This study is a qualitative, phenomenological inquiry into teachers’ and children’s ‘lived experiences’ of the child-teacher relationship in an Irish upper primary school context. It highlights the current need to re-focus our attention on the child-teacher relationship which Biesta (2004) argues is the 'location' of education. An overview of the literature on relational pedagogy is provided which connects the child-teacher relationship to broader theoretical debates including Heidegger's (1962) concept of Mitsein and Buber's I- Thou relation (1937). Hermeneutic phenomenology describes the overarching methodology following van Manen’s (1990) ‘lived experience’ approach. The study was conducted in a large, suburban, primary school with designated disadvantaged status. Before data generation commenced, a Children’s Research Advisory Group was established in the school following Lundy, McEvoy, and Byrne (2011). The function of this group was to advise about conducting research with children. Research participants included three teachers and five children from each of those teachers’ classes. Data generation featured the use of protocol writing and conversational interviews following van Manen (1990, 2014) and the use of embodied, drama methods which were unique to this study but inspired by the work of Norris (2000) and guided by O’Sullivan (2011). Data was also generated using visual methods drawing on the work of Mitchell (2011), Tinkler (2015) and Chappell and Craft (2011). In line with the phenomenological approach adopted, data was interpreted in what Gadamer (1989) describes as a circular manner. This involves attending to ‘parts’ whilst keeping in mind the ‘whole’ picture. This study identified three overarching thematic findings which find resonance with the fields of relational pedagogy and embodied teaching and learning as well as new insights at the point where these two areas overlap. These include how teachers and children relate to one another as ‘whole, embodied feeling beings’; the idea that there is a tension between ‘closeness’ and ‘distance’ in the child teacher relationship and that there is a need for both ‘structure’ and ‘freedom’ to feature in that relationship. Further, this study found that the child-teacher relationship is experienced as ‘knotted’ with social and contextual relationships. These findings are discussed in light of the concepts of ‘connectedness’ and ‘emergence’, features of complexity theory. This study provides new insights into how teachers and children experience their relationships with one another, thereby extending the body of knowledge on the child-teacher relationship.

English is an important language since the world is becoming more interconnected and it is central to motivate Swedish pupils to study language. The Swedish Agency for Education states that motivation and learning increase when pupils access a living language and that teacher therefore should use authentic material. Yet, teachers of the English subject still rely a lot on textbooks. The aim of this study is to highlight the use of literature in the EFL classroom for grades 4-6, and to investigate teachers’ attitudes to the use of literature and also examine how they use literature and what they want to achieve by that use. To answer those questions an empirical study was conducted through interviews and a questionnaire. The main findings of this study are that teachers have a positive attitude towards using literature with their pupils and wants to use it more than they currently do. The main reason teachers use literature is to increase the pupils’ vocabulary and help them learn grammatical patterns as well as increasing their motivation. The most commonly used method is reading aloud. However, there are some hindrances for using literature such as the poor availability of English literature in schools. / <p>Engelska</p>

This essay focuses on how students in the later years of elementary school evaluate/assess the democratic values ​​that the school board has justified as a cornerstone of education. In order to measure this, students from grades seven, eight and nine in a medium-sized school in a medium-sized Swedish city participated in interviews where they were asked to evaluate ten statements that deal with the five values ​​that the school board has put forward. This study used both quantitative and qualitative elements. The quantitative element was that the students receive a form with statements that they then rated from 0-7 and the qualitative element was that a group interview was conducted after which the students discussed their answers and then re-evaluated them. The only background variable of interest was the grade the students were in. As this study was not on a larger scale, the results can only give an indication of how students evaluate/assess the democratic values. On a larger scale with more schools, in different cities and with more students, the answer could have been broader and clearer. The results show that students in upper primary school assess the different democratic values differently before and after the group interviews are done and that the students that participated from the three classes assess the democratic values differently from each other. / <p>Godkänd 2023-03-13</p>

This thesis deals with the "pyramid" nutrition that is currently mostly used in teaching in primary schools. The aim of the study is to evaluate the possibilities of didactic use model "pyramid" nutrition teaching health education in primary schools and where appropriate, propose an updated form of "pyramid" diet, which all schools could benefit from harmonized or create a tutorial project that focused on nutrition pyramid. The theoretical part is written in the form of a literature review. It deals with the analysis of books and information about dietary recommendations in the form of a "pyramid" nutrition and analyzing textbooks, Framework curriculum and educational programs for elementary school students due to the use of a "pyramid" nutrition. The empiric part uses quantitative and qualitative methods. It focuses on the analysis of school educational programs at selected schools and another part is dedicated to exploring how elementary school teachers use the "pyramid" nutrition in teaching and what students have knowledge of the food pyramid. A further empiric section devoted to a summary of the results of the work, conclusions and recommendations. The outcome of this work is based on research results suggest the concept of an educational program what makes it easier for students to...

The main research problem concerns the characteristics of tick-borne disease and determine the quantity and quality of information that students get in health education and biology of these diseases. The theoretical part deals with the history, etiology, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease. It also discusses the general problems of tick and other diseases that ticks carry and cause. Also is mentioned the inclusion of tick-borne diseases in the educational program. The practical part is devoted to the awareness of upper primary school students and changes in their knowledge about the issue during their elementary education. The aim of this thesis is to determine how the students are informed about diseases transmitted by ticks, especially about Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis. This method is used questionnaire, which includes questions regarding this issue. Although the results of the research show a certain degree of knowledge of students at upper primary school, especially in some classes is unsatisfactory. Based on research, there is provided a recommendation for pedagogical practices. KEYWORDS: tick, tick-borne encephalitis, Lyme disease, knowledge, disease, upper primary school

The diploma thesis is focused on hand metalworking in Technical Education, which is taught at Upper Primary School, in 6th and 7th classes. Content and range of this thesis is adapted for pupils of 6th and 7th class at Primary School. The work includes descriptions of particular training of hand metalworking supplemented by author's photographic material. There are fourteen videos as a multimedia material in the appendix. The created videos contain demonstrations of technique of hand metalworking which are mentioned in the thesis. This created multimedia material could be used not only by pupils in the lesson of Technical Education but also by uncertificated teachers, who taught this subject.

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse teachers’ experiences of the transition from year 3 to year 4 in the Swedish compulsory school regarding the subject English. The study also concerned collaboration between teachers of English both within the same unit of the school system and between different units. Both questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data and a total amount of 32 teachers from all over the country answered the questionnaires, 12 lower primary school teachers (years 1-3) and 20 upper primary school teachers (years 4-6). Three of the lower primary school teachers and eight of the upper primary school teachers also participated in a follow-up interview. The study revealed that the information passed on from lower primary school teachers to upper primary school teachers regarding the subject English differed greatly between different schools. The teachers’ experience of how well functioning the routines regarding meetings before the transition are also differed as well as how much attention the subject received during those meetings. Collaboration between teachers within the subject was found to be close to non-existent. This study shows the importance of functional and adequate routines and guidelines concerning the transmission of information about the pupils’ knowledge development to future teachers. The transition for and the continuous teaching of the pupils ease if sufficient information is passed on.

The aim of this study is to investigate the approach taken by upper primary school teachers to the development of pupils’ verbal communication skills in Swedish as a school subject. The study also looks at to what degree quieter pupils receive support in the development of these skills. A qualitative study was undertaken in which interviews were conducted with four qualified upper primary school teachers. All four teachers reported that they organized their teaching so as to suit all their pupils. All the teachers described their methodology as interactive where the pupils are involved and active. Three teachers described the work with the development of pupils’ verbal communication skills as not to be prioritized in comparison to the other parts of the Swedish subject. According to the teachers, pupils often practice these skills in other subjects. The teachers talked about the need for a supportive classroom environment if pupils are to be willing to speak while others are listening. Nevertheless, the teachers also found creating a disciplined and accepting classroom environment to be a challenge. In each of their classes the teachers had a couple pupils who did not follow the classroom rules and that effected other pupils in the class. All the teachers described quieter pupils in their classes. Three teachers reported that they supported quieter pupils through a good contact with both the pupils and the parents. Otherwise, the quieter pupils didn’t get any specific support. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka lärares syn på att utveckla elevers samtalsförmågor i svenskämnet i skolans mellanår. Syftet är vidare att undersöka hur mer tystlåtna elever får stöd i detta arbete samt vilka utmaningar som lärare upplever i utvecklingen av elevers samtalsförmågor. Metoden som har använts är kvalitativa intervjuer av fyra legitimerade och verksamma lärare i skolans mellanår. De deltagande lärare beskriver att de utformar arbetssätt som präglas av att eleverna är aktiva. Arbetssätten beskrivs som utformade för att passa så många som möjligt av eleverna i klassrummet. Tre av fyra lärare beskriver att utvecklingen av elevers samtalsförmågor är lågprioriterad i jämförelse med andra delar av svenskan vilket lärarna menar kan bero på att samtal sker kontinuerligt i flera ämnen. Alla lärare beskriver betydelsen av ett tryggt klassrumsklimat för att elever både ska våga och vilja ta ordet i klassrummet när andra lyssnar. Lärarna beskriver att upprätthållandet av ett tryggt klassrumsklimat kan vara en utmaning eftersom ett par elever i varje klass på olika sätt inte förhåller sig till gemensamma regler. Det i sin tur menar lärarna kan påverka andra elever i klassrummet. Alla lärare beskriver även att det finns mer tystlåtna elever i klassrummet. Det stöd som de mer tystlåtna eleverna får i utvecklingen av samtalsförmågorna beskrives som dialoger med elev och vårdnadshavare angående tystlåtenheten samt genom positiva förstärkningar. I övrigt stöttas inte dessa elever på något specifikt sätt.

The aim of this study is to investigate the meaning-making expressed by pupils in upper primary school when they work with peer response while writing an explanatory and comparative text. The questions answered through the study concern, firstly, what pupils aim their written response at when they read texts, and secondly, what experiences the pupils highlight in the work of giving and receiving peer response. The theoretical foundation on which the study rests is dialogism (Bakhtin 1952–1953/1997). The pupils’ response work is considered in terms of the significance of dialogue for learning, in which language functions as a mediating tool (Säljö 2000). In the texts analysed in the study, there is an interaction between writer and reader, and there is a dialogue that can be related to earlier texts and the conventions developed there (Ajagán-Lester, Ledin et al. 2003, Evensen 1999). The empirical material for the study comes from a class with 23 pupils in grade 5. The material consists of pupils’ written response to classmates’ texts, pupils’ written reflections and six interviews with pupils about working with peer response. The result shows that the pupils are aware that they are writing for readers and that they must therefore think about how the reader is supposed to understand the text. The response is geared above all to the purpose and readers of the text and to how the content is organized. In cases where spelling and punctuation become an obstacle to an understanding of the text, there is also response about that. Pupils appear to be able to utilize their knowledge of text to give a response to classmates’ texts and to their own texts. The pupils also say that they will retain what they have learned in this writing project in future situations when they have to write texts. The double dialogue stands out as central. Interaction is important and the conventions are used to achieve what the pupils’ appear to have in focus: the reader’s understanding of the text. Through contexts where pupils meet in dialogue about text, meaning is created. In this study pupils in upper primary school state that response work and the resulting transactions lead to a knowledge of how to write texts, and through this meaning is created.

This thesis is dealing with verification of procedures of work with poetry at grades 6- 9. Term of poetry and concisely summarized development of poetry for children and young is defined in the theoretical part. Chapter Poetry at school is dealing with position of poetry in curriculum documents, with the role of teacher by teaching poetry and with reading- books and methodical manuals, which teacher can use. Teaching methods and closer specified of methods destined especially for work with poetry are defined further. Theoretical part concludes characteristic of pupils at grades 6-9 from evolutionary psychologic's view. Practical part intorduces a brief characteristic of lections, there is an explanation of their structure and sorting. In the next part is explained methodology of choosing texts, description of the enviroment of primary school Hanspaulka, where the lections were verified, and pupils who worked with. After that follows each lection for different classes of upper level of primary school. The lections were verified and also evaluated. Supplemetnal worksheets which were used in lections as well are added.