Den kompletterande pedagogiska utbildningen (KPU) infördes 2011 med syfte att bredda upptagningen till lärarutbildningen. Utbildningen riktar sig till personer som redan studerat en universitets- eller högskoleutbildning, och som bedöms ha tillräckliga ämneskunskaper för att bli lärare efter tre terminers komplettering av utbildningsvetenskap och VFU. Syftet med denna undersökning är att beskriva vilka som väljer att läsa till att bli lärare via KPU, och varför de valt denna utbildningsväg. Uppsatsen tar utgångspunkt i en utbildningssociologisk forskningstradition grundad av Pierre Bourdieu, där nyckelbegreppen kapital, habitus och utbildningsstrategier hämtats. Materialet för studien utgörs av individbaserad statistik från SCB samt sjutton intervjuer med studenter som läser KPU. Resultatet visar bland annat att KPU-studenter primärt söker sig till utbildningen på grund av starka ämnesintressen och att drygt var fjärde KPU-student har en förälder som jobbar som lärare. Utbildningen attraherar ett stort antal personer som väljer att återvända till utbildning efter flera år i arbetslivet. Sammantaget kan man se att KPU fyller en central funktion genom att den fångar upp studenter med starka ämnesintressen som troligtvis inte skulle ha sökt sig till, eller genomgått den ordinarie ämneslärarutbildningen.

This thesis is the first qualitative study of parental involvement in education regarding students in one key township high school in an undeveloped small town in southern China. This thesis aims to examine parental expectations and strategies in the voices of parents. To achieve this goal, this thesis examines the social class of the interviewed parents while considering place. It explores the distinctions in the shared thoughts embodied in life stories as parents perceive or articulate their identities and interests with the parents’ lived experiences, particularly with schooling, occupational careers, and their place identities in cities, towns, and villages. Using concepts of cultural production and penetration, defined by Paul Willis, “penetration” pertains to parents’ insights into the use of education in reflection of parents’ embodied experience and social conditions, while “cultural production” refers to the outcome of collective parental practices and a meaning-making process regarding parental involvement in education. Oral history interviews were conducted with ten families (five fathers and five mothers). This research argues that parents can be divided into two groups based on the distinction of identities of interests in schooling, occupational career, and place of identity, with one group having long-term employment and the other having short-term jobs. Therefore, two sets of parental expectations are conceptualized through penetrations: onward mobility from the periphery to the center and upward mobility from a short-term to a long-term job. Finally, all parents produce the culture of “it depends on himself/ herself” regarding parental involvement in education and conduct four types of parental strategies considering parents’ social class and children’s grades parents perceive: position, trust, ambivalence, and distance.

This thesis departs from an understanding that humanity stands on the cusp of a global crisis, caused to a large degree by the lifestyle choices of humans. Therefore, posing the argument that it is changes in human action, behaviour and lifestyles that are needed to ensure that the development doesn’t continue on its current path. This thesis therefore aimed to explore the new green wave lifestyle, which pertains to people who are choosing to face these challenges head on by actively changing and adopting a self-sustainable lifestyle. To explore this aim, the study utilised a theoretical framework consisting of two main concepts, social practice theory and the concept of lifestyles. The thesis used semi-structured interviews to gather data from individuals who actively made the active choice to change their way of living and adopt a self- sustainable lifestyle. The results show that the new green wavers rely heavily on inspiration from others to make their lifestyle change. This meant that being able to see and be inspired by other people’s alternative ways of living was integral for them to even comprehend the possibility of living a different lifestyle. The results also show that in enacting their new green wave lifestyle the participants chose to partake in alternative practices or enacting practices in a different way compared to how they conventionally might be enacted. Additionally, the results show that the new green wavers encounter challenges in enacting their lifestyle, which relates to a lack of available knowledge of how alternative practices are to be enacted but also the challenges posed by society in terms of legislation and bureaucracy.

The purpose of the study is to contribute to the understanding of Swedish distance high school students' experiences of distance studies and gender norms in distance studies. This is explained using performativity theory and theory of gendered spaces. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with six students who study at high school remotely, the study aims to contribute to knowledge about distance high school students' experiences in permanent distance studies. The study's research question is: What experiences do distance students have of distance studies and gender norms in permanent distance studies? The findings suggest that during distance studies, students experience that gender norms become less prominent because the students are in a safe zone (at home) and a calm environment where they feel comfortable. This makes it easier for students to be themselves, resist limiting gender norms, and dare to stand up for their opinions, as they feel that they are not judged by other students or teachers based on gender or group affiliation. In this way, the creation and transformation of gender norms through performativity is not as prominent in distance studies, and distance studies is seen as a gendered-free space. Instead, students are seen as individuals and are evaluated as individuals based on their own academic performance. This allows students to focus on their academic performance without being judged according to stereotypical gender norms.

The International Baccalaureate (IB), a private curriculum associated largely with exclusive education for transnationally mobile upper classes, has recently began to quietly enter public, national education systems, offering its alternative, elite schooling in tuition-free state institutions. This paper explores the nuanced case of Poland, where IB diploma program is offered as one of the tracks within state schools, existing side-by-side and competing with the national curriculum. Poland, with its particular post-soviet socio-political conditions, where public schooling continuously enjoys an elite status over the failed project of private education, presents an interesting case in regards to the phenomenon. This study employs Pierre Bourdieou’s theories of capital, dispositions and social field to examine the makeup of IB classrooms in public schools in Poland, and answer how the curriculum is experienced and made sense of by the graduates. Qualitative interviews with 17 graduates present an insight into the experience of IB in 6 state schools. The study has found that IB diploma program is primarily employed in well-established, elite institutions, which follow a meritocratic logic of technical selection of only the most talented candidates. IB becomes the academic elite club within an elite club, therefore access to it is limited twofold. Accounts across the case study schools showed that IB students are characterized by access to higher volumes of different resources, allowing them to get admitted, survive the academic rigor, and continue their education abroad. Graduates from all types and locations of IB schools follow, almost exclusively, the same three trajectories according to which an IB student considers either a) going abroad to the United Kingdom, b) going abroad to the Netherlands, or c) studying medicine in Poland at the Warsaw Medical University (WUM). Finally, the study has found that students use IB strategically, to access prestigious national or international higher education. However, the conversion of the assets gained through the diploma into advantage in higher education is interrupted by the pedagogical disparity with the ‘mindless memorizing’ at national universities, as well as with the automatic downward social mobility when becoming an immigrant. The findings contribute to the debate over the democratization of international education, its accessibility and the strategic use of it on a national versus international arena.

This thesis focuses on the interspecies relationships of care in the Hambach Forest, Germany. It covers the caring relations between the human activists protecting the Forest by occupying it and the trees growing there. The text covers the affectionate dimension of the activists’ caring relation towards the trees as well as how the caring manifested in their attentiveness and actions. Apart from the traditional ethnographic methods, the research is rooted in multispecies methodology, particularly plant ethnography. As primary theoretical frameworks, the concepts of more-than human sociality and world-making by Anna Tsing were used, as well as the understanding of the interspecies ethics of care by Puig de la Bellacasa. The analysis shows that the caring relationship of the activists was often rooted in the situated relationality that emerges from particular relations with particular trees or other nonhumans. As a navigating tool, activists sometimes used also the nature-culture dichotomy, and sometimes they, on the contrary, contested it. I show that relationships of care were mutual and occurred in the direction from activists to the trees but also that the trees and Forest took care of many activists’ needs. I also demonstrate how the trees and other nonhumans actively participated in the processes of co-creating the more-than-human sociality in the Forest. The analysis shows that the activists’ behaviour was not always coherent or determined by the same values but was often ambivalent and changing depending on the situation.

Covid-19 pandemin medförde världsomvälvande förändringar i många delar av livet, inte minst för arbetet. Vad som kom därtill var en investering i distansarbete, något som funnits länge men som blev pånyttfödd efter 2020. Denna studie utforskar vad distansarbete innebär för deltagare i distansarbetet i termer av arbetslivsbalans, mental hälsa och relationer. Syftet är att utforska vilka effekter distansarbetet har på arbetstagare samt att försöka förklara varför detta är fallet. Detta görs genom en kvalitativ fenomenologisk ansats med hjälp av intervjuer med fem informanter. Resultatet visar en positiv uppsving av autonomi och känslor av kompetens med en förlust av social samhörighet. Detta förklaras genom teorin Self-Determination Theory av Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008) som psykologiska behov. De behöver uppfyllas för en tillfredsställd tillvaro, och talar då till vad som behöver göras inom distansarbete för att arbetstagare ska kunna uppnå en tillfredsställd tillvaro samt hur det ska gå till och varför det är nödvändigt. / The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in profound changes in various aspects of life, particularly in the realm of work. In addition to these changes came a resurgence of interest in remote work, a concept that had long existed but gained renewed attention after 2020. This study explores the implications of remote work for participants in terms of work-life balance, mental health, and relationships. The objective is to investigate the effects of remote work on employees and to attempt an explanation for these outcomes. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, the study conducted interviews with five participants. The results reveal a positive surge in autonomy and feelings of competence coupled with a loss of social connectedness. This is elucidated through the lens of Self-Determination Theory by Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008), which emphasizes psychological needs essential for a satisfying existence. These needs must be met for a fulfilled life, addressing what needs to be done within the context of remote work for employees to achieve satisfaction, how it can be accomplished, and why it is imperative.

The work opportunities of immigrants have been a significant topic in political and scientifical debate. Several studies argue that it is the lack of social network that negatively affects immigrants’ work opportunities. An immigrant group that differs from other immigrant groups in this respect is women having migrated to a partner in Sweden. Before moving to Sweden, they already have an established social network, containing their Swedish partner and his social contacts, to get support from. However, even this group experiences difficulties finding a job. The purpose of this study is to examine how women, migrated to a partner in Sweden, perceive the importance of social network for their work opportunities. A qualitative method was used, interviewing five women who have established themselves in the Swedish labor market. Empirical data has been analyzed based on a thematic analysis, against the background of three theoretical perspectives: Bourdieu’s understanding of social capital, Putnam’s understanding of bonding and bridging social capital and Granovetter’s theory focusing on strong and weak ties.  The results of the study show that women perceive certain contacts in their social network as more important for work opportunities than other contacts, and also in a more indirect way than shown in previous studies. As these women experience difficulties acquiring social contacts with natives, their social network consist largely of their partner, in-laws and some contacts with other immigrants. Partners and in-laws turn out to be important, especially during women’s first years in Sweden, for language development, cultural adapation and a first contact with the labor market. Other contacts, such as other immigrants, colleagues or acquaintances do not have much importance for these womens work opportunities. This depends on the quality of these contacts, but also on the fact that the women’s will to live a self-sufficient life, independent of their social contacts, has constituted a strong will-power for seeking and finding work on their own.

Nowadays, intergenerational mobility and gender equality have captured widespread attention. This study aims to examine the relationship between the two to provide policy insights that benefit both polarized issues. This study reviewed the existing literature and formulated hypotheses that early childhood development has long-lasting impacts on adults' outcomes and is a decisive factor in determining social mobility in adulthood. Gender equality policies play huge roles in this period, mitigating adverse effects from childhood and providing opportunities for disadvantaged children in early childhood development. This study tests the hypotheses with multiple regression and performs sensitivity analysis with an alternative proxy. The result is that public spending on childcare, female labour market participation, and child poverty are statistically significant with social mobility, while weeks of maternity leave and poverty rates of single-earner families are not.

Avsikten med detta arbete var att samla information om lärarnas erfarenheter om hur de upplever att Coronapandemin påverkan på undervisningen och elevers lika möjligheter att ta till sig undervisningen, med specifikt fokus på No-klassrummet. I arbetet har det tagits med begrepp som klass, social klass samt socioekonomisk status för att senare kunna diskutera den insamlade empirin. Arbetet har en viss grad sociologisk inriktning där bland annat aktörer och samhällsstrukturer inom naturkunskap i skolan diskuteras. Det har samlats in empiri genom kvalitativa intervjuer. Totalt deltog fyra lärare. Varje lärare har fått dela med sig av sina erfarenheter som de upplevat under Coronapandemin. Vidare har det gjorts analys utifrån den samlade empirin och till slut har resultatet diskuterats.