The dissertation Reading Texts or ”Reality” investigate teachers use of interpretive communities in teaching literature in secondary school. It discusses how different learning outcomes generates from three interpretory frames for reading. Teachers can be looked upon as critics when they show unexperienced readers why and how they read an interprete literary texts. In their teaching,they don´t relate only to their students but also to thier own conception of subject matter and to a broader discourse in society that deals with questions of why and how we read literature. Following voices of the discourse are included in the study: eight teachers, curriculum texts, a journal for the profession and a journal för scholors. Teachers combine several aims in their teaching of literature. They use literature to discuss life, gender and problems related to young people, text as faction. But, they also try to teach their students about narrathology and how to understand and interpretate fictional texts, text as fiction and a world of signs. The curriculum, however, means that literature is read only to gain knowledge about the world,oneself and other people. A contradiction is that one of the criterias for assement includes knowledge of texts and methodology from the academic subject. One of the other voices in the discourse, a journal for scholors, talk about the literary texts but very seldom about teaching the texts. Another voice, a journal for teachers in Swedish, follows the curriculum closely and discusses reading literature as a way to get knowledge of the world. Research in subject matter didactics can investigate teaching, relate different aims to different outcomes and show possibilities for teaching literature and reading comprehension. If we choose only one interpretive community, we get one kind of reading comprehension.If we combine two in a complex teaching strategy, we extend learning and reading comprehension of our students.

The aim of the study was to investigate secondary school students´ preferences and experiences towards HIV/AIDS- education. A cross- sectional study was carried out in Dodoma region on five different secondary schools. Data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire, which was completed by 380 informants. The sample was made from the independent variables; gender, school location and school ownership. The result showed that 93 % of the students thought they need more information about HIV/AIDS. Only 51 % of the students felt that they had enough knowledge about HIV/AIDS to protect themselves from being infected by the virus. Half of all the students felt that there is a lack of support from the school to students living with HIV/AIDS. The students selected teachers, parents and doctor or health worker as the key persons in the HIV/AIDS- education. The conclusion is that there is a need of more information about HIV/AIDS among secondary school students. To reach out with the message to the students, the key persons have to interact and struggle towards the same goal. Further research should have a qualitative approach to examine secondary school students´ preferences and experiences towards HIV/AIDS- education.

Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka kunskaper om hälsa gymnasielever har. Därutöver är syftet att reliabilitetstesta det kunskapsprov som utformats och använts i undersökningen. De frågeställningar som skall besvaras är: Vad kan elever på gymnasiet om hälsa? - Föreligger det några skillnader i kunskap mellan eleverna i de olika årskurserna? - Föreligger det några skillnader i kunskap mellan eleverna på de olika gymnasieprogrammen? Hur hög reliabilitet har det kunskapsprov som använts, det vill säga, hur tillförlitliga är de resultat som framkommit av undersökningen? Metod En kunskapsmätning på John Bauer gymnasiet i en storstadskommun har utförts där 219 elever i årskurs ett och årskurs två medverkade. Av dessa svarade 141 elever på ett prov med tjugo kunskapsfrågor inom områdena fysisk aktivitet, kost och allmän hälsa. Resultaten har därefter analyserats i både Excel och statistikprogrammet SPSS, där även reliabilitetstestet av provet utförts. Efter reliabilitetstestet skapades ett nytt index ”Sammanfattande kunskap” och resultat beräknades även utifrån detta test. Resultat Medelvärdet för samtliga elever låg på 11,61 antal rätta svar av tjugo möjliga på kunskapsprovet, med standardavvikelsen 2,89. En viss tendens till högre kunskap inom området kost kunde urskiljas. Inga direkta skillnader kunde ses mellan vare sig de olika årskurserna eller de olika gymnasieprogrammen. Dock kan en tendens till en högre kunskapsnivå på entreprenörsprogrammet ses. Efter utfört reliabilitetstest visade sig reliabiliteten på kunskapsprovet som helhet endast uppgå till 0,525. Det nya indexet ”Sammanfattande kunskap” gav en reliabilitet på 0,669 och dess resultat visade inte heller på några direkta skillnader mellan årskurserna eller de olika gymnasieprogrammen Slutsats Resultaten av denna undersökning och även tidigare forskning visar att kunskapen om hälsa generellt är relativt låg. Forskning visar olika svar gällande sambanden mellan kunskap och verkligt beteende, där en del menar att kunskap direkt kan påverka beteenden medan andra menar att andra faktorer också måste in för att en beteendeförändring skall kunna ske. Oavsett vilket samband som finns mellan kunskap och verkligt beteende kan det konstateras att folkohälsan är ett stort problem i samhället och något måste göras åt det, frågan är vad som bör göras och vem som bör göra det. Är det verkligen kunskap det är brist på eller ligger problemet någon annanstans? / Aim The aim of this study is to investigate what knowledge students in upper secondary school have within the field of health. In addition to that the aim is to check the reliability of the test, which has been designed and used in the investigation. Problems to be answered are: What do students in upper secondary school know about health? - Do any differences in knowledge occur between the students in the different grades? - Do any differences in knowledge occur between the students in the different programs? How high is the reliability of the test used in this investigation, i.e. are the results in this investigation trustworthy? Method A test at the upper secondary school of John Bauer in a municipality of a big city has been accomplished, where 219 students in year one and year two have contributed. Out of these 141 students answered a test consisting of twenty questions of knowledge within the fields of physical activity, nutrition and general health. The results were analyzed in both Excel and the statistic programme SPSS and there has the test of reliability also been performed. After the test of reliability a new index “Summary of knowledge” was created and new results from this index were computed. Results The mean for all students was 11,61 number of right answers out of twenty possible on the test, with a standard deviation of 2,89. A tendency to a higher level of knowledge within the field of nutrition could be seen. No clear variances between the different grades or the different programs could be seen, although a trend to a higher level of knowledge in the programme of contractors could be seen. The test of reliability for the entire test showed a reliability of only 0,525. The new index “Summary of knowledge” gives a reliability of 0,669 and its results neither show any clear variances between the grades or the different programs. Conclusions The results from this investigation, together with previous research, shows that the knowledge of health is relatively low. Research shows different answers within the correlation between knowledge and actual behaviour, where some people means knowledge directly can affect behaviour, and some means other factors are needed as well to create a change of behaviour. No matter which correlation can be seen between knowledge and actual behaviour, it can be stated that the public unhealthy is a big problem in the society and something has to be done. The question is what shall be done, and who shall do it. Is the lack of knowledge the actual problem or is the problem something else?

Syftet med denna uppsats är att ta reda på vilka attityder elever i grundskolans senare år har gentemot den praktiska undervisningen i de naturorienterande ämnena sett ur ett genusperspektiv. För att studera elevernas attityder har enskilda semistrukturerade intervjuer valts som metod. Semistrukturerade intervjuer ger intervjuaren möjlighet att följa upp respondenternas svar med olika följdfrågor, som kan varieras relativt fritt vilket bidrar till att intervjuaren kan bilda sig en uppfattning om respondenternas attityder. De attityder gällande praktisk undervisning i de naturorienterande ämnena som påträffats var främst positiva och samtliga respondenter var eniga om att den praktiska undervisningen hjälper till att öka förståelsen. Undersökningen visade att flickorna föredrog biologi eftersom detta inte ansågs vara lika svårt som fysik och kemi, medan pojkarna i undersökningen fann mer intresse i fysik och teknik. Meningarna huruvida den praktiska undervisningen examineras gick isär. Slutsatsen som kan dras från uppsatsens undersökning blir således att pedagoger bör försöka att utveckla en praktisk undervisning som passar alla dagens ungdomar, oavsett kön, samt att tydliggöra syftet och målet innan det praktiska arbetet inleds. / The aim of this dissertation is to study the attitudes that exist among secondary-school pupils, to practical education in natural science, through a gender perspective. Semi-structured interviews were chosen as method of studying the pupils’ attitudes. A semi- structured interview gives the interviewer a possibility to follow up the answers given by the respondent with varied attendant questions. For the interviewer this contributes to develop an insight of the attitudes. The interviews reveal that most of the pupils have a positive attitude towards practical education in natural science and all of the respondents agreed on the fact that practical education helps to improve their understanding. The research showed that girls prefer biology since they find it less difficult than physics and chemistry, while boys on the other hand prefer physics and technology. There is a disagreement among the respondents on whether or not examinations exist in practical education. The conclusion of the dissertation is that pedagogues need to develop a practical education suited for all youths irrespective of gender, as well as stating the aim and purpose before the practical education starts.

This essay shows how teachers adjust the literature studies in the mother tongue subject to their different classes in upper secondary school. The study is based on interviews with two teachers and an analysis of two different school-books. The conclusion is that the subject of literary education in the vocational programs is a pragmatic subject with focus on the pupils’ needs and skills, and the subject in the theoretical programs has more focus on mediation of a literary heritage.

The aim of this study is to find out what education in literature is like from a student perspective; what kind of literature the students read and how well they understand literature, and the methods and didactics used during the literature lessons. The questions at issue are: 1) What kind of literature do the students read? 2) How well do the students understand literary texts? 3) What do the students think about their literature education? To be able to answer the questions, both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in the study. The inquiry was accomplished on 29 students, 17 boys and 12 girls in the upper secondary school. The result showed, despite the limited amount of students, interesting facts. Firstly there were some differences between males and females and what kind of fiction girls and boys read. Both girls and boys read magazines and periodicals. The girls read more fiction about love than boys did. The boys rather liked to read books that are exciting and adventurous. The students also differ from one another in how much they liked to read. There were more girls than boys that liked to read a lot. The students, who didn’t like to read, stated that they had other interests or activities. They found it boring to read or had difficulties to find books that were interesting enough. Regardless sex, the students spent approximately 1 hour per week reading outside school, most of them at home before they go to sleep. The school library plays an important role to stimulate the students to read and to find interesting books. The reading test showed that the students reading ability were good. The results have been analyzed in the light of different theories of reading and research studies. It pays attention to the importance of having focus on the student. It is not a talent to be able to read and write. It is something you can practise and develop doing your whole life. The results of the study also raised questions of importance regarding the cultural capital and canon.

Denna studie frågar efter, vad det är som påverkar elevers val av gymnasieskola i Stockholmstrakten. Ansatsen är empirisk och enkäter har samlats in av 276 elever i åtta skolor och tolv klasser. De tillfrågade har fått svara på fjorton frågor om hur pass viktigt eller oviktigt de tycker att: föräldrar, kompisar, utbildning, skola med mera, har varit i samband med deras gymnasieval. Beskeden varierar, men likartade tendenser går ofta att utläsa, där exempelvis elevers bakgrund eller intressen sammanfaller. Svaret som ges är beroende av elevens förutsättningar inför valet, d v s betyget, närheten, det geografiska läget, ryktet, utbildningen, skolan, miljön, lärarna, föräldrarna, studie- och yrkesvägledaren och socialisationen med mera. Delarna fungerar inte utan helheten och vice versa. / This study asks after, what it is that influences students choices of upper secondary school in the area of Stockholm. The run-up is empirical and questionnaires have been gathered out of 276 students in eight schools and twelve classes. The respondents has replied fourteen questions about how important or unimportant they think that: parents, buddies, education, teachers etcetera, has been in connection with their upper secondary school choice. The really vary, but similar tendencies can often be inferred, where for example students background or their interest coincide. The reply that is given is depending on the students conditions before the choice, i.e. the grade, the vicinity, the geographic situation, the rumour, the education, the school, the environment, the teachers, the parents, study - and trade weighs, and the socialization etcetera. The parts do not function without the whole and vice versa.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur elever på praktisk gymnasieskola använder miniräknaren och hur de ser på användandet. Studien går också ut på att undersöka hur elevernas lärare ser på användandet av miniräknaren och vilka attityder de har gentemot användningen av den. Det ingår också att se vilka skillnader som finns i attityden till miniräknare hos elever och lärare. En elevenkät och lärarintervjuer på två praktiska program ligger till grund för arbetet. Resultatet visar på en positiv attityd bland eleverna där många anser att miniräknaren inte har några nackdelar. Lärarna är mer återhållsamma och framför viss kritik mot miniräknaren. En åsikt som framfördes var att miniräknaren kan ses som ett tveeggat svärd. Miniräknaren gör i bästa fall att eleverna kommer längre i undervisningen men även att de i många fall blir beroende av miniräknaren. Att eleverna som en konsekvens också blir svaga i huvudräkning anses som ett problem av flera lärare. Ett annat problem som lyftes fram var att en del elever använde räknefunktion på mobiltelefonen istället för att använda miniräknaren. Lärarna verkar inte ha någon pedagogisk tanke bakom användandet av miniräknaren utan ser den som ett effektivt hjälpmedel att göra beräkningar med. Eleverna ser också miniräknaren som ett snabbt och effektivt sätt att göra beräkningar på. Ingen av lärarna tyckte att miniräknaren har några direkt pedagogiska fördelar. De menar dock att miniräknaren indirekt kan ha pedagogiska fördelar då eleverna hinner göra fler uppgifter och därmed får mer träning. Miniräknaren ses trots sina nackdelar som ett bra och är ett accepterat hjälpmedel för matematiska beräkningar. / The purpose of this study is to examine how pupils in a vocational upper secondary school use the calculator and their attitude towards it. The study also examines how the teachers use calculators and their attitude towards it. Another part in the study is to see how the attitude towards calculators differs between pupils and teachers. A questionnaire among pupils and interviews among teachers in two vocational programs is the foundation for the study. The result shows a positive attitude among the pupils who do not find any drawbacks with the calculator. The teachers are more restrained and have certain criticism towards it. One opinion was that the calculator is a double-edged sword. At most the calculator helps the pupils to reach further in their studies but also makes them depend on it. The pupil’s weaker ability to do mental calculation is also a negative effect according to the teachers. Another problem that came up was that many pupils use the calculator-functions in the mobiles instead of a real calculator. The teachers don’t seem to have any pedagogy-philosophy in their use of the calculator. Instead they see it as a powerful tool to do calculations. The pupils also see the calculator as a fast and effective calculation tool. None of the teachers found that the calculator have any pedagogic advantages. However can the calculator, according to the teachers, indirectly have pedagogic advantages as the pupils have time to do more tasks and therefore get more practice. Despite its disadvantages the calculator is considered a effective and accepted tool for calculations.

This thesis explores two aspects of mathematical reasoning: affect and gender. I started by looking at the reasoning of upper secondary students when solving tasks. This work revealed that when not guided by an interviewer, algorithmic reasoning, based on memorising algorithms which may or may not be appropriate for the task, was predominant in the students reasoning. Given this lack of mathematical grounding in students reasoning I looked in a second study at what grounds they had for different strategy choices and conclusions. This qualitative study suggested that beliefs about safety, expectation and motivation were important in the central decisions made during task solving.  But are reasoning and beliefs gendered? The third study explored upper secondary school teachers conceptions about gender and students mathematical reasoning. In this study I found that upper secondary school teachers attributed gender symbols including insecurity, use of standard methods and imitative reasoning to girls and symbols such as multiple strategies especially on the calculator, guessing and chance-taking were assigned to boys. In the fourth and final study I found that students, both male and female, shared their teachers view of rather traditional feminities and masculinities. Remarkably however, this result did not repeat itself when students were asked to reflect on their own behaviour: there were some discrepancies between the traits the students ascribed as gender different and the traits they ascribed to themselves. Taken together the thesis suggests that, contrary to conceptions, girls and boys share many of the same core beliefs about mathematics, but much work is still needed if we should create learning environments that provide better opportunities for students to develop beliefs that guide them towards well-grounded mathematical reasoning.

Students need to be entrepreneurial, because society has changed locally and globally and individuals must carry more responsibility for their learning and their livelihood. Information technology affects everyone and makes it possible to obtain facts far beyond the classroom. In all, the changes affect the perception of what and how pupils learn. Supranational bodies such as the OECD, the European Union and NUTEK have argued for a couple of decades that schools and businesses need to work together to educate students in an entrepreneurial direction. Today, in 2011, entrepreneurship is in fact enshrined in the new curriculum for the upper secondary school, GY 2011. The school has long sought to increase students’ responsibility for their own learning and different education practices have been tested to develop this. The purpose of this study is to form knowledge about entrepreneurial learning and make a contribution to knowledge about a form of learning, from a student perspective. The theoretical and methodological approach of the study is phenomenographic. Sixteen students at an upper secondary school with a pronounced entrepreneurial profile have been interviewed. The interview guide used was open-ended with ample opportunities for the informants to talk about their work on the basis of the project that the students perform during their last school year. Students do not use the term entrepreneurial to describe their perceptions, but from the data I understand with my teaching experience that they describe their perceptions of entrepreneurial learning. The results of the analysis of the data material show upper secondary school students' different perceptions of entrepreneurial learning and fall into five description categories. They are Understanding, identifying and defining the task, External contacts and communication, Team building, Learning in different social practices and Looking beyond the obvious. The results show that if the school is to use entrepreneurial learning as a learning approach, tasks need to be retrieved from activities outside the school to be challenging for students to manage themselves and with the help of others.