The Swedish society has quite rapidly undergone a change from a more homogenic population to a more multicultural one. This leads to questions about how teachers handle the recent change. This study aims to investigate if upper-secondary school teachers in biology experience challenges when teaching about the evolutionary theory in a multicultural society, and if biology teachers consider teachers resources to be supportive enough to conduct evolutionary education according to the national curriculum. This study uses interviews as the data collection method and the respondents are situated in different contexts in the Swedish school to provide a width to the sample even though few respondents are included. The results of the study show that biology teachers experience challenges connected to multiculturality and evolution teaching. The teachers mentioned three prominent categories where the challenges were most noticeable: misunderstandings, resistance, and lack of previous knowledge. The multicultural aspect occurred in all the categories. The results also showed that teachers believed that the teacher resources covered the needs for planning the content of evolutionary teaching but not how to face the value conflicts that emerge due to a collision between students’ faith and the evolutionary theory. The conclusion of the study is that all respondents experience challenges connected to their teaching of the evolutionary theory in the context of multiculturality, but the occurrence and severity of the problems are unique. The problems are mostly connected to the emotional disruptions that students´s experience when their beliefs and the evolutionary theory collides. The challenges result in a request for more resources for teachers to be able to face the students’ internal conflicts and to make the school more welcoming to students with different believes. Examples of resources that teachers might find helpful could be informative seminars and the development of simulations. / Sverige har under en relativt kort tidsperiod gått från ett land med en mer homogen befolkning till en mer multikulturell. Frågor uppstår då hur lärare hanterar denna förändring. Denna studie ämnar undersöka om gymnasielärare i biologi upplever utmaningar i samband med evolutionsundervisning i ett mångkulturellt samhälle samt om biologilärarna upplever att det finns nog med lärarresurser till stöd för att genomföra en evolutionsundervisning enligt de nationella läroplanerna. Studien använder sig av intervju som metod och alla respondenter kommer från olika geografiska platser samt skolsituationer inom den svenska skolan för att bidra med en bredd till urvalet trots ett lågt deltagarantal. Resultatet av studien visar att biologilärare på gymnasiet upplever utmaningar kring mångkulturalitet och undervisning av evolutionsteorin med varierande utsträckning och allvarlighetsgrad. Lärarna i studien nämnde tre kategorier som mest utmanande inom evolutionsundervisningen: missförstånd, motstånd och förkunskaper, där den mångkulturella aspekten förekom inom alla tre kategorier. Resultatet visade också att lärare upplever att de lärarresurser som finns idag är tillräckliga för behovet av upplevt stöd för innehållsplanering av evolutionsteoriundervisning men att det saknas resurser för hur lärare ska inkludera alla elever och möta värdekonflikter som uppstår till följd av en krock mellan elevers tro och evolutionsteorin. Studiens slutsats är att alla lärare upplever utmaningar inom evolutionsundervisning kopplat till mångkulturalitet men i olika utsträckning och komplexitet. Utmaningarna grundar sig främst i det emotionella dilemmat som elever upplever när tro och evolutionsteori krockar. I och med detta efterfrågas fler resurser för att kunna möta elevers inre konflikter och för att göra skolan mer välkomnande för elever med olika trosuppfattningar. Resurser som efterfrågas kan innebära allt från informativa seminarium till utveckling av simuleringsverktyg.

According to the South African Schools Act no 86 or 1994, school governing bodies determine the official language used as Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in public schools. Black community primary schools use home language in the Foundation Phase, and switch to English from the fourth grade. This study investigates Zulu as LoLT in the Foundation Phase in selected township primary schools in Gauteng East District. A qualitative inquiry used semi-structured interviews to collect data from Grade Three teachers. Findings were that educators welcomed use of learner’s Home Language as LoLT; due to diverse linguistic backgrounds of teachers and learners, Zulu was not used effectively in classrooms; code switching to English was prevalent; parent involvement was poor due to parents’ lack of Zulu proficiency and learning and teaching materials were mainly in English. The review of school language policies and the provision of multiple medium classes to accommodate language diversity were recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Early Childhood Development)

According to the South African Schools Act no 86 or 1994, school governing bodies determine the official language used as Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in public schools. Black community primary schools use home language in the Foundation Phase, and switch to English from the fourth grade. This study investigates Zulu as LoLT in the Foundation Phase in selected township primary schools in Gauteng East District. A qualitative inquiry used semi-structured interviews to collect data from Grade Three teachers. Findings were that educators welcomed use of learner’s Home Language as LoLT; due to diverse linguistic backgrounds of teachers and learners, Zulu was not used effectively in classrooms; code switching to English was prevalent; parent involvement was poor due to parents’ lack of Zulu proficiency and learning and teaching materials were mainly in English. The review of school language policies and the provision of multiple medium classes to accommodate language diversity were recommended. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Early Childhood Development)

This thesis considers the ways in which Australia has been publicly represented in ten Asian societies in the twentieth century. It shows how these representations are at odds with Australian opinion leaders’ assertions about being a multicultural society, with their claims about engagement with Asia, and with their understanding of what is ‘typically’ Australian. It reviews the emergence and development of Asian regionalism in the twentieth century, and considers how Occidentalist strategies have come to be used to exclude and marginalise Australia. A historical survey outlines the origins of representations of Australia in each of the ten Asian countries, detecting the enduring influence both of past perceptions and of the interests of each country’s opinion leaders. Three test cases evaluate these findings in the light of events in the late twentieth century: the first considers the response in the region to the One Nation party, the second compares that with opinion leaders’ reaction to the crisis in East Timor; and the third presents a synthesis of recent Asian Australian fiction and what it reveals about Asian representations of Australia from inside Australian society. The thesis concludes that Australian policies and practices enable opinion leaders in the ten countries to construct representations of Australia in accordance with their own priorities and concerns, and in response to their agendas of Occidentalism, racism, and regionalism.

Σήμερα διανύουμε μια νέα εποχή, η οποία χαρακτηρίζεται από πολιτισμική και εθνική ανομοιογένεια. Η πολυπολιτισμική σύνθεση της κοινωνίας και η συνακόλουθη αρχή του σεβασμού της διαφορετικότητας έχουν εμφανέστατα μεταφερθεί στην εκπαίδευση, η οποία είναι άρρηκτα συνδεδεμένη με το κοινωνικό περιβάλλον όπου συντελείται. Οι δημογραφικές αλλαγές έχουν προφανώς αντίκτυπο στο εκπαιδευτικό σύστημα, το οποίο καλείται να διαδραματίσει σημαντικό ρόλο στη δημιουργία προϋποθέσεων αποδοχής και αναγνώρισης του πλουραλισμού και της ετερότητας ως βασικών γνωρισμάτων των σύγχρονων κοινωνιών. Η εκπλήρωση του ρόλου αυτού απαιτεί προσαρμογή του ίδιου του εκπαιδευτικού συστήματος στα νέα δεδομένα κοινωνικοποίησης που χαρακτηρίζουν την εποχή μας. Απαιτεί ταυτόχρονα πέρα από την αναθεώρηση του νομοθετικού πλαισίου, του Αναλυτικού Προγράμματος και των προσφερόμενων προγραμμάτων και διδακτικού υλικού, τον εφοδιασμό των εκπαιδευτικών και των στελεχών της Εκπαίδευσης με σύγχρονες γνώσεις και δεξιότητες, οι οποίες θα τον καταστήσουν ικανό να χρησιμοποιεί την κατάλληλη μεθοδολογία και να εφαρμόζει τις απαραίτητες στρατηγικές, ώστε το εκπαιδευτικό και διοικητικό του έργο να είναι αποτελεσματικό. Ο ρόλος του Διευθυντή είναι καθοριστικός για την ομαλή και αποφασιστική λειτουργία του σχολείου. Η Διαπολιτισμική εκπαίδευση μπορεί να επιτύχει τους στόχους της αν υπάρξει αλλαγή στάσεων στο εκπαιδευτικό δυναμικό τόσο στο επίπεδο της διοίκησης όσο και στο επίπεδο της διδακτικής και παιδαγωγικής πρακτικής. Στην παρούσα εργασία το ερώτημα που τίθεται είναι αν ο κάθε Διευθυντής της κάθε σχολικής μαινάδας διαθέτει τα απαραίτητα προσόντα και τις ικανότητες να ανταποκριθεί αποτελεσματικά στο έργο του, δηλαδή αν έχει Διαπολιτισμική και διοικητική επάρκεια και ετοιμότητα σε θέματα που σχετίζονται με την ύπαρξη αλλά και τον τρόπο εργασίας με αλλόγλωσσους μαθητές. / Today we are going through a new area, which is characterized by a cultural and ethnic heterogeneity. The multicultural composure of society and the following principles of respect towards differencicition have obviously transfer to education, which is inseparable linked to the social environment where it takes place. The demographic changes have an obvious impact on the educational system. Which is summoned to a role of creating conditions of acceptance and recognition of pluralism and otherness as the basic characteristics of modern societies. The fulfillment of this role requires adjustments to the educational system itself towards the new data of social inclusion that characterizes our societies. Expect of the simultaneous adjustments to the legal framework, changes are also required concerning the curriculum, the offered programs, the teaching material, the supplement of teachers and executives of education with modern knowledge and abilities which will make them capable of using the right method and following the needed strategies so their educational and leading work is effective. The principals role is defining for the smooth and effective function of a school intercultural education can reach its goals if theirs is a change of attitudes in educational dynamic as much on an executive level as in teaching and educational practice. In this thesis the given question is whether each principal of each school unit has the required qualifications and abilities to react accordingly concerning his work, meaning whether or not he has intercultural and leading capabilities and confidence concerning intercultural issues about working with foreign speaking students.

Die Praxis der interkulturellen Musikpädagogik verfolgt Ziele und Absichten auf einer sachbezogenen, einer musikpraktischen., einer reflektierenden und einer kompetenzorientierten Ebene. Die Theorie der interkulturellen Musikpädagogik hinterfragt dazu die relevanten Begriffe und Bedeutungszuweisungen, die mit diesen Zielen verbunden sind und versucht ihre Verwendungsweisen zu klären. Vor allem in der Auseinandersetzung mit einem bedeutungsorientierten Kulturbegriff, den die Autorin bereits in früheren Publikationen als Grundlage für die Inszenierung interkultureller Bildungsprozesse vorgeschlagen hat, wird deutlich, dass kulturelle Zugehörigkeitsgefühle konstruiert sind, dass vor allem in multikulturellen Gesellschaften kulturelle Zuordnungen sowie Abgrenzungen nicht als Folge von Enkulturationsprozessen (also dem Hineinwachsen in eine bestimmte Kultur), sondern im Kontext flexibler Identitätsbildungen zu erklären sind. Auch in den drei auf der Tagung besprochenen Schulstunden finden kulturelle Konstruktionsprozesse und interkulturelle Begegnungen statt, ohne dass sie expliziter Unterrichtsinhalt wären. Die Analyse ausgewählter Unterrichtssequenzen zeigt, wie in diesen didaktisch nicht gestalteten interkulturellen Situationen ungelöste Fragen und Probleme auftreten. Um dies zu vermeiden werden Handlungsalternativen vorgeschlagen, wie durch mehr Aufmerksamkeit und geringfügig veränderten unterrichtlichen Inszenierungen kulturelle Fremdzuschreibungen im Sinne von Ethnisierungen und Stigmatisierungen verhindert und ein differenzierterer Blick auf Inhalte erreicht werden kann. / The praxis of intercultural music education/pedagogy has an agenda and objectives on an issue-related, a reflective and a competence-oriented level as well as on the level of music practice. The theory of intercultural music education/pedagogy questions the relevant terms and allocation of meaning which are associated with these objectives and tries to clarify the manner of applying them. Especially in the examination of a meaning-oriented culture concept, which has already been proposed by the author in previous publications as the basis of an orchestration/organization of intercultural educational processes, it becomes clear that cultural sense of membership is constructed. Cultural attribution as well as demarcation in multicultural societies are to be explained not as a result of enculturation processes (that is the growing into a particular culture), but rather in the context of flexible identity formation. Also in the three lessons discussed at the symposium, cultural construction processes and intercultural encounters take place without being explicitly part of tuition. The analysis of selected class sequences shows how unsolved questions and problems arise in these didactically non-arranged situations. In order to avoid this, action alternatives are suggested; it is proposed how cultural ascription in the sense of ethnicization and stigmatization can be avoided and how a more differentiated view on contents can be achieved by the means of more attention and marginally modified tuition organization.

Die Praxis der interkulturellen Musikpädagogik verfolgt Ziele und Absichten auf einer sachbezogenen, einer musikpraktischen., einer reflektierenden und einer kompetenzorientierten Ebene. Die Theorie der interkulturellen Musikpädagogik hinterfragt dazu die relevanten Begriffe und Bedeutungszuweisungen, die mit diesen Zielen verbunden sind und versucht ihre Verwendungsweisen zu klären. Vor allem in der Auseinandersetzung mit einem bedeutungsorientierten Kulturbegriff, den die Autorin bereits in früheren Publikationen als Grundlage für die Inszenierung interkultureller Bildungsprozesse vorgeschlagen hat, wird deutlich, dass kulturelle Zugehörigkeitsgefühle konstruiert sind, dass vor allem in multikulturellen Gesellschaften kulturelle Zuordnungen sowie Abgrenzungen nicht als Folge von Enkulturationsprozessen (also dem Hineinwachsen in eine bestimmte Kultur), sondern im Kontext flexibler Identitätsbildungen zu erklären sind. Auch in den drei auf der Tagung besprochenen Schulstunden finden kulturelle Konstruktionsprozesse und interkulturelle Begegnungen statt, ohne dass sie expliziter Unterrichtsinhalt wären. Die Analyse ausgewählter Unterrichtssequenzen zeigt, wie in diesen didaktisch nicht gestalteten interkulturellen Situationen ungelöste Fragen und Probleme auftreten. Um dies zu vermeiden werden Handlungsalternativen vorgeschlagen, wie durch mehr Aufmerksamkeit und geringfügig veränderten unterrichtlichen Inszenierungen kulturelle Fremdzuschreibungen im Sinne von Ethnisierungen und Stigmatisierungen verhindert und ein differenzierterer Blick auf Inhalte erreicht werden kann. / The praxis of intercultural music education/pedagogy has an agenda and objectives on an issue-related, a reflective and a competence-oriented level as well as on the level of music practice. The theory of intercultural music education/pedagogy questions the relevant terms and allocation of meaning which are associated with these objectives and tries to clarify the manner of applying them. Especially in the examination of a meaning-oriented culture concept, which has already been proposed by the author in previous publications as the basis of an orchestration/organization of intercultural educational processes, it becomes clear that cultural sense of membership is constructed. Cultural attribution as well as demarcation in multicultural societies are to be explained not as a result of enculturation processes (that is the growing into a particular culture), but rather in the context of flexible identity formation. Also in the three lessons discussed at the symposium, cultural construction processes and intercultural encounters take place without being explicitly part of tuition. The analysis of selected class sequences shows how unsolved questions and problems arise in these didactically non-arranged situations. In order to avoid this, action alternatives are suggested; it is proposed how cultural ascription in the sense of ethnicization and stigmatization can be avoided and how a more differentiated view on contents can be achieved by the means of more attention and marginally modified tuition organization.

This study explores the manifestation of religiosity among young Syriac Orthodox Christians in Sweden. Focusing on the age group of 20–29, the thesis delves into how religiosity is expressed within this community, both in public and private domains, such as church, family, workplace, and social media. The research highlights the interplay between religious identity and secular society, examining the impact of cultural and generational differences on religious practices and beliefs. Methodologically, the study employs qualitative analysis, drawing on interviews to understand the personal and collective aspects of religiosity in a multicultural and secular context. The findings reveal diverse expressions of faith, shaped by the dynamics of community engagement, cultural adaptation, and individual spirituality, offering a nuanced view of young adults navigating their religious identity in modern Sweden.