The diploma thesis Problematics of Spelling Soft and Hard Consents in Teaching deals with the given topic within the curriculum of the second year of primary school. The main aim of the thesis was to teach pupils the orthographic rules related to the topic and their application. Theoretical part describes the position of consonants in Czech language, the position of given topic in teaching and problematics of terminology. It also describes the psychomotor development of child. Further, in theoretical part is an analysis of interpretation and practice in Czech language textbooks for the second year of primary school. The subject of the practical part was to create and apply an alternative teaching method and to teach pupils to use soft and hard i/y after spellingly soft and hard consonants. The survey was conducted with pupils of the second year of primary school in the form of application of an alternative teaching method created on the basis of a synthesis of knowledge from the theoretical part. It was attended by 21 pupils for 22 teaching hours. Main testing was performed at the beginning and at the end, continuous testing took place in sections of the subject matter. The survey also included testing of fifth and seventh grade pupils in order to map the current state of knowledge of the topic....

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie är att undersöka hur pubertet, sexualitet, kärlek och relat- ioner framställs i text och bild i läroböcker för biologi utifrån normer. För studien analyseras sex olika läroböcker, tryckta och digitala, i ämnet biologi för årskurs 4–6. Den insamlade data analyseras genom en normkritisk diskursanalys utifrån queerteoretiskt och normkritiskt per- spektiv. Studiens resultat visar att alla sex läroböcker synliggör normer gällande sexualitet, pubertet, kärlek och relationer. Vidare framkommer att tillämpningen av språket har stor betydelse för vilka normer som synliggörs samt vem eller vilka som får framträda. Heteronormen är åter- kommande och den norm som tydligast kan uttydas i läroböckerna. Normerna som synliggörs framträder främst genom språkliga antaganden. I analysen framkommer vidare att pubertet re- lateras till människans reproduktion och sexualitet och att den representation som finns av sex utgår från heteronormativt perspektiv.

Previous research has indicated a decreased use of textbooks among religious education teachers, while students with a religious background perceive themselves as a vulnerable minority in classrooms. It also points to a post-Christian society where schools now take responsibility for knowledge about the Christian faith and how it should be understood. Simultaneously, secularization is increasing in society, and people express a secularist attitude towards religion. The aim of this essay is to examine the representation of Christianity in religious education textbooks for upper secondary school based on secular and secularist discourses, and analyze how the results can be interpreted in terms of the concepts of alliance, othering, positive essentialism, and negative essentialism. The theories that were utilized included modified secularization theory, discourse theory, and essentialism in religious education. These were combined with the methods of discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis. The conclusion from this study is that in the selected books, positive and negative essentialism occurred to varying degrees, indicating a lack of objectivity. There were also numerous alliances and instances of othering, which in several cases suggested secular and secularist discourses.

Sweden is a member of the European Union and Sweden’s turn-out in the elections to the European Parliament is low compared to its own national elections. Earlier research in the field of didactics in civics regarding the EU have mostly focused on aspects of civic education such as which subject content teachers teach and what knowledge they test their students on. Even today, textbooks are an important part of shaping education. This study has focused on how the EU is presented in textbooks for civics in Swedish upper secondary school, specifically the course “Samhällskunskap 1b”. The aim was to research the political knowledge about the EU presented in textbooks and research how the presented political knowledge can contribute to political participation.  The study utilizes two different theories, the first is Maria Jarl’s definition of the participatory democratic process and the second is a categorical instrument constructed by Peter Wall used to analyze political knowledge. The method used is both a qualitative content analysis and a comparative analysis. The categorical instrument used stipulates that political knowledge contains three dimensions, polity, policy, and politics. Each dimension has several variable categories attached.  In the study, four textbooks written for the civics course “Samhällskunskap 1b” were analyzed, in accordance with the developed methodological framework. The results of the study found that each of the textbooks contained all three dimensions of political knowledge. However, the dimensions were not equally present in the content with an imbalance favoring the polity dimension which encompassed more than half of the observed variable categories in each of the textbooks. The politics dimension was also found to be relatively non-existent in each of the textbooks with coverage as low as 2% in one of the textbooks. Thus, the conclusion is that the political knowledge regarding the EU in the textbooks is far too one-sided to provide a satisfactory contribution to political participation. We also confirm that a similar focus on the polity dimension regarding the EU exists in textbooks which can also be found in the content teachers teach. This might have several implications for future political participants in Sweden and thus also Swedish democracy.

Swedish upper secondary schools are assigned the responsibility to promote cultural diversity and foster democratic global citizens according to Läroplanen för gymnasieskolan (Skolverket, 2022). Naturally, as English textbooks try to incorporate this, the potentially problematic outcome arises of the depictions of the Westerner and the non-Westerner. The present research examines to what extent and how the four dimensions of Western-centric ideologies through the analytical lens of Van Dijk’s ideological square are manifested in Blueprint A 3.0 (2017) and Solid Gold 1 (2014) for English 5 upper secondary schools. How the Western-centric ideologies are manifested is discussed through the theory of Orientalism (Said, 2003) and its complementary linguistic theories problematizing Native-speakerism (Holliday, 2006) and Euro-English (Philipson, 2003). The findings of the present study highlight how the majority of the texts placed in the ideological square are about the Western “Us” and that the West is portrayed as superior through depictions of being developed and progressive while the non-West “Them” is depicted as undeveloped, oppressed as well as stagnant and timeless. Thus, the findings are in accordance with the theories of the literature and previous research where the implied superiority of the West is found. Based on these findings, it can perhaps be argued that the textbooks Blueprint A 3.0 (2017) and Solid Gold 1 (2014) do not fulfill the expectations of Läroplanen för gymnasieskolan (Skolverket, 2022), leading to the pedagogical implications of this present study where teachers are encouraged to create complementary material or address the Western-centric ideologies of the respective textbooks.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur gymnasieelever använder matematikboken för att få en utökad förståelse för matematikboken som verktyg i undervisningen och lärandet. Vidare var syftet att synliggöra eventuella samband mellan motivationen till att studera matematik och hur matematikboken används. Både kvantitativ- och kvalitativ metod användes i undersökningen och datamaterialet samlades in via en digital enkät. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för att undersöka gymnasielevernas motivation till matematik var förväntan-värdeteorin. Sammanlagt deltog 133 gymnasieelever från tre skolor som låg i Norrbotten och Västernorrland. Resultatet pekade på att gymnasieleverna främst arbetade med uppgifter i matematikboken, teoriavsnittet och exempeluppgifterna lästes inte lika frekvent men det förekom. Vidare använde en majoritet av gymnasieeleverna matematikboken flera gånger i veckan under lektionerna, medan det inte var lika vanligt att den användes utanför skolan. Kostnadsvärdet var den motivationstyp som korrelerade med flest aktiviteter med matematikboken. Det visade sig bland annat att de som ofta använde matematikboken utanför skolan hade högre kostnadsvärde än de som aldrig eller sällan gjorde det. / The purpose of the studie was to investigate how high school students’ use the mathematics textbook to gain an expanded understanding of the mathematics textbook as a tool in teaching and learning. Furthermore, the aim was to make visible any connections between the motivation to study mathematics and how the textbook is used. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the studie and the data was collected via a digital survey. The theoretical starting point for investigating high school students' motivation for mathematics was the expectency-value theory. A total of 133 high school students participated from three schools located in Norrbotten and Västernorrland. The results indicated that the high school students mainly worked with tasks in the mathematics book, the theory section and the example tasks were not read as frequently, but it did occur. Furthermore, a majority of high school students used the mathematics textbook several times a week during lessons, while it was not as common that it was used outside of school. Cost value was the motivation type that correlated with the most activities with the textbook. Among other things, it turned out that those who often used the mathematics textbook outside of school had a higher cost value than those who never or rarely did so.

This study analyses four texts for Swedish as a Second Language in an Adult Education textbook published in 2018. The target group has passed the first level of beginners’ studies. The study concerns how the texts represent different life conditions in general and more specifically how otherness is shown in the Swedish majority society. It also concerns how the texts adjust to the learners’ language progression in the course syllabuses. Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used. The results of this study show that the textbook has a serious approach in that the analysed texts represent important and interesting perspectives in the curriculum. The fictional texts show a varied language and content – not too difficult to understand. The two factual texts though are far above the intended language level of the course, which has an excluding effect. These two texts could also – from a critical discourse perspective – be said to cause a feeling of other-ness and exclusion among the L2-readers and are therefore not consistent with the common values in the curriculum.

Mon mémoire porte sur les représentations des Premiers Peuples dans les manuels scolaires d’histoire francophones, produits et utilisés au Québec entre 1920 et 1960, avec une attention particulière portée à ceux destinés aux jeunes du primaire. Cette recherche est au croisement des études sur le colonialisme québécois, de l’histoire de l’enfance et de l’étude des représentations. Plusieurs théories émanant des études visuelles, de l’altérité et des performances studies sont aussi mobilisées dans mon étude des manuels scolaires d’histoire. En se positionnant à l’intersection de cette mosaïque d’historiographies et d’approches conceptuelles, mon mémoire répond aux questions suivantes : comment sont représentés les Premiers Peuples au Canada dans les manuels d’histoires francophones produits entre les années 1920 et 1960 et dans quelle mesure ces représentations sont en rupture avec la période précédente ? Comment sont mobilisées ces représentations dans l’imaginaire colonial québécois ? De quelle manière est reçue, appropriée et performée l’image coloniale de l’« Indien imaginaire » par les enfants ? Mon étude vient compléter une historiographie qui couvrira, dès lors, toute l’histoire des représentations des Premiers Peuples dans les manuels scolaires d’histoire depuis les débuts de l’instruction publique au Québec. Le premier chapitre explore trois champs historiographiques sur lesquels mon mémoire s’appuie : l’histoire des enfants, le colonialisme d’occupation et les représentations des Premiers Peuples dans la culture populaire nord-américaine. Les chapitres deux et trois sont consacrés, dans l’ordre, à l’analyse des manuels scolaires d’histoire produit entre 1920 et 1950 et ceux entre 1950 et 1960. Je démontre que la figure de l’Indien est mobilisée par les auteurs des manuels des années 1920-1950 pour justifier la dépossession et les violences coloniales du passé, notamment par l’utilisation d’arguments politiques, moraux et généalogiques. Dans la série de manuels des années 1950, nettement plus nationaliste, les auteurs reprennent ces mêmes idées en appuyant toutefois plus fortement sur l’idée de la « mission civilisatrice » au point de nettoyer le récit historique québécois de sa violence originelle. De plus, j’établis que ces manuels montrent la prolongation du colonialisme dans le présent. Les Premiers Peuples ne disparaissent plus du récit après la Conquête, contrairement à ce qui était le cas dans les manuels d’histoire avant 1950, mais ils sont toujours sujets à un discours colonial qui les dénigre, les invisibilise et tente de justifier la dépossession de leurs terres. / My master’s thesis examines the representations of First Peoples in French-language history textbooks produced and used in Quebec between 1920 and 1960, with a particular focus on those intended for elementary school children. This research is at the crossroads of studies on Quebec colonialism, childhood history and the study of representations. Several theories emanating from visual studies, othering and performance studies are also mobilized in my study of history textbooks. By positioning itself at the intersection of this mosaic of historiographies and conceptual approaches, my master’s thesis answers the following questions: how are the First Peoples in Canada represented in French-language history textbooks produced between the 1920s and the 1960s and to what extent are these representations at odds with the previous period? How are these representations mobilized in the Quebec colonial imagination? How is the colonial image of the ‘imaginary Indian’ received, appropriated and performed by children? My study contributes to a historiography exploring history of representations of the First Peoples in history textbooks since the beginning of public education in Quebec. The first chapter explores three historiographical fields on which my dissertation draws: children's history, settler colonialism, and representations of First Peoples in North American popular culture. Chapters two and three are devoted, in order, to the analysis of history textbooks produced between 1920 and 1950 and those between 1950 and 1960. I show that the figure of the Indian is mobilized by the authors of the first period’s textbooks to justify the dispossession and colonial violence of the past, notably through the use of political, moral and genealogical arguments. In the latter period’s, more nationalistic series of textbooks, the authors reiterate these same ideas, but with a stronger emphasis on the idea of the ‘civilizing mission’ to the point of cleansing the Quebec historical narrative of its original violence. Furthermore, I argue that these textbooks show the continuation of colonialism in the present. First Peoples no longer disappear from the narrative after the Conquest, as was the case in history textbooks before 1950, but they are still subject to a colonial discourse that denigrates and invisibilizes them, while attempting to justify the dispossession of their lands.

Issues regarding how gender and sexuality are represented within different discourses have gained increased attention in the past decades. Within the field of language, gender, and sexuality, topics such as sexist language, stereotypes and heteronormativity have been continuously problematised as means of sustaining societal norms. The ramification of such norms can have a negative impact on how people engage with and express their identity, especially within the context of education. Research conducted on textbooks shows problematic representations of gender and sexuality where women are disfavoured and non-binary and LGBTQ+ identities often are excluded. Whilst gender representation has become increasingly more equal, a heterosexual norm is still very much prevalent within education. In response to such issues, the pedagogical approach norm critical pedagogy emerged in Sweden a few decades ago with the aim to develop critical thinking and thus challenge discriminatory beliefs and prejudice. In the present study, the representation of gender and sexuality within education will be investigated in a Swedish context. Linguistic patterns and word choice in three ELT textbooks are analysed through two approaches to content analysis. The findings showed that there is unequal representation of gender and sexuality overall, with gender identities outside the binary and varying sexualities being predominantly excluded. Additionally, implicit linguistic patterns which reinforce gender stereotypes and further limit the scope of acceptable gender expressions emerged across all textbooks. However, the most recent book stood out by being more inclusive and engaging with issues in a way which engages critical thinking.

El presente estudio es una investigación sobre el manual Caminando 2 del año 2015 y su congruencia con el plan de estudios del 2022, específicamente en lo que respecta a la comunicación oral. Además, se indaga en qué grado las tareas ayudan al aprendizaje de los alumnos en el aula de español como lengua extranjera (materia que en Suecia se imparte en la asignatura llamada lengua moderna). El corpus de este trabajo es el manual Caminando 2 de 2015, correspondiente al nivel dos de español como lengua extranjera (ELE) en la escuela. El método de este estudio se enfoca en desarrollar una tabla específica con varias preguntas para analizar y categorizar cada tarea en los capítulos del manual. Los resultados muestran que el 46% de las tareas están relacionadas con la destreza de la comunicación oral. Además, se observa un progreso en las tareas que podría contribuir al aprendizaje de los alumnos. Las conclusiones de este trabajo son dos: en primer lugar, el manual Caminando 2 concuerda con los aspectos relacionados con la destreza de la comunicación oral presentes en el plan de estudios de 2022 para la lengua moderna. En segundo lugar, las tareas del manual se ajustan a la teoría de Vygotski sobre la Zona de Desarrollo Próximo, lo que favorece el aprendizaje de los alumnos. No obstante, la evaluación completa del manual para determinar su total conformidad con el plan de estudios requiere un análisis más exhaustivo. / The present study is an investigation into the textbook Caminando 2 printed on 2015 and its alignment with the curriculum of 2022, specifically concerning oral communication. Additionally, it explores to what extent the tasks aid student learning in the Spanish as a foreign language classroom (a subject taught in Sweden under the label of modern language). The corpus of this work is the textbook Caminando 2 from 2015, corresponding to level two of Spanish as a foreign language in school. The method used in this study is create a specific table with several questions to analyze and categorize each task of each chapter in the textbook. The results showed that 46% of the tasks are related to oral communication skills. Furthermore, progress in tasks is observed, which could contribute to student learning. The conclusions of this study are twofold: firstly, the Caminando 2 textbook aligns with aspects related to oral communication skills present in the curriculum of 2022 for modern language. Secondly, the textbook tasks adhere to Vygotsky's theory on the Zone of Proximal Development, which benefits student learning. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the textbook to determine its complete alignment with the curriculum requires a more exhaustive analysis.