The subject of this report was to investigate how the Sami people are portrayed in the history subject in the Swedish upper secondary school. The aim was to analyse if the image portrayed was a contributor to a generalization of the heterogeneous groups of the Sami people. This study was conducted through qualitative methods where I interviewed eight teachers. The most common courses were History 1a1 and History 1b, but other advanced courses as History 2b were also represented. The theoretical framework of this study was based upon curriculum theory to analyse why, and how the teachers choose the specific content in their teaching. The result of the study confirms earlier work that shows how the Sami people are marginalized and exemplified by both the textbooks and the teachers. Furthermore this study shows that the teachers choose conflicts that happen in the present to relate their teaching so the students can relate to the content easier. When the teachers mention the Sami people it is mostly the reindeer herding ones because the conflicts regarding the rights to land and hunting are the most publicly noticed. The Sami that are not involved with reindeer herding are therefore even more marginalized because of the lack of knowledge the teachers possess. It is hard for the teachers to teach about the Sami when the curricula do not explicitly mention the Sami, in correlation to the fact that most of the teachers do not have any education about the subject. This study shows that education is necessary for the teachers if the history of the Sami people would become more present in the teaching.

The purpose of the study, which the essay presents, was to investigate and shed light on history teachers`perception of the ”uses of history” in the history course 1a1 given to upper secondary vocational program students. Through qualitative interviews, the study aimed to investigate the stories and experiences of seven teachers reagarding the obstacles and possibilities they see with teaching the use of history during the course history 1a1. The interviews were then analysed through two theoretical framworks: three historical approaches and epistemological cognition. The research shows that history teachers` subjectiv perception of what the use of history entails can have didactic consequences regarding what extent of the use of history they later teach. The teachers also describe that the students`historical and contemporary frames of reference have a great significance in how they teach the use of history. The study also shows that the teachers can see the use of history as an obstacle as well as an opportunity to create an entrance to the subject of history and to the course history 1a1 itself.

The aim of the study was to describe the reading and writing activities that takes place in vehicle repair workshops and to elucidate how people experiencing low reading-and-writing ability describe their encounters with text in working life. Reading and writing are considered in the study from an educational-philosophical and special educational perspective. This study of literacy was inspired by ethnographic methods. The empirical material consists of field notes from ten participatory observations in vehicle repair workshops, photographs from the workshops and three interviews. To see patterns in how literacy was used, literacy events were taken as the unit of analysis. The literacy environment, community of practice, reading path and technical surroundings are analytical concepts in the thematic presentation of results. Central literacy practices were characterized primarily by reading, often via computer, for information needed for solving problems. The type of reading was often non-linear, given the multimodal texts and choices in computer environments. In addition, semiotic systems and several languages were interpreted. It is important to understand how information is organised and how to handle the technology. Technology provides support structures e.g. pictorial support and translation programmes. Writing out words, button-pushing and keyboard entry to register and search for information through the use of measurement instruments and in computer-generated text environments, were central. Literacy events were embedded in the work tasks and in ongoing learning, and many literacy practices included items of both reading and writing. Social skills, plus recognizing one’s problems and asking for help, were useful strategies for handling the demands of reading and writing in working life, as were allowing time and creating concentration for the task. Interpreting pictorial matter, using technology, copying text and noting down things to remember were further strategies. Implications of the study are that effective strategies for managing the demands of reading and writing that are required in the working place should begin in school. Significant is the teachers’ approach to handling the students’ frustration when studies are not working out as expected. Caring teachers, positive energy and not giving up make a difference. General education teachers need special educational resources in the upper-secondary school in order to counteract school failure and to enhance students’ learning.

In this essay, Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy is analysed through a moral perspective, with a focus on experimentalism and rationalism as presented by Christopher W. Gowans. Furthermore, the application of the novel and its connection to morality in the EFL classroom is discussed, as well as the possibility of introducing fanfiction in the classroom. The main conclusion that could be drawn is that the same action could be either moral or immoral depending on one’s view of morality. The results also indicate that Rose choosing her duty to Lissa over her love for Dimitri was a morally correct decision though it the morality in her having to choose at all is questionable. Furthermore, the results illustrate that compulsion can be moral or immoral depending on why it is used and that it is difficult for the antagonist to be morally correct. It was also concluded that the novel can act as a buffer between the student and the real world and thereby be a starting point for moral discussions in the classroom.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ICT on EFL students’ reading and writing skills, as well as both teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards ICT. 14 articles from varying countries were systematically selected for the purpose of this literature review. The data collected was investigated through content analysis. The results showed that ICT has generally positive effects on students’ reading and writing skills and the motivation to do those tasks. The teachers perceived ICT to be mainly beneficial, but often distracting and difficult to use or control. The students were appreciative of technology and found it helpful in their learning English process. It was concluded that ICT’s positive effects outweigh the negative effects of using ICT in an EFL setting and implementing technology can improve students' reading and writing skills as well as increase their motivation.

Rhetoric is a vital subject of the Swedish school. It is only taught in the native language in the subject of Swedish but expects the students to be able to present orally in almost every other subject as well. Few Swedish teachers are educated in rhetoric, but all are expected to teach it. In vocational upper secondary schools, many do not students reach the highest letter grades (A and B) during national testing, where an oral presentation is a third of the test. This study aims to examine how Swedish teachers in vocational schools view their own teaching of rhetoric. More specifically the study examines what the teachers focus on, what their methods are for teaching and what factors they take into account when planning. To do this the study collects data through three interviews with teachers, their collected teaching material and a survey sent to 20 different vocational schools. A content analysis is used to analyze the transcribed interviews. The results show that the interviewed teachers tend to focus their teaching on what they believe is most important. This includes disposition, technical presentation aids, manuscripts and creating a safe environment for the students who fear public speaking. It also shows that teachers use varying types of scaffolding techniques to support their students’ needs. None of the interviewed teachers focus on rhetorical terminology and two of them create their own, but the students do not get the time they need to process the information and actually work with it in different ways. One teacher uses the terminology they see fit to use in practice with their students. This work later show that their students are able to apply what they have learned in rhetoric in written texts and through this elevate their writing skills. Finally, it shows that the teachers teach a very limited version of rhetoric.

This thesis aims to examine how individual teachers in the upper secondary school manage to comply with the requirements from three different agents within the schoolsystem; the requirements of the The national agency for education in Sweden regarding formative assessment and standardisation of grading, the requirement of the students regarding ”backward-pedagogy”, and requirement of the society regarding developing the student’s independence and creative ability. Semi-structured interviews with three teachers teaching Business Administration at one upper secondary school in Malmo was conducted. These interviews focused on how the informants manage to embrace the creative ability in their preparation and teaching of the Business Administration-course, as well as examination and assessment of the students creative ability. This thesis concluded that there is a confusion in how to define creative ability which automatically makes it hard for teachers to know how to incorporate this ability in their teaching. This thesis also makes a point that The national agency for educations obsession with assuring standardized grading, has formalised the learning process to the extent that it has made teachers focus more on gathering assessment material that is legally certain than helping the students learn to better face the compexity of the future. This development has come to disengaged the teachers as well as the students. This thesis wants to make point that learning is something personal, and should be treated in that respect.

This paper has the purpose to investigate the relationship between historical consciousness and use of history. In this context the historical consciousness is the way a person can orient themselves through different times. Thus, the paper investigates how temporal orientation can be expressed by upper secondary students. This is achieved by analysing student texts which deal with use of history after the attacks on the twin towers of 9/11. Earlier research suggests that use of history can activate the historical consciousness in the form of temporal orientation. It also suggests that students have difficulties orientating themselves through time especially concerning expressions that connects the different time dimensions. Through the theoretical perspectives of historical consciousness as temporal orientation this paper aims to find out how the use of history can engage students’ historical consciousness and how this historical consciousness expresses itself. This paper concludes that the relationship between the use of history and historical consciousness is that the temporal orientation is activated through symbolism, the need of history at certain times, interlocutors of the use of history as well as narrative capability.

Code-switching has been shown to be beneficial for students’ language learning and forstrengthening their identities. Despite this, it can be interpreted that code-switching isnot encouraged in the syllabus for English in upper secondary school in Sweden.Because of this potential disagreement, this study aims to broaden the knowledge ofhow upper secondary school teachers relate to code-switching in their differentclassrooms. Thereby, this study seeks to examine some upper secondary school EFLteachers’ understanding of code-switching as well as the use of code-switching in theirdifferent classrooms. In this qualitative study, four upper secondary school teachers ofEnglish participated in semi-structured interviews followed by classroom observations.The teachers represent all courses of English at upper secondary school level and theyrepresent schools with different programs and students with different first languages.The results show that the teachers have limited knowledge of code-switching and thatthey believe that a large amount of target language use in the classroom is favorable.Nevertheless, the results also show that the teachers as well as their students use codeswitchingboth intentionally and unintentionally for various purposes, but none of theparticipating teachers seem to use code-switching as a strategy to promote long-standinglanguage acquisition. However, the results indicate that the teachers seem to effectivelyadapt their code-switching behavior to their student group. The findings of this studyare in line with earlier research where it, for instance, is argued that code-switching ismore suitable for classes with students with lower language proficiency.

Throughout our teacher education, we have seen and felt the need for suitable literature in the English courses for upper secondary education in Sweden. Our purpose was to investigate which literature teachers in the field are using in their different courses, and with that constitute a list that can be used by teachers. Furthermore, we also investigated, among other things, which qualities the teachers are looking for when choosing suitable literature for their students and courses. Previous research has shown the significance of using literature for language and cultural development, and therefore a list as ours can contribute to aiding upper secondary teachers. To execute this research, we have chosen to use both a qualitative and quantitative method, in the form of a survey and interviews. Our results showed that all teachers are using some sort of literature for language development, and the vast majority are having difficulties finding suitable literature for their students. Moreover, the vast majority of our interviewees took a negative stand towards having an official canon, however they were open for using an unofficial canon as inspiration.