Magister Educationis - MEd / The primary South African policy document on Inclusive Education, Education White Paper 6 (EWP 6) (DoE, 2001), states that all children can learn, and they should be supported and assured of equal and equitable education. EWP 6 further states that all educational systems should be transformed to accommodate all learners in mainstream schools and proposes the establishment of support teams at school level. The main function of the School-based Support Teams (SBSTs) in all schools is to assist teachers to effectively provide support to all learners experiencing learning barriers.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur fritidslärare uppfattar och tolkar fritidshemmets uppdrag, att arbeta för en socialt inkluderande och tillgänglig lärmiljö för alla elever samt hur de hanterar de etiska dilemman som kan uppstå. Studien utgår från kvalitativ intervju av fem lärare i fritidshem, vid tre olika skolor. Resultatet visar att fritidslärarna anser att det är viktigt att arbeta med inkludering men att det inte finns någon entydig tolkning av hur inkluderingsarbetet ska implementeras i det praktiska arbetet samt att förutsättningarna i de olika fritidshemmen ser mycket olika ut. Resultatet visar vidare att fritidslärarna upplever att stora barngrupper leder till att de inte räcker till för alla elever i den utsträckning de skulle vilja. Sådana situationer leder i sin tur till dilemman då de tvingades välja mellan olika elevers behov, både på individ- och gruppnivå och att prioritera vad eller vilka behov som väger tyngst för stunden.

This study is about what teachers in primary schools say that they are doing to create a school for all. The purpose of this study is to find out what teachers in primary schools say that they do on their mission to create a school for everyone and how they organize teaching to achieve this. The study was conducted as an interview of five teachers from elementary school of different gender and with a qualitative method because it provides a great opportunity to problematize, interpret and understand the responses of the interviewees. The results show that all the teachers think that their mission is to teach so that they can give each student what they need to achieve the goals. This may not be every day but over time, they hope that all students feel that they get so much of the teacher's time that they need.

This study sets out to investigate democratic participation in South Africa and the role that media play and can potentially play within this context. It considers a social movement, as one way in which citizens can organise themselves and make their voices heard to improve their chances of making a meaningful contribution to democracy. It employs Susan Bickford's theory of 'political listening', which offers a potential solution to the lack of political representativeness and inclusiveness, by focusing on the way citizens relate to each other through speaking, listening and dialogue. This study examines whether the interaction between learners and the social movement Equal Education could be considered 'political listening', and the current and possible role of the media within this context of participation. The study also attempts to develop and make a contribution to the language of description for the theory of political listening in order to map it onto the data. Using evidence or data gathered through observation of Equal Education's youth group meetings with learners and in-depth interviews with learners, youth group facilitators, Equal Education staff members and journalists, this study shows how the interaction amongst learners and between Equal Education and learners could be considered political listening and how the social movement works as a democratic project which offers learners an opportunity to exercise their citizenship. Furthermore, it also details the current role of the media and possible role of the media as perceived by Equal Education, learners and by journalists who report on Equal Education's activities. The study does not make conclusive claims about whether 'political listening' occurs between Equal Education and learners and the media because the study is exploratory in nature and involves a lot of trial and error when it comes to applying the theory of political listening to interview and textual data, which is a communication context that the theory is only beginning to chart.

Public school choice education policy attempts to create an education marketplace. Although school choice research has focused on the parent role in the school choice process, little is known about parents served by low-performing schools. Following market theory, students attending low-performing schools should be the primary students attempting to use school choice policy to access high performing schools rather than moving to a better school. However, students remain in these low-performing schools. This study took place in Miami-Dade County, which offers a wide variety of school choice options through charter schools, magnet schools, and open-choice schools. This dissertation utilized a mixed-methods design to examine the decision-making process and school choice options utilized by the parents of students served by low-performing elementary schools in Miami-Dade County. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of students served by low-performing schools. Binary logistic regression models were fitted to the data to compare the demographic characteristics, academic achievement and distance from alternative schooling options between transfers and non-transfers. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to the data to evaluate how demographic characteristics, distance to transfer school, and transfer school grade influenced the type of school a transfer student chose. A geographic analysis was conducted to determine how many miles students lived from alternative schooling options and the miles transfer students lived away from their transfer school. The findings of the interview data illustrated that parents’ perceived needs are not being adequately addressed by state policy and county programs. The statistical analysis found that students from higher socioeconomic social groups were not more likely to transfer than students from lower socioeconomic social groups. Additionally, students who did transfer were not likely to end up at a high achieving school. The findings of the binary logistic regression demonstrated that transfer students were significantly more likely to live near alternative school options.

This study examines how a reader in the Swedish subject can be used in the younger ages ofSwedish schools to meet the requirements of equal education in Sweden. The reader is a partof a teaching material called the ABC-klubben and is based on the same story but available inthree different levels of textbooks.The Study analyses how the different books differ between each other and how the techingmaterial can be used in its whole to increase the equal education. The study shows that in itswhole and if the material are used to create a shared reading experience between everyone inclass, it do contribute to equal education for students. The material has some difficulties andthe teacher needs to be aware he or she may need to compensate for some parts of thematerial.

The study investigates the factors that encouraged six Swedish students to choose a femaleor male-dominated field of study in higher education. This is of interest as gender normsand stereotypes may inflict and limit students' educational choices. The purpose is likewiseto elucidate the educational choices from a gender perspective. The study explores twoquestions: “Which factors may have encouraged the students to opt for a non-traditionalcareer?” “How can the students’ educational choices be understood from a genderperspective?”. To fulfil the purpose and question of issue a qualitative method was used,including female and male students aged 22–36. For the analyse of the interviews, the studyrelies on the theoretical framework of Linda Gottfredson – The Theory of Circumscription,Compromise and Self-Creation, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Lent, Brown &Hackett and The Stereotypical Gender Contract by Hirdman. The results indicate thatstudents' non-traditional educational choices consist of both internal and external factors.On the one hand, it is possible to find explanations in upbringings that have been moretolerant regarding gender roles. It has also been shown that several of the students invarious ways have been exposed to the profession through past experiences. Nevertheless,there are also personal motives that led to the choice of education as well as a supportivenetwork in form of family members and significant persons in the environment. From agender perspective, this means that the students, through their upbringing, where it appearsto have been less strict attitudes concerning gender roles, also contributed to lessrestrictions on their educational choice. On the other hand, the results imply that harmfulgender norms and stereotypes still affect students’ choice of occupation why more work isneeded in order to stop these negative patterns.

The reforms that were implemented in the early 1990s changed the way the Swedish school system worked and how it was governed. This sparked a debate in whether this was beneficial for the equality of the education. The debate regarding the Swedish school system has been never ending since the start and implementation of New Public management reforms that swept through Swedish politics in the late 1980 and the 1990s. The discourse regarding the issues created by the implementation of these reforms and the impact of NPM in this area will be discussed an analyzed in this essay. The essay aims to explain and analyze the impact New public management, decentralization and its reforms has had on the equality of the Swedish education and the discourse it has created.

Abstrakt   Detta examensarbete handlar om att genomföra en kvalitativ fallstudie och med hjälp av metoderna bildanalys och gruppintervjuer öka kunskapen om elevers upplevelser av delaktighet vid användandet av digitala läromedel. I studien ingick 18 elever i årskurs 4 i en skola i norra Sverige samt deras tre undervisande lärare.   Syfte: Studiens övergripande syfte att öka kunskapen om elevers upplevelser av delaktighet vid användandet av digitala läromedel delades upp i tre frågeställningar: Hur uppfattar eleverna att det digitala läromedlet påverkar deras delaktighet? Hur beskriver eleverna användandet av digitala läromedel i skolan? Hur beskriver de undervisande lärarna elevernas delaktighet vid användandet av digitala läromedel?   Metoder: Studien genomfördes utifrån de tre frågeställningarna. De metoder som ingick i studien var bildskapande, där eleverna skapade egenproducerade bilder och korta texter. I samband med elevernas bildskapande genomfördes också kompletterande samtal med eleverna. Gruppintervjuer vid två tillfällen med de undervisande lärarna ingick också som metod i studien. Utifrån delaktighetsmodellen gjordes bildanalys av elevernas egenproducerade bilder och korta texter.   Resultat: Eleverna uttrycker i sina egenproducerade bilder att det är roligt och att det underlättar då de skriver på datorn. Flera elever beskriver att de tycker det är lättare med digitalt läromedel för de behöver bara ta fram en sak. Det som upplevs som jobbigt är när internetuppkopplingen inte fungerar som den ska. Några elever beskriver att det ibland kan vara svårt att hitta i det digitala läromedlet och det var ”krångligt” från början men det fungerar bättre nu. De undervisande lärarna bekräftar att navigationen i det digitala läromedlet var svår initialt. Speciellt svårt var det eftersom flera nya moment infördes. Lärarna uttrycker att det är osäkert om det beror på just det digitala läromedel de valt eller om det är att det är ett nytt sätt att arbeta på. Generellt så uttrycker de flesta av eleverna att använda digitala läromedel och att arbeta med dator är roligare än vanliga böcker. Lärarna beskriver det digitala läromedlet som lustfyllt och att det digitala läromedlet ”fångar” de elever som tycker skolan är svår De allra flesta eleverna uttrycker en arbetsglädje då de beskriver sin användning av digitala läromedel. De undervisande lärarna menar att det digitala läromedlets stora fördel är den snabba feedback som både elever och lärarna får med hjälp av den i det digitala läromedlet inbyggda statistik över gjorda uppgifter. Eleven beskriver känslan av att själv kunna bestämma och påverka vad hen skriver på datorn. Den ger hen en möjlighet att vara delaktighet och hen kan själv påverka sin arbetssituation. Det digitala läromedlet främjar enligt lärarna delaktigheten på så sätt att det inte längre framgår vilken svårighetsgrad eleverna har på sina uppgifter.   Slutsats: Metoden bildanalys var ett bra val, trots att eleverna endast vid ett lektionstillfälle skapade de egenproducerade bilderna så erhölls väldigt mycket information, dock var det svårt att formulera frågorna till eleverna, så att de verkligen kunde beskriva sina upplevelser av delaktighet i bilden, vilket bör ses som metodens svaghet. Vid de kompletterande elevsamtalen beskrev de sina upplevelser av delaktighet. Beträffande gruppintervjuerna så hävdar vi att de undervisande lärarna styrkte det eleverna uttryckt. Resultaten vi fått fram genom vår kvalitativa fallstudie kan vara svåra att överföra och generalisera till andra elevgrupper eftersom de sociala situationerna och lärmiljöerna kan se annorlunda ut för dessa elevgrupper. Resultaten i studien är användbara i den meningen att de kan ligga till grund för skolutveckling gällande delaktighet, digitalisering och digitala läromedel. Ett hinder för att skolor skall kunna säkerställa likvärdigheten och möjlighet att nå de mål som regeringens nationella digitaliseringsstrategi föreskriver är att det är så stor skillnad i hur skolor eller kommuner har ekonomiska medel för att genomföra digitaliseringen av skolan på ett tillfredställande sätt. I slutändan är det lärarnas arbetssätt och användandet av det digitala läromedlet, som kan möjliggöra en tillgänglig lärmiljö där eleverna är inkluderade och delaktiga, inte läromedlet i sig. / Abstract   This thesis is a qualitative case study that aims to increase the knowledge about students’ perceptions of participation when using digital educational tools. The methods used in this case study are image analysis and group interviews. The participants in this study came from a school in the north of Sweden. There where 18 students from grade 4 and 3 of their teachers participating.   Aim: The overarching aim of the study was to increase knowledge about students’ perception of participation when using digital educational tools. The perception of participation was evaluated from three angles: How do the students perceive that the digital educational material affects their participation? How are the students describing the use of digital educational tools in school? How are the teachers describing the use of digital educational tools in school?   Method: The methods used in this study where: Student´s images and group interviews. There were also additional conversations with the students in conjunction of the creation of the images and texts. Group interviews were conducted at two points in time with the teachers, one before the analysis of the student´s pictures and one after. Image analysis by using participation model was done on the students own images and texts.   Results: In the images the students expressed that it was fun and easier to write on the computer. Many of the students also described that is was easier with digital educational tools as they only need to bring one thing (the computer). The challenges they described where when the Wi-Fi connection was not working and some of them mentioned that it was hard to navigate the digital tool in the beginning, but that it was easier after a while. The teachers confirm that the navigation was challenging when the tools was first initiated, especially as multiple new elements were introduced at the same time. However, the teachers were unsure if that was due to the digital educational tools or due to that it was a new way of working. The majority of the students expressed that it is more fun to work with digital educational tools and computers, compared to regular books. The teacher described the digital educational tools as joyful learning and that it is engaging for those students that normally find the school challenging.  Most of the students also expressed a satisfaction and joy when describing their use of digital educational tools. The teacher described that a major benefit of using digital tools, is the quick feedback with statistics of performed learning exercises that the tools provide to both the student and the teacher. The students reported that they got a sense of autonomy when they can have an impact and themselves decide what they write on the computer. That gives them the opportunity to participate and be able to affect their own learning situation. From a teacher’s point of view, the digital tools stimulate the participation, where the students’ different degree of difficulty on their tasks are not reviled to their classmates.   Conclusion: It was a good choice of method to perform the image analysis because even though the students only created the images at one point in time, the information that the images provided was comprehensive. However, the verbal conversions that was performed in conjunction with the creation of the images were challenging, as it was hard to formulate the questions so that the students fully could describe their perception of participation in their image. This should be considered as the weakness of this method.   During the verbal conversations in conjunction with the creation of the images, the students described their experiences of participation. The group interviews with the teachers that followed, confirmed the students’ descriptions. The results from this qualitative case study may be challenging to transfer and standardise for other student groups as the social situations and learning environments could be different. The results of the study could be useful moving forward as it may be indicative for future educational developments regarding participation, digitalisation and digital educational material. The big difference in the funding for the digital implementation between schools and municipalities is one of the obstacles to ensure equality and the ability to reach the goals that the government have set out for digital strategy in schools. In the end, it is the teachers’ ways of working and their use of the digital educational material that is going to enable an accessible learning environment where the students are included and participating, not the educational tool itself.

The implementation of inclusive education is a challenge to most educators. The real challenge lies in the management of inclusive education. The researcher, therefore, adopted a qualitative approach to understand the participants ’understanding of inclusive education and to answer the research questions that sought to explore the phenomenon of inclusive education as presented in chapters one and five. Chapters two and three presented the latest developments, policies and practices related to inclusive education, as well as management of inclusive education. A sample of five primary school principals and fifteen educators was chosen. Data was collected through in-depth individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. It emerged from the literature study that inclusive education has become a reality in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and abroad. Most schools in these countries have been changed into full service schools. For example, in South Africa Tshiluvhi primary School became Tshiluvhi Full Service primary School. This shows that the government of South Africa accepts that learners with disabilities are part of the community and, therefore, have a right to receive equal and quality education.Although inclusive education is a reality in the above-mentioned countries, there are many obstacles that are still to be overcome. For instance, the issue of fiscal constraints, negative attitudes to disability, lack of support services, rigid teaching methods, teacher expertise, teacher training, time management and large class sizes are major impediments to the realisation of effective inclusive education. The same constraints were also raised during the interviews by most of the participants. Most educators and principals complained that management of inclusive education is compromised by lack of resources. Recommendations based on the findings of this study revolve mainly around the introduction of internal workshops, provision of resources and building enough classrooms to reduce the learner-teacher ratio. It was revealed during the interviews that members of the institutional level support teams and the principals of the selected primary schools were aware of their roles in managing inclusive education. For example, they manage finances to ensure the successful implementation of inclusive education and support and monitor teachers in the implementation of inclusive education.The study hopes to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and to be useful to teachers and various stakeholders by enabling them to find more constructive ways of building a successful inclusive education system. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education management)