The purpose of this study was to investigate, firstly, some Swedish upper secondary school students’ attitudes towards speaking in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom and, secondly, how these students suggest that speech anxiety should be dealt with. The participating students were both male and female and attended different school years and English courses. This qualitative study was based on interviews which were later transcribed and analyzed in relation to the research questions. The findings show that the students perceive speech anxiety differently depending on the context. The students also expressed that a way of reducing speech anxiety would be for teachers to communicate with their students to find solutions considering any discomfort and for the students themselves to be more prepared. It has been suggested that it is important to deal with speech anxiety in order to promote proficiency development. Therefore, the most important thing for teachers to do, according to the informants, is to make arrangements in the ESL classroom, together with the students concerned, which could help to make them more willing to communicate. However, the informants also suggest that students’ self-improvement, such as better preparations and reducing negative thoughts, needs to be included in the process to prevent speech anxiety for them to feel more comfortable when speaking in the ESL classroom.

The purpose of this study was to increase our knowledge of how upper-secondary English teachers in Sweden work to ensure that students who are socially passive reach the learning objectives regarding oral proficiency in the English subject. The study explores how six English teachers interpret the underlying factors causing students to be passive in English class, and what they do about this. The data consists of semi-structured interviews which were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that even though the interviewed teachers could agree that it is important to identify the reasons why some students show a passive behavior in class, this is not always possible in practice. Furthermore, the teachers seem to have developed some strategies to ensure that the concerned students reach the learning objectives. In addition, they agree that the socially passive students should be able to reach the targets despite their passivity. Despite this, the teachers also express a need for continued education in this regard. In particular, teachers who graduated recently and have limited experience are finding it more difficult to deal with students who are unwilling to participate in second language learning, which causes a situation where some students may not get the help they need to develop the desired language skills.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the situations in which code-switching takes place in EFL classrooms. The paper focuses on why code-switching takes place, and whether it benefits or limits students' learning, according to teachers and teacher students in Swedish upper-secondary schools. Three teachers and four teacher students participated voluntarily in this study, as well as four of the participating teachers’ students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and the transcripts were thematically analyzed. In addition, observations of four lessons with four different classeswere conducted. The results show that codeswitching is used with the purpose of teaching, being understood, or understanding in the EFL classroom. Based on the interviews and observations, codeswitching was found to be a common strategy in the classrooms.

The main purpose of this diploma thesis is to obtain information on how Matfyz can improve its cooperation with high school students and their physics teachers to increase students' interest in physics. To obtain these information a questionnaire was sent to physics teachers, who had been mentioned by Matfyz students as teachers who had had a positive effect on them. The questionnaire itself consists of four parts - events for students, events for physics teachers, Mat- fyz activities, and teaching. The data was processed using both quantitative and qualitative methods, whereas larger part of research was build on quantitative methods. The collected data showed that according to respondents the most im- portant task is to focus on non-Prague students. Thus, organizers should organize events in various places in the Czech Republic or use modern technologies and organize events on-line (that also applies to events for physics teachers). High school students might also meet with scientists and university physics students, visit laboratories except for visitors' days (e. g. during excursions, internships) or have an opportunity to find out how physics in companies is used. Respondents expressed support for writing a new physics textbook on Matfyz, one containing more difficult parts for talented students.

Name of diploma thesis: Involvement of experts from professional practise in grammar school Name: Jan Svoboda Subject of study: Andragogy a educacation management This diploma thesis focuses on an area that is practiced, developed and supported in vocational schools on a permanent and long-term basis, but in gymnasiums it can be perceived as problematic and even unreachable. It is about involving experts from practice in teaching. The theoratical part is based on an examination of the question of who an expert is and with it related issues of competencies. It is followed by an examination of forms of teaching in which it is possible to involve experts from practice. After this, I deal with the analysis of the curriculum of gymnasiums and the general educational program for gymnasiums. In this part of the thesis I will also touch on current related topics such as Strategy 2030+, legislation, non-profit organizations and multiculturalism. The empirical part is methodologically based on case study approaches and focuses on areas of RVP, which the management of gymnasiums sees as suitable for the involvement of experts in teaching and the use of teaching forms of co-teaching. Specifically, it deals with suitable topics for teaching, the benefits and limitations and conditions of the form for the...

Det övergripande problemet vi började med är vad som beskrivs i artikeln En skola utan kanon om att elever läser mindre i skolan på grund av olika faktorer. Vissa av dem är rent tidsmässiga men även att det finns en delad uppfattning om att det helt enkelt inte finns nog med tid för djupgående skönlitterär läsning (Nordlund 1998). Olin-Scheller (2006) förmedlar i sin avhandling att det är svårt för läsare, mest omnämnt gymnasieelever, att ta till sig av den skönlitterära läsningen om den inte stämmer överens med elevernas litterära repertoar. Syftet med vårt översiktsverk är i huvudsak att presentera hur läsning och personlig utveckling hänger ihop samt förmedla varför skönlitterär läsning är både aktuell och viktig för elever. Fokus för vårt översiktsverk ligger på material som berör skönlitterär läsning för elever på gymnasienivå. Vi har använt oss av sökning i olika databaser genom att använda både breda och specifika sökord och termer. Materialet består av både vetenskapliga artiklar, litteratur och avhandlingar relevanta för våra avgränsade söktermer. Den övergripande frågan vi har arbetat med i bred bemärkelse är ”Hur och varför arbetar man med skönlitteratur i skolan?” Genom läsning och avgränsning av materialet utvecklades frågan till ”Hur bidrar läsning till personlig utveckling?” och även en sidofråga utvecklades vid läsningen av materialet ”Gör det någon skillnad på vad man läser?” Gemensamt för alla våra källor är att de alla belyser det faktum att det är viktigt att lägga vikt på den skönlitterära läsningen på gymnasiet. Dels för att alla elever ska få samma möjlighet till utveckling av sin litterära repertoar, dels för att varje elev ska få chansen till en djupare personlig utveckling innan vuxenlivet tar vid på riktigt. Nyckelord: Critical literacy, litterär repertoar, personlig utveckling och skönlitteratur.

This essay focuses on how masculinities are performed and portrayed in Annie Proulx’s novella “Brokeback Mountain” (1997). The thesis argues that through examining the characters’ portrayals of masculinity, readers might develop a deeper, nuanced understanding of gender normativity today. The novella is analysed through a queer perspective with hegemonic gender traits as the main tools for the analysis. The analysis shows how the protagonists Ennis and Jack perform their masculinities in accordance with the heterosexual matrix, while also living in fear of deviating from it. The essay also includes a pedagogical section in which the value of incorporating “Brokeback Mountain” in the EFL classroom is advocated to promote inclusive teaching and question gender normativity. Additionally, the pedagogical implications discuss the relationship between gender normativity and intolerance and homophobia.

When the Swedish school system met with the novel experience of cancelled the annual national tests in spring 2020, teachers across the country were forced to adapt to teaching without this traditional support. Due to English being one of the subjects required to administer national tests, upper secondary school English teachers were immediately affected. By looking at several studies regarding standardised testing in general, and Swedish national test tradition specifically, this qualitative study summarises how large-scale assessment in education affects teaching.Through semi-structured interviews with three English teachers, this study surveyed how teaching was affected by the cancellation of the national tests in Sweden. The teachers’ experiences of teaching without the supportive function of the national tests were also documented. The recorded interviews were analysed through the theoretical framework of reactivity, and specifically, Campbell’s Law. This study’s findings are that while the national tests hold a critical support function for teachers, they may also inhibit English teachers from teaching what is specified in the English curriculum. What emerged from the collected data and subsequent analysis was teachers’ fractured role as dependent on performance standards-based on test criteria rather than the content standards in the English curriculum. The interviewed teachers showed a great deal of trust in the national tests as grounds for assessing their students’ English skills, occasionally at the cost of their faith in themselves as teachers. Counterproductively, this resulted in teachers, consciously or not, adapting their teaching practices to fit the predicted national test rather than the curriculum. Essentially, teachers had changed their behaviour to accommodate an observer, as theorized by Campbell. During the 2020 spring semester when national tests were cancelled in Sweden, and English teachers all over the nation had to make do without their supporting function, this was made clear.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att studera huruvida det går att sätta rättssäkra betyg på elever i idrott och hälsa under distansundervisning. Enkätundersökning var metoden för att besvara frågeställningen. 100 lärare deltog i undersökningen och besvarade tolv frågor om ämnets planering och bedömning i idrott och hälsa. Resultatet visade att 84 % av de svarande lärarna ansåg det vara utmanande eller delvis utmanande att planera lektioner för elever på distansundervisning i ämnet idrott och hälsa. Resterande (16 %) ansåg det lätt eller delvis lätt att planera undervisning på distans. Gällande att bedöma elever under distansundervisning ansåg 87 % av de svarande att det är utmanande eller delvis utmanande att planera undervisning på distans. Resterande (13 %) ansåg det vara delvis lätt, men inga lärare ansåg det vara lätt. Resultatet visade på att det är en bred fördelning gällande de undervisningsmetoder lärare använde under distansundervisningen. Lärare använder kommunikation via videosamtal med eller utan kamera, mailkorrespondens eller kontakt via andra plattformar. Eleverna arbetar med “deadlines” och en del får disponera tiden fritt utifrån att de utför de uppgifter som de är tilldelade. Flera lärare svarade att de inte kan garantera att eleverna själva gör vad som förväntas av dem samt att det är ett problem. I slutsatsen kom vi fram till att det inte går att garantera rättssäkerhet vid betygsättning av distansundervisning i idrott och hälsa. Resultatet som presenteras visade att en majoritet av de svarande lärarna ansåg det vara utmanande att både planera, genomföra samt bedöma idrott- och hälsaundervisningen. Det var för oss ett tecken på att rättssäkerheten vid betygssättningen bör ifrågasättas. För framtida studier presenterade vi flera förslag på vad vi ansåg vara relevant att studera vidare om.

This essay analyzes the theme of “Otherness” in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein through three different lenses: queer readings, feminist readings, and disability studies, which will offer multiple perspectives of the “Otherness” present in the novel. The essay will engage with critics such as Benjamin Bagocius, Fuson Wang, and Colleen Hobbs. The aim of this essay is to utilize analyzed passages in Upper Secondary classrooms to cultivate critical thinking among students on issues of oppression and privilege in order to foster Anti-Oppressive education. The essay begins by introducing the concept of “Otherness” and its significance in Frankenstein. It then delves into the three different lenses and their perspectives on the theme of “Otherness.” Through these different readings, the essay demonstrates the complex and multi-layered nature of “Otherness” in Frankenstein. Furthermore, the essay argues that this analysis can be used to establish an Anti-Oppressive education in the Upper Secondary classroom. By critically examining how oppression and privilege operate in the novel, students can learn to recognize and challenge oppressive systems in society.  The essay then moves into a discussion of why an Anti-Oppressive education is necessary. Specifically, it briefly critiques the Swedish curriculum for addressing oppression in a way that increases tolerance towards marginalized groups, rather than recognizing privilege and challenging the systemic roots of oppression.