The focus of this study lies within gender coded musical instruments. This concept concerns the unconscious thought of musical instruments as either feminine or masculine. The aim of this study is to acknowledge the existence of this concept amongst pupils in Swedish upper secondary schools, and to demonstrate how it can affect pupils’ choice of main instrument. The study presents earlier studies that show signs of the existence of gender coded instruments. It also explores the concept of sex and gender in different situations. These include the use of gender in the Swedish language, in music, and in an ensemble situation. Fifteen pupils from two different schools were interviewed, and the conclusion is that the gender coding exists. When the pupils were asked to categorise different instruments as feminine or masculine, the results revealed that singing and piano were considered feminine. Some of the masculine instruments were electric guitar, electric bass, and drums. According to the pupils, the reasons behind their main choice of musical instrument can be put into five different categories. These are; Role models, Parents’ influense, the accessibility of musical instruments, Norms and Biological stereotypes. Three of these categories; Role models, Norms and Biological stereotypes are also what they believe are reasons behind gender coded musical instruments. The aim of this study is to raise awareness of this situation as the Swedish school values show that schools and their teachers are supposed to work towards equality between the genders, a task which cannot be done if this continues.

This is a qualitative study about how literature is used in the subject of English as a foreign language (EFL) or English as a second language (ESL) in the upper secondary school classroom. The study specifically focuses on what goals and activities are ascribed to the use of literature in the English language classroom. Literature has been used in the Swedish language classroom for decades but there is still an uncertainty as to how literature can and could be used. The aim for this thesis was to achieve an understanding of teacher’s choices when it came to goals and activities linked to the EFL/ESL classroom. This is a literature review where primary sources have been analyzed using critical literacy and cultural theory to specify the different authors stand-point about the use of literature. Background information also provides a basis for the analysis where authors dedicated to the use of literature in the language classroom discuss and describe general concepts and ideas of how literature is used and could or should be used. The study showed that depending on the teacher’s goals with literature different methods and activities are linked to the lessons. Critical literacy and cultural theoryhelped develop an understanding of the thoughts and ideas underpinning the concepts of the primary sources, whether it was about altering students’ behavior or fostering democratic and empathetic citizens. The results showed that literature is used in a variety of ways, but at times the student-oriented goals and activities are unclear. This calls for further research on the area of using literature in the EFL/ESL classroom.

Movies are an occurring feature in EFL classrooms in Sweden, as well as exercises seeking to practice listening comprehension, although, there are few studies which combine the two together. The aim for this literature review was to analyse the use of film for listening comprehension development in EFL classrooms. The results show that movies can help students reach higher levels of listening because students felt more motivated and they became more active. The results also show further that teachers can help students reach higher levels of listening comprehension by using various features such as pauses, activities before, during and after the movie etc. The results also show that listening comprehension is a somewhat “take n for granted skill” which needs to be researched more about, specifically the importance of listening comprehension in the context of the other skills.

Gamification is a topic that most people assume has something to do with playing video games in the classroom. The aim of this thesis is to discuss how Swedish EFL teachers work with feedback in upper secondary school, what they know about gamification and how gamification and feedback might be related. Four teachers participated in the semi-structured interviews. The results showed that teachers work with formative assessment to a great extent during the year and more with summative feedback at the end. Firstly, the feedback that the teachers gave pupils was both in written and oral production and the feedback itself could also be written and spoken. Secondly, the study showed that gamification and feedback might be related because they can both increase motivation and language development. Finally, the teachers did not know much about gamification, but the study showed that the idea of gamification was being used by teachers. The most commonly used gamified tools used by these teachers were online programs, feedback and rewards.

During their education all pupils in Swedish upper secondary school are supposed tocome into contact with some teaching in the neighbouring languages, Danish and Norwegian.The aim of this study is to investigate with the aid of interviews ho fouractive upper secondary school teachers perceive the neighbouring languages in terms ofthe central questions of teaching and learning: How? What? and Why? The studyfocuses on the course Swedish 2, a subject taught by the four teachers. The result showsthat the teachers have different perceptions of the neighbouring language module andthat there are different reasons underlying this. The teachers’ own training in this varies,and this affects their own outlook on this module in the Swedish 2 course, so that lessteaching is devoted to the module. Time is another factor that makes teachers feel thatthe neighbouring language module is a less important part of the teaching in Swedish.The teachers’ perceptions of the neighbouring languages can be viewed as both positiveand negative. The perceptions in this study are based on the informants’ experience andpersonal preferences.

The purpose of this study is to shed light on how teachers on the upper secondary Arts with Music programme use movement in their teaching of music, and how they approach movement as an educational tool, by investigating the following three issues: 1. What significance does movement have for teachers on the Arts with Music programme? 2. How do teachers on the Arts with Music programme regard movement as an educational tool in the teaching of music? 3. How do teachers on the Arts with Music programme use movement as educational tool? The methodology used is a combination of focus group interviews and observations. The aim was to connect data collected from focus groups interview with observations in order to look into how things were said by the teachers seemed to be employed in their practice. The values of different cultures and ages and their significance for our choice of methods as teachers, and our view of music and the consequences it has for our role in the learning process are the key areas of this study. I selected to dispose the content in informal and formal learning (Davidsson & Correia, 2002, Lilliestam, 2006), absolute and realtivistic views of musicality (Brändström, 1997), high and low (Klingfors, 2003), nature and culture (Ehn & Löfgren, 1982), male and female (Bouij, 1998, O´Neill 1997; Lenz Taguchi, 2003), mind and body (Gustavsson, 2000; Davidsson & Correia, 2002). The informants maintain that movement could have performance purposes, physical purposes and educational purposes, as a tool in the teaching of music. What I consider the most salient aspect of my study is that although the informants consider movement as important in both teaching and artistic contexts, they did not use it to any significant extent as a teaching aid.

The main purpose of the present study is to investigate whether learning and ways of understanding subject content and structure differ between successful and less successful students—i.e. in terms of their grade point average—in upper secondary school. A second issue is whether different subjects and disciplines—i.e. science on the one hand and humanities/social sciences on the other—make different demands on students. Data were gathered through interviews with a total of 36 students in two classes at two periods of their schooling. Additional data were gathered from interviews with teachers in the two classes and a sample of the tests given to the classes. Both classes receive instruction in science as well as humanities/social sciences but in one class (N) the emphasis is on science whereas in the other (S) the emphasis is on humanities/social sciences. A common characteristic of successful students is that they adjust to the teacher’s way of structuring the subject by means of a deep approach and a pronounced cue-seeking. They also play a dominant role in classroom communication. Less successful students more frequently use a surface or procedural approach to learning, are less sensitive for cues, do not adjust to the structure of subjects as presented by the teachers and do not participate to the same extent in classroom communication. The characteristics for successful students are very stable over time. As for the less successful students, there is a difference between N- and S-students. A majority of the S-students who use a surface approach in the first year change towards a deep approach later in their schooling, whereas the procedural approach of N-students is stable. It is concluded that the stability shown by the successful students can be explained in that their deep approach reflects their understanding that subject structure may vary and cue-seeking for these students signifies an awareness of and subsequent adjustment to the particular structure presented by the teachers. By understanding the structure according to teachers’ intentions, successful students are able to participate in classroom communication, eventually establishing a joint discourse. The differences between a change of learning for S- and N-students could be interpreted in light of differences in subject structure and instruction between subjects. In humanities/social sciences, classroom communication and the presentation of alternative interpretations of subject matter play a prominent role in instruction, and students who initially use a surface approach might get guidance to alternative ways of understanding the subject matter and subject structure. In the science subjects in the N-programme, the presentation of alternative interpretations is not  as common. These subjects also have a hierarchical structure, and understanding the basic fundamentals is a prerequisite for understanding later topics. For the students who initially use a surface approach in these hierarchically ordered subjects, learning becomes a matter of memorising more and more disconnected facts in what might seem to be disjointed courses.

Research has shown that poetry is a good tool to talk about and teach values. Skolverket has during the past 20 years stressed the importance of fundamental values through their documents and guidelines. In the Lgy 11 curriculum for English for Swedish upper secondary school, poetry is for the first time listed as a core content. Therefore this essay asks the critical question: Does teaching of poetry in English 6 textbooks live up to the fundamental values specified by Skolverket? In this essay two textbooks in English 6 have been studied along with literature on the topic. The essay uses a modified model presented by Gunnel Colnerud that differentiates the term fundamental values to be able answer the research question. The result shows that the two textbooks include poetry that talks about the fundamental values according to all the categories suggested in the model. The most frequent value in this study concerns students’ own opinions and their existential and religious questions.

Sweden has an integrative approach to religious education and the classroom is a platform for religious plurality. At the same time, school is one of the sources for youth to get their information about religions. The aim of this thesis was to describe how teachers of religious education in Sweden perceive their own teaching in relation to a religiously diverse context. The research questions were as follows: How do upper secondary school teachers of religious education describe their teaching, as taken place in a religiously diverse classroom, as well as a religiously diverse society? and How can we understand the image of religious diversity which is being conveyed by the teachers', in relation to James A. Beckford's clarification of the concept religious pluralism. By using an inductive qualitative content analysis, four semi-structured interviews with upper secondary school teachers of religious education were analysed. Through the results three themes emerged, which were: motivations, selection strategies and teaching strategies. To understand how these were related to religious diversity in society as well as in the classroom the results were analysed from a didactics perspective. To understand the image of religious pluralism that was constructed in the teacher’s descriptions James A. Beckford’s concept of religious pluralism was applied To conclude, the results answer to the questions of didactics. The religious diversity within the classroom emphasizes the question of how the teaching is conducted, while the religious diversity in society emphasizes the question of what is being taught. The question of “why” relates to both the diversity in the classroom as well as society. The description mirrors different forms of religious diversity. The teachers’ aim is to generate recognition and acceptance towards religious diversity which is in line with the curriculum. The teachers’ description of the content constructs an image of the level of religious diversity which relates to what is current in society. The religious diversity in the classroom is also described to have a certain positive value for the teachers as it allows different teaching strategies to be used.

The aim of this study is to use a cognitive approach to analyse two novels that are considered to be part of the British literary canon: Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë and Emma (1816) by Jane Austen. The study aims to utilise close reading and thematic analysis of human emotion. The themes are as follows: the fear of losing a loved one, morals and values in relation to love and marriage, and feelings of disgust, aversion, antipathy and shame. Quotations from each novel are analysed with the theoretical framework of “theory of mind” and placed within the emotional frame of the thematic analysis. The aim of this is to provide possible scaffolding for learners of English as a foreign language, in an attempt to make canonised literature more easily accessible. Scaffolding may be needed for Swedish EFL learners to overcome the language barrier presented in literature from the 19th century. Further benefits of emotional scaffolding conform to requests of the Swedish Agency of Education and the Curriculum’s demands that education be conducted in such a way as to promote empathy, compassion and understanding for fellow humans. The analysis shows that strong emotional connection in the novels provide ample opportunity to analyse readers’ possible empathetic response, thus resulting in the opportunity for these responses to serve as scaffolding as well as an opportunity to improve empathetic ability.