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The aim of the study is to describe how toddlers at pre-school interact with each other during the free play. The following research-questions have been chosen: In which ways are made visible when toddlers interact with each other during the free play? Which repeated patterns are there in toddler’s interaction with each other? The method that was used was observation. Implementing of observations happened during five days on a pre-school. Observations show that the interaction makes visible in various ways when it comes to toddlers, for example through observing, laughing and using the verbal communication. Repeated patterns that are shown are for example eye contact and smile occurs when toddlers interact with each other

The purpose of this study is to gather and describe case studies of 'struggling' teenage boys, focusing on their identities, which are mediated by the discursive practices associated with school mathematics and other activities. The sociocultural model of identity unites an individual’s psychodynamic continuity with the roles and positions that emerge from his/her social interactions. The setting for the investigation is a small single-sex, non-traditional secondary school, in which the sample is seven boys, ages sixteen to eighteen, who have lost interest in the academic mainstream. Qualitative data were collected on individual boys, and then matched in a table to the theoretical framework. The study raised five issues about identity, struggling teenage boys, and school mathematics. To negotiate the dialectic of opposing identity norms, struggling teenage boys employed identities as expressive tools that held desirable positions for them in school mathematics. In the organization of multiple identities, salience depended upon the intrinsic and extrinsic gratification associated with knowledge of mathematics. Positive mathematical identities clustered with compatible social identities that were also supported by these rewards. The sociohistorical availability of identities increased in nontraditional mathematics courses that provided the boys with opportunities to enact positive roles. Many of the boys communicated positive attitudes towards school mathematics in relation to their future career goals. Though they may have struggled, they expected to achieve conventional success in the adult world. The issue of identity and emotions was illustrated by the shame and mistrust that accompanied the loss of a former identity such as a “gifted” level in school mathematics. For some struggling teenage boys, mistrustfulness was evident in their discussions about money. They expressed an affinity for simple arithmetic, which they could easily master with repetitive practice. Implications for teaching include cultivating future-oriented identities, incorporating 'money themes, and offering customized courses.

Este estudo aborda o fenômeno do turismo do ponto de vista sociológico, analisando a interação entre os indivíduos que dele participam e o conseqüente intercâmbio sociocultural que dele resulta. O estudo das relações entre os turistas argentinos e os residentes de Porto Belo, em Santa Catarina, durante a temporada de verão, pretende mostrar as transformações, desencadeadas pelas relações que se estabelecem entre turistas e residentes, na vida desses indivíduos e o papel cumprido pelo turismo na aproximação e o entendimento recíproco entre eles.

The purpose of this study was to uncover the perspectives that pertain to the literacy experiences of young Hispanic boys. Hispanic boys will be asked to describe, feel, judge, and make sense of their public and private literacies (Faulkner, 2005). This phenomenological study embraces two methods of data collection, participant focus groups and individual interviews. The primary question guiding this inquiry was: What are the perceptions of adolescent Hispanic boys who are considered low level readers (by state achievement tests) regarding their literacy experiences? In order to help provide background information and set the stage for future work when considering this specific population other supporting questions were added. These include: 1.) What have researchers reported about Hispanic boys in literacy situations? 2.) What is the role of masculinity (machismo) in the literacy lives of Hispanic boys? 3.) What teaching methods do Hispanic boys consider most responsive to their literacy needs? and 4.) What role can critical literacy play in educating this marginalized population? After sorting and analyzing all data sources, the themes that evolved as considered most relevant by this group of Hispanic boys were: a). Family, b). Language: its role of language in building identity, c). Machismo: to include male discourse when dealing with gangs and violence, e). Education - public literacy, e). Literacy: reading, writing, and f). Moral Literacy. Several major implications of the study include: (a) strong value for their cultural identity, (b) disconnect from their educational settings, (c) could self-prescribe their personal educational needs, (d) lacked institutional knowledge, and (e) had the potential to rebuild their identity. It is imperative that we listen to the voices of this marginalized population in order to gain insight to how Hispanic boys live public and private literacies (Faulkner, 2005) in the hope that our educational system can respond to their personal and academic needs.

This study is about students’ work with writing as an activity for learning in year 4, 5 and 6 in compulsory school. The methodology used is inspired by phenomenography and the overall frame of analysis is sociocultural. The purpose of the study is to describe what five students experience they learn when writing and on the basis of that problematize students’ work with writing in school. The study includes five students, three boys and two girls, as well as five different writing assignments. The five writing assignments are of different character; argumentative, reflective, structured, narrative and communicative, and they aim to include several of the functions writing can have in school. The main material of the study consists of 25 interviews, five with each student, which have been conducted as closely as possible to the students’ work with the five different writing assignments. The study shows that students experience they learn differently depending on what type of writing assignment they are working with. In order for the students to perceive that they are learning a subject matter, which they are writing about, it seems the writing assignments need to be designed in a way that challenges the students’ thinking. Challenges of the type reflect, take a stand, motivate and compare seem to be effective for this purpose, even though they do not always seem to be sufficient for all students. Several students express uncertainty. They say that they learned something in general terms instead of giving clear examples, they ponder a long time, answer that ""you" can learn", that they perhaps learned something or they don’t know. The students seem to be unfamiliar with reflection around writing and learning and appear to need support, not only in their learning, but also to conceive that they learn something when they write. Teachers can not take for granted that students experience that they learn when they are writing or that students know why they are writing in school. It appears that conscious and structured work with writing, and with the students’ experience of writing, is needed.

This thesis was an exploration of the relationship between the host cultural knowledge of newcomers and their behavioural and psychological adaptation to the host culture. Utilizing a theoretical and applied approach to this research, 160 international and landed immigrant students at the University of Saskatchewan completed a questionnaire examining their perceptions of Canadian values and social axioms. Values and social axioms are guiding principles and mediating beliefs, respectively, that individuals use to organize, understand and facilitate physical and social functionality within a culture (Schwartz, 1994; Leung et al., 2002). Despite the complexity of the research task, there was marginal support for the main hypothesis that the participants understanding of Canadian cultural knowledge was related to adaptation to a host culture, specifically psychological adaptation. Furthermore, the results indicate that the participants knowledge of Canadian values and social axioms was differentially related to psychological and behavioural adaption to Canada.

No description available.

This thesis was an exploration of the relationship between the host cultural knowledge of newcomers and their behavioural and psychological adaptation to the host culture. Utilizing a theoretical and applied approach to this research, 160 international and landed immigrant students at the University of Saskatchewan completed a questionnaire examining their perceptions of Canadian values and social axioms. Values and social axioms are guiding principles and mediating beliefs, respectively, that individuals use to organize, understand and facilitate physical and social functionality within a culture (Schwartz, 1994; Leung et al., 2002). Despite the complexity of the research task, there was marginal support for the main hypothesis that the participants understanding of Canadian cultural knowledge was related to adaptation to a host culture, specifically psychological adaptation. Furthermore, the results indicate that the participants knowledge of Canadian values and social axioms was differentially related to psychological and behavioural adaption to Canada.

Play is an important part of children´s everyday life, it is through play children develop. Play occurs a lot in kindergarten and in this study, the aim is to examine how play activities play is used in preschool teaching and the role of the teacher´s in the play. Video recordings of play activities done and qualitative methods (conversation analysis) has been used to analyze the video recordings. The results of this study show that play are widely used as a pedagogical tool in preschool. It is through play children develop. When teachers are present in children's play, they contribute to the activity and encourage children to play. The teachers know that they have responsibility for children's development and ensure that children get the help they need. Role play is central to play in both free play and in the teacher-driven games.