published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Dissertation / The aim of this study is to investigate teacher stress and to identify factors that contribute to the stress experienced by township secondary school teachers. Based on an extensive literature study, an inventory, the Teacher Stress Identification Test was developed. The inventory was completed by 368 teachers who live in townships and work in township secondary schools in the Free State. Information thus gained was analysed with the use of a statistical computer programme. It appears from the research that the inventory has both a high reliability coefficient and construct validity. The empirical research revealed that township secondary school teachers experience moderate to high levels of stress. It also gave a clear indication of the factors contributing to the stress experienced by these teachers, allowing the researcher to make several recommendations. Lastly, the manifestations of stress as well as the coping mechanisms of these teachers were briefly investigated. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Within Swedish Secondary Schools, truancy has been an increasing concern over the last eleven years. A specific form of truancy is so called in-school truancy where the student is basically within the school corridors but to a lesser degree attends the lessons. Despite the well documented risks concerning for example employment, income and health and the vast literature demonstrating the importance of teacher experience to promote successful student outcomes, little attention has been given to both teacher experience of truancy and in-school truants in a Swedish context. This master thesis explores Swedish secondary teachers’ experience of working with in-school truants. Four secondary teachers working on an Introduction Program in Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Through this analysis six comprehensive themes were constructed: Multifaceted Role- and Responsibility Description, Structure for Security and Consensus, Hope and Credence Embodied, Relationship building Obstacles and Value, Meaningful, Manageable and Rewarding Work and Solidarity as the Solution and Shield. Understanding of the results was deepened through theoretical connections to results that were particularly distinctive. Some of the issues discussed were theories related to work culture, collegial support, self-efficacy, roles, responsibility, relationship building and teacher-student relationships. The results show that the teachers who participated experience their work with this group of students as one with extra demands. Despite extra demands, neither an excess of demands nor unmanageability were experienced. Rather a conviction was evident regarding the possibility to influence these students despite their form of truancy as well as a feeling of purposeful work. This was something which partly distinguished the findings from previous literature found on the subject. The teachers' experiences further suggest that colleagues and work culture constitute important aspects of the work experience. It is also evident that the teachers involved in this study work within a dynamic field where the teacher needs to balance and continuously reflect upon their way of working. Finally, from the teachers’ perspective, in-school truancy was not considered the most problematic or relevant to distinguish from other sorts of truancy. / Inom svenska gymnasieskolor har ogiltig frånvaro blivit ett allt större bekymmer under de senaste elva åren. En specifik form av frånvaro är så kallad in-school truancy (på svenska korridorselever) där eleven i stor utsträckning befinner sig i skolans område men i låg utsträckning går på undervisningen. Trots väl dokumenterade risker avseende bland annat anställning, inkomst och hälsa och den utbredda litteraturen som finns på betydelsen av lärares upplevelse för gynnsamma elev utfall har både lärares upplevelser av frånvaro samt korridorselever fått sparsamt med uppmärksamhet i en svensk kontext. I föreliggande studie undersöktes gymnasielärares upplevelser av att arbeta med korridorselever. Fyra gymnasielärare på ett Introduktionsprogram i Sverige intervjuades. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Av resultatet konstruerades sex övergripande teman: Mångfacetterad roll- och ansvarsbeskrivning, Struktur för trygghet och samsyn, Hopp och tilltro förkroppsligat, Relationsbyggandets hinder och värde, Det meningsfulla, hanterbara och givande arbetet och Gemenskapen som lösning och sköld. Förståelsen av resultatet fördjupades genom att diskuteras i förhållande till studier, däribland har teorier kopplade till arbetskultur, kollegial stöttning, self-efficacy, roller, ansvar, relationsskapande och lärar-elevrelationer lyfts. Resultatet visar att de lärare som deltagit upplever sitt arbete med elevgruppen som ett arbete med extra krav. Trots ökade krav finns inte upplevelsen av överkrav eller ohanterbarhet. Snarare fanns en övertygelse om möjligheten att påverka dessa elever oavsett frånvaro samt känslan av att ha ett meningsfullt arbete. Detta var något som till viss del skiljer resultatet från tidigare litteratur på ämnet. Lärarnas upplevelser antyder vidare att kollegor och arbetskulturen utgör viktiga aspekter av arbetsupplevelsen. Det framkommer även att lärarna i studien arbetar i ett spänningsladdat fält där läraren behöver balansera och kontinuerligt reflektera kring sitt eget arbetssätt. Slutligen, enligt de intervjuade lärarnas upplevelser, framkommer korridorseleverna inte som mer problematiskt eller meningsfullt att skilja på från andra typer av frånvaro.

Throughout the 1900s, the English subject has gone through massive change in the Swedish school system. The main focus has always been on the British standard, with the United Kingdom as the model for all who study English or educate students. In the past decades, the American standard has been increasingly popular amongst the younger generations which leads to a mismatch between the experiences in school versus the ones outside of school. In light of Brexit and a shift away from Britain, there is cause to believe that this will also impact the educational system. With Euro-English being discussed amongst English scholars, there is reason to believe in a trickle-down effect on young students and teachers as well. This study consists of a survey as well as semi- structured interviews to see what attitude students and teachers have towards British English, American English as well as Euro-English. It will also investigate what impact that may have on the education system as of now as well as the future if nothing changes or if there is no change in the curriculum. The results show growing interest in American English or variations such as Euro-English that are the result of mixture. The results also show teachers being hesitant towards Euro-English, but with an interest due to the value of English varieties overall. Furthermore, the results may be an indicator of an upcoming gap in the education system if Euro-English remains ignored.

Bakgrund: Organisatoriska rutiner utgör ett fundament för organisationers arbetssätt. För organisationers överlevnad krävs en adekvat anpassningsförmåga när omvärlden förändras, som exempelvis vid en samhällsomvälvande kris. Individer har en avgörande roll i denna omställning. Tidigare forskning redogör för hur individer påverkar organisatoriska rutiner, men det omvända förhållandet lyser med sin frånvaro. Dessutom saknas forskning på hur organisationer återgår till en vardag utan kris och vad som då sker med organisatoriska rutiner. Dessa förhållanden är betydelsefulla att studera, för att utökaorganisationers förståelse för hur de kan bidra med rätt stöd till individer inom organisationer, under och efter en extern kris.  Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka organisatoriska rutiners roll för gymnasielärare i svenska gymnasieskolor under och efter en extern kris. Metod: Studien har genomförts med utgångspunkt i en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi baserad på ett konstruktionistiskt perspektiv. Empirin har insamlats med hjälp av nio stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer i en små-N-studie. Intervjupersonerna har valts utifrån ett mål- och kriteriestyrt urval. Dataanalysen har utförts genom tematisk analys.  Slutsats: Organisatoriska rutiner spelar en avgörande roll för gymnasielärare i tider av kris. De är en källa till stabilitet internt och möjliggör för organisationsöverskridande samarbete externt. Därutöver utgör organisatoriska rutiner ett verktyg i arbetet att uppnå ett tillfredsställande resultat i tider av kris, samtidigt som de sparar gymnasieläraremerarbete i jämförelse med om de inte existerat. Organisatoriska rutiner spelar även en betydelsefull roll för hur gymnasielärare uppfattar sin yrkesroll, varpå de utgör en drivkraft för fortbildning. Vid återgång till vardag utan kris förblir organisatoriska rutiner intakta, med undantag för justeringar i sekvenser som visat sig fungera bättre i den kontexten.  Nyckelord: Organisatoriska rutiner, Kris, Covid-19 pandemin, Gymnasielärare, Svenska gymnasieskolor, Distansundervisning / Background: Organizational routines constitute a foundation for the way organizations operate. The survival of organizations requires adequate adaptability when the world around them changes, as in the case of a societal crisis. Individuals play a crucial role in this transition. Previous research addresses how individuals influence organizational routines, however, the reverse relationship is lacking. Furthermore, there is a gap in research regarding how organizations recover from crisis and what effect this has on organizational routines. Such relationships are important to study, in order to expand organizations' understanding of how they can provide the appropriate support to individuals within organizations, during and after an external crisis. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of organizational routines for upper secondary school teachers in Swedish upper secondary schools during and after an external crisis. Methodology: The study was conducted using a qualitative research strategy based on a constructionist perspective. The empirical data was collected using nine semi-structured interviews in a small-N study. The interviewees were selected on the basis of a purposive and criterion-driven sampling. Data analysis was carried out through thematic analysis. Conclusion: Organizational routines are essential for upper secondary school teachers in times of crisis. They are a source of stability internally and enable cross-organizational cooperation externally. Organizational routines are a tool for achieving satisfactory results in times of crisis, while saving upper secondary school teachers' workload in comparison to not having them. Organizational routines play an important role regarding how uppersecondary school teachers perceive their professional role, thus providing an incentive for further learning. When returning to everyday life without a crisis, organizational routines remain intact, except for adjustments in sequences that function better in the current context. Keywords: Organizational routines, Crisis, Covid-19 pandemic, Upper secondary school teachers, Swedish upper secondary schools, Distance education

This research project explores the views of secondary school Development Studies teachers on the subject in Swaziland. Development Studies as a school subject, was designed to integrate environmental education into the secondary school curricula in Swaziland. The study followed a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual grounded theory design. Face-to-face individual interviews were carried out where the respondents expressed their thoughts, concerns and feelings about Development Studies as a school subject. Eight Development Studies teachers and one curriculum designer were interviewed. Only one question, followed by relevant probes was presented to the respondents. The question asked was: What do you think of Development Studies as a school subject? This study followed Tesch's approach to data analysis. The study revealed that Development Studies teachers in Swaziland were generally not trained in environmental education. Recommendations are made. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.(Environmental Ed.)

The aim of the study was to investigate the motivation and job satisfaction of teachers in the Ilembe District of KwaZulu-Natal. To this end, a literature study was undertaken on relevant theories and on the results of previous research on the issue. This was followed by an empirical investigation. The research design was a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design. During the quantitative phase, a structured questionnaire was completed by 100 respondents from five secondary schools. The qualitative phase involved a phenomenological study in which 16 teachers from the same schools were interviewed. This research found that the teachers generally exhibited high self-efficacies. Teachers with positive self-efficacies were more satisfied with their physical environments and their school’s cultures than the others. However, teachers of different age groups, post levels and personality types were in agreement that the physical working conditions at rural schools were not conducive to effective teaching and learning. Parental involvement in school matters was restricted due to poverty and illiteracy. These factors served to lower teacher motivation and job satisfaction. In addition, teachers believed that school policies related to remuneration, safety and security, school governance, and assessments and evaluations needed to be revised if teacher motivation and job satisfaction were to be raised. Teachers were unhappy with their workloads and the multiple roles they played at school. With respect to interpersonal relations, their relations with their school principals, School Management Teams and parents were unconstructive. Many learners were also ill-disciplined and underachievers. Some significant differences in perceptions were found. Male teachers were more satisfied with policies, interpersonal relationships and school organisation. African teachers were happier than Indian teachers with policies and the nature of the work. Teachers with 26 and more years of experience were less negative about their physical environments. Qualifications also made a difference: teachers with certificates only were the least satisfied with their physical environments, school organisation and structure. Most importantly, teachers who were given the opportunity to demonstrate their potential to be successful, was significantly more satisfied with work-related issues. The study made recommendations to improve the motivation and job satisfaction of teachers. / Education Leadership and Management / D.Ed.(Education Management)