This thesis is placed between the fields of research concerning school and food and food and religion, and aims to document and analyze how different foodways enables or impedes in a multireligious and multicultural school. Three questions were determined concerning the foodscapes environment, school education and pupils’ choice. The study is conducted through a field research with both structured- and participant observations. The field work took place in foodscapes at Frödingskolan in the multicultural district Kronoparken, Karlstad. The data consist of field notes, photographs, data sources, different policy documents, meal plans and applications of special diets. Document analyzes has been conducted on the meal plans and the special diets applications. A demographic analysis of Kronoparken has also been made to contextualize Frödingskolan. The empirical material is analyzed based on theoretical perspectives about food and religion: foodscape, foodways, quasi-religious foodways, taboo foodways, immigration and multiculturalism in a secular society and migration and foodways. The most prominent result of the thesis is that most religious and quasi-religious foodways enables while a few foodways impedes because of taboo for some food at Frödingskolan. However, the school rarely provides meals that correspond with the pupils’ cultural foodways.

This thesis’ main theme is the relation between school practices and the constitutive values explicitly endorsed in the Swedish national curriculum. It consists of four articles. Article I examines the new educational circumstances in a multicultural society. It problematizes the school’s task to find a balance between contributing to a certain cultural consensus, the common and shared, and to increase the ability to live with a cultural multiplicity. The article addresses the need for intercultural education for the realisation of a democratic classroom. Article II addresses the challenge for schools to advocate constitutive values in a multicultural society. It problematizes the relation between the curriculum’s values, stipulated at central level, and their interpretation and implementation at local level, i.e., in the class-room. An action-research project in a Swedish school illustrates the teachers’ struggle to realize these values in daily practice. The project resulted in the teachers move from abstract to concrete discussions of the constitutive values, as well as changes in their daily practice. Overall, the paper focuses on possibilities for deliberation in a multicultural school. Article III highlights schooling as a moral practice. It builds on a field study which investigates the relation between the curriculum’s stipulated values and the enacted curriculum. Episodes of moral steering are presented together with the teachers’ subsequent evaluation of these incidents. These episodes suggest that insofar as individual beliefs and moment-by-moment responses may lead to actions with counteract constitutive values, moral practices must also be a deliberative practice where alternatives are weighed and courses of action are adopted. Article IV develops the discussion concerning the school as a moral arena. A short lunch episode from the school study illustrates the discrepancy between the curriculum’s constitutive values and their realization in practice. The paper suggests that episodes at the margins of school practices may be just as important to the moral curriculum of school as the knowledge-related elements conventionally deemed to be the core of the curriculum. In summary, the thesis demonstrates that the assignment to foster the coming citizens in a multicultural school is complex. Other values than those stipulated in the curriculum steer teachers’ actions. Moreover, it is a thorny mission to accomplish an equal school in an unequal society. Nonetheless, there is a need for awareness among pedagogues concerning the correspondence between societal values, the hierarchy of social groups, individual values, the curriculum’s values, and the teacher’s assignment. The curriculum’s values have to be taken into account just as well as individual attitudes, prejudices and taken-for-granted notions have to be clarified, confronted, defended or abandoned. Interpreting, internalising and applying democratic values in school is a never-ending process.

This thesis highlights the importance of social relationships for high school adolescents’ identity in a multicultural school in Stockholm’s suburb. The second purpose of this thesis is to shed light on, if the school sees the students’ cultural background as an asset and how teachers can take advantage and implement it to the way they teach .The theories in the study were developed by Urie Bronnfenbrenner; The ecological theory, Pierre Bourdeau; The three forms of capital and George H. Mead; The significant other, The generalized other and "I" and "Me". The results show that the family is the most important relationship in comparison to relationships with teachers and friends /classmates, according to both high school youth and teachers. The child's identity develops in the primary relationships that is essential for the child's future relationships. In other words it’s in the microsystem which the child's norms and values creates and develops. The result also shows that teachers and students have different opinions regarding the school's approach to students' cultural background as an asset. The students believe that teachers don't take their cultural background into account, while the teachers feel that this is an essence to be able to understand each other and respect each other. But the cultural background should not be a wall that they hide behind.

The purpose of this paper is to examine if there are any differences or similarities when it comes to teaching religion in a multicultural school versus teaching religion in a homogeneous school in Sweden. How do teachers describe religious education in schools and how do they justify their teaching strategies? What similarities or differences are there between teachers' approaches when teaching religion in homogeneous versus multicultural schools?The study is based on qualitative interviews which includes a total of four schools; two homogeneous and two multicultural. These schools have been selected with the help of the Migration Board's annual report from 2014 as well as from my own personal knowledge. One religious teacher from each of the schools was interviewed.The conclusion, among others, is that ethnic Swedish pupils do not have the same understanding of religion as students of different ethnicity. It also proved that by having students with a different culture to the Swedish talk about their traditions and religion developed a greater understanding among all students. / Syftet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka huruvida det är några skillnader eller likheter med att undervisa om religioner på en mångkulturell respektive homogen skola i Sverige. Hur beskriver lärarna undervisningen om religioner i skolan och hur motiverar de sina undervisningsstrategier? Vilka likheter eller skillnader finns mellan lärarnas syn på undervisning om religioner i homogena respektive mångkulturella skolor?Undersökningen baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer där sammanlagt fyra skolor är med i studien, två homogena samt två mångkulturella. Dessa skolor har valts ut med hjälp av Migrationsverkets årsrapport från 2014 samt personlig kännedom. En religionslärare från vardera skola har intervjuats.Slutsatserna blev bland annat att de etniskt svenska eleverna inte hade en förståelse för religion på samma sätt som eleverna med annan etnicitet. Det visade sig också att en större förståelse utvecklades bland alla elever genom att låta elever med annan kultur än den svenska berätta om sina traditioner och religion.

Detta arbete är ett resultat av en deskriptiv undersökning om lärares arbete i mångkulturell skola. Med utgångspunkt från arbetets syften och problemformulering formulerades enkätfrågor som besvarades av 29 lärare på tre skolor. Frågorna handlar främst om på vilka/vilket sätt lärare använder ett interkulturellt arbetssätt i undervisning och bedömning samt vilka problem och möjligheter verksamheten kan innebära. Resultatet visar att lärarna är väl medvetna om vad ett interkulturellt arbetssätt innebär. Samtliga lärare uppger att de i sin undervisning och bedömning av elever med annan bakgrund i något avseende anpassar verksamheten efter behoven även om metoderna varierar från person till person. Lärarna är överens om att arbetssättet innebär såväl problem som möjligheter. / This is the product of a descriptive study about teaching in multicultural schools. With regards to my purpose and leading question, aquestionnaire was distributed and answered by 29 teachers in three schools. The questions focused teachers' opinion on an intercultural teaching and its possibilities and problems. The results show that teachers are well aware of the meaning of an intercultural teaching. They claim that they in their teaching and assessment of students with different cultural backgrounds adjust their activities regarding the students needs, in different ways. The teachers all agrees that an intercultural teaching imply problems as well as possibilities.

The aim of the study is to elucidate how primary school teachers perceive the relationship between classroom leadership and multicultural environment. This is done through focus group interviews with primary school teachers from two multicultural schools that serve as representative cases. The result suggests that teachers consider it challenging and instructive to lead groups in multicultural environments. They underline that a leadership competence that emphasizes both good structure and clarity is fundamental to both the learning process and to giving students the right opportunity to perform and feel comfortable. Furthermore, teachers believe that intercultural competence is of particular importance so that misunderstandings in different teaching situations can be prevented. The study therefore points to the importance of multicultural competence or intercultural sensitivity among teachers in such environments as a prerequisite for good classroom leadership.

<p>The essay aims to highlight the newly arrived immigrant students’ experience of social integration and social security in the Swedish school system, which is important for their further language and learning development. This essay aims to see it from the student's perspective. The main question in this essay is: What factors seem to matter the most for the newly arrived immigrant students in their language and learning skills, and what does the students themselves think about the issue? The study is based on a qualitative research method in the form of interviews and observations conducted in a multicultural school for a period of two weeks. Three newly-arrived students are in this essay being observed while they are attending between two different classrooms: the so-called preparation classroom and the ordinary classroom. This essay aims to highlight a newly arrived student's development from a socio-cultural perspective. The results show that the newly arrived students felt more emotionally secure while attending the preparation classrooms, and while attending the ordinary classrooms they felt more inadequate.</p>

The essay aims to highlight the newly arrived immigrant students’ experience of social integration and social security in the Swedish school system, which is important for their further language and learning development. This essay aims to see it from the student's perspective. The main question in this essay is: What factors seem to matter the most for the newly arrived immigrant students in their language and learning skills, and what does the students themselves think about the issue? The study is based on a qualitative research method in the form of interviews and observations conducted in a multicultural school for a period of two weeks. Three newly-arrived students are in this essay being observed while they are attending between two different classrooms: the so-called preparation classroom and the ordinary classroom. This essay aims to highlight a newly arrived student's development from a socio-cultural perspective. The results show that the newly arrived students felt more emotionally secure while attending the preparation classrooms, and while attending the ordinary classrooms they felt more inadequate.

Vi har gjort en kvalitativ fallstudie på en skola och vårt syfte är att undersöka hur framtidstron och studiemotivationen ser ut hos elever i årskurs nio på en mångkulturell skola med lågt meritvärde. Våra frågeställningar är: vilka faktorer anser elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan kan tänkas påverka deras framtidstro och studiemotivation? Hur ser sambandet ut mellan framtidstro och studiemotivation hos elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan? Vad anser elever i årskurs nio på den valda skolan själva att man kan göra för att förbättra sin framtidstro och studiemotivation? Vi är inspirerade av fenomenologisk forskning och har en induktiv ansats. Empirin har vi samlat in genom kvalitativa halvstrukturerade intervjuer med åtta elever i årskurs nio. Vi bearbetade empirin genom att först transkribera intervjuerna, sedan sammanfattade vi varje intervju och letade efter teman utifrån våra frågeställningar. Därefter sammanförde vi de gemensamma nämnarna utifrån frågeställningarna och gjorde en sammanställning. Vi analyserade med hjälp av begreppet KASAM och dess komponenter hanterbarhet, begriplighet och meningsfullhet. Resultatet visade att alla informanterna var studiemotiverade och hade en god framtidstro. Det var mycket som kunde tänkas påverka deras motivation och framtidstro, bland annat familj, vänner, lärare och förebilder. Med hjälp av begreppet KASAM och dess komponenter kunde vi se ett samband mellan deras studiemotivation och framtidstro. Informanterna behöver förstå varför de studerar för att kunna känna studiemotivation (begriplighet). De behöver känna att de har de resurser som krävs för att nå de resultat de vill och de mål de har (hanterbarhet) och de behöver ett mål med studierna så att de känner att det är värt att investera i studierna (meningsfullhet). De kunskaper vi tycker är viktiga att ta med sig från vår fallstudie för att kunna arbeta här och nu med ungdomar i skolåldern är att förstå att skolresultaten hänger ihop med elevernas syn på framtiden. Även att tänka på att vardagen måste vara både begriplig, hanterbar och meningsfull för att ungdomen ska må bra och fungera. / We have performed a qualitative case study at a school of substandard merit. Our purpose was to examine to what ninth graders had a sense of confidence about their future success and academic motivation. The questions asked were: Which factors do the ninth graders deem influential for their own sense of confidence in future prospects, as well as what affects their academic motivation? What is the relationship between confidence in future success and academic motivation at the school? What do the students feel, can be done to improve their own beliefs about future prosperity as well as improve academic motivation? We have been inspired by phenomenological research and have used an inductive approach. We collected our data via semi structured qualitative interviews with eight ninth grade students. We processed the data by first transcribing the interviews, then we summarized each interview looking for key themes related to our original queries. Finally we consolidated the common denominators into a compilation. We did our analysis using the concept of KASAM, or ”sense of context”, as well as its' components, those being; manageability, comprehensibility, and relevance. The results revealed that all the informants were academically motivated and they each felt confident in their future outlook. There seemed to be a lot of factors that influenced both their motivation and their outlook, amongst these were family, friends, teachers, and roll models. Using the KASAM, or ”sense of context” concept, and its' components we could see a relationship between their academic motivation and their beliefs about their future. The informants first need to comprehend why they need to study, in order for them to feel a sense of educational motivation (comprehensibility). They need to feel that they have the resources needed to attain the desired results and goals that they have (manageability) and they need a goal with their studies so that they feel it is worth investing in the studies (relevance). The most important revelation that we have gleaned from our study and that we feel is of most value when working with school age youth in the here and now, is to understand how academic performance is directly related with the students  perception about their future. Even everyday life needs to be comprehensible, manageable, and have relevance, in order for youth to thrive and function.

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie verhandeling word gepoog om teen die agtergrond van multikulturele skoolsituasies in Suid-Afrika 'n oorsig van die problematiek random kommunikasievaardighede te gee. Algemene intra- en interpersoonlike kommunikasievaardighede word uitgelig. In aansluiting by 'n literatuurondersoek is kwalitatiewe data deur middel van onderhoude met skoolhoofde en onderwysers wat by multikulturele skoolsituasies betrokke is, ingesamel. Die wyse waarop mense met mekaar praat is deurslaggewend. Kommunikasieprobleme kan ontstaan wanneer kultuurgroepe met mekaar kommunikeer. Die hantering van misverstande en konflik in multikulturele skoolsituasies is belangrik. Onderwysbestuurders moet verskeie kommunikasievaardighede tydens 'n konfliksituasie aanwend. Die doeltreffende funksionering van 'n skool word grootliks medebepaal deur effektiewe kommunikasievaardighede wat toegepas word om verhoudinge tussen verskillende groepe te verbeter. Onderwysbestuurders behoort opgelei te word om effektief met alle betrokkenes in 'n konfliksituasie te kommunikeer. / This paper endeavours to give a review of the problematic nature of communication skills against the background of multicultural school situations in South Africa. General intra and interpersonal communication skills are highlighted. Further to the literature review, qualitative data has been gathered through interviews with a number of principals and teachers who are involved in multicultural school situations. The manner in which people speak to each other is important. Communication problems can occur when culture groups communicate. The management of misunderstandings and conflict is important in multicultural school situations. Education managers must utilise several communication skills during a conflict situation. The successful functioning of a school is essentially co-determined by the employment of effective communication skills to improve relationships between different groups. Education managers should be trained to communicate effectively with all persons involved in a conflict situation. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Onderwysbestuur)