The purpose of this paper is to study how some upper secondary teachers define and understand the terms New Religious Movement, New Religiosity and cult. We also look at what the teachers teach about and why they pick those specific parts of the course. Firstly, to get a wider view of this subject we looked at previous research about the teaching of New Religious Movements. In addition to the previous research we did our own research where we interviewed upper secondary teachers from two different schools. Secondly, for our results we analysed the transcripts by using two different theoretical frameworks: religious didactics in the form of abductive perspective in connection to the didactical questions - what, why and how? We have also used a hermeneutic interpretation when looking at the empirical material.Through our research we found that teachers have some difficulties defining the terms “New Religious Movements”, “New Religiosity” and “Cults”. They also have a problem with differentiating them from each other. The research shows that even the teachers’ selection, planning and implementation of their teaching varies between the schools for different reasons. Some of this stems from the teachers’ capacity within the subject, different interpretations of the syllabus and the influence that students have on the teaching.

<p>The aim of this thesis is to contribute to knowledge about how the work and profession of upper secondary school teachers is understood and shaped by the teachers in the beginning of the 21st century, and to relate that understanding of work and professional development to the strivings of the teachers’ trade unions and the state. With the implementation of an innovation as a starting point, the teachers’ narratives also described their work in a broader sense. Connections and contradictions between those descriptions of everyday work are analysed in relation to central ideas in research and state and trade union policy. The empirical data were mainly generated through interviews and studies of state- and teachers’ trade union policy documents. Twenty-three teachers at four upper secondary schools were interviewed twice, with a one year interval. Five school leaders were also interviewed. A minor questionnaire added data concerning professional development. 102 documents published by the State and the teachers’ trade unions between 1964 and 2004 were analysed using critical discourse analysis.</p><p>The analysis is eclectic, drawing on perspectives and conceptions from theories on professions, organisations, school development and the frame factor theory. The overall approach of the study is practice related research and includes an intention to draw attention to connections between micro and macro levels.</p><p>The analyses of the teachers’ narratives on implementation indicate that they were able to do the job despite unsatisfactory conditions thanks to high work morale and extensive experience. The infrastructure provided by the frame factors was weak or working at cross purposes. The school-wide support for development was stronger at one of the four schools.</p><p>The teachers’ formal freedom of action was substantial. In practice it was restricted by frame factors and the fact that the potential freedom was not fully used. Thus, the actual autonomy was more limited than it appeared to be. The school culture included elements of balkanised and contrived collegiality. Many tasks were delegated to the interdisciplinary work teams, but the teams did not seem to live up to expectations. Primarily, they lacked time and an appropriate group composition. There was a clash between the interdisciplinary work teams and the teachers’ need to co-operate within subject work teams. The teachers did not regard interdisciplinary work teams as useful for school or professional development.</p><p>Supportive conditions for long-term, shared learning and dialogue between researchers and practitioners were largely lacking. Visions such as learning organisations were far removed from the everyday life in the schools. Changes in organisational structures at the schools have partly been counterproductive.</p><p>The far-reaching restructuring of the Swedish upper secondary schools implemented from the end of the 1980s and during the 1990s was in line with international reform trends. It also had specific national characteristics. The concept professional teachers was introduced in some Government bills around 1990. The teachers’ trade unions adopted the concept and it became increasingly significant in trade union policy during the 1990s. At the turn of the millennium it was a dominant idea in their documents.</p><p>During the 1990s several influential discourses became established as shared views between the State, trade unions and some researchers, e.g. what I have called change and professional discourses. They were rarely problematized in state and teachers’ trade union policy documents. The two agreements between the teachers’ trade unions and the employers, in 1995 and 2000, constituted another component of what has been termed a system-shift in the Swedish school system. They influenced the teachers’ working conditions and implied new strategies for the trade unions. The professional, change and management discourses salient in the documents were brought into schools with insufficient opportunities for the teachers to develop a deep meaning of the discourses.</p><p>The study emphasizes the importance of practice oriented studies, related to wider contexts, in order to provide insights into teachers’ work and professional development. It also brings nuances to, and problematizes theoretical conceptions and discourses in the field.</p><p>Key-words: teaching profession, upper secondary teachers, change, school reform, professional development, school development, frame factors, school governance, school policy, trade union</p>

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to knowledge about how the work and profession of upper secondary school teachers is understood and shaped by the teachers in the beginning of the 21st century, and to relate that understanding of work and professional development to the strivings of the teachers’ trade unions and the state. With the implementation of an innovation as a starting point, the teachers’ narratives also described their work in a broader sense. Connections and contradictions between those descriptions of everyday work are analysed in relation to central ideas in research and state and trade union policy. The empirical data were mainly generated through interviews and studies of state- and teachers’ trade union policy documents. Twenty-three teachers at four upper secondary schools were interviewed twice, with a one year interval. Five school leaders were also interviewed. A minor questionnaire added data concerning professional development. 102 documents published by the State and the teachers’ trade unions between 1964 and 2004 were analysed using critical discourse analysis. The analysis is eclectic, drawing on perspectives and conceptions from theories on professions, organisations, school development and the frame factor theory. The overall approach of the study is practice related research and includes an intention to draw attention to connections between micro and macro levels. The analyses of the teachers’ narratives on implementation indicate that they were able to do the job despite unsatisfactory conditions thanks to high work morale and extensive experience. The infrastructure provided by the frame factors was weak or working at cross purposes. The school-wide support for development was stronger at one of the four schools. The teachers’ formal freedom of action was substantial. In practice it was restricted by frame factors and the fact that the potential freedom was not fully used. Thus, the actual autonomy was more limited than it appeared to be. The school culture included elements of balkanised and contrived collegiality. Many tasks were delegated to the interdisciplinary work teams, but the teams did not seem to live up to expectations. Primarily, they lacked time and an appropriate group composition. There was a clash between the interdisciplinary work teams and the teachers’ need to co-operate within subject work teams. The teachers did not regard interdisciplinary work teams as useful for school or professional development. Supportive conditions for long-term, shared learning and dialogue between researchers and practitioners were largely lacking. Visions such as learning organisations were far removed from the everyday life in the schools. Changes in organisational structures at the schools have partly been counterproductive. The far-reaching restructuring of the Swedish upper secondary schools implemented from the end of the 1980s and during the 1990s was in line with international reform trends. It also had specific national characteristics. The concept professional teachers was introduced in some Government bills around 1990. The teachers’ trade unions adopted the concept and it became increasingly significant in trade union policy during the 1990s. At the turn of the millennium it was a dominant idea in their documents. During the 1990s several influential discourses became established as shared views between the State, trade unions and some researchers, e.g. what I have called change and professional discourses. They were rarely problematized in state and teachers’ trade union policy documents. The two agreements between the teachers’ trade unions and the employers, in 1995 and 2000, constituted another component of what has been termed a system-shift in the Swedish school system. They influenced the teachers’ working conditions and implied new strategies for the trade unions. The professional, change and management discourses salient in the documents were brought into schools with insufficient opportunities for the teachers to develop a deep meaning of the discourses. The study emphasizes the importance of practice oriented studies, related to wider contexts, in order to provide insights into teachers’ work and professional development. It also brings nuances to, and problematizes theoretical conceptions and discourses in the field. Key-words: teaching profession, upper secondary teachers, change, school reform, professional development, school development, frame factors, school governance, school policy, trade union

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur gymnasielärare i ämnet idrott och hälsa uppfattar och resonerar om elever som har åtgärdsprogram eller som riskerar att inte uppnå kunskapskraven. Vidare syftar studien till att belysa vilka diskurser och maktrelationer lärarna är en del av och hur dessa förhåller sig till varandra vid bedömning och betygsättning av dessa elever. För att nå syftet används fyra kvalitativa intervjuer tillsammans med fyra befintliga åtgärdsprogram i ämnet idrott och hälsa. Empirin analyseras sedan med hjälp av diskursanalys samt begreppen makt och kategorisering. Studien visar att lärarna delar in elever som riskerar att inte uppnå kunskapskraven i ett antal olika kategorier: lata och bekväma, rädda, ointresserade, språkliga förbistringar och fysiologiska och eller psykologiska orsaker. Beroende på vilken kategori eleverna anses tillhöra resonerar lärarna olika om hur undervisningen bör bedrivas gällande dessa elever. Genomgående är närvaron av stor betydelse för hur eleverna kategoriseras och därefter behandlas i undervisningen av lärarna. Studien visar även att lärarna inte har all makt när det gäller bedömning och betygsättning av dessa elever. Utan de måste i själva verket förhålla sig till andra diskurser såsom ledningsinflytande, elevinflytande och i viss mån även föräldrainflytande. Dessa tre diskurser befinner sig i kamp med diskursen om lärarinflytande om makten över bedömningen och betygsättningen. / The aim of this study is to investigate how upper secondary teachers in physical education describe and discuss about students with an individual education plan (IEP) or at risk of not achieving the national knowledge requirements. Furthermore, this study aims to illustrate the discourses and power relations teachers are a part of and how these relate to each other in the assessment and grading of these students. The investigation is based on four qualitative interviews plus four existing IEPs which are analyzed with help of discourse analysis and the concepts power and categorization. The investigation shows that the teachers divide the students at risk of not achieving the national knowledge requirements in a variety of categories: lazy and comfortable, afraid, uninterested, language difficulties and physiological and or psychological reasons. The investigation shows that the teacher reasons differently about the education depending on which category the student belongs to. Throughout the investigation the student’s attendance levels are important in relation to how the teachers categorize and thereafter treat the students. The investigation also highlights that the teacher does not have all the power when it comes to the assessment and grading of these students. The teachers have to relate to other discourses like the discourse of management influence, the discourse of student influence and to some extent the discourse of parental influence. These three discourses find themselves in a struggle with the discourse of teacher influence about the power over the assessment and grading.

Inom matematikdidaktik beskrivs matematisk modellering som en process bestående av olika delprocesser. Forskare inom området menar att ett holistiskt förhållningssätt behövs i undervisningen för att alla delprocesser i modelleringsprocessen ska kunna utvecklas. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka kursplaners synliggörande (intended curriculum) av olika delprocesser vid matematisk modellering med differentialekvationer i svenska lärosätens ämneslärarprogram för gymnasiet med matematik som huvudämne. För att analysera kursplanerna används ett teoretiskt ramverk formulerat av Blomhøj &amp; Jensen (2003). Resultatet visar stora skillnader i vilka delprocesser som synliggörs. Från nästan alla kursplaner som analyserades kunde man tydligt utläsa att i kursplanen synliggjordes delprocesser om matematisering av modelleringsproblem samt undersökning och lösning av uppkomna matematiska problem, medan andra delprocesser som speglar identifiering av ett verklighetsnära modelleringsproblem och tolkning av beräkningsresultatsynliggörs i mycket liten utsträckning. Delprocessen om analys av modellens giltighet synliggjordes i några enstaka kursplaner. En slutsats är att alla delprocesser inte synliggörs i kursplaner för matematikkurser i ämneslärarprogram för gymnasiet som behandlar modellering med differentialekvationer. Studien belyser behov av fortsatt forskning inom området, till exempel av det tillämpade genomförandet eller det uppnådda kursresultatet. / In mathematics education, mathematical modelling is described as a process consisting of different sub-processes. Researchers in the area believe that a holistic approach needs to be included in teaching where all sub-processes in the modelling process can be developed. The aim of this study is to investigate the visibility of different sub-processes in mathematical modelling in curricula (intended curriculum) with differential equations for Swedish teachers’programme with mathematics as core subject. To analyse the curricula, a theoretical framework formulated by Blomhøj &amp; Jensen (2003) is used. The results show that there is a difference in the visibility of the sub-processes. From almost all curricula that were analysed, sub-processes on mathematization of modelling problems and investigation and solution of emerging mathematical problems could be clearly seen, while other sub-processes such as identification of a realistic modelling problem, interpretation and analysis of results could be seen to a lesser extent. The sub-process of analysing the validity of modelswas visible in a few curricula. Hence possible conclusions can be drawn, one is that curricula in modelling with differential equations for Swedish secondary education teacher programme in mathematics do not showcase all modellingsub-processes. The thesis highlights further need in studies of the implemented and attained curricula.