The circumstances of responding to loss due to human death are among the most stressful experiences encountered in life. Although grief’s symptoms are typically considered essential to their gradual diminishment, possible negative impacts of complications related to grief are also well known, and have been associated with detriments to mental and physical health. Grief, however, can also generate transformative positive change. Thus, albeit ineludible, responding to loss is not uniformly experienced, expressed, or understood. It is also culturally-shaped, making attempts to define “normal” grief, as well as to label some grief “abnormal”—and to medicalize it—possibly problematic. Bereavement (the situation surrounding a death) and mourning (the publicly expressed response to loss due to death) are changing. Some of these changes (e.g., the increase in hospice care settings prior to deaths, and alterations in the ritual responses following all deaths—irrespective of their context) may have important implications for avoiding grief’s possible complications and for promoting its potential benefits. An improved alignment of grief theory, research, and practice is warranted; but theories of grief are diverse, and historically have not been empirically well-supported. This research articulates a new grief model, the loss-processing framework, featuring three dimensional components (perception, orientation, and direction). As a first step toward validation of the framework, also included is an empirical study examining retrospective descriptive reports of adult loss response relating to the first of these three dimensions (perception). As an interpretive, translational approach to understanding grief, the loss-processing framework may serve to positively impact grieving, health, and life quality.

The aim of this study is to investigate the meaning-making expressed by pupils in upper primary school when they work with peer response while writing an explanatory and comparative text. The questions answered through the study concern, firstly, what pupils aim their written response at when they read texts, and secondly, what experiences the pupils highlight in the work of giving and receiving peer response. The theoretical foundation on which the study rests is dialogism (Bakhtin 1952–1953/1997). The pupils’ response work is considered in terms of the significance of dialogue for learning, in which language functions as a mediating tool (Säljö 2000). In the texts analysed in the study, there is an interaction between writer and reader, and there is a dialogue that can be related to earlier texts and the conventions developed there (Ajagán-Lester, Ledin et al. 2003, Evensen 1999). The empirical material for the study comes from a class with 23 pupils in grade 5. The material consists of pupils’ written response to classmates’ texts, pupils’ written reflections and six interviews with pupils about working with peer response. The result shows that the pupils are aware that they are writing for readers and that they must therefore think about how the reader is supposed to understand the text. The response is geared above all to the purpose and readers of the text and to how the content is organized. In cases where spelling and punctuation become an obstacle to an understanding of the text, there is also response about that. Pupils appear to be able to utilize their knowledge of text to give a response to classmates’ texts and to their own texts. The pupils also say that they will retain what they have learned in this writing project in future situations when they have to write texts. The double dialogue stands out as central. Interaction is important and the conventions are used to achieve what the pupils’ appear to have in focus: the reader’s understanding of the text. Through contexts where pupils meet in dialogue about text, meaning is created. In this study pupils in upper primary school state that response work and the resulting transactions lead to a knowledge of how to write texts, and through this meaning is created.

This grounded theory study explored the competing cultural expectations and cultural approaches by women from Latin American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries living in the United States. The study explored the following questions: In what ways do women from Latin America living in the United States establish priorities among potentially conflicting cultural expectations or roles? What internal conflicts result out of living between two cultures? What does the process for making sense of cultural expectations look like? How do Latin American women living in the United States make sense of this process? Using a constructivist grounded methodology, the research reflects the insights of 20 female participants from various Latin American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. The data analysis resulted in five major findings, illuminating a framework for understanding the process for making sense of conflicting cultural norms, expectations, and cultural approaches. This is presented in four stages, (1) confronting the new norm/expectation, (2) recognition/acknowledgment of the conflicting cultural value/norm/expectation, (3) adapting to the new context/situation and (4) managing from a cultural standpoint. The main decision-making process related to cultural expectations was tied to: (a) what it meant to be a woman from their native country in the United States and (b) what this means when they return to their country of origin. Concluding with “creating a new norm/dynamic,” this becomes the “balancing act” or “the dance between cultures."

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur förskollärare talar om sitt sätt att designa undervisning i förskolan för att alla barn ska erbjudas förutsättningar att delta, kommunicera och skapa mening i sina lärprocesser. Studien har som utgångspunkt att bidra med kunskap om vilka resurser förskollärare använder i sin undervisning för att kunna erbjuda alla barn meningsskapande och kommunikation. I studien har en kvalitativ ansats använts som metod, vilket innebär att data har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som sedan har analyserats utifrån ett multimodalt och designorienterat perspektiv. Medverkande i studien är sex förskollärare från totalt tre olika förskolor. I resultatet framkommer det att de didaktiska frågorna, barnens intresse samt mindre barngrupper är en utgångspunkt i hur förskollärare väljer att designa undervisning. Resultatet visar även att bild, tecken och material samt utformandet av miljön ses som viktiga resurser för att förskollärare ska kunna erbjuda alla barn förutsättningar för kommunikation och meningsskapande. / The aim of this study is to investigate how preschool teachers talk about their ways of design for education in preschool to offer all children the opportunity to participate, communicate and create meaning in their learning processes. The starting point of this study is to contribute knowledge about which resources preschool teachers use in their teaching to be able to offer all children meaning-making and communication. The study is based on a qualitative approach, which means that data have been collected through semi-structured interviews and have been analyzed from a multimodal and design-oriented perspective. Participating in the study are six preschool teachers from three different preschools. The results show that the didactic questions, children’s own interests and smaller groups of children are a starting point in how preschool teachers choose to design for teaching. The results also show that pictures, signs and materials as well as the design of the environment are seen as important resources for preschool teachers to be able to offer all children opportunity for communication and meaning-making.

A growing number of studies have been addressing the use of technology in dementia care. As traditional views of society focus mostly on the symptomatic aspects of dementia, the use of technology is limited to people’s impairments. However, critical dementia aligned with the third wave of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) adopted a more holistic approach that goes beyond individual cognitive functions. In this paper, I will (1) present findings about the experience of practitioners and family members of people with dementia (PwD) in a long-term care residence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; (2) Present and discuss digital design solutions for the well-being of PwD in the field of art therapy, Internet of Things (IoT), augmented technology and multisensory environment, and (3) Propose interaction qualities to solidify the epistemological shifts of HCI in the context of dementia care. The overall aim of this paper is to understand the psychological and social needs of PwD in the context of a long-term care institution and suggest a design approach that leads to digital artifacts that enhance engagement and social connectedness for the wellbeing of PwD.

Tidigare forskning visar att lärare med hjälp av multimodalitet och meningsskapande resurser kan skapa meningsskapande undervisning som främjar elevers lärande men att det finns hinder i form av lärares kompetens och tolkning av styrdokumenten. Syftet med denna studie är att få en inblick i hur några svensklärare tillsammans uppfattar och beskriver hur de skapar multimodala lärandesituationer i ämnet svenska för årskurs 4–6. Studien belyser därför dels hur sex svensklärare definierar multimodalitet och hur de använder sig av multimodalitet och meningsskapande resurser i planering, ledning och genomförande av svenskundervisning, dels hur de resonerar om multimodalitet i relation till individuell kompetens och tolkning av styrdokument. Den här studien har sin utgångspunkt i Selander och Kress (2021) design för lärande och är därför den som ligger till grund för den här studiens syn på lärande, lärarens roll och innebörden av språk. Datainsamlingen har genomförts i form av fokusgruppssamtal och har sedan analyserats genom en tematisk analys.  Resultatet visar att svensklärarna i studien är osäkra på begreppet multimodalitet men att de använder sig av multimodalitet och dess meningsskapande resurser genomgående i planering, ledning och genomförande av svenskundervisning, dock genom omedvetna handlingar. Resultatet visar även att individuell kompetens och tolkning av styrdokument i relation till multimodalitet kan skapa svårigheter för svensklärarna men att det handlar främst om tidsbrist för användandet och svensklärarnas utveckling av det. En slutsats är att svensklärare är motiverade och vill bli medvetna om användningen av meningsskapande resurser för att utveckla sin roll som lärare för att främja elevers lärande. / Research shows that teachers using multimodality and meaning-making recourses can create meaningful teaching situations that helps students’ learning but that there are obstacles in teachers’ competence and interpretation of the curriculum. The purpose of this study is to gain an insight into how some Swedish teacher together describe how they create multimodal learning situations in the Swedish subject for grades 4-6. The study highlights how six Swedish teachers define multimodality and how they use multimodality and meaning-making resources in planning, management, and implementation of teaching. It also highlights how the Swedish teachers discuss multimodality in relation to individual competence and interpretation of the curriculum.  This study has its foundation in Selander and Kress (2021) design for learning and is therefore this study’s view of learning, the role of the teacher and the meaning of language. The data has been carried out in the form of focus group discussions and then been analyzed through a thematic analysis.  The results show that Swedish teachers in this study are uncertain about the concept multimodality but that they are using it consistently when teaching the Swedish subject, in unconscious actions. The result also shows that individual competence and interpretation of the curriculum can create difficulties in the use of multimodal tools due to time limits and a conclusion therefore is that Swedish teachers are motivated to become aware of their use of multimodal tools to develop their roles as teachers to improve student learning.

This study compared the narratives presented by government officials’ to the people in Sweden and Australia regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic. Government officials form the first line of communication and set the scene for further communication, contributing to peoples understanding of reality. This study investigated the first layer of communication to the nation in a global crisis. Comparing and contrasting cross cultural narratives that addressed the same global phenomenon yielded new knowledge about how narratives are told and can set the foundation for further communication and meaning making in the public.This study investigated communication to the nation to discover if the narrative differ or share commonalities between Australia and Sweden -two countries with significantly different strategies to handling the Covid-19 outbreak to the purpose of gaining deeper knowledge of how narration from national leaders is shaped and inform public meaning making.Method: Narrative Content Analysis (Content analysis, Narrative Analysis, Grounded Theory)Theory: Narrative Theory

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For art to become personally meaningful to visitors, museums need to view art interpretation as a narrative inquiry process. General museum visitors without art expertise naturally make meaning of art by constructing stories around a work to relate to it. Narrative inquiry, a story based exploration of experience, fits into contemporary museum education theory because it is a constructive and participatory meaning making process. This thesis examines how art museums can build upon visitors' natural interpretive behaviors, by employing art-based narrative inquiry practices and using the work of art as a narrative story text. Individuals learn when their personal narrative comes into conflict with the narrative of the museum and they negotiate new meaning. This kind of narrative learning is a process of inquiry that visitors must engage in themselves. The art museum interpretive experience can foster in visitors the ability to engage in an art-based narrative inquiry process by suspending disbelief,recalling personal memories, comparing different narrative versions, imagining possible meanings, and re-storying experiences into new understandings. This research text explores these topics through a narrative based method of inquiry comprised of a series of autobiographical stories describing the researcher's experiences in coming to understand the relationship between narrative inquiry and art museum education.

I have for as long as I can remember been interested and fascinated by theatre performances and their ability to create meaning, significance and understanding towards their audience. This has later on turned into a growing interest and curiosity for the rehearsal process, as it is within the rehearsals the meaning-making aspects of a performance are both created and produced. Moreover has this curiosity generated to be a somewhat basis for this research.  Through a lens of dramaturgy is this study seeking to investigate how meaning, significance and narrative are created and established within a rehearsal process, namely the rehearsal process of Mellanförskapet at Unga Dramaten. Explore the in-between-ness of the rehearsal process in relation to the upcoming theatrical event and moreover focus on the dramaturgical strategies within the rehearsal. By engaging with autoethnographic methods for observing the rehearsals, is the aim of this study to investigate how meaning making practices within the theatre can be understood in the eye of an observer. Semi-structured interviews with the creative team have further on contributed to additional knowledge and valuable information about the rehearsal process in general. Moreover serves the concept of making meaning as a basis for the theoretical framework, discussed in relation to meaning making practices within the theatre, namely dramaturgy and performative actions. Since Mellanförskapet aims toward teenagers as its primary audience, are aspects of theatre for a younger audience [TYA] discussed in relation to dramaturgical strategies within the rehearsal process. Moreover are themes and topics raised within Mellanförskapet such as intercultural identity, racism and bullying discussed in regards to TYA as well as dramaturgical strategies within the rehearsal process.