The purpose of our study is to get an overview of how the after-school teachers work to arouse children's interest in mathematics and how they further develop the children's mathematical knowledge. The study is examined with the help of the following questions: How do educators believe that students' interest in mathematics can be aroused through informal learning? How can the informants' ideas about informal learning in the after-school center be understood with the help of socio-cultural theories? We chose qualitative interviews as the method of our data collection in our study, in which three trained after-school center teachers were happy to participate. The empirical data that we collected has been analyzed through the socio-cultural theory. Furthermore, we chose to discuss our study with regard to previous research, which then consisted of nine researchers.  The results show that children through play and activities develop more than we think and that informal learning as a way to arouse interest and learning, is the basis for after-school teachers. Furthermore, the results show that the themes that we have analyzed can possiblyhave a positive impact on the business. Then, among other things, creativity and collaborationas strategies, collaboration with teachers and the environment are discussed. Similarly, theresults show that after-school teachers use the socio-cultural theories as an approach to arouse students' interest in mathematics / Syftet med vår studie är att få en överblick över hur fritidshemslärarna arbetar med att väcka barns intresse i matematik samt hur de vidareutvecklar barnens matematiska kunskaper. Studien undersöks med hjälp av följande frågeställningar: Hur anser pedagoger att man kan väcka elevers intresse i matematik genom informellt lärande? Hur kan informanternas föreställningar om det informella lärandet i fritidshemmet förstås med hjälp av sociokulturella teorier? Vi valde kvalitativa intervjuer som vår datasamlings metod i vår studie, där tre utbildade fritidshemslärare ställde upp i. Empirin som vi samlat har analyserat genom den sociokulturella teorin. Vidare valde vi diskutera vår studie med hänsyn till tidigare forskning. Resultatet visar att barn genom lek och aktiviteter utvecklas mer än vi tror och att informellt lärande som ett sätt att väcka intresse och lära, ligger till grund för fritidshemslärarna. Vidare visar resultatet att de teman som vi analyserat möjligtvis kan medföra positiv inverkan på verksamheten. Då bland annat kreativitet och samarbete som strategier, samverkan med lärare och miljö tas upp. Likaledes visar resultatet att fritidshemslärarna använder sig av de sociokulturella teorierna som tillvägagångssätt för att väcka elevernas intresse inom matematik.

Psykoterapeuterna i denna studie gick från att träffa sina patienter på en mottagning, till att distansarbeta online i Mars 2020. Förändringen var såväl påtvingad som plötslig och innebar ett nytt sätt att arbeta, vilket förde med sig utmaningar såväl som lärande. Denna flermetodsstudie som bygger på en enkät, följd av fem semi-strukturerade intervjuer och har haft för avsikt att undersöka dels hur deltagarna uppfattade och hanterade förändringen, dels vilket informellt lärande den resulterade i. Vidare har den även haft som syfte att undersöka om distansarbetet påverkat eventuella implicita psykologiska kontrakt mellan patienter, psykoterapeuter och arbetsgivare. Det insamlade materialet har sammanställts och resultatet har presenterats i relation till tidigare forskning, samt analyserats med hjälp av Michael Erauts typologi av olika typer av informellt lärande. Studien visar att trots initialt motstånd har merparten av deltagarna, på egen hand, funnit sätt att anpassa eller utveckla sitt tidigare arbetssätt till det nya formatet. Sociala kontakter har spelat en viktig roll för att bearbeta förändringen och nyfikenhet inför det nya har visat sig vara en positiv komponent medan upplevd isolering har varit negativ. Vidare framkommer att det sociala respektive psykologiska kontraktet till såväl arbetsgivare som patient har påverkats av förändringen, om än inte alltid på liknande sätt. / Psychotherapists in this study went from seeing clients face to face to working online, remotely from one week to another in March 2020. The change was obligatory as well as sudden and the new way of working brought challenges, but also learning. This mixed method study has through a survey, followed by five semi structured interviews, attempted to learn more about the participants attitudes to the change, how they handled the new situation and the informal learning that took place as a result of it. Furthermore, the study also looks at the effect that working remotely has had on any potential implicit psychological contracts between client, psychotherapist and employer. The result of the study was first presented in relation to previous research, then analysed with the help of Michael Eraut’s Typology of Informal Learning. The study shows that the majority of the participants have in spite of initial resistance, independently found ways of adapting their way of working, or develop it, to suit the new situation. Social contacts have played an important role in processing the change and curiosity has been a positive component whereas perceived isolation has been detrimental. The social and psychological contract to employer as well as client is found to have been affected by the change, though not in similar ways.

In a world where we are increasingly connected to one another, the English language surrounds us here in Sweden. Children today grow up in an environment where they are exposed to the English language and the Swedish language simultaneously through various media and activities. The informal learning that children gain through their activities has received more and more attention in recent years. The English that pupils learn outside of school has become known as extramural English. Thus, it is of interest to investigate the perspectives of English teachers in Sweden regarding extramural English and to what extent they incorporate it into their teaching. This study briefly explains extramural English as a phenomenon, discuss relevant theories and delve into previous research on the subject. The methods that are used for this investigation is a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target group for the research methods are English teachers with varying backgrounds. The results suggest that the majority of the participants perceive extramural activities as a valuable asset. However, the results further indicate that the teachers have a greater reluctance to integrate it into their teaching, and rather recognise it as a complementary tool to education. The study draws attention to the strengths of pupils' extramural activities, how motivation is a key factor in second language learning, as well as the complications in implementing these activities into teaching. The discussion further highlights the syllabus' connection to the results of the study.

Mot bakgrund av att det ur både ett samhälls- och individperspektiv är viktigt att anställda utvecklas i samma takt som arbetsmarknaden syftar denna studie till att få en ökad förståelse för hur olika verksamheter arbetar med arbetsplatslärande och med att motivera personalen till ett arbetsplatslärande. Den kvalitativa studien som genomförs behandlar kommunala och privata verksamheters arbete med att motivera sin personal till formellt och informellt arbetsplatslärande. För att studera detta har material från sju semistrukturerade intervjuer hämtats. Dessa intervjuer genomfördes med personalvetare som arbetar inom olika områden i både kommunala och privata verksamheter. Det insamlade materialet från intervjuerna analyserades med en tematisk analys där teman och underteman skapades. Studien tar stöd i Knud Illeris teoretiska perspektiv på vad som krävs för att ett arbetsplatslärande ska kunna ske. Det analyseras om verksamheterna upplever att ett arbetsplatslärande äger rum enligt de krav som Illeris teoretiska perspektiv ställer upp. Med stöd i intervjumaterial och det teoretiska perspektivet har en ökad förståelse för hur kommunala och privata verksamheter arbetar med arbetsplatslärande nåtts. Resultatet i denna studie visar att båda verksamheterna lägger störst fokus och prioritering på det informella lärandet och att det formella lärandet ofta hamnar i skymundan. Verksamheterna arbetar inte strategiskt med att motivera anställda utan motivation har visat sig vara en mer individuell faktor som varje individ har en stor påverkan på. Förutsättningar av ett stöttande ledarskap, meningsfullhet i arbetet och en verksamhetskultur respektive gemenskap av lärande har dock visat sig bidra till en ökad motivation. / Given that it from both a societal and individual perspective is important that the employees develop at the same pace as the labor market, this study aims at gaining an increased understanding of how different organizations work with workplace learning and to motivate staff to a workplace learning. The qualitative study that is carried out deals with the work of municipal and private organizations in motivating their staff to formal and informal workplace learning. To examine the purpose of this study data was collected through seven semi-structured interviews with people working with human resources. The data collected from the interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis where themes and sub-themes were created. This study is based on Knud Illeri´s theoretical perspective about what is necessary for a workplace learning to take place. It is analyzed whether the people working with human resources experience that the requirements for achieving workplace learning according to Illeri´s theoretical perspective exist at their workplace. With both data from the interviews and Illeri´s theoretical perspective this study gains an increased understanding of how municipal and private organizations work with motivation and workplace learning. The result of this study shows that both types of organization prioritize informal learning and less formal learning. Neither of the organizations strategically works with motivation towards workplace learning. The results have shown that motivation is mostly based on individual factors which means that the individual has the greatest influence. Prerequisites of a supportive leadership, meaningfulness in work and a business culture and community of learning, however, have shown to contribute to increased motivation.

The goal of this dissertation was to explore how self-directed learners assess their learning in informal contexts. Self-directed learners experience high intrinsic motivation and learner control, so studying these learners? experiences provides valuable insights into learning. I pose four questions: 1) How do self-directed learners in informal contexts satisfy their need for a) autonomy, b) relatedness, c) competence, and d) prioritize the satisfaction of these needs? 2) How do self-directed learners in informal contexts self-regulate their learning? 3) What affordances are perceived by informal learners during self-directed learning? 4) What relationships exist between the satisfaction of learners? basic needs, self-regulation, and perceived affordances during self-directed, informal learning? I employ multiple methodologies, including interviews (N = 19) and an open-ended survey (N = 154), and based on this evidence, theorize a Lanes of Learning model to explain how learners regulate learning, assess competence, involve others, and use tools to meet their needs. Participants? needs also influenced which learning tools they integrated and, from those, what they perceived as possible, including accessibility, personalizability, and adaptability. Evidence shows learners in 1) Lane A prefer efficiency, collect confirming cues, involve others to meet a goal, and use tools that provide a set of correct steps; 2) Lane B prefer structure, collect confirming cues and add affirming cues, involve others for functional purposes, and used tool that resemble the real thing; 3) Lane C prefer depth and chase information as it becomes relevant, collect affirming cues, involve others for emotional reasons, and use tools that provides more information to chase; and, 4) Lane D prefer innovation, collect affirming cues and add confirming cues, involve others to build a network, and use tools that are inspirational, not educational. I argue people are motivated to learn when that learning is on their terms, and this motivation manifests in the strategies and processes taken by individuals during learning.

Promoting informal workplace learning to improve workplace learning and performance within a competitive business environment presents a challenge for customer service training managers within a large corporation. The purpose of the study was to determine which attributes of informal workplace learning experiences contributed to meaningful professional development and improved performance. Constructivism and experiential learning provided the theoretical foundations for this study. Conceptually, learning is mediated by the meaning learners attribute to it. The primary research question concerned how customer service training associates perceived informal workplace learning experiences as having meaningful impact on their overall professional development and work performance. An embedded single case study design was used for the study. Data were collected through the use of semi structured interviews of 6 customer service training associates who were selected through maximum variation sampling. Thematic analysis was applied to transcribed interview data. The following were foundational to improvements in learning and performance: (a) participating in work-based projects, (b) receiving feedback through coaching and peer collaboration, (c) associating learning with achieving desired project and professional development objectives, and (d) structuring work activities and support so as to facilitate learning. The study demonstrated that informal workplace learning is grounded in the purposeful integration of certain essential elements. Study results advance social change by contributing to improved learning and performance thus benefitting individual trainers and the customer service organization.

No description available.

Although other research has addressed some features of successful school group visits to museums, such as preparation and follow up and emphasis on first-hand experience, there has been little research on the practices being used by the teachers who take their classes to the museums. I examined how teachers from five schools conducted their visits to one of four museums (Scibono Discovery Centre, HartRAO, Johannesburg Planetarium or Adler Museum) with their learners. The case study involved observing the five teachers before, during and after the visit and interviewing them before and after the visit. The data were analysed using communities of practice theory to determine the practices of the selected teachers. An in-depth analysis of the five teachers’ interviews and observations was done both for the rich data it provided and for triangulation purposes. The analysis shows that three teachers had what was described as task-oriented preparation while the other two had learning-oriented preparation. One teacher preparation was also described as not directly about the visit. The analysis further shows that four teachers were observed to have no interaction with their learners in some instance. Three teachers had learning oriented interaction with their learners at the museums. Three teachers were also observed controlling the behaviour of their learners. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the purposes and objectives of the field trips as given by teachers were for entertainment, edutainment,curriculum, interactive, career and tradition. Lastly, teachers follow up activities were described as either task-oriented or learning-oriented. The study shows that some teachers are old timers while others are newcomers in the community of teachers who take their classes to the museums.

Despite the repeated call-to-action to identify more inclusive and equitable approaches within school music ensembles, choral teaching and learning in the United States still favors practices that perpetuate injustices while limiting democracy and student autonomy (Bradley, 2007; de Quadros, 2015; Howard, 2020; O’Toole, 2005; Philpott & Kubilius, 2015; Shaw, 2012, 2016, 2019). In many ways, music teacher socialization surrounding best choral practices for teaching and learning has remained stable since the 19th century. Most choral teachers in the United States continue to center sequential patterns of teaching and learning with a singular trained leader, Western Art Music (WAM), and polished products of music (Conkling, 2019). These practices are best defined as Formal Learning (FL), or learning that includes a structured curriculum and instructional plan, sequential learning process, teacher in charge, and clear assessment plan (Mok, 2011c). Though FL endures as the “default option” in large ensemble classroom settings such as bands, choirs, and orchestras (Conkling, 2019), Informal Learning (IL) in music education—learning that is “not sequenced beforehand” and contains components that are “self-chosen and voluntary” (Folkestad, 2006, p. 141)—has steadily gained popularity in the United Kingdom and the United States since its introduction in Nordic countries in the 1960s (Hallam et al., 2018). In the early 21st century, Green (2002) conducted a seminal study about how popular musicians learn using Informal Learning Practices and Processes (ILPP). Since then, researchers and teachers worldwide have explored IL in elementary music classrooms (Davis, 2013; Moore, 2019), secondary music contexts (Bersh, 2011; Costes-Onishi, 2016; Evans et al., 2015; Gower, 2012; Green, 2008; Hallam et al., 2018; Jones, 2015; Moore, 2019; Vasil, 2015; Wallerstedt & Pramling, 2016; Wright, 2016), and collegiate settings (Finney & Philpott, 2010; Isbell, 2016; Karlsen, 2010; Mok, 2017). Feichas (2010) called IL a “pedagogy of diversity and inclusion” (p. 57), because of the inherent choice involved, the minimization of Eurocentric musics, and the opportunity for all to access this way of learning. Jones (2009) claimed students’ engagement with music in IL settings as one of the most promising indicators of musicking throughout one’s life because of the student choice, informal skills, and self-regulated learning involved. Despite these benefits, research related to IL within high school choral contexts remains scarce. The purpose of this multiple case study was to investigate Informal Learning Practices and Processes (ILPP) within the context of three public high school choral programs. A qualitative multiple case study design guided me toward purposive sampling (Patton, 2015; Stake, 2006). In total, I selected and studied the experiences of three teachers and 59 total student participants, ages 14-18. Data sources and types at each site included choir teacher and student interviews/transcripts, observations/field notes, recordings from concerts and rehearsals, course materials, and other artifacts. In total, I conducted six individual interviews with the teachers and 89 individual/focus group interviews with the students. Additionally, I conducted approximately 104 total hours of observations, split among all three sites. Upon completion of data collection, I engaged in a within-case analysis by first constantly comparing the data with the emerging conceptual framework, The IL-FL Continua, and next open-coding the data and grouping the codes into themes. I subsequently completed the cross-case analysis, first by forming types/families of learning practices and processes (Miles et al., 2020), and subsequently by constructing nine explanations (Yin, 2018) that captured the essence of the quintain: student and teacher perspectives of ILPP in choral programs (Stake, 2006). To ensure trustworthiness, I employed triangulation, peer coding, and member checking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The within-case data analysis revealed a wide variety of benefits related to ILPP in choir including musical validation and growth, musical self-efficacy, bolstered community, creative freedom, feelings of ownership, enhanced life skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, independence, social-emotional skills), and a more relaxed environment. Challenges of ILPP in choir that emerged included musical setbacks, navigating open-ended and independent tasks, social dynamics in group work, unequal contribution, and limited time. The three teachers each held different values that prompted them to center ILPP in choir. For instance, one teacher centered ILPP because he valued student voice and democracy, while another teacher centered ILPP to foster lifelong music-making. The Informal-Formal Activities Continuum which emerged from the cross-case data analysis (see Figure 3), features four types of learning practices and processes in high school choirs: (a) teacher or student led rehearsals, (b) large group creative activities, (c) small group creative activities, and (d) non-compulsory performance opportunities. Further analysis revealed two models of integrating IL and FL in choral contexts: mutually-supportive and additive. A mutually-supportive model of IL-FL refers to a pedagogy of practice whereby students experience learning on all parts of the IL-FL Continua which contributes toward shared outcomes and goals. An additive model refers to a pedagogy of practice whereby some students may experience shared outcomes and goals. While additive and mutually-supportive models resulted in similar benefits such as student enjoyment and motivation, strengthened community, life skills, and recruitment/program advocacy, the mutually-supportive model promoted greater musical and communal outcomes. This study holds implications for developing and centering a new choral philosophy for inservice and preservice choral teacher education. At the core of this philosophy lies a mutually-supportive IL-FL model, facilitated by decentralized power and a democratic classroom environment. By engaging students in varying learning styles, decentering power in the classroom, and encouraging students to make choices to support their own learning, teachers may foster student lifelong and lifewide music-making. / Music Education

Cities worldwide need to become healthier, both physically and mentally. While Sweden ranks highly on a global scale of sustainable urban development, the country is facing issues with the declining mental health of its citizens, notably affecting the younger population. To sustainably develop our cities, possible negative impacts on the people must be recognised and avoided. Situated in the interdisciplinary field of Urban Studies, this research combines environmental psychology, architecture, and urban planning, while also considering the political aspects of city development. This thesis aims to study the concept of restorative environments, spaces which positively influence well-being and restore mental fatigue caused by external and internal stressors. Previous studies on restorativeness have focused on outdoor natural environments, considered to encompass the highest levels of restorative qualities. However, to develop mentally healthy cities, the restorativeness of built environments must be considered, which is especially important as we spend most of our lives indoors. This thesis analyses cafés used as informal learning spaces by university students in Malmö through the main research question: ‘What restorative qualities exist in the indoor built environment of cafés utilised as informal learning spaces (ILS) by students in Malmö, Sweden?’. Collected data through document analysis, quantitative survey and qualitative follow-up sessions are analysed through the theories of Attention Restoration Theory and concepts of third place and thirdspace. Whereas previously published research suggests that built environments lack restorative qualities, findings in this research provide not only the identification of such qualities but a preference for them. Both concepts of third places and thirdspaces are especially relevant for students at Malmö University, in which the city becomes the campus. However, there is a disconnect between the policy-making level and the students where current urban development laws fail to recognise restorative qualities. Subsequently, this research will provide results to a gap in existing research and hopefully encourage future studies on similar topics.