This study focuses on the material aspects of the wood and metal workshop, which is one out of two learning settings in the Sloyd subject. Sloyd is a compulsory school subject in Sweden, which includes textile, wood and metal work. Historically, wood and metal Sloyd has been dominated by male pupils and teachers. The purpose of the thesis is to describe and analyse how the materialized masculinity of the wood and metal workshop is embodied by the pupils during class. The study concerns 41 observed lessons in three different workshops, during the period of 2011-2013. Six groups have been ob- served and the observations have been complemented with individual interviews, group interviews and one video recording. The study is conducted from a gender perspective, which considers sociomaterial structures to be a part of a gender structure. Following Raewyn Connell, Yvonne Hirdman and others, the gender structure of the sociomaterial wood and metal workshop is brought to light. But the main focus lies on the embodied phenomena of the sociomaterial structure. This is applied through a hermeneutical phenomenological methodology, where the main analytical tools have been ”the corporeal turn” as presented by Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, ”the lived body” as Merleau-Ponty describes it, and Young’s interpretation of”situatedness” in feminist phenomenology. As regards the results, an overarching structuralistic analysis of pupils’ expectancies and be- haviours in the setting, along with historical documents, show that the wood and metal workshop holds a strong material classification in school. It is geographically peripheral and resembles the workshops of the industry outside school, rather than classrooms inside school. The workshop also has a strong inner classification, where the metal room is classified as the most masculine place in the workshop, and the painting room and the workbench are classified as being weak in masculinity. Analysis shows that the materiality close to the skin (caps, dirt, protection gear and garments) is embodied both as an ex- pression or a visual sign for others, but also as a tactile immanence or non- visual objectification of the body. Analysis also shows that the materiality in contact with the hand of- ten has an elongated form. The common use of elongated objects (wagging, fencing, poking, crafting) in the Sloyd groups are described as a consequence of historical views on masculine movements and transcendence by the founders of male (wood and metal) Sloyd. Furthermore, the processing of the common three-dimensional materials are analysed as "inside", as a non-visual kinetic-kinaesthetic experience that lessens the visual objectification of the body. Beyond the reach of the hand, the three- dimensional, silent and personal artefacts render specific intersubjective situations. The space of the workshop is considered performative, using the silent and three-dimensional objects as proposals of intersubjective situations and tactile-kinaesthetic turn-takings. Conclusively, the results are discussed in relation to concepts of individuality and corporeal meaning in the workshop, the concrete rather than abstract masculinity, and in relation to the well-used concept of mediated experience in creative subjects such as Sloyd. / Genusforskarskolan

Aktivitet som terapeutiskt medium har varit centralt för att utveckla arbetsterapiprofessionen genom att använda aktivitet som mål och medel. Arbetsterapi är grundat på att engagemang i aktivitet är nödvändigt för hälsa och välmående. Trots detta har mycket av professionsutvecklingen lett till interventioner som inte är aktivitetsbaserade. Basal Kroppskännedom™ (BK) och arbetsterapi har flera gemensamma grundantaganden. Vår kliniska erfarenhet visar möjligheter att använda BK-principerna inom arbetsterapi och vi ville undersöka andra arbetsterapeuters uppfattning om förut-sättningar och värde av att arbeta med BK-principerna för att stärka patienternas aktivitetsutförande. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med 11 informanter utifrån ett strategiskt urval. Intervju-materialet analyserades och bildade tre teman; Arbetsterapeutens kunnande och görande, Att jobba med sig själv – den mänskliga utvecklingsprocessen samt Hinder och möjligheter i organisationen. I relation till ergonomikunskaper uttrycker informanterna att BK-principerna ger ytterligare möjlig-heter att se, förstå och känna in patienten och åtgärda konkret i aktivitet. Aktiviteter bryts ner i delmoment där enkla, rytmiska rörelser hittas och patientens meningsfullhet fångas. Patienten känner och upplever aktivitetsutförandet i kroppen. Att använda sig själv som instrument beskrivs i resultatet som en förutsättning för att själv vara både i aktiviteten och i kontakten med patienten. Det stärker då möjligheten att utveckla den terapeutiska alliansen. / Activity as a therapeutic medium has been central to the development of the occupational therapy profession by using meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapy is founded on the commitment of activity as essential for health and wellbeing. Despite this, much of the profession has led to the development of interventions that are not activity-based. Basic Body Awareness Therapy (B-BAT) and occupational therapy have several common basic assumptions. Our clinical experience shows the potential of using the B-BAT-principles in occupational therapy. We wanted to explore other occupational therapists’ perceptions of conditions and the value of working with B-BAT-principles to strengthen patients' occupational performance. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 11 informants, strategically selected. The interview material was analyzed and formed three themes: The occupational therapists’ knowledge and performance, Working with self – the human development process, and The Obstacles and Opportunities in the organization. In relation to ergonomic knowledge, informants expressed the view that B-BAT-principles provide further opportunities to see, understand and comprehend patients and use activities as a part of their treatment. Activities are broken down into stages where simple, rhythmic movements are used to catch the meaningfulness. The patient feels and experiences occupational performance in the body. The results of the study describe the use of self as an instrument as a prerequisite for being both in activity and in contact with the patient. That strengthens the possibility of developing a therapeutic alliance.

Communication between the youngest preschool children is the focus of this essay, primarily on how the children communicate with each other, what they are communicating about and what meaning the communication holds for the children. The aim is to describe and understand communication that takes place in the regional life-world of the preschool between the youngest children in a Swedish preschool. Video recordings of six preschool children between the ages of 14 and 24 months were made both inside and outside the preschool, at times when the children were able to choose for themselves who to communicate with, in which room to be in and which toy to play with. The focus during the video recordings was naturally occurring situations where these six children communicated with each other. 51 relevant situations were selected for more thorough investigation. These specific situations were chosen because the children’s bodies were directed towards each other and the children were communicating in an intercorporeal way with each other. In order to describe and understand communication between lived bodies in the regional world of the preschool, a phenomenological study was carried out. In order to deepen the understandings of the empirical data theoretical concepts like life-world, the lived body, the concept of horizons and intercorporeality were used. The findings indicate five different aspects of what type of meaning communication holds, divided into five themes. These themes are represented by communication as: creation of a shared phenomenon, acknowledging someone, coordination of access to play, coordination of access to place or object, and sharing an already experienced event with someone who was not present. The findings of the study show the children’s usage of an advanced coordination between the lived bodies of the children, the lived space, the lived time, and the lived relationships. Together the children create, coordinate, and maintain a creation of meaning in which the children structure their participation in the life-world. / Uppsatsen handlar om kommunikation mellan de yngsta förskolebarnen ur ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv. Mer specifikt handlar uppsatsen om hur barnen gör när de kommunicerar med varandra, om vad de kommunicerar och vilket meningsskapande som manifesteras i kommunikationen. Genom en rad olika empiriska exempel synliggörs barnens kommunikation där kroppen och rörelsen är central. Resultatet visar på de yngsta förskolebarnens kommunikation som ett skapande av en gemensam handling, som ett uppmärksammande av någon annan, som ett samordnande av tillträde till lek, som ett samordnande av tillträde till plats och/eller föremål och som ett delande av någon annans erfarenhet. Detta åstadkommer barnen genom att upprepa varandras gester och koordinera sina handlingar. Resultatet visar att barnen är sensitiva inför varandra och anpassar sin kommunikation utifrån en rad olika förutsättningar. Uppsatsen riktar sig till förskollärare, forskare och andra som är intresserade av de yngsta förskolebarnens kommunikation. Uppsatsen har finansierats inom ramen för Nationella forskarskolan för förskollärare: Barndom, lärande och ämnesdidaktik (FöFoBa), diarienummer 729-2010-200.