<p>This thesis addresses the problem of how it is possible to understand the governing system for the school sector by studying how the relationship between the government and municipalities comes to the fore in the position held by the directors of education, who are the administrative directors of education in the municipalities. In order to put the position of the directors of education in its place in the government´s system for adminsitrating the school sector, we have studied how this office developed to be a part of the central adminsitration of school acivities in the municipalities. The study includes an analysis of how the position and function of this office changes up until the 1990´s, as well as what experiences the directors of education who serverd during the 1990´s had of the control and adminsitration of matters in the school sector.</p><p>The empirical material of the study consists partly of documents and litterature - particularly hostoric texts, and partly of a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaires have been carried out among all of the directors of education that served during the whole 1990´s. The results of the study show that the changes in the government´s system for governing the school sector have rendered the system itself seomwhat obscure. Positions of responsibility have not become clear. Hidden control becomes visible by the way in which economic issues are handled and by the existence of the agreement on school development - both of which are control instruments in the school sector, but not parts of the national control and adminsitration system. Underpressure has been developed in which the government, through its decrees, has strengthened the school level in issues that need to be solved in the municipal level in the present system, whithout the municipal level actually beeing strengthening.</p>

During the last decades, the public sector in Western democracies has undergone drastic changes. These changes have meant privatization and a more diverse service provision. Because of privatization, activities that were previously reserved for the public sector can now be conducted by the private sector. This has led to the traditional hierarchical model to be challenged by a new governing style throughmarket mechanisms, which was introduced during the 1980s. Both the hierarchical model and market model have since been supplemented by the network model that was introduced in the 1990s. The new organization has meant that steering is currently done in a complex environment with varying outcomes. In the foreground of the theoretical concepts that captures the development describedearlier is governance. The starting point of the governance perspective is that the traditional bureaucracy model for governing is challenged by new forms of organization and steering. In the early 1990s, it became possible, due to a change in legislation, to startindependent schools with public funding. This legislation change has had a major impact on the Swedish school system in terms of organization and steering issues. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the ideals of hierarchy, market andnetworking appear in the municipal steering of the local school system, and how these ideals affect the development and the intensity of the conflicts in the surveyed municipalities. The focus of the empirical study is three municipalities from the northern parts of Sweden, which are equal in terms of population, number of school pupils, the number of independent schools and with the samepolitical majority. The overall result of the thesis is that different governing ideals affect the levels of conflict in different ways. The municipality governed by marked ideals exhibit thehighest degree of conflict and the municipality governed by the network ideal exhibit lower levels of conflict. The municipality governed by the hierarchical ideal in the middle of the conflict scale.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the institutionalized Swedish Psychiatric practice during the period 1850 and 1970 - the era of the large mental hospitals - in terms of a modem disciplinary project. Point of departure relates to the meeting between the admitted patient and the educational work of the mental hospital and its everyday practice. The main sources of information for this study consists among other things of case sheets and texts closely related to the work of the mental hospitals. The study has two important aspects. The first deals with the normalized procedures in the practice of mental care, and draws the attention to the relation between social and cultural standards and the way the mental hospitals reviews, treats and handles the patient. The second aspect deals with the actual administration and the techniques of the hospital to correct the patient and his/her actions in a desirable direction. An overarching discussion deals with the relation between liberating and Controlling practitioners, and how the Controlling power of the hospital relates to the modem society's conception of a independent man. At the same time as the physical coercion of the mental hospital diminished, controlling methods were required which were not merely based on obedience and Submission, but also on the participation and will of the patient. Informal system of rewards, confession-techniques as well as various forms of a conditionalised and regulated freedom is combined with a more concealed potential of coercion of the institution. The compulsory work is being analysed as the most important educational therapy - both socially and ethically. Work is being described as a liberal Controlling technique. By connecting work to the system of rewards as well as increased physical freedom enables the hospital to exercise control and predictability without resorting to coercion. How the hospital looked upon and handled the sexual body, and how cultural conceptions regarding sexual normality dominated the practical care-taking is being analysed with the starting point in case sheets. The sexual behaviour, especially concerning women, resulted in a meeting of different opinions between restraining and testing practitioners where moral reliability was a condition for physical freedom. The thesis describes a movement over time towards increased physical freedoms for the patients of the mental hospitals. This did not imply that the control or the normalization decreased in intensity. But rather that the forms and the conditions for these processes changed. The freedom that was placed in sight was always connected with the well behaviour of the patient. / digitalisering@umu

Many students in the Swedish and Norwegian compulsory school do not have quali­fi­cation to search for further education. There is a large part of those pupils who have a different native language than the country’s majority language. These students’ possi­bi­lities to a fair and equal education is regulated in national laws and regulations of school activity, the so-called governing documents.   The purpose of this study is to compare Norwegian and Swedish governing docu­ments regarding education for pupils with another native language. The comparison also app­lies to the requirements that each country has for the students who are looking to the Swedish upper secondary school, and its counterpart in Norway, “den videre­gående skolen”.   It is possible to see some similarities in the design of the governing documents and the school as an institution. However, there are some differences in the content of teaching and the document that governs this. The Norwegian school and Norwegian governing documents put more focus on the Norwegian language, while the Swedish school system and Swedish governing documents have a more generous attitude towards the native language. / Många elever i svenska och norska grundskolan har inte behörighet att söka till vidare utbildning. Det är en stor andel av dessa elever som har ett annat modersmål än landets majoritetsspråk. Dessa elevers möjligheter till en rättvis och likvärdig utbildning finns reglerade i ländernas lagar och regler för skolverksamheten, de så kallade styr­doku­menten.   Syftet med denna undersökning är att jämföra norska och svenska styrdokument an­gående undervisningen för elever som har annat modersmål. Jämförelsen gäller även vilka krav respektive land har för de elever som söker till den svenska gymnasie­skolan, och dess motsvarighet i Norge, ”den videregående skolen”.   Det går att se vissa likheter i utformningen av styrdokumenten och grundskolan som in­stitution. Däremot finns en del skillnader när det gäller innehållet i undervisningen och de dokument som styr denna. Den norska skolan och de norska styrdokumenten lägger mera fokus på det norska språket, medan den svenska skolan och de svenska styr­dokumenten har en generösare attityd till modersmålet.

Many researches have been done about the difficulties in teaching children with disabilities and like in this case dyslexia, which is the disability my essay is focused on. Earlier researches have investigated how and what teachers do practically when they have pupils with dyslexia and what help they have in their work. I wanted to investigate how the theories in National Compulsory School Curriculum (Lpo94) and about inclusive education in relation to the actual work in one Swedish school. My essay, with help of other research, has taken the expression “school for all” and it’s meaning to what is possible to do in a real life work situation, with the assignments that schools have in Lpo94. The result from my research on this Swedish school in Stockholm region is that they have a somewhat impossible goal to achieve, if the School system wants to be a “school for all” and at the same time fulfil their obligations in Lpo94 about an inclusive education and at the same time notice and offer alternative education to the ordinary if necessary.

In 1999, the Swedish Parliament decided to launch an experiment to test the idea of replacing, at the compulsory educational level, the national time schedule with localized control of schedules. This was in keeping with strategies of deregulation, decentralisation and increased local autonomy that had dominated Swedish education policy, particularly since the 1990s. The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyse the initiation, decision, implementation and consequences of this experiment The analytical framework combines several different approaches and theories from the literature on public policy and policy analysis. The framework encompasses four dimensions, which cover the experiment’s origins, local application in the classroom setting and consequences. On the empirical level, findings are based on interviews with 32 municipal school directors, and head teachers, teachers and pupils in three schools participating in the experiment, as well as written sources from schools, municipalities, and the national level. The thesis shows that the policy problem the experiment was intended to resolve was represented in an inconsistent manner: On the one hand, the experiment was perceived as a driving force for change; on the other hand, it was seen as legitimising a change that had already taken place. Furthermore, the experiment was formulated in vague terms, which accorded far-reaching discretionary space to the schools. The program’s causal theory expressed by the policy makers was complex, containing a multifaceted chain of presumptions on a range of activities and processes through which the experiment ultimately would lead to improved opportunities for pupils to reach the educational objectives. Empirically, this prediction proved to be invalid as student achievement did not increase. The degree of implementation at the local level varied according to the comprehension, capability and willingness of those involved to carry out the experiment. The courses of action taken by the schools frequently could have been undertaken within the existing legislative framework, as they mostly concerned new ways of working and organising staff and pupils. An assessment of the objectives attained showed that, even if elements of developmental work corresponding to the direction stated in the policy documents were observed, the experiment did not emerge as the primary explanatory factor for this result Thus, the net impact of the experiment can be questioned. If judged against the criterion of adaptiveness, the results are more successful than if the experiment is assessed according to goal-attainment and the validity of the program theory. The experiment was found to integrate, alter and accommodate itself readily to local needs. The thesis illustrates the complexity of formulating and implementing policy in a decentralised context and points to important aspects in the historical background of the programme, which often tend to be overlooked when policy is analysed and discussed. At the same time, the study sheds light on the significant role played by street-level implementation actors in the educational context.

This thesis addresses the problem of how it is possible to understand the governing system for the school sector by studying how the relationship between the government and municipalities comes to the fore in the position held by the directors of education, who are the administrative directors of education in the municipalities. In order to put the position of the directors of education in its place in the government´s system for adminsitrating the school sector, we have studied how this office developed to be a part of the central adminsitration of school acivities in the municipalities. The study includes an analysis of how the position and function of this office changes up until the 1990´s, as well as what experiences the directors of education who serverd during the 1990´s had of the control and adminsitration of matters in the school sector. The empirical material of the study consists partly of documents and litterature - particularly hostoric texts, and partly of a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaires have been carried out among all of the directors of education that served during the whole 1990´s. The results of the study show that the changes in the government´s system for governing the school sector have rendered the system itself seomwhat obscure. Positions of responsibility have not become clear. Hidden control becomes visible by the way in which economic issues are handled and by the existence of the agreement on school development - both of which are control instruments in the school sector, but not parts of the national control and adminsitration system. Underpressure has been developed in which the government, through its decrees, has strengthened the school level in issues that need to be solved in the municipal level in the present system, whithout the municipal level actually beeing strengthening.

This report describes a comparative study about reading- and writing development in “A-towns school” in The Gambia and in “Villaskolan” in Sweden. The purpose of this study is to compare two teachers in Sweden with two teachers and two volunteers from the school in Gambia, with focus on their thoughts and methods on teaching reading and writing at each school and in their social context. The aim is also to observe and describe how classroom environment at both schools can encourage students to read and write. The theoretical base of this study is rooted in a sociocultural perspective but I have also chosen to illuminate behaviorism and cognitivism. The study is qualitative and the main research methods are interviews and observations of the classrooms. My conclusions are, even though considerable differences in approach and conditions, teachers in both schools work hard and show dedication towards their students. Another finding is that teachers use different techniques and working methods to achieve the same goal -to teach their students to read and write based on what is required of them in their cultural and social context. The different ways of teaching have been caused by the existence of different perceived needs based on culture and tradition. One conclusion is also that read and write requirements for students in the Gambia and Sweden are different from each other. In Sweden there is clearly a higher demand for more advanced reading - and writing skills while one person in the Gambia is perceived to be able to read and write if he/she can handle basic administrative tasks.

This thesis analyzes the involvement of senior class pupils in self-governing committees and public organizations, discusses the participation of the pupils’ in the social processes, stressing values and social roles. Schoolchildren’s committees are reviewed in the context of changes in the Lithuanian educational system. The proportion of youth participation and non-participation in the organizations operating at the schools is also analyzed. A review is made of which organizations operate in schools and which organizations schoolchildren can actively participate in. A Pupil questionnaire was carried out, in order to find out the particularities of the senior class pupils participation in the activity of public organizations and school committees. 757 respondents were interviewed in large and small cities. The number of respondents is described by requirements of 95 percent reliable intervals and 4 percent inaccuracies, which are considered to be sufficient for representation in quantitative research. The research that was carried out revealed that according to the interview data of the senior class pupils, one quarter of the pupils takes part in a school commitee and one fifth of 16 – 18 year old schoolchildren take part in youth organizations. The proportion of children who participate both in self–governing committees and in youth organizations does not reach one tenth and about two thirds of the respondents do not participate in any activities. More schoolchildren... [to full text]

Body and Power in Motion This dissertation is concerned with body and politics, or, more specifi cally body, power and governance. The central question is how specifi c individuals and bodies are constituted in the teaching of Physical Education (PE) in school. Inspired by Foucault’s work and the research fi eld that emanates from the concept of governmentality, one of the ambitions is to develop a method that facilitates the study of power and governance processes in teachers’ and students’ interactive actions and dealings. With the aid of this approach, 15 video-recorded physical education lessons in 5 Swedish nine-year compulsory schools are analysed in order to demonstrate how governance processes are included in the work and activities in terms of how the processes of governance–self-governance are staged, and the direction this takes. In using the term direction I am here referring to the content the governance is aiming towards, where the question of which subjects and bodies are constituted is of substantial interest. This means that the study not only focuses on what is done, but also on the way in which it is done, i.e. it analyses both process and content. The results show that physical exertion and the desire for physical work is a thread that runs though the analysed material. It is mainly scientifi c knowledge about the body that is referred to in actual teaching practice. This is displayed through the use of a scientifi cally inspired language when talking about the body, where effects on muscles and degrees of oxygen intake are considered in connection with the physical activities. In connection with physical exertion, pupils are encouraged to do their best, try the activities on offer, cooperate with others and face challenges. In line with the governmentality perspective’s problematisation of the process governance–self-governance, the study highlights a governance mentality that is not characterised by coercion, but is rather directed towards different components of willingness where the students are expected to be participatory, take responsibility and govern their own actions in the direction of that which is most desirable and reasonable. The willingness component appears as the actual hub of character-building, were the students ought to be physically active, should want to do their best, be willing to try, should want to show solidarity and should want to defeat the others. The process of governance–self-governance is staged as different ways of appealing to one’s willingness in the activities studied. Specifi c governance techniques are used to support and promote self-governance work, i.e. different forms of encouragement strengthen the correct action, emphasising physical exertion as pleasurable and focuses on the fact that we are all involved in a common project. In the dissertation it is shown how the body is included in a socio-political context. Through the body the individual is turned into a participant of physical projects concerned with becoming a certain kind of social citizen. The body thus symbolises the complex encounter between the individual and society. In this way the study demonstrates and highlights tendencies that are evident in modern society. It is thus a narrative that indicates how we all become part of a discourse system.