In recent years, there has been converging evidence on the relation between nature experiences and learning. Although outdoor experiences are not just seen as leisurely activities anymore, barriers, such as lack of resources or travel time can hinder the propagation of more outdoor educational programs. This study explores a relatively new outdoor educational setting that can help overcome these difficulties by decreasing the amount of resources, input and energy necessary to set up such measures: the educational forest garden. With lower maintenance in creating an environment that resembles an authentic ecosystem, the question remains if forest gardening can foster similar learning outcomes than those reported in other educational settings. A qualitative study in a Swedish mini-forest garden was employed to explore what types of learning are possible in this new type of setting. Interviews with two educators and eight children were conducted to find out what perceptions and experiences they communicate after spending time in the mini-forest garden. The educator’s ideas were compared with children’s accounts and observational notes on their behavior to see if there was a difference in perception and experience. Examples for learning were found in three different dimensions: cognitive, emotional and social. The explored categories were ecological literacy, language learning, attention; being comfortable outdoors, respect and care, awareness of surroundings, co-creation, teacher-student interaction, gender differences and free play and imagination. The findings indicate an overlap between teacher’s and children’s experiences and perceptions in almost all categories and similar beneficial learning outcomes with forest gardening to other outdoor educational endeavors. Along with the potential for self-development, forest gardening may be a new way to successfully teach in the outdoors with less input or resources. Although a small scale study that should not be generalized, the study gives insight to educators’ and children’s voices in a new outdoor educational setting and can help overcome the lack of children’s voices in research in general. At the same time, it adds to the limited amount of research on forest gardening and potentially helps to increase the popularity of forest gardening as a new outdoor educational method.

Denna studie undersöker hur förskollärare tolkar begreppet matematikundervisning i en förskolekontext med avseende på pedagogisk planering och genomförande. Denna utgångspunkt för undersökning ger möglighet att studera begreppet undervisning som inte finns i förskolans läroplan idag men kommer införas i nästa revidering. Undersöknings fokuserar på hur matematikundervisning i förskolan förstås utifrån en förskollärares perspektiv, hur förskollärarna arbetar för att integrera matematiken i den dagliga verksamheten samt vilka möjligheter och utmaningar som finns med matematikundervisningen i förskolan.   Studien avänder en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som forskningsverktyg. Genom individuella intervjuer med fyra förskollärare försöker studien besvara  hur förskollärare ser på ämnet i fokus. Det teoretiska ramverket för studien utgår från ett didaktiskt perspektiv där vi använt oss av de didaktiska frågorna (vad, hur och varför) för att skapa både frågeställningar, intervjufrågor samt sammanställa insamlad empiri och svara på studiens syfte och frågeställningar.     Studiens resultat visar att de intervjuade förskollärarna ser matematik i förskolan som mycket viktigt eftersom det är här förskollärarna lägger grunden som barnen sedan kan använda sig av i skolan. Förskollärarna tar även upp att de arbetar med undervisning i förskolan dagligen och att införandet av begreppet undervisning i förskolans läroplan inte kommer ha någon större påverkan på hur de planerar och genomför sin dagliga verksamhet. I studien har även framkommit hur förskollärarna arbetar för att integrera matematiken med hjälp av olika material och barnens intressen. Förskollärarna har även diskuterat möjligheter och utmaningar med matematikundervisning i förskolan.

The present diploma thesis compares integrated education of natural science in the Norwegian Kingdom and education in the Czech Republic where natural science education is divided into a few separate subjects on the ISCED 2 educational level. The thesis summarises these two different approaches to science education, compares curricular documents and approaches to science teachers' education in the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Norway. The main objective of this work is to find the impact the different concept of science education has on a teacher's ability to answer students' complex questions integrating knowledge from different science subjects. To meet this objective, I chose to use qualitative research in which teachers were asked open-ended questions as part of a structured interview. The outcome of the research was that there are some differences in how the complex questions are answered based on the different approaches to science education. In many cases, however, the answers varied depending on the teacher. The research also discovered personal preferences of science teachers on the ISCED 2 level of education. Also, the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches are, to some extent, viewed differently. The comprehensive, research-backed, text may be used for discussion about...

This Minor Field Study was carried out during November and December in 2011 in the Mount Elgon District in Western Kenya. The objective was to examine nine small-scale farming household´s land use and socioeconomic situation when they have joined a non-governmental organization (NGO) project, which specifically targets small-scale farming households to improve land use system and socioeconomic situation by the extension of soil and water conservation measures. The survey has worked along three integral examinations methods which are mapping and processing data using GIS, semi structured interviews and literature studies.   This study has adopted a theoretical approach referred to as political ecology, in which landesque capital is a central concept. The result shows that all farmers, except one, have issues with land degradation. However, the extent of the problem and also implemented sustainable soil and water conservation measures were diverse among the farmers. The main causes of this can both be linked to how the farmers themselves utilized their farmland and how impacts from the climate change have modified the terms of the farmers working conditions. These factors have consequently resulted in impacts on the informants’ socioeconomic conditions. Furthermore it was also registered that social and economic elements, in some cases, were the causes of how the farmers manage their farmland. The farmer who had no significant problem with soil erosion had invested in trees and opportunities to irrigate the farmland. In addition, it was also recorded that certain farmers had invested in particular soil and water conservation measures without any significant result. This was probably due to the time span these land measures cover before they start to generate revenue.  The outcome of this study has traced how global, national and local elements exist in a context when it comes to the conditions of the farmers´ land use and their socioeconomic situation. The farmers atMt.Elgon are thereby a component of a wider context when they are both contributory to their socioeconomic situation, mainly due to their land management, and also exposed to core-periphery relationships on which the farmers themselves have no influence.

This study aim’s to examine how conceptions regarding culture and ethnicity influence the daily work of personnel in integration projects financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). The method of this study was individual semi-structured interviews with nine persons working in three different projects. The reason why we have chosen these specific projects was because of their work with immigrant participants. Concepts that our study is based on was culture and ethnicity, but also the theory considering in-groups and out-groups. The result of our study shows that the personnel acknowledge the importance of individual adaptation in the work with the participants, but with awareness considering cultural expressions based on their origin. The answers of the personnel also reveal a cultural hierarchy in the Swedish society. We found out that discrimination from employers is mainly based on the immigrant’s lack of Swedish linguistics. The personnel consider the knowledge of language to be one of the most important factors for immigrants when integrating into a new society. Some of the personnel mentioned that cultural prejudices affect their refutation in the meeting with immigrant participants.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur musikstudenter med individuell undervisning upplever fenomenet relationen till sina lärare, på och utanför lektionstid. För att kunna uppnå detta syfte utgår studien från följande forskningsfrågor: Vilken relation erfar musikstudenter med individuell undervisning att de har till sina lärare?, Hur erfar studenterna den kommunikation som sker utanför undervisningens ramar? och Hur ser en önskad relation till en lärare ut enligt studenterna? Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie på en svensk högskola med fyra musikstudenter och tar ett avstamp i det teoretiska perspektivet fenomenologi. Forskningsmetoden för studien är semistrukturerade intervjuer, som sedan transkriberats och analyserats med tematisk analys. Resultatet presenteras i tre övergripande teman, en för varje forskningsfråga. Dessa tre temana är relationen till lärare, kommunikation utanför undervisningens ramar och en önskad relation. Det första, fenomenet relationen till lärare, präglas av en variation av upplevelser och beskrivs i ett spektrum från nära privata relationer till opersonliga relationer. Den sammantagna slutsatsen gällande relationen till lärare är att upplevelserna varierar beroende på vilken lärare och vilken student relationen gäller. Det andra temat rör kommunikationen mellan lärare och studenter. Här erfar studenterna det som praktiskt med kommunikation via sms, Facebook Messenger och tal. Däremot är studenterna kritiska till lärare som pratar skitsnack om andra studenter. I det tredje temat beskrivs fenomenet en önskad relation. Slutsatsen kring detta är att en önskad relation ska vara ett samarbete och att studieresultatet är viktigare än relationen till läraren. I det påföljande diskussionskapitlet sätts resultatet i förhållande till tidigare litteratur och forskning samt det teoretiska perspektivet fenomenologi. / The purpose of this study is to examine how music students with one-to-one tuition experience the phenomenon of the relationship with their teachers, on and off lesson. In order to achieve this purpose, the study is based on the following research questions: What relationship do students with individual education experience with their teachers?, How do the students experience the communication that goes beyond the framework of the teaching? and What does a desired relationship with a teacher look like according to the students? The study is a qualitative case study at a Swedish university with four music students and takes its starting point in the theoretical perspective phenomenology. The research method for the study is semi structured interviews, which were subsequently transcribed and analysed with thematic analysis. The result is presented in three overall themes, one for each research question. These three themes are the relation to teachers, communication outside the framework of the teaching and a desired relationship. The first theme, the relationship to teachers, is characterized by a variety of experiences and is described in a spectrum from close private relations to impersonal relationships. The overall conclusion regarding the student relationship to the teacher is that the experiences vary depending on which teacher and student the relation is between. The second theme concerns communication between teachers and students. The students experience it as practical with communication via SMS, Facebook Messenger and speech. On the other hand, the students are critical of teachers who speak in negative ways about other students. In the third theme, the phenomenon a desired relation is described. The conclusion about this is that a desired relationship should be a collaboration and that the student’s study result is more important than the relationship with the teacher. In the following discussion chapter, the result is put in relation to previous literature and research and the theoretical perspective phenomenology.

The motivation of the study was to explore the problems of families in South Africa who struggle to manage their children with autism and to find out whether they were receiving appropriate assistance. This was done by assessing the needs of the parents of children with autism by means of semi-structured interviews. Through these interviews, the parents were given the opportunity to express what information or recommendations they would like to have available to them. How the parents view their experience, their feelings about these experiences, and the strategies and actions that they take in order to cope with raising their child with autism, is important information. The aim of the study was to explore the problems South African families have so that this may form the base of information supplied to professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and educators thereby assisting in improving service delivery to parents of children with autism. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

Through literature and personal experience it became apparent that cerebral palsy is a condition that poses physical challenges to the everyday lives of children diagnosed with this condition. Negative feedback from society and significant others in the lives of these children may lead to an emotional imbalance in these children. Although various models for addressing emotional issues in children with cerebral palsy exist, their needs within a therapeutic setting are not addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child with cerebral palsy. The Schoeman model is a therapeutic model that is based on the Gestalt philosophy and is used in conjunction with Gestalt play therapy. Through applying the different aspects of this model the study sheds light on the usefulness of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child diagnosed with cerebral palsy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Spelterapie)

Background: Social medias have contributed to big changes in the way firms and customers interact with each other. Due to the great amount of people using social medias, firms have understood the importance of incorporating social medias in their marketing strategy. However, due to increasing competition, customer engagement on social medias has become important. To generate customer engagement, firms must create engaging social media content that is worth the customer’s time and effort. The micro-sized firms are under researched and therefore the authors have chosen micro-sized firms as a study subject and hence the sender of the content. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe the key components of creating customer engagement on social medias for micro-sized firms. Methodology: This research took a qualitative approach in a deductive nature with a descriptive purpose and a cross-sectional research design. The need of primary data was collected by conducting seven semi-structured interviews with social media managers- and consultants. Participants were purposely sampled and the empirical findings were coded, concepts were identified and further categorised while trustworthiness was set to be a criterion for the quality of the research. Conclusion: The research provided seven key components of engaging social media content for micro-sized firms and further recommendations on how to implement them in the micro-sized firms social media management. The components are described together with an illustration. Keywords: Micro-sized firms, social media managers, social media, customer engagement, content appeals, social media targeting, social media timing and frequency, qualitative research, semi-structured interviews.

Mental illness is one of the major public health issues in Europe and one of the biggest challenges Sweden facing is the growing mental illness among people younger than 25 years. Statistics shows that the self-reported mental illness has increased mainly among young women between 18-25 years. The underlying reasons for the increase in mental illness is relatively unknown, more knowledge is required in this field to develop preventive interventions and strategies. The aim of this study was to examine which thoughts young women have about the future and how those are perceived to affect their mental health. A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews have been applied. The sample consisted of women who were working or studying and were born between the years 1993-1996. Altogether six individual interviews were carried out and data analysis consisted of a manifest content analysis. The result showed that young woman’s thoughts about the future include both individual thoughts and more general thoughts about Sweden and the world. An optimistic attitude towards their own future were evident while a pessimistic attitude towards Sweden and the future of the world emerged. Thoughts of the future in relation to their own future is a contributing factor to why young girls feeling depressed and anxious. / Psykisk ohälsa är ett omfattande folkhälsoproblem i Europa och en av de största utmaningarna Sverige står inför är den växande psykiska ohälsan bland invånare som är yngre än 25 år. Vid granskning av statistik framgår det att den självrapporterade psykiska ohälsan främst har ökat bland tjejer i åldrarna 18-25 år. Bakomliggande motiv till den ökade ohälsan är relativt okänd, mer kunskap krävs inom området för att kunna utveckla förebyggande åtgärder och strategier. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilka tankar unga tjejer har om framtiden och hur dessa upplevs påverka deras psykiska hälsa. För att genomföra studien har en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer tillämpats. Urvalet bestod av arbetande och studerande tjejer födda mellan åren 1993-1996. Sammanlagt genomfördes sex enskilda intervjuer och dataanalysen utgjordes av en manifest innehållsanalys. I resultatet framkom att unga tjejers framtidstankar utgörs av både individuella tankar och mer övergripande tankar som inkluderar Sverige och världen. En optimistisk inställning till den egna framtiden framfördes samtidigt som en pessimistisk inställning till Sverige och världens framtid framkom. Framtidstankar i förhållande till den egna framtiden är en bidragande faktor till att unga tjejer känner sig oroliga, nedstämda och ångestfyllda.