Pupil influence is supported by UN convention and legal text, yet it seems to be difficult to realize in school practice. Meaning and purpose of pupil influence appears unclear and can be understood and interpreted in different ways. The aim of this study is to examine, describe and thereby contribute to a better understanding of the phenomenon of pupil influence. The method used is Fairclough’s three- dimensional model for critical discourse analysis. The empirical data consists of focus group interviews with 9th grade pupils and the curriculum, Lgr 11. Four discourses are identified and discussed in relation to the results-driven and market-oriented Swedish school; a learning discourse, an individual discourse, a responsibility discourse and a conditional discourse. The results show that the pupils look upon pupil influence in school in relation to subject knowledge here and now and not as skills to acquire for a future active democratic citizenship. Contrary to the curriculum the pupils articulate pupil influence as a prerequisite for learning. Pupil influence seems to be regarded as individual and personal, and equated with having opportunities to make decisions. Areas possible to practice pupil influence on are characterized by being measurable and to provide a basis for comparison.

”But what does it mean in practice?” is a phenomenographic study that aims to examine how music teachers experience inclusion of pupil influence in their teaching and if there is a connection between pupil influence and motivation. The study leans on previous research that has been done in both pupil influence and motivation. The method in this study consists of five semi-structured interviews with active music teachers in different high schools. The results show that most of the music teachers in question use the curriculum as an assurance to include the proper elements to each semester’s work areas. The interviewed teachers’ teams work actively on including pupil influence in their respective schools, but some of them express a desire to talk more about pupil influence and how it may be executed in practice. There are times when the music teachers choose to decrease the pupils’ influence depending on their age. The results additionally show that lack of time is an influential factor for whether music teachers choose to include pupil influence in their teaching or not. Furthermore all of the music teachers agree that there is a connection between pupil influence and keeping the lesson material up to date. This is due to the music teachers seeing a rise of the pupils’ motivation when given influence to choose songs and music genres for the music lessons.

The Swedish education system has undergone decentralisation and deregulation since the late 1970s. The 1999 parliamentary resolution for a 5-year experiment of increased school autonomy in time allocation, was a late step in this development. Approximately 900 compulsory schools in 79 municipalities no longer had to adhere to the regulation of the national time schedule. The overall aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse changes of time allocation and time use in schools during the experiment. The analysis has the theories and research by Basil Bernstein and Michael Fullan as the point of departure. Framing and classification, educational change and teachers’ work culture are some of the key concepts. The results from interviews with 32 local directors formed the basis of selection of three participating municipalities and schools in the longitudinal study. The sample included both municipalities participating and some not participating in the experiment. The schools had varying motives for participating, and different initial time allocation strategies and procedures. However, they all shared an ambition to strengthen curriculum and school development. Pupils, teachers and head teachers from three classes and teacher teams in the three schools were interviewed and observed over a period of two years. Documents on time use and policies from the three schools were analysed. No dramatic changes were observed. Changes rarely meant a redistribution of time between contents/subjects or pupils. Instead they were predominantly about weakened boundaries between subjects and teachers, increased teacher control over the work and giving pupils more influence over their own learning situation. So called open lessons, when pupils were allowed to choose what, where and how to study, cross-disciplinary studies and subject-integrated teamwork facilitated this. A majority of pupils and teachers appreciated the increased freedom and control over their work. Some teachers, however, tended to be more hesitant, pointing to risks of work overload and lowered academic achievement. Both teachers and pupils doubted that all pupils could manage highly autonomous studies, and agreed that some needed more structure and help from the teachers. Teachers in practical and aesthetic subjects were often constrained from engaging in cross-disciplinary studies and teamwork. Having one’s teaching assignment divided between many different classes and even schools, and lack of premises were commonly mentioned obstacles. Committed head teachers and well-functioning teacher teams were significant factors were commonly in the observed development process. Also, active support from the municipality and network-participation were contributing factors. Attention is drawn to the fact that it is not possible to relate the observed changes exclusively to the time schedule experiment. They were feasible within the existing, flexible frames of the national time schedule. Furthermore, a number of other changes occurred parallel to the experiment.

The aim of this study is to acquire knowledge regarding democratic education in upper secondary school programmes with different gender and social class profiles. It covers the teaching in and about democracy, pupils’ power-positions and their attempts to affect routine school activities. A particular focus of attention was processes of influence, through which the pupils themselves pursue issues in school. The analysis is based on theories and previous research focused on gender and class perspectives of fostering democracy. Basil Bernstein’s theories regarding power, control and pedagogic codes, in combination with feminist theories (principally those of Arnot, Reay, Skeggs, Gordon and Walkerdine), form the basis of the theoretical framework. Ethnographic methods have been applied, including participatory observations, conversations, interviews, and analysis of relevant documents over one academic year. Two Swedish upper secondary school classes were followed: one from the vocational Child and Recreation Programme and one from the academic Natural Science Programme. Teaching students about democracy and invitations for them to exert influence appeared generally to be unplanned and were marginalised in school. The few invitations that occurred had an individual stamp and focused on pupils’ choices, responsibilities and duties, rather than on their rights in school. Democracy was presented in the form of facts about formal democracy and formal participation in democracy in the future, while a more critical   attitude and possible influence strategies for youths were marginalised. Pupils in both classes wished and attempted to influence teaching, primarily through informal means. There were, however, significant differences between the classes in what they were able to influence. Analysis of pupils’ voices in relation to the pedagogic context revealed that the power relationships in these influence processes depend partly on the focal academic subject. More   importantly, they also differ between the upper secondary school programs, which differ in strength of classification (sensu Bernstein), demands, pace and difficulty levels. These   differences are related, in turn, to whether the programmes are intended to prepare the pupils for higher education and/or a vocation after school. Generally, the Child and Recreation pupils exerted influence more successfully when they wished to reduce the pace and difficulty of lessons than when they wished to get more out of their education, while the opposite applied to the Natural Science class. Who had influence over what was principally   related to the programmes’ gender and class profiles and the pupils’ expected positions in society. / Ett aktivt medborgarskap? Om demokratifostran i gymnasieskolan

The purpose of this study is to contribute to knowledge about the influence of pupils in compulsory school for pupils with learning disability in parent-teacher conferences and in the work on individual developing plans (IUP) by examining teachers´ descriptions about this topic. The study has been done through a qualitative research approach, and five teachers who teach in compulsory school for pupils with learning disability has been interviewed. Theoretically, the study is based on Pathways to participation by Shier. Five concepts have been used for analyzing the results of the interviews: openings, possibilities, limitations, obligations and scaffoldings. Through these concepts it has become clear how the teachers experience the pupils´ possibilities for influence, but also what can be understood as limitations for it. By analyzing openings for influence it has become clear that the teachers do want to develop the influence of the pupils, but it requires different forms of scaffoldings. Three different aspects of the participation for pupils were discerned from the teacher interviews; Pupils´ motivation for practicing participation, Pupils´ possibilities for making choices and Teachers´ sensitivity to make pupils participation possible. These three aspects of pupils´ participation has also been analyzed from the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that the possibility for pupils to have influence in parent-teacher conferences and in the work on IUP requires them having access to a functional communication and an understanding for what influence is and how it can be used by practicing in everyday school-life. Pupils´ communication difficulties and lack of understanding constitute the large challenges in enabling participation for pupils in parent-teacher conferences and in the work on IUP. The results also show that the teachers´ attitude towards pupils´ possibility to participate is crucial. The teacher to be responsive is also crucial for these pupils´ motivation to practice their influence in parent-teacher conferences. The concept of pupils´ possibility to participate is close to the concept of participation (influence), due to some of the teachers in this study. For other teachers, pupils´ possibility to participate is more similar to pupils´ ability to influence. / Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskap om grundsärskoleelevers inflytande vid utvecklingssamtal och i arbetet med individuella utvecklingsplaner, IUP, genom att undersöka lärares beskrivningar av ämnet. Studien har genomförts utifrån en kvalitativ forskningsansats där fem intervjuer av lärare i grundsärskolan genomförts. Med utgångspunkt i Shiers delaktighetsmodell har fem begrepp använts som analysverktyg då empirin analyserats utifrån forskningsfrågorna: öppningar, möjligheter, begränsningar, skyldigheter samt stödstrukturer. Detta har tydliggjort hur lärarna upplever att grundsärskoleelevers möjligheter till inflytande ser ut idag, men också vad som kan förstås som begränsningar för detsamma. Genom att analysera öppningar har det blivit tydligt att det finns en genuin vilja hos lärarna att utveckla elevernas inflytande, men att det kräver olika former av stöttning, det som tolkas som stödstrukturer. Tre olika aspekter av grundsärskoleelevers inflytande i utvecklingssamtal och IUP framträdde i empirin; Elevers motivation till att utöva inflytande, Elevers valmöjligheter samt Lärares lyhördhet för att möjliggöra elevers inflytande. Även dessa tre aspekter av elevers inflytande har analyserats utifrån de teoretiska begreppen. Resultatet visar att grundsärskoleelevers möjlighet till inflytande vid utvecklingssamtal och i arbetet med IUP förutsätter att de har möjlighet till fungerande kommunikation och att de utvecklar en förståelse för vad inflytande är och hur det kan utövas genom att få öva på det i skolvardagen. Elevers kommunikationssvårigheter och bristande förståelse utgör de stora utmaningarna i arbetet med elevers inflytande vid utvecklingssamtal och i arbetet med IUP i grundsärskolan. I resultatet framgår också att lärarens inställning till elevers inflytande är avgörande för deras möjlighet att utöva inflytande vid utvecklingssamtal och i arbetet med IUP. Att läraren är lyhörd för elevernas intresse lyfts som en förutsättning för att eleverna ska motiveras att utöva inflytande vid utvecklingssamtal. Begreppet elevers inflytande står för flera av lärarna nära begreppet delaktighet, andra lägger en betydelse av att eleverna kan vara med och påverka i begreppet.

<p>The essay treats religion teachers’ planning and how this is affected, from the perspective of three different aspects: steering documents, pupils and colleagues. Through interviews with a number of upper secondary school teachers, thoughts and opinions concerning these aspects impact on the planning, both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective, have been raised. The steering documents have proved to have the strongest influence on planning, while pupils’ and colleagues’ opinions have come second. The authors are in their closing discussion surprised to see the domination of the steering documents and the lack of cooperation between pupils and teachers as well as between teachers when planning.</p> / <p>Uppsatsen behandlar religionslärares planering och hur denna påverkas utifrån tre aspekter: styrdokument, elever och kollegor. Författarna har genom intervju med ett antal gymnasielärare tagit del av tankar och åsikter angående dessa tre aspekters kvantitativa och kvalitativa påverkan på planeringen. Styrdokumenten har visat sig vara den starkaste kraften i planeringen, medan elevernas och kollegornas åsikter kommit i andra respektive tredje hand. Författarna är i sin slutdiskussion förvånade över styrdokumentens starka roll i planeringen och den brist på samarbete mellan både elever och lärare och lärare emellan som blir synliggjord.</p>

The essay treats religion teachers’ planning and how this is affected, from the perspective of three different aspects: steering documents, pupils and colleagues. Through interviews with a number of upper secondary school teachers, thoughts and opinions concerning these aspects impact on the planning, both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective, have been raised. The steering documents have proved to have the strongest influence on planning, while pupils’ and colleagues’ opinions have come second. The authors are in their closing discussion surprised to see the domination of the steering documents and the lack of cooperation between pupils and teachers as well as between teachers when planning. / Uppsatsen behandlar religionslärares planering och hur denna påverkas utifrån tre aspekter: styrdokument, elever och kollegor. Författarna har genom intervju med ett antal gymnasielärare tagit del av tankar och åsikter angående dessa tre aspekters kvantitativa och kvalitativa påverkan på planeringen. Styrdokumenten har visat sig vara den starkaste kraften i planeringen, medan elevernas och kollegornas åsikter kommit i andra respektive tredje hand. Författarna är i sin slutdiskussion förvånade över styrdokumentens starka roll i planeringen och den brist på samarbete mellan både elever och lärare och lärare emellan som blir synliggjord.

According to the Swedish school law, pupils should have the possibility to influence their education – both in learning methods and content. However many teachers find it hard to operationalize the pupils’ influence in their teaching. The motive for this study was therefore to explore how pupils’ influence can be incorporated in education in relation to subject traditions, here exemplified in the discipline of biology. The data was analysed from a sociocultural perspective by using a model of the didactical triangle for natural sciences. Inclusive methods for pupils’ influence in biology was also used as an analytical tool. The analysed material was derived from interviews with nine pupils and five teachers and was categorized using an abductive thematic method. The results demonstrate that pupils’ influence was strongly expressed in the relationship between the pupils and their teachers. However, in the relationship between the pupils and the biology content it was considerably less expressed. Teaching traditions in biology are often textbook oriented and tend to affect the teacher’s possibilities for allowing pupils’ influence. Methods for pupils’ influence in biology can include more diversified and interactive teaching practises. Using modelleling is another possibility which liberate the biology content and provides examples for influencing biology education.