The main purpose of this research is to develop knowledge about mathematics anxiety and working methods as countermeasures in middle school. To achieve this goal the work of four teachers who work with students with math anxiety in middle school was studied. The aim was to investigate the relationship with students' mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy and performance. The aim was also to identify strategies in the teachers' way of working in relation to self-efficacy and performance that reduce mathematics anxiety. To fulfill this purpose data was collected through semi-structured interviews which then formed the basis of the discussion, together with previous research audited by peer-review. The analysis was based on Bandura's theory about self-efficacy as well as Vroom’s theory about academic work related to motivation and performance. A theoretical definition of math anxiety and didactic work also worked as a theoretical framework for the study. The conclusions indicated that three of the teachers experienced that math anxiety had a negative impact on the students performance, with the exception of one who indicated that math anxiety increased the student’s math performance. Another conclusion was that self-efficacy has the biggest impact when it comes to math anxiety. By raising the students' self-efficacy, the math experience became more enjoyable thus improving the math achievement of the students.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka lärares, kuratorers och rektorers erfarenheter och upplevelser av elevers bruk av beroendeframkallande medel samt hur undervisning om dessa substanser kan bidra till ett hälsofrämjande- och förebyggande arbete. Tidigare forskning har visat att det finns få studier som utforskar vilken typ av undervisning som är mest effektiv för att förhindra ungas tidiga bruk av olika substanser. För att samla in data har en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer använts. De som deltagit i intervjuerna är tre lärare, två kuratorer och en rektor. Studien baseras på delar av den sociokulturella teorin, fokus är på hur eleverna lär sig och tar till sig information. Resultatet visar att respondenterna har varierade upplevelser och erfarenheter kring elevers bruk av beroendeframkallande medel samt skilda uppfattningar om behovet av undervisning inom detta område. Samtliga respondenter är överens om att ämnet är svårt att undervisa i, men att undervisning om ämnet upplevs som positivt för det hälsofrämjande- och förebyggande arbetet. Vidare framkommer vikten av att stärka elevernas förmåga att göra självständiga val. Avslutningsvis betonar respondenterna att undervisningen måste anpassas efter elevernas ålder och behov. / The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences and perceptions of teachers, counselors, and the principal regarding students´ use of addictive substances and how education about these substances can contribute to health-promoting and preventing efforts. Previous research has shown that there are few studies exploring which types of education is most effective in preventing early use of various substances among young people. To collect data, a qualitative method in form of semi structured interviews was used. The participants in the interviews were three teachers, two counselors, and one principal. The study is based on parts of the sociocultural theory, this study focusses on how students receive information. The results show that the respondents have varied experiences and perceptions regarding students’ use of addictive substances, as well as different opinions on the need for education in this area. All respondents agree that the subject is difficult to teach, but that education about addictive substances is seen as positive for health- promoting and preventive work. Furthermore, it emerged that many of the teachers, counselors and the principal believe it is important to strengthen students’ ability to make independent choices. In conclusion, the respondents emphasize that education must be adapted to the students’ age and needs, as these vary.

This dissertation takes an interest in learning and literacy in everyday interaction in the middle year classroom. It is based on a view of learning as emically construed in social interaction. Conversation Analysis (CA) and the concept of epistemic stance are used as a theoretical framing for describing in what way, and with what verbal and non-verbal resources, learning is achieved in desk interaction, i.e. when students work individually at their desks while the teacher moves around to support them. Almost without exceptions, these interactions involve the use of texts. Hence, they are viewed as situated literacy events that are part of the institutionally shaped literacy practices as described in the field of New Literacy Studies. The empirical data for this study comes from a video-ethnographic study in two middle year classrooms in grade four and five. Out of a total of 70 hours of video documentation, a selection of interrelated desk interactions was made. These were analyzed as learning trajectories and compared from two perspectives. Firstly, learning trajectories when a teacher repeatedly interacts with the same student about the same learning content were analyzed. Secondly, the changes in the teacher’s epistemic stance when interacting with different students about the same learning content in repeated desk interactions were studied. The analysis shows that the teacher’s trajectories through the classroom build infrastructures for learning, enabling differentiation between students within the constraints and possibilities of evolving routines. Learning in desk interaction mainly relies on the use of text references to index previously shared knowledge. Epistemic topicalizations and recurring semiotic fields are shown to be crucial resources for both maintaining and changing the epistemic stance of the participants towards the learning content constituted in interaction. A conclusion is that the shared experiences of teachers and students in collective literacy events serve as important resources for learning in individual desk interaction. / Baksidestext: Den här avhandlingen handlar om bänkinteraktioner på mellanstadiet. Med hjälp av videoanalyser utforskas lärares och elevers sociala samspel när elever arbetar enskilt med skriftliga uppgifter i sina bänkar, medan läraren rör sig runt i klassrummet för att hjälpa dem. Avhandlingen visar hur lärande i bänkinteraktioner sker till följd av lärares och elevers ömsesidiga samordning av tal, gester, blickar och texter. Längs lärarens väg genom klassrummet skapas möjligheter till skilda lärandeförlopp för olika elever, inom ramen för de rutiner som samtidigt formas. Instruktioner, lärobokstexter och bilder är viktiga resurser i dessa lärandeförlopp. De används i huvudsak för att uppmärksamma och påminna om sådant man tidigare läst och diskuterat tillsammans i klassen. En slutsats blir därför att lärares och elevers gemensamma erfarenheter från olika tillfällen har stor betydelse för lärande i bänkinteraktioner. Sammantaget framstår bänkarbetet som mera socialt än individuellt.  Avhandlingen bidrar till en nyanserad förståelse av bänkinteraktioners pedagogiska potential, vilket diskuteras i relation till senare decenniers politiska individualiseringssträvanden. Den vänder sig till forskare, lärare och andra som är intresserade av lärande och skriftspråkande i klassrummets interaktion.

This is about how pupils in years 4 to 6 of compulsory school and their teachers make meaning in teaching activities and texts. The aim of the study is to investigate the teaching and learning of writing and the pupils’ discursive texts. Another aim is to use linguistic theories and develop methods and analytical concepts for studying teaching practices. Sources for the material are the teaching practices in two classes, the teachers and the pupils. The field studies lasted for two years, consisting of observations and interviews. Twelve pupils’ texts and four writing projects are studied in depth. The theoretical framework is linked to systemic functional linguis­tics, critical discourse analysis, dialogical conception of language and new literacy studies. Analytical tools are also derived from rhetorical structure theory, relief theory and theory of text sequences. These tools have been adap­ted and are also applied in the analysis of the teaching practice. To analyse pupils’ meaning making in their texts, a theory of mobility in texts is used. The analyses show two different categories of texts and teaching practices. The hierarchically composed texts are characterized by hierarchies concerning the entire text. The sequentially coupled texts are charac­terized by many vague relations between text entities. One conclusion is that the students in the hierarchically composed texts develop knowledge during writing. They make meaning recursively when writing and they seem to grasp the text as a whole in a way they do not in the sequentially coupled ones. In the sequentially coupled texts, pupils seem to develop knowledge mostly before they write the text, rather than during the writing. In the hierarchically composed practice the pupils deepen their knowledge about text. The result can be interpreted as showing that pupils primarily need education about global text levels in order to develop text knowledge and subject knowledge. Teaching practice seems to promote all pupils’ meaning making if the practice is characterized by many interpersonal relations in the chains of spoken and written texts and if pupils learn to write texts that can structure their meaning making in a functional way.

Denna studie utgår från en undersökning om hur elever i grundskolans årskurs 4 – 6 uppfattar jämställdhet och vilka erfarenheter eleverna har av jämställdhet respektive ojämställdhet. Jämställdhet diskuteras aktivt i samhället och berör alla människor, vuxna som barn. Barnen bör få vara delaktiga i det jämställdhetsarbete som är igång. Trots detta har jag endast hittat lite forskning kring hur just barn tänker om jämställdhet. Därför utgår denna uppsats ifrån just barns perspektiv på jämställdhet. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka elevers perspektiv på jämställdhet för att förstå hur eleverna uppfattar området för att vidare kunna involvera eleverna ytterligare i jämställdhetsarbetet. Metoden för insamlingen av empirin är gruppintervjuer där elever indelats i grupper för att diskutera förberedda frågor om jämställdhet. Eleverna har i grupperna diskuterat de olika frågorna och sett en film om jämställdhet som senare också diskuterats. Under aktiviteten har jag antagit en passiv roll större delen av tiden. Eleverna visar att de är väl medvetna om jämställdhet och genusfrågor och har många olika erfarenheter av ojämställda händelser i deras skolvardag. Samtliga elever tycker det är viktigt att jobba med området i skolan för att göra varandra, både barn och vuxna, medvetna om hur man agerar i vardagen utifrån vissa stereotypiska könsmönster och könsroller. Eleverna upplever att de själva har blivit väldigt påverkade och uttrycker traditionella könsmönster på flera olika sätt exempelvis genom att anta att pojkar spelar bättre fotboll eller att flickor är lugnare. Pojkarna upplever sig själva som roligare medan flickorna uppfattar dem som att de måste skämta för att upprätthålla en social, konstruerad roll. / The purpose of the study is to investigate what pupils in primary school’s grades’ 4 – 6 think about gender equality and what experiences they have of both gender equality and inequality. Gender equality is currently being discussed in society and all people are affected by it, adults as well as children. The children should be able to be involved in the contemporary work about equality. Even so, I have found few studies about how children think about this. Therefore, this essay is based on their perspective. Following the purpose of this essay is to learn about pupils’ perspective on gender equality in order to involve them more in the future in this important matter. The method that is being used to collect the information is group interviews where pupils have been divided into groups to discuss questions about gender equality. In these groups the pupils have discussed different questions and then watched a movie on the topic of equality that later was discussed. During the activity I took on a passive role most of the time. The pupils show that they are well aware of gender equality and questions about gender and they have many different inequality experiences of incidents from there school days. All the pupils think it is important to work with these questions in school to make each other, both adults and children, aware of how you normally tend to act based on stereotypical gender patterns. The pupils experience that they themselves have been affected by stereotypes and express several traditional gender patterns, for example by assuming that boys are better at soccer or that girls are generally calmer. The boys experience themselves as funnier while the girls assume that the boys must joke around more to uphold a socially, constructed role.

Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vilken roll de estetiska lärprocesserna i historisk verkstad kan spela för att utveckla elevers historiemedvetande och historiska empati. Detta har undersökts genom att intervjua sex lärare som varit på Stavgards järnålderslägerskola med sina klasser. I undersökningen konstateras att historiska verkstäder är uppskattade bland lärare och elever och att det prioriteras i undervisningen trots att det innebär en stor ekonomisk ansträngning för skolan. De estetiska lärprocesserna representeras på Stavgard genom praktiskt arbete, berättelser och i viss mån drama. Vistelsen på Stavgard skapar en gemensam referensram för lärare och klass, utifrån vilken historiemedvetande byggs under kommande historieundervisning. På lägerskolan lever eleverna järnåldersliv under två dagar och undersökningen visar att eleverna genom att själv få uppleva järnåldersmänniskornas umbäranden utvecklar historisk empati. Utöver detta beskrivs också hur för- och efterarbetet i samband med Stavgardsvistelsen utformas av de olika lärarna. / The aim of this study is to investigate what role the aesthetic learning processes in historical workshops can play in developing students' historical consciousness and historical empathy. This has been investigated by interviewing six teachers who have been at Stavgard iron age camp school with their classes. The survey found that historical workshops are appreciated among teachers and students and that it is a priority in the teaching, even though this means a great financial effort for the school. The aesthetic learning processes are represented at Stavgard through practical work, stories and to some extent drama. The stay at Stavgard creates a common frame of reference for teachers and class, based on which historical consciousness is built during future history teaching. At the camp school, the pupils practice iron age life for two days, and the study shows that the pupils themselves by experiencing the hardship of the Iron Age people develop historical empathy. In addition to this, it is also described how the pre- and post-work in connection with the stay at Stavgard is designed by the different teachers.

Detta arbete syftar till att undersöka hur genuskontraktet är konstruerat i historieläromedel för årskurs 4-6. Detta har undersökts genom att analysera vilka maskulinitetsdrag som påbjuds läromedlets läsare genom dess narrativ. Undersökningen är genomförd på två versioner av ett läromedel som givits ut under två olika decennier. Det ena läromedlet gavs ut under mitten av 1990-talet i tryckt version medan det senare läromedlet gavs ut digitalt 2018. Studien har utgått från de två tidsperioderna 1611-1718 och 1718-1792 och har, baserat på läromedlens framställningar, fokuserat på att analysera hur och i vilka sammanhang som läromedlen väljer att framställa narrativets centrala karaktärer och därigenom konstruera ett genuskontrakt.     Resultatet visar att de två läromedlens framställningar inte skiljer sig nämnvärt från varandra utan till stor del återger samma historiska narrativ, ett narrativ som präglas av ett fåtal mäns handlingar och livsöden. Det är en specifik grupp män som dominerar läromedlens historieskrivning, vilket bidrar till att dessa män, genom sättet de framställs, framstår som dominanta i förhållandet till läromedlens centrala kvinnliga karaktärer. Egenskaper som lyfts fram som maskulina skiljer sig emellertid mellan studiens undersökta tidsperioder, då tipsperioderna i läromedlens framställning präglas av olika händelser och tankesätt. Trots detta visar studiens resultat att framställningarna kring manligt och kvinnligt framförallt kretsar kring dominans och framgång. En viss grupp män framställs i kontexter, i relation och i kontrast till övriga karaktärer på ett sätt som bidrar till att dessa män framstår som aktiva karaktärer i läromedlens historieskrivning. Dessa framställningar, i relation till hur läromedlen väljer att framställa övriga karaktärer, bidrar således till att ett genuskontrakt växer fram. Män framställs i kontexter om krig och politik och framställs genom dessa kontexter som handlingskraftiga, plikttrogna och aktiva karaktärer. Då männen kontrasteras mot läromedlens kvinnliga karaktärer framstår dessa egenskaper och sammanhang som typiskt manligt kodade i relation till utsatthet och passivitet, vilka framstår som kvinnligt kodade.

For a long time, inclusion or inclusive education (IE) has been high on the agenda both internationally and in Sweden, not least since the signing of the Salamanca Declaration in 1994 and the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006. These call for inclusion to be the norm and are guided by the principle that all pupils, regardless of needs, feel that their social, emotional and academic needs are being met. Since the introduction of Lgr11 (2011), the most recent Swedish curriculum, special educational needs (SEN) should be seen as arising out of educational environments and methods that are not adapted enough to be accessible to a wide diversity of pupils. Despite a significant body of research into inclusive education, several researchers raised that few studies focused on the pupil perspective, few were collaborative and few focused on all pupils, that is to say, their focus lies only on pupils with SEN. Arguably, selecting certain groups to investigate goes against the ethos of inclusion and risks missing information from pupils experiencing difficulties that are not yet identified.  When considering factors impacting feelings of inclusion, many studies have raised the importance of socio-emotional functioning alongside academic self-concept. This collaborative study looks at how included pupils in a free school in Stockholm feel, with a focus on whether there is a difference between the pupils’ perception of inclusion depending on whether they have self-reported SEN or not, what grade they are in and their gender. This is measured using a new instrument, the ‘Perception of Inclusion Questionnaire (PIQ) - student version’, which is also being validated as a tool for measuring inclusion in Sweden. Results indicate clearly that pupils with SEN feel significantly less included than their typically-developing peers across all three scales, emotional inclusion, social inclusion and academic self-concept. In addition, grade has an impact, with pupils in Grade 8 having lower feelings of emotional inclusion, social inclusion and academic self-concept than in Grade 5. This difference was apparent for all pupils but the effect was greater in pupils with SEN. Gender returned insignificant results on all three scales. Another interesting result is that more pupils self-report actual or suspected SEN than the school reports, indicating that there are a number of pupils with difficulties who would be overlooked in studies that do not include all pupils. The Swedish version of the PIQ for Students has been validated.

Studien undersöker den individuella läsningen som undervisningsmetod. Syftet är att åskådliggöra lärares och elevers upplevelser av individuell läsning, med fokus på utformning och kunskapsinhämtning, för att sedan jämföra och belysa relationen dem emellan. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter är konstruktivism och fenomenologi, vilka betonar vikten av elevernas intresse och motivation för att lärande ska uppstå, samt att individernas uttalanden om det studerade fenomenet är sanningsbärande fakta. Studiens material består av 15 ljudinspelningar, där två lärare och 13 elever intervjuats om deras upplevelser av individuell läsning. Materialet transkriberades och analyserades med hjälp av en innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att upplevelserna av den individuella läsningens utformning i vissa avseenden skiljde sig åt mellan lärarna och eleverna. Eleverna upplevde att det inte läggs så stor vikt vid den individuella läsningen, en upplevelse som inte delades av lärarna. Litteraturen var en av de faktorer eleverna upplevde som avgörande för att den individuella läsningen skulle fungera som lärandeaktivitet. Eleverna upplevde att motivation var det viktigaste för att utveckla kunskaper och läsintresse genom individuell läsning. Lärarna upplevde att eleverna genom den individuella läsningen skulle få möjlighet att utveckla läsintresse, läsförmåga, läsförståelse samt språklig förmåga. Eleverna menade att de genom att läsa utvecklade språklig förmåga, läsförmåga, läsförståelse, föreställningsvärldar samt skaffade sig faktakunskaper genom litteraturen. Jämförelsen mellan lärarnas och elevernas upplevelser visar att de i många fall liknar varandra. Tankarna skiljde sig i att eleverna upplevde att de utvecklade faktakunskaper och sina föreställningsvärldar, vilket lärarna inte nämnde.

Scandinavian prehistory has hitherto received little attention in the field of history didactics. In Swedish schools, it is taught in the lower grades in accordance with traditional periodization: the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and the Viking Age. The aim of the present thesis is to provide an overview of Scandinavian prehistory as presented by 20th- and early 21st-century history textbooks and to trace its development and revisions. These revisions are situated in relation to contemporary society and concurrent developments in archaeological research. This study attempts to demonstrate the extent to which history textbooks and archaeological research correspond. In a long-term perspective, the textbooks form a developmental chain in which the gradual revision of historical culture is made manifest. As presented in the textbooks, prehistoric history expresses a historical culture valid in the context of a particular era. The concept of cultural memory, a memory that extends so far back in history that it can only be mediated by someone with expert knowledge (e.g. teachers, journalists or scholars), is applied in order to observe changes in its description. Cultural memory reveals how some stories constantly recur, while others are neglected or forgotten. The textbooks have been compared to standard archaeological works and their development and revisions have been examined from dual perspectives - "story" as cultural memory and gender. The present thesis reveals that most of the stories have been remembered and repeated for more than a century, though interpretations sometimes change along with changes in society and progress in research. A gender perspective elucidates the chores and activities ascribed to prehistoric men and women, respectively, and the changes they have undergone. Although archaeological findings have been influenced by gender research, this study indicates that society itself has had the greatest impact on the treatment of gender in the textbooks. Perceptions of "male" and "female" have changed and women have been become visible after previously being as good as ignored. Both history textbooks and archaeological research are clearly affected by general trends in society and the textbooks under investigation have evolved from focusing on nationalistic aspects and the predominance of men to assigning equal value to people of all cultures and to the sexes.