Introduction. We investigated how librarians viewed childhood, children’s participation and their own profes- sional role in relation to these two topics. Recently the Convention on the Rights of the Child became law in Sweden, and we explored the possible effects on the library professional’s role in comparison to a country where little has been done in regard to children’s rights during the past few years. Method. Qualitative interviews were conducted in Sweden and in England. The empirical data consisted of tran- scriptions and note-taking from four interviews conducted in each country. In total we interviewed eight librarians working with children. Analysis. We carried out a qualitative analysis of the empirical data by a basic thematic approach. The analysis consisted of two separate parts - based on the data from Sweden and England respectively - leading up to a final joint discussion and comparison of our results. Results. There was a pattern of viewing the child more often as “becoming” in England. When the child was viewed as “being” in England this was linked to a norm of children feeling safe, happy and playful. The analysis showed that formal training and awareness of children’s rights to participate were greater amongst the Swedish librarians. Still, children were not actively involved in the planning of events at the library. Conclusion. The views conveyed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child is now part of the Swedish librari- ans’ professional role with an emphasis on the right of participation. In the case of English librarians, certain aspects of the convention are important, although the need for children’s participation seems to have been set aside in favor of children’s feeling of safety. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The use of children’s literature in the English as a Second language (ESL) classroom is a widely used teaching method. This study aims to find research relating to the incorporation of children’s literature in the lower elementary English as a secondlanguage classroom. The main questions are how children’s literature can be used in the classroom and what potential benefits it has. A systematic literature review was carried out and research from six studies was included. The included studies, analyzed in this thesis, involved children aged 6-9, who are learning a second language. The results reveal multiple benefits with the use of children’s literature in the lower elementary ESL classroom, such as vocabulary gains, improved speaking and listening skills, increased motivation and better pronunciation. The results also present a few suggestions on how to incorporate the literature in the classroom, where reading aloud to the students appears to be the most common practice. It also appears common to have post-reading sessions that include discussions about what has been read. / <p>Engelska</p>

This study investigates how primary school teachers of grades F-3 pupils in a number of sample schools in Sweden use children’s literature and other methods to enhance their teaching of English. The study explores the attitudes of these teachers’ to using English children’s literature as a teaching tool to promote language development in their pupils, focusing on vocabulary. An empirical questionnaire study was carried out including a total of twenty-three respondents from seven schools in a Stockholm suburb. The respondents are all working teachers with experience of teaching English to young learners, particularly in grades F-3. This study contributes with new knowledge about the often-recommended use of children’s literature as a method for teaching English to young learners, connecting international research with empirical data from the Swedish context. While the results suggest that the majority of the respondents are positive to using children’s literature in their teaching and regularly do so, many of them feel that it is somewhat difficult to find relevant materials to plan, implement and evaluate lessons within the allocated time-frame. Based on these results, further research about how to create more effective ways of using children’s literature as a method for English vocabulary teaching in Swedish schools is recommended.

In South Africa, alternative care solutions such as foster homes, child-headed households, placements with relatives and Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs), are under pressure to provide for the large numbers of children who need care. Child and Youth Care Centres include facilities such as children’s homes, places of safety, secure care facilities and schools of industry or reform schools. South African legislation offers guidelines towards the fulfilment of children’s needs in CYCCs by providing them with Children’s rights. Unfortunately, not only is literature on children living in CYCCs limited both internationally and locally, existing literature regarding children’s care in CYCCs in South Africa points towards a gap between legislative guidelines and practice of care provision. For example, apparently, children in CYCCs are not afforded opportunities to voice their opinions, and many CYCCs in South Africa are not legally registered. As a result, an obvious indication of the care and interaction taking place between caregivers and children in CYCCs is not available. This inductive, qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the views of children living in Child and Youth Care Centres in the Vaal Triangle area, Gauteng, South Africa, in an effort to gain a better understanding of children’s perceptions of their interactions with their caregivers. One-on-one interviews with children from three CYCCs were conducted. Interviews were voice-recorded and later transcribed. While being interviewed, participants were asked to take part in a role-play exercise and to make a collage of their interaction and relationship with their caregivers. Data was analysed using Creswell’s spiral of analysis and Thematic Analysis by Braun and Clarke. The findings revealed four themes, which encompassed the perceptions of interactions with caregiver: 1. Daily activity with caregiver; 2. Special time with caregiver; 3. Behaviour management strategies; and, 4. Relationship with caregiver. The key findings indicate the valuable insight that was gained by affording children in CYCCs the opportunity to voice their perceptions on their interactions with their caregivers. This not only empowers children and fulfils their right to be heard, but also provides a better understanding of whether needs are being met or not. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Children’s rights to participate in decision-making in matters which impact them directly, is a topic leading to increased research since the 1990s. Today, most countries, including South Africa, have included the right of children to participate and to be heard, in their legislation. In reality, however, there is still a big gap in the implementation of children’s right to participation. Home schooling as an alternative to mainstream schooling has also gained momentum in South Africa with an estimated 50 000 – 75 000 children being home schooled. When children are home schooled, the families spend more time together than children who spend 6-8 hours per day attending a local school. Decisions with regard to curriculum, subjects and social interaction which would normally be the responsibility of the school, now become the responsibility of the parents. Children in the adolescent life phase have an increasing need to gain independence from their parents. In the home school context, the fact that the parents are also the teachers, could lead to increased frustration and conflict between adolescents and parents. In this context it would therefore be important that the adolescents should be allowed to participate in decisions pertaining to their schooling. This study focused on exploring adolescents’ participation in decision-making in the home schooling context. This research is important as little is known about the perceptions of adolescents and their parents about participation in the home schooling context. The research took place in the Western Cape. Eight families, which consisted of 21 participants, were involved in the study. Data saturation determined the sample size. The participants were selected from specific home schooling forums and had to reside in the Western Cape. Semi-structured interviews were held with all the participants and an interview guide was used for consistency. Different themes were identified by using thematic analysis. The study found that families have different views about the adolescents’ role in participation. It varied from adolescents who were allowed to initiate change to adolescents not allowed to participate in decisions at all. In the families where the adolescents were allowed limited or no participation in decision-making, the adolescents indicated that they understood that their parents had their best interest at heart, although they felt that they (the adolescents) would welcome a bigger say. It is recommended that home schooling families be made aware of the need of their adolescent children to be allowed to participate more in decision-making in the home schooling context on all levels, ranging from educational matters to social interaction. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In South Africa, alternative care solutions such as foster homes, child-headed households, placements with relatives and Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs), are under pressure to provide for the large numbers of children who need care. Child and Youth Care Centres include facilities such as children’s homes, places of safety, secure care facilities and schools of industry or reform schools. South African legislation offers guidelines towards the fulfilment of children’s needs in CYCCs by providing them with Children’s rights. Unfortunately, not only is literature on children living in CYCCs limited both internationally and locally, existing literature regarding children’s care in CYCCs in South Africa points towards a gap between legislative guidelines and practice of care provision. For example, apparently, children in CYCCs are not afforded opportunities to voice their opinions, and many CYCCs in South Africa are not legally registered. As a result, an obvious indication of the care and interaction taking place between caregivers and children in CYCCs is not available. This inductive, qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the views of children living in Child and Youth Care Centres in the Vaal Triangle area, Gauteng, South Africa, in an effort to gain a better understanding of children’s perceptions of their interactions with their caregivers. One-on-one interviews with children from three CYCCs were conducted. Interviews were voice-recorded and later transcribed. While being interviewed, participants were asked to take part in a role-play exercise and to make a collage of their interaction and relationship with their caregivers. Data was analysed using Creswell’s spiral of analysis and Thematic Analysis by Braun and Clarke. The findings revealed four themes, which encompassed the perceptions of interactions with caregiver: 1. Daily activity with caregiver; 2. Special time with caregiver; 3. Behaviour management strategies; and, 4. Relationship with caregiver. The key findings indicate the valuable insight that was gained by affording children in CYCCs the opportunity to voice their perceptions on their interactions with their caregivers. This not only empowers children and fulfils their right to be heard, but also provides a better understanding of whether needs are being met or not. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Children’s rights to participate in decision-making in matters which impact them directly, is a topic leading to increased research since the 1990s. Today, most countries, including South Africa, have included the right of children to participate and to be heard, in their legislation. In reality, however, there is still a big gap in the implementation of children’s right to participation. Home schooling as an alternative to mainstream schooling has also gained momentum in South Africa with an estimated 50 000 – 75 000 children being home schooled. When children are home schooled, the families spend more time together than children who spend 6-8 hours per day attending a local school. Decisions with regard to curriculum, subjects and social interaction which would normally be the responsibility of the school, now become the responsibility of the parents. Children in the adolescent life phase have an increasing need to gain independence from their parents. In the home school context, the fact that the parents are also the teachers, could lead to increased frustration and conflict between adolescents and parents. In this context it would therefore be important that the adolescents should be allowed to participate in decisions pertaining to their schooling. This study focused on exploring adolescents’ participation in decision-making in the home schooling context. This research is important as little is known about the perceptions of adolescents and their parents about participation in the home schooling context. The research took place in the Western Cape. Eight families, which consisted of 21 participants, were involved in the study. Data saturation determined the sample size. The participants were selected from specific home schooling forums and had to reside in the Western Cape. Semi-structured interviews were held with all the participants and an interview guide was used for consistency. Different themes were identified by using thematic analysis. The study found that families have different views about the adolescents’ role in participation. It varied from adolescents who were allowed to initiate change to adolescents not allowed to participate in decisions at all. In the families where the adolescents were allowed limited or no participation in decision-making, the adolescents indicated that they understood that their parents had their best interest at heart, although they felt that they (the adolescents) would welcome a bigger say. It is recommended that home schooling families be made aware of the need of their adolescent children to be allowed to participate more in decision-making in the home schooling context on all levels, ranging from educational matters to social interaction. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This thesis examines the extent to which ‘Talk or Dialogue’ contributes to children’s cognitive and psychological development when it is experienced through technological devices. The work analyzes some of the sociocultural theories of children’s speech, cognitive learning, psychological functions, sociocultural learning context, dialogic teaching and learning approaches in the classroom, social interaction and the use of social tools. The theory of speech is built on the Vygotskian notion of language as the prime cultural and psychological tool for children’s learning development in a sociocultural environment. Lev S. Vygotsky emphasised that the development of cognitive processes in children includes thinking, reasoning and understanding of a conceptualised social interaction. These processes are core to children’s intellectual learning. Vygotsky and the neo-Vygotskians emphasised the use of Speech, Talk or Dialogue and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) concept in children’s learning development. In the UK, it was evident that the Talk teaching and learning approach (Mercer & Littleton, 2007) contributed effectively to children’s learning achievements. This approach reinforces Talk or Dialogue collaboratively in the classroom with the ZPD concept. The significance of the Talk teaching approach has encouraged this study to examine further children’s speech and the use of technological devices. Hence, a theoretical discourse methodology on children’s Talk or Dialogue was examined for the research outcomes. The aim is to devise a new teaching and learning approach that contributes to the Malaysian children’s intellectual development inside and outside the classroom through the use of Talk or Dialogue. As a result, a Dialogic framework is articulated based on four existing educational theories of children’s speech and learning. This framework is vital to contribute directly to the Malaysia Education Department Blueprint 2013-2025 in promoting children’s intellectual development. For that reason, two approaches are proposed which emphasise children’s psychological functions of perception, attention, sensory motor-operations and memory through the use of Talk and technological devices. These approaches accentuate the ZPD concept between the teachers and children for learning and activity games. This is the study’s contribution to new knowledge.

Brundibár, the children’s opera by Czech composer Hans Krása (1899–1944), is the story of two children who go to town to seek some milk to help their sick mother. When they arrive the children are bullied by the Brundibár, a mean adult who plays the organ grinder and takes the children’s money. To fight back against the overbearing Brundibár the children seek the help of the town’s young people—along with three fairy-tale animals—to make the town square a safe place again. The piece was performed in 1942 by the children of Prague’s Jewish orphanage, and then presented with child singers in the Terezín concentration camp 55 times during World War II. A performance of Brundibár was a central part of an International Red Cross visit to Terezín in 1944, and sections of the work were later included in a Nazi propaganda film. In 2003 a third version of work was produced with a new English adaptation of the text by Tony Kushner. The composer and many of the original performers were killed before the conclusion of the war; however, one survivor, Ela Weissberger, who performed the role of the Cat in the Terezín production, now lives in the United States and often visits productions to speak about her experiences and help contextualize the work. Brundibár remains a moving and powerful work of art, both as a children’s opera and as a symbol of resistance against the Nazi regime, but it presents many logistical and artistic challenges to directors and producers who may be interested in mounting a production. This project will provide some background on the work, including the circumstances of its creation and performance history. It will then lay out the work’s unique performance challenges and offer practical solutions to make the process of designing, rehearsing, and performing Brundibár more accessible and effective.

Jag har valt att studera hur valet av barnlitteratur ser ut på tre förskolor. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur barnlitteraturen kommer till förskolan. Den väg som jag inriktat mig på är pedagoger på förskolor som är verksamma som läsinspiratörer via biblioteket. Jag undersöker hur de påverkar urvalet av böcker som finns för barnen på förskolan. Genom att undersöka vägen som litteraturen tar innan den hamnar på förskolan vill jag synliggöra valet som biblioteket och pedagogerna gör av böcker och se hur anpassad litteratururvalet blir till barnen. Mitt resultat visar att samtliga läsinspiratörer uttryckte en vilja att erbjuda barnen ett anpassat bokurval men de menade samtidigt att kommunikationen mellan biblioteket och pedagogerna var relativt liten, vilket möjligen gör det svårt att anpassa bokurvalet till barnen. / I have studied how three preschools are choosing literature. The purpose of the study is to investigate how books come to the preschool. The path that I focus on is educators at the preschool which are acting as reading inspirers through the library. I investigate how they influence on selection of literature that is made available for children at the preschools. By examining the path that literature takes before it comes to the preschool. I want to make the libraries and educators selection process visible to understand how adapted the books becomes for the children. My results show that the educators expressed their willingness to choose good and adapted literature selections for the children, but in the same time they considered that communication between the library and the educators was relatively small, possible making it difficult to adapt literature selection for the children.