Many scholars have argued that the education system in Brazil tends to strengthen the pattern that reproduces inequalities, where families with higher income are likely to be the ones holding the majority in education. The focus lies in ten interviewees, thereof five parents/caregivers and five professionals that works/worked with the children who were interviewed in Banco da Vitória /Ilhéus, south of Bahia, Brazil 2012. This qualitative study intends to analyse the underlying social causes from a sociological perspective in how the informants reflect upon the child´s/children learning difficulties at the elementary school, Casa da Criança /Escola Daniel Rebouças in the shantytown Banco da Vitória. It will try to answer questions such as; which are the main social causes that affect a child´s learning difficulties in Escola Daniel Rebouças, according to the informants/interviewees? How has the informant´s situation affected their own perception in the child´s/children’s learning difficulties? This paper studies marginalised people who lives in a marginalized district, Banco da Vitória. It will highlight home environment and education to show a continuing pattern that causes the child´s/children´s learning difficulties. This study will demonstrate the necessary cooperation between the school, government, teachers, and parents/caregiver in order to improve the children´s education and well-being.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difficulties encountered by the grade ten township learners with respect to the concept of electricity. More specifically, the study attempted to explore the learners’ scientific knowledge by investigating their conceptions or alternative conceptions about electricity; the influence of learners’ age, career interests and gender issues on their conceptions of electricity and; the effectiveness of concept mapping (a pedagogic tool designed by Novak in the 1970s) in facilitating the learners’ understanding of electricity. The study was premised on socio-cultural constructivism as well as meaningful learning as espoused by Ausubel (1968). A Pre-Test-Post-Test Control Group Design was adopted in the study in which two comparable groups were used. The data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative research methods and the instruments that were used included a conception of electricity (COET) (originally adopted and administered in the Western Cape, Northern Cape provinces and in Norway in 1999 for the purpose of Science and Technology Literacy Project (STLP) with the hope that their reliability and validity was guaranteed); selected learner interviews and evaluation forms. The summary of findings has suggested that the Grade ten learners held misconceptions about the concept of electricity even after they were exposed to intervention that included concept mapping. In terms of the gender issues, there was no significant difference in performance between the boys and girls though the females outperformed their male counterparts at both groups. The underachievement of the older learners compared to the younger ones has also surfaced and that is against expectation since a number of studies carried out earlier (see Ogunniyi (1999)) have already corroborated such findings. With respect to career interests, what the learners indicated as their future dreams, i.e. what they intend to do and become, seems to have been influenced their performance at the pre- and post-test stages. / Magister Educationis - MEd

I skolverkets rapporter framkommer att ca 15-20 % av eleverna inte klarar nationella proven i grundskolan. Varje år går även alltför många elever ut grundskolan utan behörighet till något av de nationella gymnasieprogrammen. Det finns ett behov av mer kunskap om vilka elever som riskerar att inte nå målen för att underlätta tidig identifiering. Läsförmåga och språkförståelse är några av de faktorer som i tidigare studier visat sig påverka utfallet i skolresultat. I den här studien undersöks hur lässvårigheter i tidiga skolår relaterar till språkförståelse, samt hur lässvårigheter och variationer i språkförståelsen påverkar skolresultaten i nationella proven i åk 3. I studien deltog 44 elever med positivt utfall i en screening av läsförståelse, avkodning och stavning i åk 2. Svag läsförståelse i åk 2 innebar en större risk för språkförståelsesvårigheter i åk 3. Elever med enbart avkodnings- eller stavningssvårigheter i åk 2 hade däremot en god språkförståelse i åk 3. Språkförståelsen visade i sin tur signifikanta samband med utfallet i läsförståelse i ämnesprovet i svenska och med 5 av 6 delprov i matematik i nationella proven i åk 3. En viktig implikation blir att inkludera även språkförståelse i arbetet med elever som har läsförståelsesvårigheter. Studiens resultat indikerar att det inte räcker med en bättre avkodningsförmåga för att uppnå en god läsförståelse. Det krävs även insatser för att främja ordförråd, grammatisk kompetens och förståelsestrategier på diskursnivå. En hög andel av eleverna som inte fick godkänt i delproven i svenska respektive matematik i åk 3 var identifierade i screeningen redan i åk 2. Det här indikerar att det är möjligt att använda en screening av läsförmågan i åk 2 för att identifiera vilka elever som riskerar att inte klara läroplanens mål. Samtidigt var det många elever med svag läs- och stavningsförmåga i åk 2 som ändå klarade nationella proven. Den här studiens resultat indikerar att det framförallt är eleverna med läsförståelsesvårigheter som riskerar att inte klara nationella proven, medan eleverna med enbart avkodnings- eller stavningssvårigheter klarar nationella proven betydligt bättre. Det behövs däremot fortsatta longitudinella studier för att klargöra i vilken mån de elever som klarade de nationella proven i åk 3 trots lässvårigheter även kommer att klara nationella prov och läroplanens mål på längre sikt. / Every year about 20% of the students in primary and secondary school do not reach the goals of the Swedish National Curriculum. A greater understanding of how reading difficulties relate to oral language skills, and how both reading and oral language skills contribute to educational outcome in the Swedish context is needed to improve early identification and intervention for students at risk of not achieving the goals of the Swedish national curriculum. This dissertation investigates how reading difficulties and oral language comprehension affect educational outcome in the year 3 Swedish national tests, and how reading difficulties in early primary school relate to phonological processing skills and oral language comprehension. The Simple View of Reading model was used to describe the participants’ reading difficulties. All year 2 students (N = 214) in two municipalities participated in an examination of reading comprehension, word-decoding and spelling. Sixty-six students with reading comprehension (z < –0.83), word-decoding skills (z < –0.71) and/or spelling skills (z < –0.58) in the lower end of the normal distribution were identified. Forty-four students agreed to participate in the study. Oral language skills, phonological processing, verbal memory, word-decoding, reading comprehension and non-verbal ability were examined in year 3. Forty-six to 66 per cent of the students with reading comprehension difficulties in year 2 were identified with difficulties in oral language comprehension (z ≤ –1.0) in year 3. None of the students with specific word-decoding difficulties had difficulties in oral language comprehension. Oral language comprehension was significantly correlated to the results in the year 3 Swedish national tests for the two tasks in reading comprehension (p < .01) in Swedish, and with five of six tasks in Mathematics (p < .01 in four tasks and p < .05 in one task). Rapid naming of visual objects also correlated significantly with four out of six tasks in Mathematics (p < .01). Non-verbal ability, word-decoding and reading comprehension in year 3 showed no significant relationship with outcome in the Swedish national tests. This dissertation shows the centrality of oral language comprehension skills for both reading comprehension and outcome in the Swedish national tests, and the importance of considering oral language comprehension both in assessment and in intervention when students show poor reading comprehension skills in early primary school.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the computer as a tool is helping dyslectic students who have Swedish as a second language in learning. The following questions were formulated: How important is it to diagnose dyslectic students? How does the computer assistance motivates dyslectic students achieve their goals? How easy is it to include dyslectic students in the ordinary class with computer assistance? And in which way does the school and home environments affect dyslectic students who have Swedish as a second language? The sample consisted of four dyslectic students, 13 to 15 year olds who have Swedish as a second language. And two Swedish and Swedish as second language teachers.  They were selected by purposive non-probability sampling. They were all participating in the one to one programme. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed using content analysis. After transcribing the interviews’ six themes: diagnosis, computer as a tool, inclusion, motivation and environment were identified. The results were that computers are helpful tools for dyslectic students who have Swedish as a second language. Computer assistance makes these students more independent to find ways to support themselves. They do not need to face failure all the time, when they can use the computer to achieve success. It motivates the students to learn more. It was very clear that the students were more efficient in computers compared to the teacher´s. Maybe, both the teachers and the students should be given the same competence education. Motivation as the most important aspect in learning was very noticeable in all the six interviews. Keywords Dyslexia, Computer as a tool, Special Education, Reading Writing Difficulties, Content Analysis, One-One program, Motivation, Swedish as Second language, SVA.

<p><font size="3"> <p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the difficulties encountered by the grade ten township learners with respect to the concept of electricity. More specifically, the study attempted to explore the learners&rsquo / scientific knowledge by investigating their conceptions or alternative conceptions about electricity / the influence of learners&rsquo / age, career interests and gender issues on their conceptions of electricity and / the effectiveness of concept mapping (a pedagogic tool designed by Novak in the 1970s) in facilitating the learners&rsquo / understanding of electricity. The study was premised on socio-cultural constructivism as well as meaningful learning as espoused by Ausubel (1968). A Pre-Test-Post-Test Control Group Design was adopted in the study in which two comparable groups were used. The data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative research methods and the instruments that were used included a conception of electricity (COET) (originally adopted and administered in the Western Cape, Northern Cape provinces and in Norway in 1999 for the purpose of Science and Technology Literacy Project (STLP) with the hope that their reliability and validity was guaranteed) / selected learner interviews and evaluation forms. The summary of findings has suggested that the Grade ten learners held misconceptions about the concept of electricity even after they were exposed to intervention that included concept mapping. In terms of the gender issues, there was no significant difference in performance between the boys and girls though the females outperformed their male counterparts at both groups. The underachievement of the older learners compared to the younger ones has also surfaced and that is against expectation since a number of studies carried out earlier (see Ogunniyi (1999)) have already corroborated such findings. With respect to career interests, what the learners indicated as their future dreams, i.e. what they intend to do and become, seems to have been influenced their performance at the pre- and post-test stages.</p> </font></p>

<p><font size="3"> <p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the difficulties encountered by the grade ten township learners with respect to the concept of electricity. More specifically, the study attempted to explore the learners&rsquo / scientific knowledge by investigating their conceptions or alternative conceptions about electricity / the influence of learners&rsquo / age, career interests and gender issues on their conceptions of electricity and / the effectiveness of concept mapping (a pedagogic tool designed by Novak in the 1970s) in facilitating the learners&rsquo / understanding of electricity. The study was premised on socio-cultural constructivism as well as meaningful learning as espoused by Ausubel (1968). A Pre-Test-Post-Test Control Group Design was adopted in the study in which two comparable groups were used. The data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative research methods and the instruments that were used included a conception of electricity (COET) (originally adopted and administered in the Western Cape, Northern Cape provinces and in Norway in 1999 for the purpose of Science and Technology Literacy Project (STLP) with the hope that their reliability and validity was guaranteed) / selected learner interviews and evaluation forms. The summary of findings has suggested that the Grade ten learners held misconceptions about the concept of electricity even after they were exposed to intervention that included concept mapping. In terms of the gender issues, there was no significant difference in performance between the boys and girls though the females outperformed their male counterparts at both groups. The underachievement of the older learners compared to the younger ones has also surfaced and that is against expectation since a number of studies carried out earlier (see Ogunniyi (1999)) have already corroborated such findings. With respect to career interests, what the learners indicated as their future dreams, i.e. what they intend to do and become, seems to have been influenced their performance at the pre- and post-test stages.</p> </font></p>

ÖREBRO UNIVERSITY Department of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences Program of social work Social Work C C-essay in Social Work, 15 credits Autumn term 2013 The family is the only way back home – A qualitative study on staff’s view on family involvement in the treatment of adolescents Authors: Cakici, Nahrin and Claesson, Sandra Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate how the staff at residential treatment centers works to involve the family and the social network in youth’s treatment and how they experience that the involvement affects the young person. The aim is also to study the difficulties the staff experience in their work to involve the family and the social network. In this study, staff from two residential treatment centers in Sweden participated. The study is conducted based in on qualitative method in which four semi-structured telephone interviews and one group interview have been conducted. The result was analyzed using general system theory, attachment theory and social representations. The result shows that family involvement in treatment will have a positive impact on the young person and the treatment. This may facilitate a positive way to move home. The social network has also an impact on the young person, and then as a support during and after treatment. One difficulty for staff to involve the social network is that they must relate to confidentiality laws which may limit the social network’s participation in the treatment. Keywords: residential treatment center, youth, family, social network, involvement, difficulties.

Resumo: A escrita é uma forma de comunicação importante que se desenvolve com a idade e com a escolarização. Algumas crianças apresentam dificuldade em desenvolver uma escrita proficiente. Do ponto de vista do controle motor, uma escrita não proficiente pode estar vinculada à dificuldade da criança ativar adequadamente as sinergias motoras que dão suporte a esta habilidade. Portanto, estimular as sinergias motoras dos dedos pode proporcionar melhora na cinética e cinemática da escrita e, conseqüentemente, na qualidade da escrita. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi verificar os efeitos de um programa de intervenção, para crianças com dificuldades na escrita, composto por atividades manipulativas e pré-caligráficas que estimularam as sinergias motoras dos dedos por meio da variação da produção de força dos dedos. Trinta e duas crianças foram indicadas por suas professoras de classe para participarem do estudo. Dezesseis crianças, de 7 a 12 anos de idade, com baixa qualidade na escrita, formaram o Grupo Experimental (GE), e outras 16 crianças com boa qualidade na escrita, e com idade, gênero e preferência manual correspondentes ao GE, formaram o Grupo Controle (GC). O desempenho motor de todos os participantes foi avaliado pelo Movement Assessment Battery for Children, M-ABC (HENDERSON; SUDGEN, 1992). Todos os participantes tiveram a qualidade da escrita avaliada pelo Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (REISMAN, 1999) adaptado à língua portuguesa. Além disso, todos os participantes foram testados na produção gráfica e escrita sobre uma mesa digitalizadora (Wacom, Intuos2). Ambos, o Minnesota Handwriting Assessment adaptado e a produção gráfica e escrita sobre uma mesa digitalizadora foram administrados antes (pré-teste) e após (pós-teste) o programa de intervenção. Somente o GE foi submetido ao programa de intervenção. O programa de intervenção... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Handwriting is an essential manner of human communication which develops with the process of aging and schooling. Some children present difficulties in developing a proficient handwriting. From the motor control perspective, a non-proficient handwriting may be associated with the difficulty to appropriately activate specific motor synergies. Thus, the stimulation of motor synergies of the fingers can improve the kinetic, and kinematic parameters of handwriting, and consequently the quality of the product of handwriting. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of an intervention program involving manipulative and pre-calligraphic activities. The intervention activities were based on variation in the force production of the fingers for children with handwriting difficulties. A total of 32 children aged between 7 and 12 years were selected to participate in the study by the classroom teachers. The Experimental Group (EG) was composed by 16 children displaying poor quality of handwriting, and other 16 children matched by age, gender and handedness showing high quality of handwriting composed the Control Group (CG). The motor performance of the participants was assessed by the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, M-ABC (HENDERSON; SUDGEN, 1992). All participants had the quality of the handwriting assessed by the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (REISMAN, 1999) adapted to the Portuguese language. Furthermore, participants were tested in the handwriting and graphic production on a digitizing tablet (WACOM - Intuos2). Both the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment adapted and the handwriting and graphic production on a digitizing tablet were administered before (i.e., pretest) and after (i.e., post test) the intervention program. Only the EG was submitted to the intervention program. The intervention program consisted of 27 sessions... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Ana Maria Pellegrini / Coorientador: Cynthia Yukiko Hiraga / Banca: Luis Eduardo P.B.T. Dantas / Banca: Livia de Castro Magalhães / Doutor

<b>Introduction:</b> Children's social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties are associated with reduced academic performance, stressed teacher-child relationships, and other negative academic and life outcomes. The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (IY TCM) programme is one intervention developed to address problematic behaviours via training teachers to use positive and proactive management strategies. The overall aim of this DPhil is to use the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme as a case study for applying mixed methods at the systematic review level to ascertain what is known about both the programme's effectiveness and how people experience the course, and subsequently to use the systematic review's findings as a springboard (rather than as an end goal) for more exploratory research into 'for whom' the programme might work. <b>Method:</b> Study One is a mixed methods systematic review of IY TCM. It applied multilevel meta-analysis to RCT outcome data and grounded theory meta-synthesis to interview and focus group data on stakeholders' experiences of IY TCM. Quantitative and qualitative findings were cross-synthesised and mapped using an integrative grid. Study Two moves the field forward by filling a gap in the evidence base, as identified in Study One. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) across Devon, exploring the acceptability and appropriateness of expanding IY TCM to the subgroup of children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. Data were analysed thematically and mapped onto IY TCM content. <b>Results:</b> In Study One, nine studies reported across 14 papers met inclusion criteria for either quantitative or qualitative strands of this systematic review. Multilevel meta-analysis of RCTs (n=4) indicated that the programme produced teacher- and child-level results in the desired directions. Clear trends across all measured outcomes favoured the intervention group over the treatment-as-usual comparison. Qualitative meta-synthesis (n=5) illuminated a cyclical learning process and broader conceptualisation of teacher and child outcomes than was evident in the quantitative evidence. Notably, RCT data on teacher outcomes were limited to self-reported or observed behaviours, while teachers described other benefits from IY TCM including increased knowledge and emotional well-being. Cross-synthesis of findings from the two review strands highlighted harmony across the RCT and qualitative evidence but also a number of areas in which constructs that were prioritised by one type of research were not integrated into the other. Study Two generated classroom management strategies from SENCos, which aligned closely with strategies taught in IY TCM, indicating that IY TCM would be both acceptable and applicable (if not sufficient) for use when working with children identified with SEN and behavioural difficulties in schools. <b>Discussion:</b> Based on the positive effects of implementing IY TCM despite very few studies to power analyses, the programme appears to offer tangible benefits to both teachers and children. It is possible that results are underestimated due to limited types of outcomes measured and absence of experiential data from additional stakeholders (e.g., parents). Depending on current provision of special educational needs services, schools operating inclusion models are likely to find these strategies beneficial for children identified with SEN, and this subgroup should be explicitly examined in future IY TCM studies.

Denna studie handlar om lässvårigheter och hur lärare arbetar i klassrummet för att upptäcka lässvårigheter samt åtgärda och förebygga problematiken. I en PISA-undersökning som gjordes 2012 framkommer att elever i Sverige förbättrat resultatet inom läsförståelse avsevärt sedan undersökningar som genomfördes mellan 2000-2012. Det är i första hand lågpresterande elever som står för resultatförbättringen. Också Lärarnas Riksförbund (2014) genomförde en undersökning gällande läsförmåga i grundskolan. I denna undersökning framkommer att 40% av lärarna i högstadiet upplever att eleverna inte har tillräcklig läsförmåga. För att kunna ge eleverna möjlighet att lyckas med läsinlärningen är det viktigt att lärare är medvetna om sitt arbetssätt för att eventuellt kunna förändra och förbättra sin undervisning för ett bättre resultat hos eleverna, samt vara uppmärksam på eventuella svårigheter. Studien bygger på sex semistrukturerade intervjuer av behöriga verksamma lärare som kontinuerligt undervisar i ämnet svenska och läsinlärning. Resultatet visar att respondenterna är relativt eniga i sina svar om hur de arbetar för att främja en gynnsam läsutveckling och arbetar för att upptäcka och förebygga lässvårigheter. Vidare att de anser högläsning vara gynnsamt för elevernas utveckling läsförståelse och ordförråd. Det är dock inte självklart att man tillräckligt snabbt får de hjälpmedel man som lärare anser sig behöva för att kunna stötta eleverna i deras läsutveckling. / This study is about reading difficulties and how teachers work in the classroom to detect reading difficulties and how to prevent and work pre-emptively with the problems. In a PISA survey done in 2012 it is evident that the results for Swedish students have greatly improved in reading comprehension since the survey was first done between the years 2000-2012. It is mainly low achieving students who show an improvement. Also, Lärarnas Riksförbund (2014) did a survey regarding reading comprehension in Primary and Secondary School. In this survey it says that 40% of teachers in Secondary School believe students do not have sufficient reading abilities. To give the students the opportunity to succeed, in learning how to read; it is important that the teachers are aware of how they teach to make changes and improve their techniques to achieve better results with the students, and in addition be mindful of any difficulties. The study is built upon six semi-structured interviews of competent professional teachers who continuously teach the subject Swedish as well as learning how to read. The result shows that the respondents are relatively unanimous in their responses on how they work to encourage a positive development in reading comprehension and how to detect and pre-emptively deal with reading difficulties. Furthermore, they think reading out loud is positive for the development of the students reading comprehension skills and for vocabulary. However, it is not certain that one will promptly receive the tools which as a teacher they deem necessary to support the students in their reading development.