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Nowadays, many schools around the world are a mixture of children who come from different places and for different reasons. The Swedish school has not been an exception of these mixtures of children who have different identities, cultures, and languages. In 2015, Sweden experienced a high immigration peak compare to the previous years and for this reason, the Swedish school system needed to adapt to the newly arrived children that came into the classroom. The purpose of this research project is to investigate teachers’ experiences and perceptions of meeting the varying needs of recently arrived learners in English teaching in years 4-6. The aim of the thesis is to explore what are the main challenges in teaching English and how the teachers adapt their English lessons and develop methods and strategies for teaching recently arrived pupils.This study was conducted with semi-structured interviews as a qualitative method, with five English teachers who have a complete degree in teaching education, and all of whom have newly arrived children in their classes. Based on analysis of the data, three main conclusions have been drawn in this study. Firstly, all the teachers participating did not know the difference between concepts such as immigrants and newcomers; secondly the teachers do not use a special method or strategies when they teach newly arrived children, and finally, this study shows that the teachers do not know how to face the newly arrived children’s needs, and they do not feel that they have the competence that they need in this field.

With the rise of the number of immigrant children in schools across the U.S., education research has directed its attention to understanding these newcomers' social experiences at school. Though Brazilian immigrant populations are growing, research on their unique social experiences remains limited. Grounded in critical sociocultural theory, this interpretive phenomenological study shares the social experiences of four Brazilian newcomers in elementary school. Participants were adolescents who had immigrated to the U.S. as children and attended English-only and/or Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) programs. As adolescents, participants were able to look back on their experiences as a newcomer in elementary school with greater perspective. Analysis of interview data reveal three main themes in Brazilian newcomers' experiences: (a) positive interactions with other Brazilian immigrant students; (b) microaggressions from non-Brazilian immigrant students; and (c) isolation due to the dominance of English at school. Findings underscore the importance of Portuguese-English DLBE programs as a place for Brazilian newcomers to support one another. Additionally, findings reveal the prevalence of microaggressions across English-only and DLBE settings, underscoring the need for schools and teacher preparation programs to equip teachers with tools to support these students' sociocultural competence in order to address microaggressions.

Background: Obesity affects over 1 billion individuals across the world. In Canada, nearly 1 in 7 children and adolescents are obese. The risk of obesity is heightened for newcomer children due to their adoption of the Western diet and a sedentary lifestyle. While healthcare providers (HCPs) are the first point of contact upon health concerns, little is known about how HCPs approach HAL communication with newcomer families, with the goal of preventing childhood obesity. Objectives: This study aims to understand HCPs’ experiences with newcomer families relating to (1) HAL communication, (2) HAL promotion strategies, and (3) challenges with HAL promotion. Methods: 12 HCPs currently practicing in Hamilton and experienced in working with newcomer families completed 30–60-minute semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes relating to HAL communication approaches, HAL promotion strategies, and challenges with promoting HAL among newcomer families. Results: Three themes emerged for HAL communication: 1) reactive approach, 2) patient-centered and culturally sensitive communication, 3) holistic health discussions. Four themes emerged for HAL promotion strategies: 1) tailored resource recommendations, 2) facilitating connections among newcomers, 3) family-centered approach, 4) referrals to additional support. Five themes emerged for challenges with HAL promotion: 1) time constraints, 2) difficulty to obtain buy-in, 3) limited resources awareness & availability, 4) navigating sensitivity and empathy, 5) ambiguity in role responsibilities. Conclusion: HCPs emphasized the influence of time limitations, limited resource awareness, and newcomer families’ competing priorities on limiting their ability to proactively promote HAL. Analyzing the data through the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) framework revealed the various intersecting determinants of health that make HAL promotion an intricate task. With HCPs expressing reservations about their efficacy in promoting HAL proactively, investigation into collaborative approaches for proactive HAL promotion should be explored. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Obesity affects over 1 billion individuals across the world. In Canada, nearly 1 in 7 children and adolescents are obese. The risk of obesity is heightened for newcomer children due to their adoption of the Western diet and a sedentary lifestyle. While healthcare providers (HCPs) are the first point of contact upon health concerns, little is known about how HCPs communicate and promote the importance of healthy eating and daily physical activity to newcomer families, with the goal of preventing childhood obesity. Using a qualitative thematic analysis approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 HCPs. Their responses revealed that HCPs commonly only discuss health behaviours in response to evident weight concerns, tailor their recommendations to address newcomers’ circumstances, and are hindered by time constraints to discuss health behaviours. Acknowledging the limitations of their role capacity, HCPs advocated for collaborative approaches to proactively promote healthy active living to newcomer children.

This report mainly introduces how I, as a designer, use the meta-design theoretical framework and design methods to explore my board game design. Introduction “The most important challenge today and in the future concerns sustainability – to create a world that is good for both people and the environment, locally and globally”. -Linnaeus University I am a design student from China studying in Sweden. It is a challenge for me to go abroad and come to a new country and city to study and live, but also an interesting change. This thesis was inspired by some of my experiences in Sweden. As a newcomer to another country. I have no particular knowledge of Swedish. Although I did some research before coming to Sweden, all I know is that Sweden is a neutral country. It is a country that likes to maintain social distance. It is a country that pays great attention to environmental protection and sustainable development. It is a country with a very lovely language. But just knowing these things cannot help me to study and live in Sweden well. I realized I needed some help from the locals. So here came my first question. How can I get in touch with the locals? For me as a student, the best connection resources are already in front of me. That is my classmates. But as a new student who just arrived in the class, I did not have enough courage to take the initiative to ask the local students about how to live in Sweden. However, I was lucky. Most of my classmates are very enthusiastic. From the conversations with them, I can feel their curiosity about me. Maybe it was because we are about to spend three years studying together, or maybe it was out of kindness to others. Compared with my luck, other friends around me who also came to Sweden to study felt a little bit lost. They found it difficult to integrate with local students. They did not know how to open the topic, and they did not know how to find a common language. They found that local students were more likely to hang out with friends from their own country. During the two years I spent in Sweden, I felt the warmth of the local people. Of course, there are also many cultural differences. I also heard from many friends around me that they think it is difficult to really integrate into Sweden. They could feel a sense of social powerlessness. So, I started thinking, as a design student, what design changes can I make for this? Is it possible to use design to make an experimental intervention game? For example, integrating the simple board games we used to play as children, and redesigning and integrating them into an activity that can be made and played together in a social place. Of course at the same time, I also discovered some small games that Swedish students like to play at parties. Like an icebreaker, everyone is happily participating. But the materials these games require are not particularly environmentally friendly. For example, disposable plastic cups, plastic ping pong balls. Especially during the epidemic, every time a party was held, some students were infected with the virus. So, I was thinking, what kind of games do not require close physical proximity, are interactive and are environmentally friendly and can be used sustainably? With this question, I started my game design journey.

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This research explores the world of material belongings of Muslim Syrian newcomer/refugee families as they establish themselves in Canada since 2015. The study centers the cultural and emotional meanings of the material belongings by looking at both those that are brought with the newcomers and those that are left behind. It aims to shed light on how these objects hold memories and connect refugees to their cultural and personal histories while also examining the role of displacement in this context. Additionally, it investigates the different perspectives between generations by looking into how the value and meaning of belongings may alter between older and younger family members. The key questions of the study develop at the intersection of material culture and forced migration. It first examines whether material belongings hold a significant place in the everyday lives of refugees and how this reflects on their memories. Secondly, it considers if migration and the experience that comes with it alters refugees’ attachments to their material belongings and leads to changing their sentimental value over time. Thirdly, it evaluates whether the decision-making process behind what refugees choose to bring with them and what they decide to leave behind is affected under distressing circumstances. Methodologically, the study offers an alternative ethnographic approach by braiding migrant narratives with object biographies, shifting the subject of the narrative toward a demonstration of the interrelationships of persons and things. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

I Sverige ökar antalet nyanlända människor som ska etablera sig i det svenska samhället. Sysselsättning och deltagande på den svenska arbetsmarknaden har visat sig vara grundläggande för att integrering av nyanlända ska ske så snabbt som möjligt. Samtidigt är Arbetsförmedlingen en av de allra första myndigheterna som en nyanländ möter i Sverige. Studien har därmed avsett att undersöka Arbetsförmedlingens interkulturella kommunikationsarbete med syfte att bringa klarhet kring hur en svensk myndighet arbetar gentemot dess multikulturella befolkning. Myndighetens kommunikationsarbete har studerats utifrån begreppet interkulturell kommunikation inom organisationer och studien bygger på fem stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer och en gruppintervju med anställda vid Arbetsförmedlingen.     Resultatet av studien visar att myndigheten i högsta grad arbetar med interkulturell kommunikation gentemot deras nyanlända medborgare, samtidigt som många hinder försvårar myndighetens kommunikationsarbete. Språket är den främsta svårigheten, där tolkens roll blir oerhört viktig och antingen hjälper eller stjälper kommunikationen. Samtidigt bidrar många andra orsaker, så som svagt förtroende för myndigheter, traumatiserade människor eller bristande resurser till att myndigheten inte kan utföra sitt kommunikativa arbete på bästa sätt. / In Sweden, the numbers of immigrants are constantly increasing. Participation at the Swedish labour market is crucial when it comes to a successful establishment for the newcomers. Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish labour authority), is also one of the first authorities a newcomer encounters once in Sweden. With this in consideration, this study was designed to investigate the intercultural communication work at Arbetsförmedlingen with the aim to bring clarity around how a Swedish authority works toward its growing multicultural population. We have studied Arbetsförmedlingens communicational work based on the concept of intercultural communication within organizations. The study is based on four semi-structured interviews and one group interview with employees at Arbetsförmedlingen.   The result of the study shows that the government authority works with intercultural communication towards their newcomers on a high level but obstacles in the intercultural communication hamper the communicational efforts. Language barriers are seen as the main difficulty, and the interpreter’s role becomes extremely important and can either help or hinder the communication. At the same time, many other difficulties are contributing to communicational problems for the authority. Lack of trust in authorities, traumatized people and lack of resources hinders the authority to achieve a truly good intercultural communication.

This study examines the psychological and emotional experience of settling in Canada for South Asian Muslim newcomers and the coping systems they use to manage the challenges associated with moving to a new country. Ten South Asian Muslims were interviewed within the Greater Toronto Area. They were posed questions related to the hardships they encountered as they settled in Canada and how they managed those challenges. The data was analyzed using Grounded Theory. A model was developed to illustrate resources used by newcomers to help maintain their mental health and well-being. Upon settling in Canada, the participants experienced psychological stressors and therefore sought help from their Islamic faith, their families, and community services. The combined resources facilitated the immigrants’ resilience and allowed them to maintain a positive outlook towards their immigration experience.

Dissertation deals with an analysis of an adaptation process in a small organization. It handles placing of the adaptation process into a context of human resources activities. Individual areas of the adaptation are specified - working adaptation, social adaptation and adaptation to a company culture. Also aims of the adaptation, factors influencing the process of adaptation in the company, planning and management of the adaptation are specified. The process of adaptation, elements and tools used during creation of the adaptation process are described. The dissertation includes the survey analyzing the process of adaptation in small organizations and describes the specifics identified.