<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the routines of performance related pay systems in two Swedish municipal upper secondary schools. A second purpose was to examine what data was included for evaluation of a co-worker’s performance and how a principal collects data. The purpose was also to examine a principal and teachers´ view of performance related pay systems and if it was possible to note an agreement. Principals have been interviewed and teachers have answered a questionnaire to fulfil the purposes of this study.</p><p>The study shows that the municipality had a good routine that included individual discussions with co-workers about their salary and had fixed municipal criteria. Data for evaluation were these fixed criteria together with unspoken criteria. Principals collected data verbally. It in-creases the risk of subjective evaluation, which increases insecurity and inefficiency of per-formance related pay systems. The teachers gave an insecure and divided image of perform-ance related pay systems. Increased dialogue and defined criteria for the teachers’ salary are needed to improve the image.</p>

<p>This study is grounded in an interest in the Swedish Upper Secondary Schools’ role as an educator of democratic citizens, with a specific interest in the moral and cognitive development of Upper Secondary School students. Development in these two areas is treated as results of citizenship education.</p><p>The purpose of the study is to examine moral and cognitive development of students in Upper Secondary School to see if there are any structural differences to be found between the Upper Secondary School programs that are vocationally oriented and the programs that are preparing for further studies on higher levels – since these differences have been both theoretically and empirically implied. The study is based on an enhanced version of Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development (with teachers’ evaluations of students’ capacity as a reference point of the students’ actual level of moral development) as well as on Kieran Egan’s theory of development through the use of cognitive tools (as seen in five different “shapes of understanding”). There is also a specific interest in how the teachers’ evaluations of the students’ development in the two areas mentioned coincide. The study has been carried out in the shape of an electronic questionnaire sent to Upper Secondary School teachers in Stockholm.</p><p>The results showed that there were great differences between the evaluations made by teachers working in vocationally oriented programs and by teachers working in programs preparing for further studies on higher levels. Generally, teachers working in programs preparing for further studies on higher levels estimated that their students had a capacity greater than average, whileteachers working in vocationally oriented programs estimated that their students had a capacity below average. Teachers working in “theoretical” programs to a larger extent estimated that their students had a use of cognitive tools which was to be expected from their age, while teachers working in vocationally oriented programs to a larger extent estimated that their students had a use of cognitive tools which could be expected from students not yet fully capable of reading and writing. The results also showed that the groups of students who were said to use cognitive toolsexpected from their age at the same time were estimated to have a relatively low level of capacity.</p>

<p>One of our big public health problems in Sweden is that human beings are too inactive in outdoor settings. That is why stress related diseases increase and influence humans both mentally and physical. The physical activity is halved among many children when they start school and the older they become the less they enjoy school. It is also an increasing problem that children and youth in today's society have lack of worthwhile experiences in the nature. The aim of this study was therefore to examine how the experience of outdoor environment had importance for health and learning on upper secondary school pupils. The study is used a questionnaire survey where 192 upper secondary school pupils in nature and farm focused programs, respectively social programs participated. Of the result it emerged that the outside environment was a positive place in order to create health and learning. Although social- and farm focused pupils had different opinions about good outside environments and where they rather learned, the pupils at the social program were less pleased with their outside environment at school, although they already had what they wanted. The pupils at the social program also wanted more outdoor education and more practical education, as the farm focused pupils considered positive for health and learning. Our conclusion is that the pupils’ wishes should be noticed and a more varying education, that include the outdoor environment and experiences in nature, should be introduced in more schools, even in the cities, since the school also is an arena where young people spends a lot of their time. If the school creates an interest for nature it can last for the rest of life.</p>

No description available.

<p>This dissertation deals with Swedish upper secondary school students’ encounter and reception of various fictional texts in and outside of school. The focus of the study is how literary instruction, based on an expanded text concept, succeeds in meeting the students’ expectations and previous experiences of fictional texts. The theoretical framework consists of theories that approach reading as a transaction between text and reader in a social and cultural context.</p><p>The study is founded on qualitative methods, and the empirical material was collected through participant observation and interviews with students and teachers in four upper secondary school classes between 2001 and 2003. The research questions are: How does literary instruction develop students’ knowledge of fictional texts and reading? In what ways are the students’ textual worlds in and outside of school dialogically interrelated? How do students use different fictional texts in building their identities? Which values regarding different texts are visible in the classroom?</p><p>Findings indicate that mismatches between teachers’ and students’ literary repertoires are common in upper secondary school literary teaching. Since the literary instruction mainly drew upon traditional fiction, the students’ construction of literary worlds was not sufficiently supported. The students’ expectations of fiction reading were characterized by strong emotional involvement, and this was particularly true for the male students. The female students reported that there was a lack of female perspectives in the literary teaching.</p><p>The pedagogical implications of the study concern the importance of identifying the students’ literary repertoires and matching those with the literary instruction. Literary pedagogy should aim to expand these repertoires, and to help students acquire new reader roles. One way of achieving this is to promote dialogical teaching that encourages both efferent and aesthetic reading. Findings of the present study also indicate that teachers’ resources for working with an expanded text concept are limited. Consequently, current teacher education programmes and further training of working teachers must deal with reading of fictional texts from new and broader perspectives.</p>

<p>I den här uppsatsen undersöker jag musikelever på gymnasiets estetiska program i Västerås, och vilken effekt undervisningen har på deras musikpreferenser. Resultaten baseras på två enkäter, en till elever och en till lärare. Undersökningen visar att eleverna till största delen är positiva till den musik de möter i skolan, men bara en mindre del av dem lyssnar på den musiken privat.</p> / <p>In this essay, I examine the effect of education regarding musical preferences expressed by students of music at upper secondary school in Västerås. The results are based on two questionnaires, one for the pupils, and one for the teachers of the school. The investigation indicates, that the pupils are largely positive towards the music presented in school, but only a lesser part of them actually listen to it privately.</p>

<p>By studying the forms of work and methods teachers choose for their teaching on the Business and Administration Programme and by examining the experiences gained by these teachers, I hope to gain a clearer insight into how the demands of national policy/governing documents are met in the actual teaching of the courses within the programme. In my qualitative study,teachers in a team from a Business and Administrative Programme have been my informants. The team combines multiple forms of work and methods in line with the intentions of the national policy/governing documents. Students usually have an unbroken school day with block teaching where they work with case studies and interdisciplinary  work. Morals and ethics are integrated in class. More progressive ways of working  re combined with so-called traditional teaching. An internet based learning platform supports communication between teachers and pupils. Joint setting of goals, planning, and evaluation are done within the team. Teachers' pedagogical views are consistent with those that permeate the national policy/governing documents.Teachers choose the methods they believe lead to better effectiveness. Their choices are based on experience gained from work experience outside school and their teaching experience. I have grouped factors that contribute to teachers' choice of work as, individual, organizational and infrastructural. It is found that the choice of working methods is partly the result of limited resources. The teachers’ chosen approach also means a better working environment for themselves, which is believed to have positive affects on the pupils work situation and results.</p> / <p>Genom att studera vilka arbetsformer och metoder lärarna på handelsprogrammet väljer för sin undervisning och genom att ta del av de erfarenheter lärarna gjort, ville jag bidra med mer kunskap om hur man i undervisningen omsätter de krav som styrdokumenten formulerar. I min kvalitativa studie har lärare i ett arbetslag på Handelsprogrammet varit mina informanter. Arbetslaget kombinerade flera arbetsformer och metoder i linje med styrdokumentens intentioner. Eleverna hade oftast en samlad skoldag med blockundervisning där man jobbade med case och ämnesöverskridande arbeten. Värdegrundsarbete integrerades. Arbetsformerna kombinerades med s.k. traditionell undervisning. En lärplattform stödde kommunikationen mellan lärare och elever. Gemensam målformulering, planering, och utvärdering gjordes i arbetslaget. Lärarnas pedagogiska grundsyn överensstämde med den som genomsyrar styrdokumenten. Lärarna valde de arbetsmetoder de ansåg leder till bättre måluppfyllelse. Valen var grundade på erfarenheter från arbetsliv utanför skolan och erfarenheter av undervisning. Faktorer som bidragit till lärarnas val av arbetsformer har jag grupperat i individuella, organisatoriska och infrastrukturella. Det framkommer att valet av arbetsformer och metoder delvis var en följd av begränsade resurser. För lärarna innebar valda arbetssättet också en bättre arbetsmiljö vilket man ansåg påverkar även elevernas arbetssituation och resultat positivt.</p>

In the last decade stratification within educational results has, in Sweden as in other countries, been framed as a matter of boys’ and young men’s under-achievement. The question of whether this is a problem, and if so, for whom and how to change the structure, has been discussed in research and educational policy. The aim of the thesis is to contribute to these fields and to enhance knowledge of young people’s gendered and classed identity processes, by analyzing how achievement and engagement were negotiated and given meaning in relation to young men. Previous research has primarily explored identity processes among “risk categories” or subordinated students. The objective here was to analyze how masculinity was accomplished via peer-group interactions within a rarely problematized category, through examining how upper middle-class young men identify themselves and are ascribed identities by others. The study’s design was inspired by ethnographic methodology and combined participant observation, semi-structured individual and group interviews and a background questionnaire. Identities, social categorizations (especially gender and class) and dominance-relations were thus analyzed from an actor-oriented perspective. The research participants were young men and women, age 15-16, in two school classes. The field work was conducted at, respectively, a Natural Science and a Vehicle Programme; educational settings with connotations to masculinity but significantly different in terms of class. The study enrolled a total of fifty-six students, but focus is upon the fifteen young men among the natural science students.  High achievement and under-achievement, high social and cognitive ability, and group loyalty are main themes in the study. Identity claims were analyzed in relation to the practices through which they were negotiated, e.g. self-hindrance. Similar to other research, the results emphasize the relationship between masculinity and “effortless achievement”. The concept “under-achievement” is developed as an analytical tool, by distinguishing between five dimensions.

The aim of this study is to investigate the assessment practices of civics teachers in upper secondary school. The main purpose is to analyze, using Bloom’s revised taxonomy, which kind of knowledge civics teachers test in their written test examinations. The analyses show that they mainly test factual and conceptual knowledge. Procedural knowledge is tested in other ways, mostly by means of essays. Metacognitive knowledge is not found in this study. In contrast to earlier findings the teachers in this study test a variation of cognitive processes. Between 50 and 90 percent of test questions relate to the category remember, but there are also questions testing the categories to understand, analyze and evaluate, only a few test apply and create. There is a good alignment in teachers’ knowledge of the grading criterions and the curriculum. There are however discrepancies between this knowledge and their testing practices, which causes some problems concerning the validity of their tests. As the tests mainly are used for summative purposes, teachers varying practices lead to problems with grade equality. Frame factors may explain differences in practices. Mainly administrative factors such as working hours and schedule are significant, since teachers need time to prepare and to mark the tests and pupils need time to write them. Pupils also wish to have written tests and teachers adapt to this. Still, the significance of these factors is decided by teachers’ freedom of action. Most teachers know how to and want to make valid tests, but they need the time, both to prepare and to mark them, and the possibilities to extend lessons when more writing time is needed.

This dissertation deals with Swedish upper secondary school students’ encounter and reception of various fictional texts in and outside of school. The focus of the study is how literary instruction, based on an expanded text concept, succeeds in meeting the students’ expectations and previous experiences of fictional texts. The theoretical framework consists of theories that approach reading as a transaction between text and reader in a social and cultural context. The study is founded on qualitative methods, and the empirical material was collected through participant observation and interviews with students and teachers in four upper secondary school classes between 2001 and 2003. The research questions are: How does literary instruction develop students’ knowledge of fictional texts and reading? In what ways are the students’ textual worlds in and outside of school dialogically interrelated? How do students use different fictional texts in building their identities? Which values regarding different texts are visible in the classroom? Findings indicate that mismatches between teachers’ and students’ literary repertoires are common in upper secondary school literary teaching. Since the literary instruction mainly drew upon traditional fiction, the students’ construction of literary worlds was not sufficiently supported. The students’ expectations of fiction reading were characterized by strong emotional involvement, and this was particularly true for the male students. The female students reported that there was a lack of female perspectives in the literary teaching. The pedagogical implications of the study concern the importance of identifying the students’ literary repertoires and matching those with the literary instruction. Literary pedagogy should aim to expand these repertoires, and to help students acquire new reader roles. One way of achieving this is to promote dialogical teaching that encourages both efferent and aesthetic reading. Findings of the present study also indicate that teachers’ resources for working with an expanded text concept are limited. Consequently, current teacher education programmes and further training of working teachers must deal with reading of fictional texts from new and broader perspectives.