The Harry Potter novels written by J.K Rowling have been popular since the first book was released in 1997. Rowling has written seven books about Harry and the first four together with the Swedish National Agency for Education constitute the primary sources of this essay. The essay discusses how these supposed children’s’ novels can be used to construct a lesson for students in the Swedish upper secondary classroom. The lesson plan created is based on the analysis of the possible themes of the novels using Postcolonial and Marxist critical perspectives. The theories are used to show how discrimination and suppression can be seen in the Harry Potter novels. Previous research has shown that the occurrences in Harry Potter is similar to the occurrences happening in the real world and the lesson plan is created to compare these fictional happenings with the ones happening in our real society. The lesson plan constructed consequently focuses on how the Harry Potter novels can be used to discuss discrimination and suppression takes place in English speaking societies as required by the rules and guidelines provided by the Swedish National Agency for Education.

This study reports on technical program students’ approaches to solving open-ended problems during an introductory physics course in a Swedish upper secondary school. The study used case study methodology to investigate students’ activities in outdoor context. The findings come from observations and audio recordings of students solving three different open-ended problems. The results showed that the students had difficulties to formulate ‘solvable’ problems and to perform necessary ‘at home’ preparations to be able to solve the problems. Furthermore, students preferred to use a single solution method even though different solution methods were possible. This behavior can be attributed to their previous experience of solving practical problems in physics education. The result also indicated need of different levels of guidance to help the students in their problem solving process. A tentative conclusion can be made that open-ended problems have an educational potential for developing students’ understanding of scientific inquiry and problem solving strategies in the process of performing practical outdoor activities.

abstract: Social-emotional competence (SEC), or effectiveness of social interaction, plays a central role in children’s health and well-being. The three goals of the current study were to describe the development of SEC during a preschool year; identify an appropriate factor structure for observed teacher-child interactions; and predict SEC growth from children’s characteristics (emotional competence, language risk, gender, and race/ethnicity), teacher-child relationship quality, and classroom characteristics (relational climate, observed teacher-child interaction quality, and curriculum). Children’s social competence, anger/aggression, effortful control, and emotion knowledge (N =822) was assessed at three time points during a preschool year via teachers’ reports and behavioral assessments. In the fall, teachers reported the quality of their relationships with children and teacher-child interactions were observed in classrooms. Aim 1 results indicated that children exhibited linear increases in effortful control and social competence and stability in anger/aggression, although social competence was the only construct where linear change varied among children. Due to a lack of longitudinal measurement invariance, growth in latent emotion knowledge could not be evaluated. Several gender and racial/ethnic differences were identified in SEC intercepts, but not the social competence slope. Language risk and impulsivity were consistent predictors of SEC intercepts. Aim 2 results indicated that teacher-child interaction quality was primarily unidimensional. Finally, results from aim 3 indicated that children’s emotional competence at the beginning of the year and classroom relational climate were predictive of growth in social competence. End-of-year social competence levels were associated with supportive teacher-child relationship quality (particularly among girls), high emotional competence, low language risk, and supportive classroom relational climate; girls had higher social competence than boys. Although not directly associated with social competence, observed teacher-child interaction quality was conditionally predictive of the social competence in the context of supportive teacher-child relationships. Further, when observed teacher-child interaction quality was average or high, children with low emotional competence exhibited greater growth in social competence than children with high emotional competence. The results inform our understanding of SEC development, the nature of teacher-child interactions in preschool classrooms serving high-risk populations, and potential school-based mechanisms for promoting social competence. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2020

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This study concerns teachers' conceptions of what it means to be pedagogical. The work has itsstarting point in van Manen's work concerning pedagogical tact. By using this concept vanManen tries to describe teachers' tacit and intuitive skills to decide what to do or what not to do in any given situation. This study is based largely on the assumption that van Marten's concept is too narrow and perhaps invalid in certain contexts. The study was conducted as a phenomenographical study with the help of video-stimulated-recall-interviews. Four aspects of the phenomena were identified:: The pedagogical relation: this aspect is constructed by four qualitatively different conceptions: parent-like, friend-like, manager-like and partner-like. The pedagogical control: this aspect is also constructed using four conceptions: as a question of finesse, negotiation, organisation and as a question of rules of the game. The pedagogical teaching: here the aspect consists of three conceptions: to transmit know-ledge, to make children work and to help children learn. The pedagogical ways of coping with dilemmas: the last aspect is made up by three conceptions: situational, principle and methodological. Different types of dilemmas occur according to whether the classroom is organised as collective teaching or individualised teaching. The results show that the phenomena being pedagogical can only be partly understood throughthe concept pedagogical tact. Further, the understanding of the phenomenon seems to be dependent on how the classroom is organised. Being pedagogical can therefore be seen as complex and as contextually dependent. It is influenced not only by cultural and historical factors but also on the type of activities undertaken.

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The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS, LaParo, Pianta, & Stuhlman, 2004) assesses quality of teacher social and instructional interactions with children, and classroom management and productivity. Prior research indicated low quality of feedback scores in programs serving low-income children (Early et al., 2005). The purpose of this study was to compare the quantity and quality of managing interaction utterances (i.e. a type of feedback) provided by Head Start teachers (N = 8) in two classroom contexts. Video-recorded book-reading and 20-minute center-time sessions in the fall and spring of a school year were used to assess managing interaction utterances in structured (book-reading) and unstructured (center-time) contexts. A coding system was developed to classify managing interaction utterances by statement type. Statements were coded as “do” commands, “don’t” commands, negative comments, general praise (good job), or labeled praise (Good job sharing your toys). Command utterances were also coded for purpose as managing behaviors (not directly related to academic learning) or teaching behaviors (guide child in academic learning). Results indicated there was a higher quantity of managing interaction utterances in center time than book reading. In addition, there was a higher quality of managing interaction utterances in center time. This finding was demonstrated through a greater rpm of “do” commands, general praise, and overall developmentally appropriate statements (“do” commands, general praise, and labeled praise) in center time than book reading. Analyses of purpose revealed center time commands were used to manage and teach the children, whereas in book reading commands only had a managing function; however, this trend failed to reach significance. The differences in quantity and quality of classroom management statements across contexts indicate within-group variation of instruction as a function of context. Thus, teachers may benefit from context-specific training sessions.