The principal aim of this essay was to study why some teachers at upper secondary school choose to work with alternative material in the English classroom, whereas others choose a combination of alternative material and coursebooks. The investigation further deals with how alternative material is used. What students think about various kinds of material and whether they are encouraged to influence the choice of material has been considered as well. The method used was interviews with three teachers and six students. The results of the study showed that all three teachers agreed that coursebooks should not be the only teaching material used in the classroom; they believed that the use of course-books alone would be boring and not very stimulating for the students. Coursebooks combined with alternative material were considered to work very well as teachers and students benefit from the advantages of both. Furthermore, alternative material would be used more if it were not such a time-consuming business for the teachers. Concerning how the three teachers made alternative material, practise varied. One teacher for who mainly used alternative material and also made it herself, had many different sources, whereas the other two teachers mostly used books and movies. Regarding the students, their requests of teaching material varied. The majority however preferred either alternative material or a combination with coursebooks. They also declared that they are encouraged to influence the choice of material.

<p>The principal aim of this essay was to study why some teachers at upper secondary school choose to work with alternative material in the English classroom, whereas others choose a combination of alternative material and coursebooks. The investigation further deals with how alternative material is used. What students think about various kinds of material and whether they are encouraged to influence the choice of material has been considered as well. The method used was interviews with three teachers and six students.</p><p>The results of the study showed that all three teachers agreed that coursebooks should not be the only teaching material used in the classroom; they believed that the use of course-books alone would be boring and not very stimulating for the students. Coursebooks combined with alternative material were considered to work very well as teachers and students benefit from the advantages of both. Furthermore, alternative material would be used more if it were not such a time-consuming business for the teachers. Concerning how the three teachers made alternative material, practise varied. One teacher for who mainly used alternative material and also made it herself, had many different sources, whereas the other two teachers mostly used books and movies. Regarding the students, their requests of teaching material varied. The majority however preferred either alternative material or a combination with coursebooks. They also declared that they are encouraged to influence the choice of material.</p>

Elevers inställning och attityder till det som undervisas påverkar i stor utsträckning hur mycket de lär sig. Det i sin tur gör att det är viktigt att ta reda på elevers intressen och att de får ha inflytande över undervisningen. I lagstiftning, dvs. skolans och kursers mål, uttrycks tydligt att detta ses som viktigt på samhällsnivå. Syftet med mitt arbete är att ta reda på om detta syns i lärarnas tankar kring biologiundervisningen, samt vad deras elever har för uppfattning om sitt eget inflytande. Jag vill även undersöka vad de båda parterna ser för svårigheter och möjligheter med elevinflytande och om det kan göras förbättringar. Undersökningen utfördes på en gymnasieskola i Mellansverige där 2 lärare i biologi och totalt 4 elever intervjuades (2 från vardera lärares klass i biologi A). För en bra övergripande bild så deltog dessutom hela lärarnas klasser i en enkätundersökning. Resultaten visar att lärarnas intention om att ha en kontinuerlig dialog med eleverna går eleverna förbi, eleverna uppfattar inte heller att de uppmanas att komma med synpunkter. Eleverna vill att läraren oftare och på ett tydligare sätt undersöker vad de är intresserade av inom ett nytt område. Om de får komma till tals på detta sätt får de större förståelse för att den enskilda elevens önskemål inte alltid kan uppmärksammas. Elever och lärare är dock överens om att läraren måste vara styrande och att inflytande inte får bli självändamål utan måste användas så att det leder till bättre inlärning. Jag kommer att ta med mig mina resultat i fortsatt utbildning och framtida yrke som lärare. Alltså att elever ska ges möjlighet att influera och de har själva många bra tips på hur det ska gå till, därför ska man fråga om deras åsikt istället för att anta. / Students’ opinions and attitudes of the teaching greatly affect how much they learn. With this in mind it is important to know their interests and also significant that they are given the opportunity to influence. By law, the goals of Swedish schools and their courses clearly intend that students do so as much as possible. The purpose of my study is to see if this is shown in the biology teachers’ thoughts considering their own teaching. As well as finding out what their students think of their own influence. I also want to inquire into both parties’ views on difficulties and possibilities when it comes to students’ influence, and if improvements can be done. My research took place at an upper secondary school in central Sweden where two biology teachers and a total of four students took part in interviews (two from each teacher’s class in biology A). Other than that, both the entire classes of biology A participated in a questionnaire for a better overall view of the students’ opinions. My results show that the teachers’ intentions are to keep a continuous dialogue with the students throughout the course. However, the teachers’ ways of encouraging students to take part and give their opinions are not registered by the students. The results show, on the contrary, that they want the teacher to investigate students’ interests in a new subject or issue more often, and in a more distinct way. If pupils get to influence; they are more likely to understand and accept that the one student’s wishes cannot always be attended to. However, students and teachers agree on the subject that the teacher has to be in control and that students’ influence must not be a purpose of its own but it has to improve learning. I will include the findings I have acquired continuously in my education as well as in my future profession as a teacher. That is, students should be given the opportunity to influence and they have many useful ideas on how to do so as well, which is why it is important to ask their opinion instead of assuming.

Abstract Student influence and participation are phenomena that have been debated for a long time throughout school educations’ history; yet, they still do not meet the intentions of school curriculums. At the same time, recent research has shown these aspects to be meaningful for students’ learning abilities, all the while highlighting the teacher’s important role in their implementation. This study emanates from a global life perspective and examines the assumption that teacher’s experiences are important for how influence and participation are shaped, especially targeting student counseling. The aim with this study is to contribute with more understanding of these aspects, the significance they imply and their importance for learning. This study is formed like a case study and is conducted at a F-9 school with a sample of teachers who are currently involved in the development of student-led counseling. The teachers are being interviewed through qualitative focus group interviews and observed during student-led counseling. The results of the interviews are evaluated through a phenomenologically based method of analysis and a hermeneutically based interpretation. The results of the observations are evaluated on the grounds of the concept of global life perspective, intersubjectivity and intentionality. The result shows that teacher’s experiences on students’ influence and participation incorporate three subjects: preparatory work, execution and subsequent work, which emerge as an outcome of the fact that counseling was led by students. The result points out teacher’s experiences of factors that influence their work, where time, expectations and the student category ’teenagers’ are dominating. These factors obtrude on different levels in a fluctuation between each other, mutually affecting each other and manifesting themselves as both possibilities and obstacles. The result of the significance of student influence and participation is focused on in three main subjects: form of teaching, creating relations and creating identity. Each main subject contains sub-categories. The main subject ‘form of teaching’ involves the enabling of reflections, form of judgment, comprehensibility, raising awareness, increasing motivation and clarification. The main subject ‘creating relations’ consists of increasing quality and creating security. The main subject ‘creating identity’ incorporates the increase of taking responsibility. Responsibility entails growth in close relation to the student’s confidence and faith in his own capabilities. The result demonstrates that these subjects stand in mutual relation to each other, that they depend on each other and can become each other’s factors of influence.   Key words: Pedagogics, Student influence, Participation, Counseling, Global life perspective

The curricula that defines special needs education in Swedish grammar schools states that students with intellectual disabilities should be given the possibility to participate in the planning and shaping of teaching and learning activities. The purpose of the study is to examine conditions regarding special needs students’ influence and how this influence is mediated. The focus of the study is subject based classroom situations. The method for collecting data has been observations. The empirical data consists of around 16 hours of video recordings, in addition to field notes. The observations took place in two special schools and all together 10 pupils, 5 teachers, and two student assistants participated. The theoretical framework is based on sociocultural theory with a specific focus on mediation. By using the theoretical terms object and subject positioning, the study also focuses on how teachers and students position themselves and each other. The results show that the students with intellectual disabilities are given opportunities for influence, but not very frequently.   The most important mediating factors to promote influence are the teachers´ trust in the students´ abilities and skills, and the teacher’s keen responsiveness to the students’ expressed personal will. Influence is mediated both through the possibilities of participation that teachers offer, and the teachers’ affirmation of the students’ requests. Furthermore, the study shows that students are more likely to gain influence in one-to-one meetings with the teacher, where the focus is on the student’s individual interests and preferences. In order to provide increased levels of influence to all students with intellectual disabilities, teachers need to plan the education with focus on democratic processes. / I denna licentiatuppsats studeras förutsättningar för elevers inflytande i grundsärskolan och hur detta inflytande medieras i klassrumsinteraktionen i situationer med olika kunskapsinnehåll. Elevernas och lärarnas interaktion i klassrummet studeras genom videoobservationer. Studien utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Studiens resultat visar att elevinflytande sker på två sätt, dels genom att läraren erbjuder inflytande, dels genom att eleverna uttrycker en önskan om inflytande. När lärarna erbjuder inflytande blir deras tillit till elevernas förmågor och kunskaper en resurs som medierar för inflytande. Elevernas vilja att använda det inflytande som erbjuds blir också medierande resurser. När eleverna själva uttrycker sina önskemål blir såväl samma medierande resurser synliga som lärares lyhördhet inför elevernas vilja. När eleverna önskar inflytande använder de sig av tre strategier: igenkänning, motstånd och självständighet. De artefakter som finns fysiskt tillgängliga i klassrummet möjliggör för ett ökat elevinflytande. Uppsatsens kunskapsbidrag handlar om lärares och elevers tillit, lyhördhet och vilja som förutsättningar för elevinflytande. Ökad kunskap om och förståelse för klassrumsinteraktionens betydelse kan bidra till ett stärkt inflytande för elever i grundsärskolan.

School activities are under constant discussion. This literatur study examines student participation and its relationship to democracy mission and the factors that contribute to students marginalized in school. The study also intends to examine the relationship between intersektionall analysis and the limitation of opportunities for student participation in school. The study results problematize the relationship between student participation and school democracy quests, this by highlighting the challenges and difficulties the school faces. Our results also strengthen the relationship between the study theory and marginalization of students and the limitation of opportunities for student participation.

Elevers inflytande på matematikundervisningen är önskvärd men föga undersökt. Syftet med examensarbetet var således att undersöka elevers upplevelse av att ha digitala läroböcker i matematikundervisningen. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av fokusgruppsintervjuer med elever på gymnasiet. Tre klasser på teknikprogrammet intervjuades. Intervjuerna bearbetades med hjälp av innehållsanalys. Resultatet analyserades utifrån den didaktiska tetraedern med den digitala läroboken som artefakt. Resultatet visade att elever anser att läroböcker ska hjälpa dem lösa och förstå matematikuppgifter. Digitala läroböcker upplevdes ha goda förutsättningar att förklara matematik genom exempelvis anpassade förklaringar, ledtrådar och återkoppling. Däremot upplevdes digitala läroböcker ha sämre förutsättningar att lösa uppgifter eftersom risken att distraheras av annat på datorn var stor, svarsinmatningen var bristfällig, läroboken kunde vara oåtkomlig eller att förklaringar och uppgifter inte nödvändigtvis matchade varandra. För att ge elever inflytande på matematikundervisningen bör dessa aspekter beaktas vid val av läromedel genom övervägande av den digitala lärobokens utformning, implementering samt när en tryckt lärobok är att föredra. / Students’ influence on mathematics teaching is desirable but not extensively researched. The purpose of the thesis was therefore to investigate students' experience of using digital textbooks in mathematics education. The study was carried out using focus group interviews with Swedish upper secondary school students. Three classes from the technology program were interviewed. The interviews were processed using content analysis. The results were analysed using the didactic tetrahedron with the digital textbook as the artifact. The results showed that students believe that textbooks should help them solve and understand mathematics exercises. Digital textbooks were perceived to be well suited to explain mathematics by, for example, customized explanation, clues, and feedback. On the other hand, digital textbooks were felt to provide a worse environment for solving exercises. Reasons given include the risk of being distracted by other things on the computer was high, the ability to input answers was inadequate, the textbook could be inaccessible or that explanations and tasks did not necessarily match each other. To give students an influence on mathematics teaching, these aspects should be factors to consider when choosing teaching materials in terms of the digital textbook's design, implementation and when a printed textbook is preferable.