made them do changes in their leading practices to open up for participation, to better adapt to the needs of the organization and to keep focus on the curriculum goals. The importance of principals’ own learning and knowledge about teaching and learning based on research was the least prominent dimension in the analysis. Moreover, how to use data to analyze results in order to improve teaching and learning together with teachers did not appear in the result which draws attention to principals’ real possibilities of enacting the role as leaders of professional learning and educational development.
The design of formal learning spaces in higher education has almost been a non-issue until recently, when the interest has increased considerably, both in Sweden and internationally. Hitherto, the close connection between space and time has been rather unnoticed in this context. The article aims at deepening the knowledge on the relationship between space, time, teaching and learning in higher education. Especially it highlights teachers' possibilities, or lack thereof, to promote students' understanding of curricular content under varying spatial and temporal conditions. The article describes and analyses two empirical studies, including five undergraduate courses framed by different combinations of time-space conditions. The analysis rested on extensive data: systematic observations, student surveys, interviews of students and teachers, and in one of the studies, examination results for a longer time period. We found that multi-functional learning spaces where both students and teachers could engage in presentations, communication and use of digital resources enabled teaching for student active learning, thus promoting understanding and improved examination results. This however presupposed that teachers initially got educational support and additional time for planning. Good spatial preconditions also reduced space-related time-losses and disruptions of teaching and learning considerably, which is particularly important when the teacher-led time is sparse.
In Swedish preschool and school classrooms, all children should be offered an education that includes instruction and digital devices. The instruction should be meaningful and interesting for all children, and the digital devices should facilitate teachers’ work and children’s learning. This study concerns differentiated instruction as well as uses and possible benefits gained by digital devices in Swedish preschools and school classrooms. The study is part of a large-scale co-production project between academy and the surrounding society. Sixty-seven teachers and head-teachers, who value digital devices, participated, and shared their experiences and views on these two matters. A qualitative research approach, including research circles and thematic analyses, was used. The themes prove, for example, the importance of acknowledging children’s interests, joint exploration, provision of parallel support as well as extra challenges, association to children’s previous experiences and integration of digital devices of various kind. The result of the study can form a basis for interesting preschool and school discussions. It has relevance for teachers and head-teachers in training, researchers in special education as well as for those who are interested in differentiated instruction and the integration of digital devices.
The argument raised in this article stems from the analytical distinction between summative and formative assessment. While summative assessment demarks a measurable fixation of the student’s knowledge level at a given point in time, formative assessment instead aims to propel the learning process. Formative assessment becomes particularly manifested in the educational moment of supervised essay writing. Continuous and flexible feedback is vital to the art of supervising. This practice of formative assessment is, in turn, key to the student’s possibilities for deep learning. A fruitful formula for formative assessment and deep learning is to establish a horizontal relationship between supervisor and student, what Olga Dysthe has called the partnership model. This partnership relation is, as argued in this article, endangered by the examination practice’s constant insertion of verticality into the student-teacher relationship. By limiting relational horizontality, the examination locks the pedagogical potential that is naturally embedded in the relational process of essay writing.
I den här artikeln beskrivs och diskuteras en empirisk studie där gymnasieelever diskuterar olika förklaringsmodeller kring ämnesområdet kropp och hälsa. Syftet har varit att utvärdera och analysera elevernas användning av begreppen tillförlitlighet och trovärdighet i förhållande till såväl vetenskapliga som icke-vetenskapliga förklaringsmodeller. Vi har analyserat elevernas användning av olika epistemologiska resurser i argumentativa situationer. Analysen ledde fram till att eleverna använde fyra olika typer av epistemologiska resurser; relativistiska, normativa, auktoritativa och vetenskapliga. Resultaten visar att samma elev kan använda olika epistemologiska resurser vid olika tillfällen. Vi anser att vårt teoretiska ramverk som utgår från epistemologiska resurser kan bidra till att förstå hur individer använder olika förklaringsmodeller i olika sammanhang.
The aim of this article is to contribute with knowledge of how games are regarded as stories. Based on a discourse analysis of game reviews from the years 1999, 2009 and 2019 in a specialized computer games magazine, Svenska PCGamer, the article distinguishes between four discourses on games. These focus on, respectively, visual design, intrigue and interactivity, text analysis and the experience of gaming. The analysis shows that, in the period, the discourses shift to regarding games increasingly as an aesthetic experience akin to reading fiction and watching films. However, specific aspects, such as interactivity and genre, distinguish the phenomenon of gaming from other mediations of fiction. The article presents these findings and discusses them from an education perspective, where games can serve as a complement to printed fiction, movies and other fictional texts in Swedish L1.
Artikeln behandlar användningen av dystopisk litteratur för ungdomar i engelskämnet i Norge och kopplar detta till det tvärvetenskapliga temat demokrati och medborgarskap. Detta tema är centralt i den nyligen reviderade läroplanen i Norge och är en viktig del av skolans mandat – utbildning måste säkerställa att eleverna är redo att delta i ett demokratiskt samhälle med kunskap, färdigheter och kritiskt tänkande när de har avslutat gymnasiet. När man arbetar med litteratur på detta sätt är det möjligt att integrera kompetens och bildning i klassrummet: specifik kunskap och kompetensutveckling kopplas till en värdebaserad utbildning som syftar till att hjälpa studenter i deras individuella utveckling.
Den här artikeln handlar om mellanstadieelevers erfarenheter av nationella prov i SO- och NO-ämnen i årskurs 6. Särskilt fokus riktas i artikeln mot hur ansvaret för förberedelser och resultat av nationella prov beskrivs av eleverna. Resultatdokumentation på mellanstadiet är inget nytt i sig, men återinförandet av betyg och fler nationella prov menar vi får konsekvenser för hur kunskapsbedömningar görs och i förlängningen för hur elever formas och formar sig som skolelever. Artikeln är baserad på data från sex gruppintervjuer med elever från tre olika skolor. Eleverna berättar om en ökad press såväl hemma som i skolan att prestera goda resultat på proven, men i elevernas berättelser så framstår de ofta som ensamt ansvariga för såväl förberedelser som resultat. Studien ger en bild av fragmentariska förberedelser i skolan inför proven och av elever som förväntas, och själva vill, visa goda resultat. Eleverna framträder som i huvudsak hänvisade till varandra, stressade, ibland lurade, men också nöjda i sina berättelser om sina erfarenheter av proven. Elevernas identitetsformering beskrivs här som effekter av hur policyn med nationella prov ‘görs’ (is enacted) i lokala praktiker. Detta ses i ljuset av förändringar i utbildningssystemet i riktning mot ett starkare intresse för elevers resultat i ett recentraliserat och konkurrensutsatt skolsystem.
The world’s largest user generated wiki encyclopedia Wikipedia attracts a lot of users – not only as readers, but as contributors. A global survey has shown that the contributors’ motives often are related to aspects of sharing knowledge (Glott, Schmidt & Ghosh 2010). This suggests that Wikipedia is a place for learning and that the engagement can lead to competencies that become part of the individuals’ lifelong learning. The intention here is to show how Wikipedia might work as a context for learning and how the engagement on Wikipedia becomes part of the individuals’ lifelong learning. Examples from three Featured Articles on the Swedish Wikipedia – the articles Fri vilja [Free will], Fjäll [Fell] and Edgar Allan Poe –are used as the point of departure for a reasoning about learning with Wikipedia. Concepts from Ramsden’s (2003) model of the logical structure of approaches to learning are applied to describe Wikipedia as a learning context. The model presents two main approaches to learning: one dealing with the structure (how), and the other with the search for meaning (what). Originally, this model focused on students’ approaches to learning, but in this case, it works as a source of inspiration. Further aspects to be taken into consideration here: the users’ collaboration and co-production, different roles and actions, and the articles’ development.
The purpose of this article is to investigate how collaborative research can be used to develop early interventions in preschool. The research has been conducted together with preschool heads, special educators and social educators in a small municipality. The initiative was taken by municipal managers. After the development work had started, researchers were invited to a collaborative research process that lasted for about two years. Data was collected through process meetings, critical incidents, interviews, surveys and group discussions.
The process is characterized by phases where different staff groups were involved. Preschool teachers both stressed their own skills and also emphasized the importance of continuous support and guidance from special and social educators. Managers emphasized their increased overall skills about early interventions. Collaborative research has helped to structure, quality assure and anchor focus on early interventions. It has been a tool for highlighting the issue from different perspectives, when staff and researchers work together. It has helped paying attention to important aspects, suggesting new directions when needed. In the research process, social and special educators have received valuable support in their new roles in the preschool environment. When the research process was completed, permanent support for early interventions was implemented.
Imaginative literature in Swedish schools is beset by a conflict of goals. It is initially and generally presented in the curriculum as a resource for personal development, insights into the mindset of other people, and the strengthening of democratic values. However, going further in the official school guidelines this literary orientation is supplanted by an instrumental orientation emphasizing technical reading skills, linguistic proficiency, fact-finding and precise grading criteria. This conflict has been subject to considerable research on a theoretical level. The reading project presented here, by contrast, studies an exceptionally large corpus of 25 teachers and 1 200 students empirically to see how they react to the conflict of goals in five major areas: Legitimation, Learning, Gender and age, Teaching and Valorisation. In this paper, the project design is grounded, presented and combined with a discussion about the relevance – and potential – of literary fiction based on some preliminary results.
In 2018, the curricula and subject syllabi in Sweden were revised, the aim being to increase the digital competence of pupils. This article presents a study of how vocational student teachers at upper-secondary school legitimise the use of digital tools in their lesson planning as a means to support the learning of pupils. This provides knowledge of what vocational student teachers view as central to their teaching. Using Theo van Leeuwen's legitimation analysis, the lesson plans of 25 vocational student teachers, as well as eight ethnographic interviews, were analysed. In legitimation, the vocational student teacher argues using references or actions that need to be performed, or not performed. The task of the argument is to justify language or actions so that they are acceptable to others. Legitimation also makes visible the relationships and responsibilities between different parties. The results show that vocational student teachers legitimise their choices to authority. The lesson plans are based on the relationship of vocational student teachers to their own actions in teaching. However, how pupils develop their learning and digital competence is not affected. The digital tools as resources in teaching are legitimised with reference to speed, agility, control, and overview. The use of digital tools links strongly to writing, which affects the educational environment and professional life.
The aim of the present article is to analyse and discuss how teachers speak about goals and content of food literacy in teaching about food and health in Home Economics (HE). More specific, what different constructions of food literacy can be identified in teachers' talk about the drive and content of teaching food and health? Six focus group discussions were held in four different cities with a total of 27 HE teachers. Different visions of scientific literacy are used as a framework to analyse and discuss food literacy in education. Three different categories were identified, including different visions regarding students’ opportunities to develop awareness of how food influences health. Food literacy in HE includes disciplinary learning of specific knowledge and skills. Teaching HE is a multidisciplinary task, in which a number of disciplines are involved. The article examines what each vision refers to and what overarching purpose is expected to motivate a student to learn and to develop in a specific direction. Each vision therefore provides altered constructions of educational orientation in terms of meaning-making
The topic of the present article is observed teaching practice in Physical Education in a Norwegian context. The research question is: What characterizes Physical Education sessions, in the form of lesson signatures? The term lesson signature is used to refer to an aggregate number of observed and completed education sessions that are intended to reveal specific “outer” patterns. The empirical data on which the article is based was obtained from the project Kvalitet i opplæringa (KIO) in primary and secondary school. Momentary time sampling was used as the observation method, and an observation form with fixed categories was employed. The signatures generally show that the teaching sessions are divided into professional time (75 %) and non-professional time (25 %). The students are actually physically active for between 15-35 minutes, which is just under half of the session. The signature also reveals that the teaching is characterized by teacher-centered, full-class teaching and instruction.
En recension av: Henriksson Persson, A. (2018). Demokratiuppdrag och demokratiska arbetsformer i grundskolans mellanår: En demokratididaktisk studie med fokus på SO-undervisning. Licentiatuppsats. Karlstad: Karlstads Universitet.
In this study, we follow a student teacher who has been given the assignment in her first school placement to work with August Strindberg’s A Dream Play, in Year 2 of upper secondary school. The class she is teaching consists of 22 boys in the technology programme. Her challenge, as she herself expresses it, is how to get the pupils to experience A Dream Play as a meaningful text that concerns them and their lives. The theoretical frame of reference consists of theory of literature instruction, and a model of investigative-oriented literature instruction is used in the analysis to show how the teacher student carries out instruction and challenges the pupils to use different kinds of interpretative strategies. The results indicate that this instruction involves a number of features that characterise such literature teaching practice, for example, by giving pupils opportunities to connect their own experiences to Strindberg’s play, and having them use their own interpretations and experiences to create a video. In this way, the instruction becomes situated in the classroom context and has an aesthetic and creative dimension. The pupils are also challenged to do a close reading of an excerpt and try out their interpretations in dialogue with their classmates.
I samtida och framtida lärkulturer beskrivs studenter ofta som självreglerande, självständiga och kunskapssökande studenter med världen som sitt redskap för kunskapsutveckling. Ur många aspekter skiljer sig den bilden från senaste års debatt i Sverige om studenter med försämrade förkunskaper och låg motivation för studier. Denna studie avser att istället lyfta diskussionen till att handla om studenters handlingar och hur dessa kan påverkas av mötet med en undervisningsmiljö. I denna studie analyseras och diskuteras lärkulturer som studenters kommunikativa handlingar vid två längre utbildningsprogram. Handlingarna kategoriserades utifrån människors livsattityder och förhållningssätt i mötet med en utbildningsmiljö. Studenters handlingar och strategier bör inte betraktas som fixa identiteter eller grupperingar utan bör ses som reaktioner på mötet med en lärmiljö. Frågan aktualiserar syftet med högre utbildning samt ansvar för utformningen av lärmiljöer som bättre stödjer studenters meningsskapande och måluppfyllelse.
Assessments for student influence? The aim of this article is to analyse the relation between assessments and student influence. This is done with examples from ethnographic material, with classroom observations and student and teacher interviews, by analysing two teachers’ pedagogic practices. The teachers were chosen since one teacher, in the interviews with the students, were mentioned as an example of having good pedagogic practice while the other as an example of the opposite. This was interesting because the first teacher left few possibilities to exercise influence while the other emphasised the students to exercise influence quite often. However, in none of the teachers’ pedagogic practices students’ own actions to influence were common. Here the teachers’ assessments seemed to be of great importance. Both teachers examined facts, and the most rational response from the students then were to ask the teachers to stand by the white board telling them what to learn for exams, rather than trying to influence the content of the pedagogic practice with contents of their own interest. The analysis demonstrate that if the students experience examinations as fixed, their motivation to influence the pedagogic practices seems demolished, regardless teachers intentions.
Denna studie undersöker genomförandet (Ball et al., 2012) av spansk ämnesspecifik lärarfortbild-ning i det svenska skolsystemet. Med utgångspunkt i policytexter på nationell nivå undersöks två olika typer av data från en pendlingskommun nära en storstad: texter på kommunalnivå och skol-nivå samt intervjuer med lärare i ämnet. Materialet analyseras med hjälp av intertextualitetsanalys för att förstå översättningsprocesser till texter och praxis. Studien visar att spansk ämnesspecifik fortbildning är frånvarande på skolorna när det gäller översättningsprocesser till texter. Med undantag för en fristående skola nämns ämnesspecifik fortbildning överhuvudtaget inte i texterna. När det gäller översättningsprocesser till praxis visar studien för övrigt att det är enstaka lärarinsatser som ger upphov till fortbildningstillfällen, i många fall på lärarnas fritid. Analysen av översättnings-processer till texter ger inte tillräckligt med information om ämnesspecifik fortbildning. Utifrån detta faktum kan man dra slutsatsen att en modell som kombinerar analysen av dessa processer med analysen av översättningsprocesser till praxis samt jämför båda ger fördjupad information om ämnesspecifik fortbildning. Detta tyder på att analysmodellen med fördel kan tillämpas för att studera andra kommuner och även andra ämnen för att bättre förstå genomförandet av ämnes-specifik fortbildning.
Practice-based research (praktiknära forskning) is a concept frequently used in educational sciences to focus on research relevant for teachers and their practices. In this paper it is argued that critical action research together with the theory of practice architectures can be a successful combination for both teachers and researchers to gain a deeper understanding about how to change practices by understanding the practice and where it takes place. Critical action research should be understood and conducted in three broad realms that seek to develop aspects of practice, develop understandings of practice, and develop understandings of the site where it takes place. Asking oneself critical and provocative questions about these dimensions of practice in the company of others, challenges practitioners to change existing ways of working in the here-and-now. Through the lens of the theory of practice architectures, analyses can help teachers to be aware of what enables and constrains practices. The conclusion of the paper is that action research together with the theory of practice architectures, in line with other models of practice-based research allows more focussed study of learning and understanding than it does on the right method for teaching.
Grundlärarutbildningen för årskurs F-3 har i uppdrag att förbereda blivande lärare så att de förmår att stödja barns kommunikation och lärande genom språk och olika modaliteter. Denna artikel fokuserar på hur dessa lärarstudenter kan stöttas att utveckla kunskap kring de teoretiska begreppen literacy och multimodalitet så att de kan utgå från och ta stöd från denna kunskap när de planerar för och genomför klassrumsundervisning i årskurs F-3. Den metodologiska designen tar avstamp i en enkätundersökning, vilken visade att en majoritet inte alls kände till eller var osäkra på betydelsen av begreppet multimodalitet såväl som begreppet literacy. Den här artikeln fokuserar på de resultat som framkommer från de fyra fokusgruppintervjuer som genomfördes med 15 av studenterna ett halvår efter enkätundersökningen. Analysen av intervjuerna belyser vikten av a) undervisnings-moment som ger utrymme för lärarstudenters eget reflekterande om literacy och multimodalitet, b) deras eget praktiska ‘görande’ när det gäller hur deras förståelse av begreppen kan omsättas i klassrumspraktiker i F-3 med utgångspunkt i olika ämnesinnehåll. Med utgångspunkt i resultatet, menar vi att det är väsentligt att lärarutbildningen tillvaratar lärarstudenters praktiska och situerade lärande genom workshops och seminarier. Resultatet belyser vidare behovet av en starkare konsensus inom lärarutbildningen gällande den avgörande roll som olika modaliteter för kommunikation spelar för barns lärande.
Artikkelen tar utgangspunkt i spenningen mellom kunnskap (knowledge) og danning (formation) og utvikler dette som religionsdidaktisk problematikk ved hjelp av impulser fra engelsk religionsdidaktikk som tale rom å lære om og å lære av religion i skolen. Michael Grimmitt, Andrew Wright og Robert Jackson diskuteres i forhold til hverandre og det påpekeshvordan de alle fører den religionsdidaktiske diskusjon i nær kontakt med bredere tankestrømmer i pedagogisk og filosofisk tenkning. Denne diskusjon føres videre inn i nordiskreligionsdidaktisk debatt via Bråtens komparative studie og ved hjelp av Berndt Gustavssons danningsteoretiske perspektiver. Her vektlegges samspillet mellom ulike dimensjoner i danningen og det demonstreres hvordan dette kan bidra til å fange inn nyere forskningsbidrag i religionsdidaktikken. Konklusjonen er at fagdidaktisk debatt og forskning tjener på å blisett i lys av mer allmenpedagogiske perspektiver og at den kan bidra til utdyping av denallmenpedagogiske debatt om skolens innhold og mål.
The same day as the invasion of Ukraine started, the two biggest TVnews channels in Sweden and the prime minister pointed out the problem with source criticism of media and that it is difficult to know what a reliable source is and why it is very important to be critical (SVT, 2022; TV4, 2022). This article dwells on source criticism in mainly digital media within the school subject of civics, both as a problematizing text and as a discussion. The discussion has its basis in two studies. One is a study from the Swedish Schools Inspectorate that originates from an audit of the teaching of source criticism within civics classes, mainly in regards to digital media and where there is a criticism towards the content and teaching of the subject. The other study is a study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that was published in May 2021. It is a PISA study where it was noted that 15 year old pupils all over the world had difficulties in sorting facts from opinions in digital media. The Nordic Countries were ranked high, despite only around 50 percent of the pupils managing to differ between fact and opinion. The two studies are then brought up in conjunction with previous research, which mainly focuses on the teaching of source criticism within civic classes and the mediatization process that is ongoing in society, and which forms the basis for the discussion. Based on the problematization it is evident that there is a strong need to increase the knowledge of media and information among pupils, if they are to be brought up as citizens in a democracy. The three main questions are therefore, what kind of MIL do the pupils have and do the teachers in the schools have the opportunity to further their education to a required level and is it reasonable that student teachers in the subjects they are training for should also have time to educate themselves sufficiently in Media and information literacy to be able to strengthen the pupils MIK?
In large parts of the world Internet is used on a daily basis, whereas in others many people don’t have access to the required technology. This inequality in Internet access is usually referred to as the ”digital divide”. In this study we draw attention to marginalized voices in relation to this divide. Our aim has been to gain an understanding of the perspectives on, and experiences of, Internet among organized women in Ecuador, a country where very few have access. The study is based on interviews with eight women, organized within the women’s movement. Results show that their main purpose in using Internet is to communicate, primarily with international organizations, and to find inspiration from other distant women’s groups. The limited access leads to frustration, since the women experience that they, compared to their international counterparts, have not the resources to utilize the potential of the Internet. They also share a vision for the future where more women are included in the network society.
This study explores re-creation processes, through transmedia storytelling, that are made visible in the Swedish TV-programme Helt lyriskt (2018), where music artists transmediate Swedish poems into songs. The aim is to analyse, through a close-reading method, two episodes of Helt lyriskt in order to discuss how processes of transmedia storytelling make literary analyses visible and accessible to the general public. The analysis shows that the episodes employ pedagogical strategies to encourage the audience to partake in, and learn about, poetry and how to conduct literary analyses. One strategy is to illuminate the artists’ interpretation and analysis processes. Thus, the audience experiences the textual and musical adaptations that the artist Molly Sandén makes in her re-creation of Edith Södergran’s “Vierge moderne” (1916), in which she transfers the main theme of the poem, the early twentieth-century modern woman, to a song intended for the modern woman of today. Another strategy, brought up in relation to Annika Norlin’s re-creation of Karin Boye’s “I rörelse” (1927), is to question what liberties may be taken with a literary work, when she adopts the main theme of the poem, to always strive for more, by adding self-composed lyrics to the poem.
This study explored how scientifically based working methods were represented in upper-secondary school diploma projects and how these texts can be understood in relation to preparation for higher education. The empirical material was collected from three upper-secondary schools in Sweden. The data consisted of 54 upper-secondary school diploma projects with a pass grade. The theoretical framework drew on new literacy studies and on a design theoretical perspective. Initially, the diploma projects was examined on the basis of six science-specific criteria. Subsequently the projects were analysed to determine which representations of scientifically based working methods were made salient within the composition of the texts. The result showed that purpose formulations and questions, delimitations and source criticism and presentation of results with the support of different types of source texts were represented in the diploma projects. Scientific quality in the form of theoretical connection, theory and method knowledge and critical thinking was less prominent in upper-secondary school diploma projects.
The position of sports in relation to the Nordic Bildung tradition (e.g. Folkbildning) has historically been contested. Mainly so because sports were associated with competition and elite thinking in ways that contrast popular educational ideals. The purpose of this study is therefore to analyze what distinguishes the contemporary sports movement in terms of Folkbildning in relation to the pedagogical dilemmas and perspectives expressed by actors within the sports movement. The background to the study is a project initiated by the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF) after internal discussions about Folkbildning in their study association SISU Idrottsutbildarna during 2020. Focusgroup interviews with 4-7 participants were conducted using Zoom and included seven of SISU’s 19 local districts (altogether 40 informants). All interviews were around one hour long and were recorded and transcribed. The informants were all active in the study association SISU. The results are presented through the following categories: Folkbildning as an association pedagogy and nursery school, Folkbildning as a pedagogical idea beyond the measurable and Folkbildning as a universal pedagogical method. Overall, the study concludes how perceptions of Folkbildning within the sports movement risks being reduced to a method for solving social problems. At the same time, a unique association pedagogy emerges in the material, permeated with holistic educational ideals and where the sports movement on a more comprehensive and societal level contributes to important educational insights.
Äldres lärande är ett förhållandevis nytt delområde inom forsknings- och policyfältet om livslångt lärande. Syftet med artikeln är att beskriva och diskutera de centrala rationaliteter– förklaringar och bevekelsegrunder – som kan identifieras bakom denna utveckling och etablering av äldres lärande som ett eget område. Artikeln tar sin utgångspunkt i de demografiska förändringar som pekar mot att vi närmar oss ett samhälle där en tredjedel av befolkningen kommer att bestå av pensionärer och vilka konsekvenser detta kan få förd en teoretiska utvecklingen och forskningen om livslångt lärande. Äldres lärande har också fått ökad politisk uppmärksamhet och denna kan antas bli påverkad av de studier som visar att lärande har positiva effekter på en rad områden, inte minst för de äldres upplevelse av välmående. Artikeln tar upp flera sociala teorier och livsloppsperspektiv som har fått en mötesplats inom gerontologin och forskningsfältet vuxnas lärande. Begrepp som produktiv, aktiv, vällyckat och medvetet åldrande är centrala i dessa teorier och bildar utgångspunkt för de rationaliteter som kan härledas ur teorierna. Artikeln är en sammanställning av nordisk och internationell litteratur inom såväl gerontologi som vuxnas lärande.