In the light of overall democratic and normative values for Swedish education, including freedom of expression, the aim of this study was to examine how teachers’ critical comments on a school organization at upper secondary level (post-16 education) can be received and possible implications for teachers who express such criticism and for the school organization. The questions focused on criticism in relation to the core values of education and freedom of expression, in a policy context of marketization of the Swedish school system. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study; empirical data were collected from depth interviews with five teachers in two different municipalities in different parts of the country. The theoretical framework regarding criticism as a Phenom is based on the model of the whistle-blowing process by Miceli & Near (1992) and Hedin et. al. (2008). The informants’ statements are interpreted from two normative ethical theories: a deontological and a teleological perspective. Possibilities and limitations for criticism are looked upon in relation to the economic management ideology of New Public Management. The study identifies a critic process which is linked to the ideology and the school governance; in particular, in relation to the school and the school's Educational Marketization adjustment. It also shows on retaliation for the teachers - in this case study, among others, negative salary developments, redeployment but also shutdowns and buyouts. The interviewed teachers often had high confidence and high status within the school but the whistle-blowing process changed their position as self-confidence and hollowed working drive. Critical implications regarding the school's organization remained unchanged in four of five cases. The study notes, finally, that in today's school there seem to be two parallel discourses; one of speaking up and another of silence. Furthermore, the study indicates that the two discourses shape different kinds of loyalty structures in a kind of reward and punishment system. / Den här studiens övergripande syfte var att mot bakgrund av gymnasieskolans generella normativa värden undersöka hur lärares kritiska synpunkter på en skolorganisation kan mottas och eventuella konsekvenser för lärare som framför sådan kritik och för skolorganisationen. Frågeställningarna fokuserarkritikiförhållandetillskolansvärdegrundochyttrandefriheti kontextenavettmarknadsutsatt skolsystem. Studien genomfördes som en kvalitativ fallstudie; empirisk data insamlades i djupintervjuer med fem lärare i två olika kommuner i olika delar av landet. Det teoretiska ramverk vad gäller kritik som fenomen utgår ifrån modellen kritikerprocessen (Miceli &Near 1992; Hedin et. al. 2008); därtill tolkas informanternas utsagor utifrån två normativa etiska teorier: ett deontologiskt och ett teleologiskt perspektiv. Möjligheter och begränsningar för kritik kopplas därutöver till den ekonomiska förvaltningsideologin New Public Management. Resultaten i undersökningen identifierar en kritikerprocess som vidare kan kopplas till ideologi och skolans styrning; framför allt i relation till skolans kommunalisering och skolans marknadsanpassning. Resultaten visar även på repressalier för de kritiska lärarna - i denna fallstudie bl.a. negativ löneutveckling, omplaceringar men också avstängning och utköp. De intervjuade lärarna hade ofta ett högt förtroendekapital och hög status inom skolan men i och med repressalieprocessen förändrades deras position samtidigt som både självförtroendet och arbetslusten urholkades. Kritikens konsekvenser vad gäller skolans organisation föreföll i fyra av fem fall oförändrad. Studien konstaterar avslutningsvis att det i dagens skola, inom ramen för de normativa värdena om demokrati och yttrandefrihet, förefaller finnas två parallella diskurser, den ena talandets – och den andra tigandets diskurs. Studien tyder vidare på att de två diskurserna formar olika slags lojalitetsstrukturer i ett slags belönings- och bestraffnings-system.

SAMMANFATTNING Hjerpe, Madeleine  Kön, socioekonomisk bakgrund, etnicitet och sexualitet - Viktiga aspekter att belysa i religionsutbildning, men hur?  En kvalitativ studie av lärarnas undervisning om ett centralt innehåll i religionsvetenskap 1   Studien syftar till att öka kunskapen om hur ämneslärare i religion ser på de möjligheter och utmaningar som finns i undervisningen av det centrala innehållet "Religion i relation till kön, socioekonomisk bakgrund, etnicitet och sexualitet" som ingår i kursen "Religionsvetenskap 1" och på vilka sätt de förankrar detta praktiskt i sin undervisning, i gymnasieskolan. Det är en kvalitativ studie där intervjuer med en semistrukturerad stil som metod. Fem religionskunskapslärare på fyra gymnasieskolor i södra Sverige har intervjuats. Resultaten analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och diskuteras i relation till tidigare forskning och läroplansteori, vilket är studiens teoretiska perspektiv. Resultaten visade att lärarna påpekade att undervisning i religionsvetenskap och i detta specifika centrala innehåll bidrar till viktiga diskussioner i klassrummet. Lärarna kan arbeta mer nyanserat och behandla religion ur ett individ-perspektiv. Utmaningarna som lärarna pekar på gällande undervisning i detta kunskapskrav är att det kan väcka starka känslor, vilket kan vara överväldigande för vissa elever. Elever kan också få sin världsbild och uppfattning utmanad, vilket kan vara problematiskt. Externa faktorer som påverkar undervisningen är bristen på tid. Exempel på hur lärarna förankrar detta centrala innehåll praktiskt i sin undervisning innefattar diskussioner, skriftliga uppgifter och uppgifter relaterade till de fyra aspekterna. Resultatet visar även på att flera av lärarna inte ser detta kunskapskrav som åtskilt från de andra kunskapskraven.                      Nyckelord: Centralt innehåll, gymnasium, kunskapskrav, läroplan, religionskunskap, undervisning   Keywords: Central content, curriculum, knowledge requirement, religious studies, teaching, upper secondary education / ABSTRACT Hjerpe, Madeleine Gender, socio-economic background, ethnicity and sexuality - Important aspects to highlight in religious education, but how? A qualitative study of teachers' teaching of a central content in Religious Studies 1   The study aims to increase knowledge about how subject teachers in religion view the opportunities and challenges that exist in teaching the central content "Religion in relation to gender, socio-economic background, ethnicity and sexuality" which is included in the course "Religious Studies 1" and in what ways they anchor this practically in their teaching, in upper secondary education. This research is a qualitative study using interviews with a semi structured style as a method. Five Religious Studies teachers, in four schools in the south of Sweden have been interviewed. The results were analyzed by using a qualitative content analysis and discussed in relation to the literature and curriculum theory, which is the study’s theoretical perspective. The results showed that the teachers point out that teaching in religious studies and in this specific central content contributes to important discussions in the classroom. The teachers can work in a more nuanced way and treat religion from an individual perspective. The challenges that the teachers point out when teaching this knowledge requirement are that it can arouse strong emotions, which can be overwhelming for some students. Students can also have their worldview and perception challenged, which can be problematic. External factors that affect the teaching is the lack of time. Examples of how the teachers anchor this central content practically in their teaching involves discussions, written assignments and assignments related to the four aspects. It also appears that many of the teachers do not see this knowledge requirement as separate from the other knowledge requirements.                             Keywords: Central content, curriculum, knowledge requirement, religious studies, teaching, upper secondary education Nyckelord: Centralt innehåll, gymnasium, kunskapskrav, läroplan, religionskunskap, undervisning

The aim of this licentiate thesis is to examine how, and in what ways, vocational English is a part of English language teaching in the Building and Construc­tion Programme in Sweden, and what the influences are for such pedagogy. The main research question is how policy documents relate to the views of teachers and their educational practice regarding vocational English. The study consists of two parts: a textual policy analysis of the three latest upper secondary school reforms in Sweden (Lgy 70, Lpf 94, and Gy 2011), and semi-structured interviews with practicing English teachers in the Building and Construction Programme. The interviews are categorised by using Spradley’s (1979) semantic relationships and taxonomies. Balls’ (Ball, 1993) and Ozga’s (1990; 2000) concept of policy enactment is used in the analysis as well as Bernstein’s (1990; 2000) theoretical framework of classification, framing, and horizontal and vertical discourse. The results show that five of the six teachers in the interviews work with vocational English in some way. The study also shows that there is a distinct gap between policy and practice. Several of the teachers have the notion that they are supposed to work with vocational English and that it must be written down in policy somewhere. The greatest influence on the teaching for these teachers are their students, either indirectly or directly. Further, the study shows that different frame factors such as time poverty hinders the teachers from reading policy texts and cooperating with the vocational teachers in the Building and Construction Programme.

The aim of this essay is to examine three textbooks in ”samhällskunskap 1a1” for students in upper secondary education by looking at how they deal with source criticism and thereby see how the students are formed to become democratic citizens based on Robert Dahls (2002) criteria for democracy. The method used is a content analysis. The result reveals that the students learn basic knowledge about source criticism in relation to a wide variety of sources. To learn source criticism the students read texts and work with different kinds of assignments. The students’ influence varies. The main purpose with source criticism is to be able to handle sources’ lack of credibility. The textbooks are mostly addressed to individuals, someone who is unknown or everyone. There are differences between the textbooks, but they are not of great importance. The textbooks work with source criticism in a way that forms democratic citizens. In some of the textbooks’ questions, the students’ thoughts are requested. The textbooks also give students the opportunity to get sufficient and equal knowledge about source criticism so they can process information in the new media landscape. All students are included in the textbooks. The textbooks can develop their work with the formation of democratic citizens by giving the students more influence than they have now.

In today's globalized society, English is one of the main ways of communication. Therefore, teaching students English in such a way that they not only understand the basics, but are confident enough to communicate with an international population of varied ability and linguistic background becomes a high priority in school. In this study we look at the reported communicative confidence level (CCL) of learners at a Swedish upper secondary school. This quantitative study collected data from questionnaires from upper secondary students in the Swedish school. We found that the participants displayed an above average level of perceived communicative confidence; that a higher academic achievement correlated with a higher CCL; that the expected need, the context, and the interlocutors do not correlate with the CCL; and that a higher degree of formality and unfamiliarity of a communication situation seems to correlate with a lower CCL. To be able to make confident generalisations in the future about CCL, we suggest this study be reproduced on a larger set of data and that actual CCL, as opposed to participant perception of CCL, could be observed.

Problematisk skolfrånvaro är ett socialt problem som ökar och skapar bekymmer i skolvärlden. Syftet med studien har varit att öka kunskapen kring skolkuratorernas upplevelser med arbetet med högstadieelever som har en problematisk skolfrånvaro. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med skolkuratorer på högstadie-nivå. Intervjupersonerna hade socionomexamen och hade arbetat som skolkurator i minst ett år. Insamlade empiri analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys och då utifrån tidigare forskning samt genom Lipskys teoretiska begrepp gräsrotsbyråkrati och handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visar att skolkuratorerna upplever att deras roll som skolkurator är otydlig och samtliga har, någon gång under sin tjänst, känt sig ensam i sin profession i skolan. Skolkuratorerna upplever även att arbetet med problematisk skolfrånvaro kunnat utföras annorlunda om det fanns mer resurser för arbete med problematisk skolfrånvaro. Arbetet med elever som har problematisk skolfrånvaro kräver god samverkan med både interna aktörer inom skolan och externa aktörer såsom socialtjänst. Omständigheter, som individuella-, skol- eller familjerelaterade svårigheter, ofta komplexa och i kombination upplevs av skolkuratorerna ligga bakom problematisk skolfrånvaro. / School absence among teenagers is a social problem that increases and contributes to challenges within the school system. The purpose of this study has been to gain an understanding regarding school councelors work in relation to students within the upper secondary education system, and their problematic abscence from school. It does so by using a qualitative method and by utilising six semi-structured interviews with school councelors currently working within the swedish upper secondary education system. The respondents have a bachelor degree in social work and have been working within the field for a minimum of one year. The collected empirical data was analyzed with the help of previous research as well as Lipskys theoretical concept of grassroots bureaucracy and room of action. The study shows that the school counselors experience in regards to their role as school counselors is uncertain, and that all respondents, at least once during their employment, have experienced some degree of loneliness. They have also experienced that the problematic school abscence among teenagers could be different, if the educational system as a whole had more availaible resources. In addition to this the school counselors highlighted the importance of internal cooperation (within the school system) and external cooperation (with, for example, social services). Regarding the underlying circumstances of problematic school abscence among teenagers the school counselors refers to individual, school or family related challenges. In its conclusion the study shows that a combination of the factors above contributes to problematic school abscence among teenagers.

La recherche ici présentée interroge la comparaison internationale des curriculums de l'enseignement secondaire supérieur général -les lycées. Elle part du constat que, dans les comparaisons internationales à grande échelle, les curriculums lycéens sont considérés comme équivalents sur le principal critère de leur même mission politico-éducative : préparer les élèves aux études supérieures longues. Or, les lycées sont aussi caractérisés par des variations curriculaires importantes, qui sont presque ignorées dans ces comparaisons. Compte tenu des enjeux de connaissance et de gouvernance des systèmes éducatifs qui fondent les comparaisons internationales contemporaines, cette recherche propose une approche d'analyse et de comparaison des lycées qui prend en compte leur variabilité curriculaire. À cet égard, elle interroge en particulier la relation d'interdépendance entre leurs principes fondateurs et organisateurs et caractérise les effets des structures curriculaires sur la mission commune aux trois lycées. Cela est réalisé à travers une analyse comparative et systémique des évolutions historiques des curriculums lycéens et de leurs organisations. En particulier, la comparaison porte sur trois curriculums de l'enseignement secondaire supérieur général, choisis car particulièrement contrastés au niveau de leurs principes organisateurs : les GCSE - Advanced Levels anglais, les séries générales du lycée d'enseignement général et technologique français, et les parcours scientifique et classique du liceo italien. L'enquête recense et analyse des données issues de corpus regroupant différentes sources documentaires. Ainsi, l'étude des évolutions historiques des trois lycées s'appuie sur la confrontation d'ouvrages d'histoire originaires des trois pays, tandis que l'analyse de leurs structures est faite à partir de la comparaison de corpus rassemblés de textes officiels prescrivant l'organisation des lycées. Cette analyse est complétée par la consultation de rapports officiels évaluant les trois systèmes éducatifs et par la réalisation d'entretiens-témoignages avec des acteurs, recueillis en visitant trois lycées, un dans chaque pays examiné. La méthode d'investigation privilégiée pour étudier ces corpus de données est la comparaison internationale, utilisée tout au long de la recherche afin d'identifier et d'interpréter les variables prises en compte dans l'analyse. En outre, un outil d'investigation est proposé - l'expérience curriculaire - permettant d'analyser et de comparer les relations entre les composantes des curriculums, et les significations qui y sont associées. La recherche accomplie montre que, malgré le partage des mêmes principes fondateurs, les trois curriculums lycéens portent des significations différentes liées à leurs organisations, qui caractérisent différemment la mission politico-éducative commune consistant à préparer les élèves aux études supérieures longues. Ainsi, en Angleterre le lycée doit prioritairement préparer de manière adéquate aux études universitaires ; en Italie, il s'agit surtout de parachever une formation commune et généraliste dans la continuité du premier cycle du secondaire ; en France, il est fondamental de différencier les parcours de formation des élèves au vu de la segmentation qui caractérise l'enseignement supérieur français. Par ce résultat, et par les méthodes mobilisées pour l'obtenir, la recherche éclaircit le fonctionnement systémique des curriculums lycéens, sous-estimé à la fois par les réformateurs dans la construction curriculaire et par les auteurs des comparaisons internationales ; elle contribue au développement de l'éducation comparée en mettant en évidence le potentiel heuristique de la démarche comparative ; elle aide à comprendre les missions des lycées aujourd'hui, et leurs évolutions potentielles face à la massification de l'enseignement supérieur. / This research compares the curricula of general upper secondary education systems in France, Italy, and in England. It starts from the observation that, in large-scale international comparisons, high school curricula are considered equivalent since they fundamentally share the same political and educational mission: preparing students for higher studies. However, high schools are indeed characterized by substantial curricular variations, which are almost ignored in these comparisons. As contemporary international studies are founded on issues of knowledge and governance among the various education systems, this research adopts an analytical and comparative approach capable of including those curricular variations. In this respect, this research examines, firstly, the interdependent relationship between the founding principles and the organizing principles that inform the different high school systems. Secondly, it analyzes the effects that curricular structures may induce on their founding missions. This is achieved through a comparative and systematic analysis of historical evolutions in high school curricula and their organizations. The three curricula compared in this research have been selected as their organizing principles are particularly contrasting: the English GCSE - Advanced Levels, the French séries générales du lycée d'enseignement général et technologique, and the Italian scientific and classic liceo. This study collects and analyzes data gathered from different documentary sources. The primary source is an in-depth review of a selection of official documents detailing the historical evolution of the three high school systems and their organizations. This analysis is supplemented by the consultation of official reports evaluating the three educational systems, and by conducting interviews with pupils and teachers of three high schools, one for each country involved in the study. International comparison was the main research method adopted to study the selected data. It was employed throughout the thesis as a tool both to identify and then to interpret the variables considered in the analysis. In addition, a contribution of this dissertation consists in proposing an innovative research tool: the curriculum experience. This notion enables analysis and comparison of the relationships between the curriculum components and the meanings associated with them. This investigation shows that, despite the fact that the three high school curricula share the same founding principles, their structure can actually have an influence on how their common political-educational mission is understood and implemented. The priority of the general upper secondary education in England is to adequately prepare for university studies; in Italy, the liceo is mainly conceived as the final stage of a common and general curriculum that begins in the general lower secondary schools; in France, the focus is to differentiate the educational tracks of pupils in the light of the segmentation featured in the French higher education system. The findings of this research, along with the methodology employed, give insight into the systemic dimension of high school curricula, an aspect that has been largely underestimated by both decision-makers designing the curricula and by the institutions producing international comparisons. In addition, this research gives a valuable contribution to the development of a comparative approach to education analysis by giving evidence of the heuristic potential of comparative methods. It also clarifies the purpose of the general upper secondary education systems, as well as their possible evolutions, in the context of the democratization of higher education. / La ricerca parte da una costatazione relativa alla comparazione internazionale dei curricoli della scuola secondaria superiore generale - i licei. Nelle comparazioni internazionali prodotte su larga scala, i licei di diversi paesi sono considerati equivalenti in quanto adempiono ad una stessa missione politico-educativa : preparare gli alunni gli studi superiori. Tuttavia i licei sono anche caratterizzati da forti differenze riguardanti in particolare l'organizzazione dei loro curriculi; tali diffenze sono di fatto ingnorate nelle suddette comparazioni internazionali. Tenuto conto dell'influenza che queste comparazioni esercitano attualmente sul conoscimento e sulla governanza dei sistemi educativi, la ricerca propone un approccio di analisi comparativa dei licei che prende in conto le loro differenze curricolari. Viene analizzata in particolare la relazione d'interdipendenza trai i principi fondatori e organizzatori dei licei, e si definiscono gli effetti delle strutture curricolari sulla loro missione comune. A tal fine, i curricoli sono studiati attraverso un'analisi comparativa e sistemica delle evoluzioni storiche dei curricoli liceali, e delle loro modalità organizzative. La comparazione porta su tre curricoli della scuola secondaria superiore generale: i GCSE - Advanced Levels inglesi ; le séries (percorsi) générali del liceo generale e tecnologico francese, e i licei classico e scientifico italiani. L'inchiesta raccoglie e utilizza dei dati provenienti da diverse fonti documentarie. In effetti, lo studio dell'evoluzioni storiche dei tre licei si basa sulla comparazione di scritti storici originari dei tre paesi, metre l'analisi delle loro strutture é fatta comparando i testi ufficiali che prescrivono l'organizzazione dei licei. Questa seconda analisi é completata dal confronto di rapporti ufficiali contenenti delle valutazioni dei tre sistemi educativi, così come da interviste realizzate a titolo di testimonianza in tre licei, uno per paese. Il metodo fondamentale di ricerca utilizzato per analizzare quest'insieme di dati é la comparazione internzazionale, a cui é fatto continuo ricorso non solo per identificare le variabili significative ai fini dell'analisi, ma anche per interpretarle e caratterizzarle. Viene inoltre proposto uno strumento originale d'analisi: l'esperienza curricolare. Questa nozione permette di analizzare e comparare le connessioni che uniscono le diverse componenti dei curriculi, e d'interpretare i significati che sono ad esse associati. La ricerca cosi' realizzata dimostra che i tre curricoli liceali, nonostante condividino gli stessi principi fondatori, assumono e trasmettono dei significati diversi, legati alle loro modalità organizzative ; ne deriva una diversa caratterizzazione della (stessa) missione politico-educativa relativa alla preparazione degli alunni agli studi superiori. Viene cosi' messo in evidenza che in Inghilterra, la priorità del liceo é quella di preparare in modo adeguato agli studi universitari ; in Italia, si tratta piuttosto di concludere una formazione comune e generalista in continuità rispetto al primo ciclo di istruzione; in Francia infine, risulta fondamentale di differenziare i percorsi di formazioni degli alunni in vista della segmentazione che caratterizza l'istruzione superiore francese. I risultati prodotti - e i metodi di analisi proposti per ottenerli - permettono alla ricerca di chiarire il funzionamento sistemico dei curricoli liceali, spesso sottovalutato sia dai riformatori responsabili della costruzione dei curricoli che dagli autori delle comparazioni internazionali dei sistemi educativi. La ricerca contribuisce inoltre allo sviluppo dell'educazione comparata, comprovando il potenziale euristico dell'approccio comparativo; offre infine degli elementi utili a comprendere le missioni attuali dei licei e le loro potenziali evoluzioni in un contesto di progressiva massificazione dell'istruzione superiore.

Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med ny kunskap om svenska gymnasieelevers betygsfördelning och betygsutveckling i ämnet Dansteknik. Studien omfattar en totalundersökning av avgångsbetygen för de 414 gymnasieelever som avslutat sina studier vid det estetiska programmets dansinriktning i Stockholms stad under åren 2014 - 2018. Elevernas betygsfördelningar i olika kurser i ämnet Dansteknik samt deras betygsutveckling över kurserna har analyserats statistiskt. Studien visar att eleverna har höga betyg i ämnet Dansteknik, dels i relation till elevernas betyg i övriga ämnen men även i relation till riksnivåerna för andra ämnen, kurser och elevers avgångsbetyg generellt. Studien visar också att elever i hög grad behåller en liknande betygsnivå i Dansteknik under hela utbildningen samt att elevers och gymnasieskolors val av kurser i ämnet Dansteknik påverkar elevernas betygsutveckling och med stor sannolikhet även deras kunskapsutveckling i ämnet. / The purpose of this study is to contribute with new knowledge about grade distribution and students’ subsequent grades in the subject Dance technique as part of Swedish upper secondary education. The study encompasses the upper secondary school grades of the 414 students that ended the Arts Programme in dance in the City of Stockholm, Sweden, during the years 2014 - 2018. The results are based on a statistical analysis of these students’ course grades in the subject Dance technique. The study shows that students have generally received high grades in the subject Dance technique, both in relation to their grades in other subjects as well as in relation to national grade averages in various courses and subjects. The study also shows that the students maintain a somewhat even grade level throughout their education and that students’ grade level and learning in Dance technique is affected by students’ and schools’ course choices in the subject.

Ett övergripande mål för gymnasieskolan har länge varit att fostra eleverna till medborgare i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Därför gäller numera att elevernas ansvar för att planera och genomföra sina studier samt deras inflytande på såväl innehåll som arbetssätt skall vara viktiga principer i undervisningen. Syftet med studien är att studera elevernas inflytande i centrala undervisningsfrågor. Specifika forskningsfrågor i anslutning till syftet är: - Hur sker val av innehåll och arbetssätt och vilket utrymme ges åt elevernas inflytande? Förekommer det någon skillnad mellan olika ämnen? - Vilka kunskaper och vilket lärande lyfts fram och efterfrågas av elever respektive lärare i situationer då respektive grupp har inflytande över innehållet? - Hur uppfattar eleverna möjligheten till inflytande i olika arbetssätt? - Vilka faktorer uppfattar elever och lärare har betydelse för elevernas inflytande över val av innehåll och arbetssätt? Resultaten visar att kursplanerna har stor betydelse för innehållet i undervisningen. Elevernas möjlighet till inflytande kommer till uttryck bl. a. genom att påkalla handledning, avgöra svårighetsgrad på arbetsuppgifter och konstruera instuderingsfrågor. Förutsättningarna för att påverka kvaliteten på kunskaper och lärande varierar med ämnets legitimitet, elevernas studiekompetens och möjlighet till interaktion med läraren. Elevernas utrymme för eget ansvar, deras möjlighet till handledning och en variation avseende gruppsammansättning, arbetssätt och beslutsfattande är viktiga faktorer för att eleverna skall känna sig motiverade och intresserade av arbetet i skolan. Det visar sig finnas flera faktorer som inverkar negativt på elevernas möjlighet till inflytande exempelvis stoffträngsel och otillräckliga baskunskaper. Eleverna påtalar behovet av undervisning och handledning för att komma vidare i sina studier och kunna utöva inflytande. Avslutningsvis diskuteras resultatet i förhållande till John Deweys utbildningsfilosofiska tankar och relateras till läroplanen som styrfaktor, erfarenheten som grunden för undervisningens innehåll, frihet och möjlighet till växande och handledning som en nödvändig interaktion. / One of the overarching goals of Swedish upper secondary education is to foster students to become citizens in a democratic society. It is, therefore, essential that the students learn to take responsibility for planning and carrying through their studies. The aim of this study is to investigate whether students have any influence on central teaching matters such as the choice of subject matter and working methods and what types of knowledge and learning students and teachers, respectively, request in situations where either of these groups is in charge of the contents. The study is based on field work, interviews and document analysis and it is carried out in one upper secondary vocational class. The results demonstrate that the syllabi are very important for the contents of teaching. The students‘ opportunities to influence the choice are expressed, for instance, in asking for tutoring, in deciding the level of task difficulty, and in constructing advance questions. The conditions for influencing the quality of knowledge and learning vary with the legitimacy of the subject, the study competence of the students, and their possibilities to interact with the teacher. The students‘ possibilities to take responsibility and to be supervised by the teacher, as well as a variation as regards group composition, working methods, and decision making are important factors for the students to be motivated for and interested in schoolwork. There seems to be several factors that are important for the students‘ possibilities to influence, e.g., crowding of contents, and insufficient basic knowledge, and the students also comment on the need of teaching and tutoring in order for them to get further in their studies. In conclusion, the results of the study are discussed in relation to John Dewey’s educational philosophy, i. e. the national curriculum, experiences - the point of departure of the contents of teaching, freedom and opportunities to grow, and tutoring - the necessary interaction.

The general question in this dissertation is whether the democracy of schools is carried out in a gender equal manner in Sweden’s gender segregated upper secondary school. Students’ experiences of school democracy are measured using the dimensions of influence, discussion and legal rights. Three different explanatory factors are considered: the significance of gender, gender context and the character of the school programmes for these experiences. The study is based on student responses to a poll conducted in the top form classes of Kronoberg County’s upper secondary schools during the school year 2008/2009. The results of a series of regression analyses show that neither gender, gender context or programme character alone had an affect on experiences of school democracy. However, the more males present in a teaching environment, the poorer the experiences of influence and discussion are when all of the three explanatory factors are controlled for. In addition, the school programmes having male-coded character content particularly stand out favourably regarding school democracy. The number of males is usually high in such programmes and therefore the negative effects of male representation cancel out the positive effects of programme affiliation unless an explicit division is made of both of these aspects. Thus, keeping gender context and programme character separate is very important with studies of school democracy, since significant effects otherwise remain hidden. The study demonstrates that school democracy is important for students. Those students who have good experiences of school democracy perceive the school environment as significantly better than those who have poor experiences of school democracy. Concerning secondary effects, it appears that experiences of school democracy have different implications for learning among female and male students. There is a negative relationship between male experiences of influence and their grades in Swedish and Maths, while female experiences of discussion seem to show a positive covariance with grades. There is no relationship found in the data between students’ daily experiences of school democracy and their thoughts on voting in the upcoming parliamentary election.