The main point of this study was to research on how the description of biomedicine was described and valued in educational material for upper secondary school.  To assist this research, this study took the help from two theorist, Francis Fukuyama and Bart Simon. These two individual had vast differences in how they view biomedicine and its relationship with the perspective of what defines a human. Therefore it was essential that these two individuals were included to assist and aid the research, by pointing out their different argument on why biomedicine had different interpretations. The study showed that a majority of the educational materials had an open and reflective questionnaire about biomedicine and it was often built around letting the pupils think and analyze about different ethical events regarding biomedicine. Another point that also showed up was that a minority of the educational material, didn´t even mention biomedicine and instead decided to point out other part of ethics that did not include biomedicine of any sorts. While other educational material often compared biomedicine to older form of science like the race biology from the beginning of the 20th century or bringing up the argument of  crossing the line between man and God and what our roles in the world is. These educational material had a more critical view to biomedicine and had more argument that pointed out negative attributes then they did with the positive. A noteworthy point that also came out from this study, was that the majority of educational material had similar attributes and arguments that Bart Simons mention in his theories. Meanwhile those educational material that had more of a critical viewpoint toward biomedicine, followed those argument that Francis Fukuyama had discussed in his theory. The conclusion of this research showed that most of these educational material had different form of influence in their way of describing biomedicine but most had reflective and open questionnaire when regarding the description of biomedicine.

I litteraturen framgår det att den fysiska aktiviteten minskar för varje årskurs i skolan. Med hänsyn till att rektorer och lärare ansvarar för att eleverna ska ha möjligheter till fysisk aktivitet under hela skoldagen är det viktigt att studera deras arbete. Forskningen visar att fysisk aktivitet främjar bland annat hälsa, inlärning och koncentrationsförmåga i skolan.  Syftet var att beskriva vilka uppfattningar rektorer och lärare har om fysisk aktivitet och vad som kan främja fysisk aktivitet bland elever på gymnasieskolor. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt var hälsoteorin SOC (Sense of coherence) och den frigörande pedagogiken som pedagogisk utgångspunkt i relation till Empowerment. Kvalitativ forskningsmetod var lämpligast att använda då intervjuer möjliggör en djupare förståelse för informanternas utsagor och studiens fokus. Studien utgörs därmed av fem semistrukturerade intervjuer. ​Analysen resulterade i två huvudkategorier som reflekterade studiens syfte; ​arbetet att främja fysisk aktivitet på skoltid och uppfattning kring läroplanen.  Studiens slutsats är att informanterna beskrev att de tagit medvetna beslut för att främja fysisk aktivitet, de försöker skapa en medvetenhet genom dialog samt att de försöker skapa integrerad rörelse genom brainbreaks på lektionstid. Ytterligare en slutsats är att rektorer och lärare uttryckte att de uppfattar läroplanen för gymnasieskolan som otydlig. / In literature, it appears that physical activity decreases for each year of school. Given that principals and teachers are responsible for ensuring that students have opportunities for physical activity throughout the school day, it is important to study their work. Research shows that physical activity promotes health, learning and concentration ability among other things, in school. The aim of this study was to describe which perceptions principals and teachers have about physical activity and what could promote physical activity among students at upper secondary schools.  In relation to the aim of the study, qualitative research method was most suitable to use because interviews enable a deeper understanding of the informants' statements and the focus of the study. The study consists of five semi-structured interviews. The analysis resulted in two main categories that reflected the aim of the study; ​the work to promote physical activity at school ​ and ​perception of the curriculum ​ . The conclusions of the study are that the informants have made conscious decisions to promote physical activity, they try to create awareness through dialogue as well as they try to create integrated movements through brain breaks during class hour. Another conclusion is that principals and teachers expressed that they perceive the curriculum of the upper secondary school as unclear.

The reasons for the decline in students' interest in science have been studied for the last decades. The key question is how to stimulate this interest and motivate students and pupils to study science. Part of this thesis was testing the influence of practical courses on upper secondary school students' motivation toward studying biology. To start with, it was found out how many practical courses were taught for each biology topic at Czech upper secondary schools. Molecular biology and genetics emerged as one of the topics with the lowest number of practical courses. Therefore, molecular biology practical courses have been proposed and tested. It was shown that these practical courses can increase students' motivation scores. The possible influece of age, gender and number of practical courses during biology lessons on motivation was tested as well. Motivation of Czech students was compared to motivation of New Zealand students. Younger students and boys were more motivated to study biology in both countries. New Zealand students were more motivated than Czech students. Motivated students like the participants in the Biology Olympiad, Students' Professional Activities, biology summer course and optional biology courses were used to describe the origin of their motivation toward biology.

High-school students are less interested in science then before. Despite importance of science for our life and for description of nature around us, students lose motivation for studying it. The approach of teacher is critical for focusing students' attention. Lessons should be based on linking of the education with daily-life and biology provides plenty of possibilities to achieve the goal, especially employing hand-on education, practical examples and exercises. One of the most effective way to show the beauty and a complexity of organism structure is by using microscopes. Many different techniques have been used to prepare education materials - picture, videos or whole movies from micro-word. Nevertheless, a classical optical microscopy is by far the most common training activity during the practical courses. An evaluation of this education aspects is, therefore, critical for further method development. This diploma thesis is focused on establishing of evaluation techniques and subsequent analysis of the current state of students' microscopy skills. First of all, the elementary set of knowledge and the correct microscopy work-flow were established in collaboration with eleven experienced teachers. Based on these results, two types of surveys were designed. One of them was dedicated to teachers...

This study explores the progression between English for year nine and English 5, based on a textual analysis and comparison of the two curricula, as well as semi-structured interviews with six teachers about their interpretations and concretisations of the curricula. The analysis of the curricula and the analysis of the interviews were compared to each other and discussed in relation to interpretation, concretisation, and progression. The results show that, on the same level of education, i.e. in compulsory school or upper secondary school, teachers’ interpretations and preferred methods of working are very similar. Finally, the results show that slight progression is noticeable in the curricula but more so in the teachers’ practices, especially when the courses are taught separately rather than in merged groups.

This thesis presents a critical discourse analysis of how the sociology of gender is constructed in the sociology syllabus and two textbooks aimed for use at upper secondary school level. I use Bernstein’s theory of framing and classification to understand how power over knowledge is distributed through this construction. I take as my starting point that sociology, as framed in the syllabus, allocates a lot of power over knowledge to individual teachers. I outline the short history of sociology as a Swedish school subject and problematise this based on the fact that the majority of sociology teachers have limited education in sociology. I argue further that sociology as a discipline is characterised by an ambiguous canon and lack of pedagogic traditions. This increases the demands on sociology teachers. Based on previous research, I identify the sociology of gender as a potentially contentious area that warrants investigation.  Critical Discourse Analysis  (herein - CDA) takes as its starting point that discourses are a vehicle of ideology, and that ideology is capable of oppression or marginalization. Through critical discourse analysis it can be revealed that the construction of knowledge of gender marginalises queer voices and sociological perspectives on gender from outside the global North whilst simultaenously segregating feminist theory from mainstream sociology. “Mainstream sociology” in this context can be taken to include theories and perspectives which are used to understand society and social processes as a whole, such as the class, crime and deviance, the state and media. The construction of gender also selectively draws upon dominant socio-cultural discourses on gender, such as gender equality politics and sociological research. Violence against women, and masculinity are two topics identified as important in gender equality politics, for example, but are not part of the construction of the knowledge on gender. This is in itself not surprising, the analysed course is only 100 points in total and cannot possibly cover everything, but it does raise questions about which perspectives are included and which are excluded.   Importantly, the purpose of this thesis is not to discredit the knowledge of gender as constructed by the syllabus and textbooks, and to supplant it with other perspectives. This would be unconscionably arrogant and simply replacing one set of ideologies with other ideologies. This would be  counterproductive to the aims of CDA. The purpose is rather to reveal the ideologies behind the discourse and enable an informed discussion from multiple perspectives. I conclude this thesis by arguing for the benefits of introducing norm critical pedagogy into sociology teaching as a means of countering bias in knowledge creation and selection, and as a pedagogical tool in a  field where no identifiable pedagogic approach exists as yet.

The purpose of this study is to reach a deeper understanding of what constitutes the critical approach, this by exploring the variations of teachers’ perceptions of the critical approach, specifically teachers of Social Studies at Swedish Upper Secondary School. The critical approach is expressed in Curriculum for the Upper Secondary School (2011) under the section Aim of the subject for Social Studies. The importance of a critical approach is seen in the light of the development of digitalization and the extent of the flow of information. Teachers have a vital role in how the curriculum is interpreted; interpretations which in turn are significant for how it is put into practice in their teaching. Accordingly, I argue that this requires surveys were teachers’ perceptions of the curriculum are distinguished. The research questions in this study are: I) how do teachers in Social Studies at Swedish Upper Secondary School perceive the critical approach? II) What didactic methods are used in teaching to develop students’ critical approach? This study applies a phenomenographic method and theory, which is based on examining different perceptions of phenomena, in this case the critical approach. To distinguish the different perceptions of the phenomena in question, four teachers in Social Studies have been interviewed. The aim of a phenomenographic study is to establish description categories that capture the inherent core of different perceptions of phenomena and the variations between them. The study results in three description categories: I) a critical approach as a result of scientific assessment and credibility examination, II) a critical approach as a recurring process of reflection regarding individual and context and III) a critical approach as expressed through active participation and meaningful social life. The result reveals that there are different ways of perceiving a critical approach in Social Studies at Swedish Upper Secondary Schools, which affects how it is taught in the classroom.

This study aims to explore how textbooks aiming at the course English 6 in the Swedish upper secondary school display male, female and transgendered characters in fictional texts. The study also seeks to investigate what genders are represented in the authors of the analysed fictional texts in the textbooks. The method of the study was a mix between critical discourse analysis and content analysis. Content analysis was used in a quantitative way as a starting point to get an overview of the results for the critical discourse analysis which was used qualitatively. The study showed that authors identifying as male were the most common and represented at a higher rate in the textbooks. Among the results it was also shown that transgendered characters and authors identifying as something else than male or female were not represented at all. The study’s conclusion is that teachers will need to provide a greater variety to their classrooms than what is provided by the textbooks in terms of gender related issues and questions, since students should be given a variety of texts and authors during their English education according to the syllabus (Natl. Ag. f. Ed. 2013).

Att få en examen från gymnasieskolan är viktigt för både samhälle och individ. Utan fullständig examen riskerar unga att hamna i arbetslöshet och utanförskap. Mot bakgrund av detta är det oroande att ungefär 15 000 gymnasieelever i Sverige varje år avslutar sina gymnasiestudier utan att erhålla full examen. För elever på yrkesprogram visar nationell kartläggning att det största hindret för att nå en fullständig yrkesexamen är matematikkursen (Ma1a), som är den obligatoriska matematikkurs yrkeselever läser under sitt första gymnasieår. Denna licentiatavhandling fokuserar på yrkeselever och deras måluppfyllelse i matematik. Syftet är att bidra med kunskap om vad som enligt skolpersonal påverkar yrkeselevers måluppfyllelse i Ma1a. Syftet med studien är också att bidra med en övergripande bild av flera olika skolaktörers uppfattning om fenomenet. Studien är inspirerad av ett socialkonstruktivistiskt synsätt och baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer med trettio skolaktörer som i sitt yrke kommer i kontakt med yrkeselever i risk att inte nå målen i Ma1a: pedagoger, skolsköterskor, skolkuratorer, studie- och yrkesvägledare samt rektorer. Studien analyserar skolpersonalens beskrivningar utifrån ett induktivt synsätt för att identifiera aspekter som påverkar yrkeselevernas måluppfyllelse. Resultatet visar att aspekter med påverkan på måluppfyllelsen i Ma1a inte bara har att göra med matematikundervisningen i klassrummet utan även andra delar av elevernas inlärningsmiljö spelar en betydande roll. Studien indikerar att relationsaspekter, emotionella aspekter såväl som aspekter med koppling till yrkeselevernas identifiering med det framtida yrket, spelar en central roll förmåluppfyllelsen. Flera av informanterna uppfattar yrkeselever som mer praktiskt lagda, något som beskrivs som en bakomliggande orsak till flera av aspekternamed negativ påverkan på måluppfyllelsen. Elevers upplevelser från tidigare skolgång uttrycks också som en bakomliggande orsak till flera av de aspekter som under gymnasietiden påverkar yrkeselevernas måluppfyllelse i Ma1a. De viktigaste slutsatserna som kan dras av studien är att andra aspekter än bara ämnesdidaktiska faktorer förefaller spela en viktig roll för yrkeseleversmåluppfyllelse i matematik. Resultatet indikerar hur både sociala och emotionella processer tillsammans med yrkeselevers identitetsskapande är aspekter som inte får glömmas bort i diskussionen om hur yrkeseleversmåluppfyllelse i matematik kan förbättras. / Obtaining a final degree from upper secondary school is important, for both society and individuals. Without a final degree, young people risk unemployment and exclusion. In view of this fact, it is concerning that in Sweden each year approximately 15,000 students fail to obtain a final degree from upper secondary school. For students at vocational education, national surveys show that the major obstacle of getting the final degree is the mathematic course (Ma1a), which is a compulsory course during their first year of upper secondary school. This licentiate thesis focuses on vocational students and their goal achievement in mathematics. The overall purpose is to contribute to the knowledge about what affects vocational students' goal achievement in Ma1a. The purpose of the study is also to contribute with an overall picture of several different school practitioners' view on the phenomenon. The study, inspired by a social constructive approach, is based on semi-structured interviews with thirty school actors: teachers, school nurses, school curators, study and career counselors and principals. These informants come in their profession in contact with vocational students in risk of not achieving the goals in Ma1a. The study analyzes the school staff's descriptions based on an inductive approach to identify aspects affecting vocational students' goal achievement. The result shows that aspects affecting goal achievement in Ma1a concern many parts of the students' learning environment, not only the mathematics teaching in the classroom, but also other parts of the students' learning environment play a major role. Aspects connected to mathematics teaching as well as the content of Ma1a are certainly described by the school staff, but other aspects also appear in the descriptions. The study indicates that relational aspects, affective aspects, as well as aspects related to the vocational students' identification with the future profession, play a central role in the goal achievement. Vocational students are perceived as more practical, a fact described as an underlying reason for several of the aspects with a negative impact on the goal achievement. Students' experiences from previous schooling are also expressed as an underlying cause of aspects affecting the vocational students' goal achievement, during their time at upper secondary school. The most important conclusions that can be drawn from the study are that aspects other than those related to subject didactics, seem to play a major role in vocational students' goal achievement in mathematics. The result indicates that both social and emotional processes together with vocational students' identity process are aspects that must not be forgotten in the discussion about how vocational students' goal achievement in mathematics can be improved. / <p>ISBN för den digitala versionen saknas i fulltext: 978-91-7855-431-7</p>

Syftet med studien är att genom kritisk granskning få en fördjupad förståelse av fristående gymnasieskolors multimodala kommunikation på sina hemsidor gentemot grundskoleelever och deras vårdnadshavare. Avsikten är att jämföra de friskolor i Stockholmsområdet som hade högst respektive lägst meritvärde för antagning höstterminen 2019. För att undersöka detta används multimodal analys av tio fristående gymnasieskolors hemsidor. Resultatet presenteras utifrån olika kategorier med en bakgrund i sociosemiotisk teori. I resultatet framkommer att skolorna i gruppen med högst antagningsgräns ofta använder liknande semiotiska resurser vilka skiljer sig från de skolor med lägst antagningsgräns som inom sin grupp använder sig av semiotiska resurser som liknar varandras. De olika skolorna riktar sin kommunikation till olika grupper av elever och vårdnadshavare. Alla skolor använder sina egna semiotiska resurser för att skapa mening. Kombination av de semiotiska resurserna på en skolas hemsida skapar en viss förståelse hos betraktaren. / The purpose of this study is to achieve a greater understanding of multimodal communication towards prospective students and their guardians on webpages of independent upper secondary schools in Sweden. The intention is to compare independent schools in the Stockholm area which had the highest as opposed to the lowest limit of admission in the autumn of 2019. To investigate this, multimodal analysis of the websites of ten independent upper secondary schools is used. The results are presented in different categories based on social semiotic theory. Furthermore, the results show that the schools in the group with the highest admission limit often use similar semiotic resources and that they differ from the schools with the lowest admission limit. This group on the other hand, use semiotic resources that are similar to one another. The different schools direct their communication towards different groups of students and guardians. Schools use several individual semiotic resources which create understanding in combination with each other.