My diploma thesis is dealing with extended Adoption at distance of Zambian children and had research character. Thesis is divided into two parts; first one is theoretical, second is practical. Theoretical part consists from nine chapters. Continuously they describe history and actual state of Zambia, individual development especially in relation with education, focus and objectives of UNICEF activities, OSN and international documents dealing with human rights, education and its value in humans live, educational system in Zambia and its structure, extended adoption, organization that are realizing extended adoptions in Zambia and the last chapter is mentioning more organizations, that are realizing this project.The practical part of the thesis has scientific character. The objective of the thesis is to describe the project of extended adoption and the relation of Czech society to this project. In order of this aim three hypothesis have been made. In the first one I assume, that Czech society think that extended adoption is beneficial, but does not believe that the financial assets are not spend on the right purposes. In the second hypothesis I assume, that there is no discrimination in choosing the children taking part in the extended adoption programme based on tribe nationality, race or religion. The last hypothesis assumes that Zambian children are interested in education and that why they think the project is good for their future lives.For approving or declining hypothesis I used the method of questionnaire and discussion. The questionnaires were given to Zambian children and Czech public society. The discussion was realized with employees of certain organizations that are realizing the project of extended adoption programme. Altogether there were 170 questionnaires, 100% of them were returned.The hypothesis are analysed at the end of practical part. In the end there is summary of certain pieces of knowledge from theoretical and practical part. The last part of this diploma thesis contains the appendixes.

This research investigates the mutual influence between self-management as organizational structure and intuition in decision-making. Self-management as organizational structure has recently developed as a response to current challenges in society and business, thus constitutes an emerging research field. This study is contributing empirically to this under-research field while at the same time building on the well-researched field of decision-making. In particular, this study is building on the positive view of intuition in decision-making that comes along with dual-process theories. The empirical contribution of this study is collected through semi-structured interviews with a multiple-case study research design. This study’s main finding is the confirmation of a mutual influence, even more, a positive mutual influence, between self-management as organizational structure and intuition in decision-making. Furthermore, first findings on how they are influencing each other are brought forward as well as insights into the diversity of decision-making processes when applying self-management as organizational structure.

The study sheds light on pupils individual plans of development and portfolios from the perspective of children. It has an ethnographic standpoint. It was carried out on children and pupils in pre-school, pre-school class and third grade. By further investigating how children and pupils use their individual development plans and portfolios, in which settings and to whom they communicate them, this study is able to grasp the discourse that is created around the instrument itself. This study is also interested in and aims to find the theoretical frame, in essence, which envelops both the construction of childhood and children’s own activities within the limitations and opportunities that this structure offers. By focusing on micro, hereby meaning the thoughts and perceptions of children and pupils themselves, and on macro, such as the structure around the children and pupils, the aim of finding the previously mentioned theoretical space is fulfilled. The study was carried out by means of an ethnographic method, with conversations, interviews, surveys, observations and filming. The results show that children and pupils view their individual developmental plans and portfolios as an affordance, both in a physical sense and as an offer of a symbolic space, a space shared by others but with the same significance for all. It is also apparent that the children and pupils use their individual development plans to ascertain their positions, to show who they are.

Syftet med min studie var att undersöka hur elever i årskurs 7 upplever att utvecklingssamtal och dess förberedelser är en del i deras lärandeprocess, om uteblivna skriftliga omdömen påverkat lärprocessen, samt vilka likheter och skillnader det finns mellan elevledda jämfört med lärarledda utvecklingssamtal. Med en enkätundersökning jämfördes attityder hos elever från två olika skolor; Tätortsskolan som använde skriftliga omdömen och lärarledda utvecklingssamtal och Storstadsskolan utan skriftliga omdömen och med elevledda utvecklingssamtal. Mina resultat visar: Att större andel av eleverna som fått skriftliga omdömen anser att de fått information om hur de ligger till i de olika ämnena. Att skriftliga omdömen är mindre bra på att kommunicera till elever hur de ska göra för att utvecklas. Att en stor del av elever med lägre betyg inte förbereder sig inför elevledda utvecklingssamtal och är svåra att engagera i sin lärprocess. Att det är stor skillnad på elevledda respektive lärarledda samtal beträffande vem eleverna tycker pratar mest, men det är inga signifikanta skillnader i hur de olika typerna av samtal bidrar till elevernas lärprocess. / The main goal of my study was to investigate how pupils in lower secondary school appreciate parent-teacher conferences with preparations as part of their learning process. The main issues were how written assessments affect the parent-teacher conferences and how pupils value teacher-led parent-teacher conferences compared to student-led parent-teacher conferences. A written survey-investigation was used in order to compare the attitudes of pupils from two different schools. One school used written assessments and teacher-led conferences; the other school did not use written assessments and had student-led conferences. My findings show: That a bigger part of the pupils receiving written assessments think that they are informed about their knowledge levels in relation to the requirements. That written assessments are not optimal to communicate to pupils how to improve their work. That a major part of pupils with lower grades did not prepare themselves for the student-led conferences and thus were difficult to involve in this type of learning. That the pupils in student-led conferences are more involved in the conversations but that there were no significant differences between the different types of conferences in the perspective of their learning processes.

This research explores the responses of eleven teachers, drawn from teaching, managerial, policy, and union levels, to their involvement in the development and implementation of Teacher Review and Development (TRAD) and Individual Development Plans (IDP). Through a case study methodology that uses a phenomenological approach, this research found that TRAD and IDP had little credibility as tools of teacher development or appraisal for teachers because of a range of complexities that included the politicisation of the processes, a lack of financial and resource support, and varied quality control measures. The research elicited a list of criteria for successful design and development of appraisal processes. These are detailed in Chapter Five of the thesis. They are rigorous monitoring and modelling of the processes, clear goals with stated end dates and recognition for involvement, appraisal that is integrated in existing work practices and based on shared understandings of work value, the provision of resources and time targeted at the appraisal process, a commitment to identifying and acting on inefficiencies, appraisal that is focused on teacher development and not directly linked to salary "reward". The research concludes that authentic teacher review and development will not take place until teachers themselves take on the responsibility, as a professional group, external to their employer, for the design of teacher review and development.

<p>The intention of this study is to interview teachers in order to create a picture of how they look at their work with IUP (Plan of individual development). The main question formulated in my study is in what way IUP can become a contribution to the learner´s development. All teachers who participated in the interviews believe that the purpose of the document is to be proactive, developing and positive for the pupils. The teachers also believe that it is intended to serve as a clarification for pupils as well as teachers. It´s clear to see that the IUP generally is believed to be a supportive resource in education. The results of the interviews, however, show that the document does not in any significant way function as a support to the pupils and their learning during the term.  Most of the attention is put into the meeting between teacher, parents and pupil (“utvecklingssamtal”) held once per term, in which the individual plan also is set up.</p><p>A variety of reasons contribute to the fact that the majority of the responding teachers do not enable the pupils themselves to use the document on a regular basis in everyday work. Only one of the participating teachers stated that she actively encouraged pupils to use their IUP on a continual basis during their school day.</p><p>In the other cases the IUP was filed and often kept locked up while the pupil and the parents kept a copy at home. However, the pupils are involved in the establishing of the IUP and are given a good opportunity to take part in formulating its goals, based on their capacities. The pupil´s own wording is important to make him or her feel that the IUP is fit for them.</p><p>There were different statements about how much and how often the teachers participate in discussing the work of IUP with colleagues. One conclusion is that there was, in most of the cases, a will to create a common interpretation in order to get more out of the document.</p>

The intention of this study is to interview teachers in order to create a picture of how they look at their work with IUP (Plan of individual development). The main question formulated in my study is in what way IUP can become a contribution to the learner´s development. All teachers who participated in the interviews believe that the purpose of the document is to be proactive, developing and positive for the pupils. The teachers also believe that it is intended to serve as a clarification for pupils as well as teachers. It´s clear to see that the IUP generally is believed to be a supportive resource in education. The results of the interviews, however, show that the document does not in any significant way function as a support to the pupils and their learning during the term.  Most of the attention is put into the meeting between teacher, parents and pupil (“utvecklingssamtal”) held once per term, in which the individual plan also is set up. A variety of reasons contribute to the fact that the majority of the responding teachers do not enable the pupils themselves to use the document on a regular basis in everyday work. Only one of the participating teachers stated that she actively encouraged pupils to use their IUP on a continual basis during their school day. In the other cases the IUP was filed and often kept locked up while the pupil and the parents kept a copy at home. However, the pupils are involved in the establishing of the IUP and are given a good opportunity to take part in formulating its goals, based on their capacities. The pupil´s own wording is important to make him or her feel that the IUP is fit for them. There were different statements about how much and how often the teachers participate in discussing the work of IUP with colleagues. One conclusion is that there was, in most of the cases, a will to create a common interpretation in order to get more out of the document.

Alla elever i grundskolan, ska sedan januari 2006, ha en individuell utvecklingsplan vars syfte främst är att stödja elevers måluppfyllelse, enligt de nationella styrdokumen-ten. I Skolverkets allmänna råd (2005) anges att elever såväl som föräldrar ska ges del-aktighet och inflytande över arbetet med IUP. Vi har en uppfattning om att en samver-kansprocess, mellan lärare, elev och föräldrar, kring arbetet med IUP är av vikt för att eleven ska nå ökad måluppfyllelse. Därför var syftet med studien att belysa hur elever och föräldrar uppfattar sin delaktighet i samverkansprocessen kring IUP samt hur lära-ren gör för att involvera elever och föräldrar i det arbetet. För att få en bild av hur sam-verkansprocessen kring den individuella utvecklingsplanen uppfattas av lärare, elever och föräldrar har såväl kvalitativa som kvantitativa metoder använts. Dessa har bestått av lärar- och föräldraenkäter samt av elevintervjuer. Resultatet visar att elever och för-äldrar upplever stor delaktighet kring arbetet med IUP. Studiens resultat visar även att eleverna genom IUP fått en större medvetenhet över sitt lärande. Beträffande lärarper-spektivet visar vårt resultat att lärarna anser det viktigt att involvera elever såväl som föräldrar. Lärarnas motiv för att involvera eleven i arbetet med IUP är att skapa delak-tighet, motivation och ansvarstagande hos eleven för en ökad måluppfyllelse. Samman-taget visar vår studie att en god samverkansprocess kan leda till ökad måluppfyllelse för eleven. / Since January 2006, an individual development plan (IUP) should be prepared for every pupil in comprehensive school. The aim of development plan is to support pupils’ pos-sibilities to fulfil the goals of the National curriculum. General counsels of the National Board of Education (2005) states that both pupils and parents should be given the pos-sibility to influence on and participate in the work with IUP. We articulate that the co-operation process between teacher, pupil and parents concerning IUP, is of importance for pupils’ goal fulfilment. Therefore, the aim of the study was to elucidate how stu-dents and parents consider their participation in the cooperation process with IUP, and how the teacher involves students and parents in the process. In order to find out how the cooperation process concerning the individual development plan is considered by teachers, students, and parents, both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. These consist of teachers’- and parents’ inquiries, and by pupils’ interviews. The result shows that both pupils and parents experience a great deal of participation con-cerning the work with IUP. The result also shows that the students through IUP have improved their awareness of the learning process. Regarding the teachers’ perspective, our study illuminates that teachers consider it important to involve both pupils and par-ents. Teacher’s reason for involving pupils in the work with IUP is to create participa-tion, motivation, and responsibility among pupils for an increased goal fulfilment. All in all, our study shows that a good cooperation process increases pupils’ goal fulfil-ment.

The aim of this essay has been to find out whether the individual development plan does make it easier to teachers to discover any needs of the students to get education or material changes and by that make adjustments in the classroom. I chose to seek information by interviewing special educators at four compulsory schools, since they have an overall apprehension of how the work is carried out at the school, especially the work with students in need of any form of extra support. All students at the Swedish compulsory school shall have an individual development plan. The purpose with the plan is, besides that the student is to be given possibilities to form his own pedagogical and social goals, that the teacher shall get early signals if a student may be in need of getting education and materials changed and adjusted for to easier manage his studies. The individual development plan of the student should have the function as a tool to the teacher to facilitate for his students. The answer of my question can be sum-up in a no, the inherent potential in the individual development plan is not utilized by the teachers that seem to have the apprehension that the plan is for the student all by him/herself. The teaching staff has obviously not understood the use they can get out of it.

Studiens syfte har varit att beskriva hur IUP som fenomen fungerar i skolan. Frågeställningarna för studien har berört vilka konsekvenser arbetet med IUP anses ha för elevernas måluppfyllelse, vilka möjligheter och hinder IUP ger med tanke på elevernas lärande, samt hur attityden kring IUP ser ut för pedagoger och elever. Studien har varit av kvalitativ karaktär och sett ur pedagogernas perspektiv, där sex pedagoger för grundskolans äldre åldrar intervjuats. Resultatet visade att arbetet med IUP är bra på så vis att det möjliggör att alla elever blir sedda samt att eleverna blir medvetna om sitt eget lärande. Till de negativa aspekterna hörde problematiken med formuleringar som kan generera missförstånd, att en del elever inte ser IUP som betydelsefullt, att en IUP inte kan garantera att elever når målen, samt den arbetsbelastning pedagogerna anser att arbetet med IUP kan ge. I studien har även uppmärksammats att pedagoger i sitt arbete med IUP stundtals utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv på lärande, medan inriktningen i Skolverkets allmänna råd i högre grad kan sägas utgå från ett kognitivt perspektiv. Avslutningsvis vill jag tacka alla pedagoger som medverkat, samt min handledare Lena Heindorff.