This research investigated Punjabi children’s meaning-making processes as they engaged with culturally relevant literature, and presents a critical evaluation of Punjabi and Sikh representation in children’s literature. The Punjabi community in Canada is growing rapidly, with Punjabi being the third most commonly spoken non-official language in Canada. Yet, this minority group remains underrepresented in educational research. Past research has shown the numerous benefits minority children experience when engaging with literature that authentically represents their cultural background (see Cunard, 1996; Goldblatt, 1999; Goo, 2018; Steiner, Nash & Chase, 2008; Zhang & Morrison, 2010). This study gave Punjabi children the opportunity to interact with culturally-relevant stories in multimodal ways, and express their understandings through multiple literacies. The children constructed and shared meanings through verbal discussions, multimodal artwork and the inclusion of movement and dramatizations. They drew on a variety of lived experiences to make meaning from the stories. Their meaning-making processes were further enhanced by the collaborative experience of reading, constructing and sharing meanings. This study opens the door to future research into ways of using literature to foster engagement in the classroom and support children’s meaning-making processes.

The general public´s everyday encounters with nature have radically changed during the 20th century in industrial countries. Our relation towards nature in relation to environmental challenges is an important educational question, and this thesis investigates encounters with nature in educational practice. More specifically the aims are to investigate (i) how encounters with nature has been legitimated in the national curricula of Swedish school, and (ii) meaning making processes within pedagogical encounters with nature.   In relation to the first aim a discourse analytical reading of the national curricula in Sweden is conducted. The results show that a scientific perspective of encounters with nature has been dominating during the last hundred years in the national curricula. In recent years, it is also more instrumental encounters that are expressed in the curricula, while students’ personal experiences and feelings are not focused in current curricula.  Paper II and III examine moral meaning making in three different educational practices – Outdoor Education Centres, All-Weather Outdoor Schools and the Radical Outdoor movement. A multidisciplinary method is used in paper II, LEDmodel (Landscape, Ethical and Didactical). Paper III is based on the ethical tendency and language-game analyses. The results from these studies show that the educational purpose have an impact on moral processes in relation to nature. When the purpose is related to scientific knowledge there is often an instrumental relation towards nature in contrast to encounters that are more open. Open encounters instead seem to create relations that are built on a sense of responsibility and empathy. The results show that relations are created in different ways where some are more personal and built on emotion when other emotions are more based on stated rules or norms.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Participants in this session will learn the factors used to determine text complexity and explore instructional strategies to address this critical aspect of addressing the Common Core Standards.

The aim of this thesis is to study how self-narratives work as displaying identity construction and meaning making in school. The study draws from a theoretical frame made up by narrative inquiry, the theory of Communities of Practice and Ervin Goffman’s dramaturgical model of role-taking and positioning on the educational scene. The method used is narrative inquiry. In total, 96 sixth grade pupils in four different schools in Sweden, have written a text based on a PowerPoint presentation titled “Tell about yourself in school”. The data is analyzed with an emphasis on the organization and structure of the narrative as well as on its content. The findings reveal that the pupils in the study are active identity constructors and meaning makers when they are given the opportunity to tell about themselves and their experiences in school. These pupils position themselves in their narratives by choosing who they want to be and how they wish to be perceived by others. These roles are thus not solely selected by the narrator itself but are also influenced by the school community with its expectations, culture and social norms. Furthermore, the analyses yielded that pupils currently move within a complex landscape of communities of practice in the school’s context where they are continually compelled to make decisions, take stands and reflect upon their lives. To nurture meaningful relationships with peers and with others in school is viewed by the pupils in the study as the main element for meaning making in school.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第22857号 / 人博第965号 / 新制||人||229(附属図書館) / 2020||人博||965(吉田南総合図書館) / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻 / (主査)教授 谷口 一美, 教授 藤田 耕司, 准教授 守田 貴弘, 教授 山梨 正明 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

No description available.