The aim of this diploma thesis is to draw up a business plan for establishing an English after school club for pupils of the 1st- 4th year at primary schools. The first part of the thesis is theoretical. It defines key terms and describes central characteristics of the business plan. The second part focuses on the analysis of the current market situation. The concluding part contains the business plan itself, which should help the company to enter the market successfully.

No description available.

The purpose of this independent work is, firstly, to gain a greater understanding of the complex cooperation between educators in the after-school programme and guardians, and secondly, to see how the collaboration affects the social development of pupils. The study is based on two stories about our own professional experience from situations which are difficult to assess. The first story describes how the perspective of the educator and that of guardian contradict each other. The second story is about the educator´s duty to provide problem-oriented information and to promote collaboration with guardians. The methods we have used are scientific essay writing and hermeneutical analysis. Theories and concepts of inter-subjective interaction, human learning and social development have been central to our analysis. The study shows how the speech at home and at school affects the collaboration and how the relationship between the guardian and the educator affects the pupil´s connection to the educator and his/her ability to promote social development. The strong connection between the guardian and the child can be seen to help complement the child's perception of an incident at school. The study highlights the educator's obligations to take responsibility for constructive collaborative processes, his/her expanded opportunities for student support through the utilization of guardians' perspectives, and limitations in the form of resources. Continued and further researches can be focused on looking at how the conditions for relational work and relational competence can be systematically ensured at different levels - political, local, within work teams and for individual educators. / Syftet med detta självständiga arbete är, för det första, att få ökad förståelse för det komplexa samarbetet mellan pedagoger inom fritidshemmet och vårdnadshavare, och för det andra, se hur samarbetet påverkar elevernas sociala utveckling. Arbetet utgår från våra yrkeserfarenheter av två svårbedömda händelser inom fritidshemmet. Den ena berättelsen beskriver hur pedagogens och vårdnadshavarens perspektiv blir varandras kontraster. Den andra handlar om pedagogens uppdrag att både framföra problemorienterad information och främja samarbete med vårdnadshavare. De metoder vi har använt oss av är vetenskapligt essäskrivande och hermeneutisk analys. Teorier och begrepp som beskriver intersubjektiv interaktion, mänskligt lärande och social utveckling har varit centrala i vår analys. Studien visar hur talet i hemmet och i skolan påverkar samarbetet samt hur vårdnadshavarens relation med pedagogen påverkar elevens anknytning till pedagogen och dennes möjlighet att främja social utveckling. Vårdnadshavarens och barnets nära anknytning kan ses bidra till att barnets bild av en händelse på skolan kompletteras. I studien synliggörs dels pedagogens skyldigheter att ta ansvar för konstruktiva samarbetsprocesser, dels dennes utökade möjligheter till elevstöd genom tillvaratagande av vårdnadshavares perspektiv, samt begränsningar i form av bristande resurser. Fortsatt forskning kan se över hur förutsättningar för relationellt arbete och relationell kompetens kan säkerställas systematiskt på olika nivåer - politiskt, lokalt, inom arbetslag samt för enskild pedagog.

<p>Despite generous funding, the current data shows slow-moving demographical changes in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, and little to no slowing in the decline of STEM-associated career interests in underserved communities (Leeker, Maxey, Cardella & Hynes, 2019). While a considerable amount has been written about the evaluation of formal pre-college STEM programs, little research has been carried out regarding the success of informal programs to encourage interest in STEM-related careers and develop skills needed to succeed in such environments. </p> <p>A common method of education for elementary school students is to use informal programs, usually with the help of professional mentors. To better understand such programs, the qualitative research that formulates this dissertation is a collective case study of after-school elementary robotics programs in Indiana, the United States, which successfully implemented the State Robotics Initiative (SRI) to provide hands-on STEM learning opportunities. This program relies on mentor expertise for after-school program instruction.<a> The purpose of this study is to investigate mentor involvement in informal STEM programs, including to answer the following research question: How do mentors impact student participants’ advancement of specific engineering skills, including problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication?</a></p> <p>In this case study, the researcher collected documents, observed activities involving mentors and students, and interviewed mentors and students to determine how mentor involvement impacts students who participate in informal STEM programs. The researcher then conducted a holistic analysis of the data. To understand how knowledge of STEM skills gained from mentors impacts students, the researcher focused on a coding scheme to correspond with a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21). </p> <p><a>Themes, the outcome of coding, were developed by “layering the analysis” (Creswell & Poth, 2017), first by showing unique situations of each participant, followed by grouping by the program of these unique situations into comprehensive groupings. This resulted in three separate cases covering multiple participants that serve as examples of mentor impact of specific STEM skills learned by students in three robotics programs. </a></p> <p>While the results were not analyzed across cases, all programs sought to increase knowledge with students even though each program had a different background and reason for starting the robotics program. In addition, each program had very different demographics and cultural styles, but all showed the integration of STEM and robotics in an afterschool program, with emphasis on problem-solving. This dissertation includes an introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, and a discussion. Recommendations for educators and future researchers are also presented in a final chapter. </p>

Syftet med denna studie är att få ökad kunskap om hur lärare i fritidshemmet beskriver det arbete som sker med det sociala lärandet i fritidshemmet och vad lärarna ser som viktiga faktorer inom detta. Frågeställningarna som har använts i studien är: ·Vilka faktorer anser lärare i fritidshemmet är viktiga i arbetet med det sociala lärandet? · Hur beskriver lärare i fritidshemmet arbetet med det sociala lärandet i den dagliga verksamheten? Studien baseras på kvalitativ datainsamling genom semistrukturerade intervjuer där sex respondenter har medverkat och tidigare forskning använts som underlag för vår studie. Resultatet visar att lärarna i fritidshemmet anser att faktorer som kan påverka socialt lärande i fritidshemmet är bland annat personalens utbildning, personaltäthet, samspel med klasslärare och vårdnadshavare, lokaler och rektor. Vidare visar resultatet att lärarna i fritidshemmet beskriver arbetet som viktigt för eleverna. I studien framgår det utifrån resultatet att det sociala lärandet är en stor del av livet och det förklaras av respondenterna att det blir svårt att fungera som människa i ett samhälle utan detta lärande. Resultatet visar även att det sociala lärandet ofta sker i spontana situationer, för lärare kan det vara bra att ta vara på dessa situationer för att sedan utveckla lärandet vidare.Sammanfattningsvis visar resultatet i studien att det sociala lärandet fyller en viktig funktion inom fritidshemmets verksamhet samt i det vardagliga livet som majoriteten av respondenterna menar är ett lärande för livet.

This study explores how an afterschool science program for girls that uses a curriculum written by female scientists/science educators and highlights the contributions of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields affects girls’ perception of scientists, confidence in their science skills, belief in their ability to do science, and helps them construct a positive science identity. Using self-efficacy, identity, feminist, gender, and learning theories as theoretical frameworks, this study investigates how strengthening girls’ belief in their ability to do science and confidence in their science skills and content knowledge can increase girls’ curiosity and generate a sustained interest in science that may eventually lead to STEM degrees and careers later in life. By providing girls with hands-on science experiences that emphasize leadership, cooperative learning, critical thinking, and creativity, as well as female role models and stories of successful women in STEM fields, the study provides evidence of a successful intervention format that leads to a sustained interest in science both in and outside of school. Data were collected in this qualitative case study via a survey (with Likert scale and open-ended questions), an interview, and artifacts (student work), and analyzed using open and axial coding to look for themes in the data around participants’ changing perceptions of science and scientists, increasing confidence in their science skills and content knowledge, enhanced belief in their ability to do science, and positive identity construction. The results of this study provide information about how to format a successful after-school program with a curriculum and methodology that nurtures learning, and by proxy, generates greater achievement and participation in STEM among girls that could extend through secondary school and possibly into post-secondary education and career choices. HYPOTHESISters was an afterschool STEAM program for upper elementary-aged girls (4th and 5th grades) based in West Harlem. The program was conducted on twelve consecutive Saturdays, for two hours per session, in the fall of 2019 (September 21st through December 7th) at The Forum at Columbia University. The curriculum, developed by the primary researcher in conjunction with another educator, consisted of one 12-lesson outer space-themed unit. The program participants consisted of twenty girls - ten 4th grade girls and ten 5th grade girls, between the ages of eight and ten. Most of the participants reside in West Harlem or the surrounding area. Except for four girls who identify as Caucasian, most identify themselves as members of communities of color, with seven participants being Latina, eight being Black or African American, and one being Asian (from India).

Syftet med utvecklingsarbetet var att synliggöra elevinflytandet i fritidshemsverksamheten. Arbetet utgick från aktionsforskning som metod och presenterades via en utvecklingsmodell genom följande steg; nulägesanalys, kartläggning av tidigare forskning, planering och genomförande av aktionen samt kvalitativa intervjuer med elever före och efter aktionens genomförande. Genom multimodala verktyg infördes det förslagslåda och aktivitetstavlor på fritidshemmet för att undersöka om eleverna kunde bli mer medvetna om sitt inflytande. Det har visat sig ur tidigare forskning och vår nulägesanalys att det fanns ett stort intresse bland eleverna att vara delaktiga och ha inflytande över aktiviteter på fritidshemmet. Däremot framgick det att flertalet elever hade svårt att tolka vad elevinflytande var och när det skedde. Det framkom i studien att synliggörandet av inflytande är en betydande faktor för att göra eleverna mer medvetna om att de får vara med och påverka verksamheten. I vår slutreflektion diskuteras det faktum att resultatet tog en annan riktning än vad vi räknat med. Det visade sig finnas ett behov av en slags verktyg där eleverna anonymt kunde placera lappar med andra formuleringar än önskningar. Då önskelådan desto längre tiden gick fick ta emot allt fler personliga meddelanden av eleverna.

Utvecklingsarbetets syfte var att göra eleverna delaktiga i utformandet av den fysiska miljön på fritidshemmet samt att delaktigheten skulle öka motivationen hos eleverna till att ta eget initiativ på fritidshemmet. Detta projekt har genomförts efter en nulägesanalys på ett fritidshem där behovet av att göra eleverna delaktiga i den fysiska miljön fanns. Projektet baserades på Rönnemans (1998) beskrivning av en aktionsforskningsmodell: planera, agera, observera och reflektera. Vi genomförde tre aktioner tillsammans med eleverna på fritidshemmet. Eleverna som deltog i projektet var i åldrarna 9–12 år. Första aktionen bestod av att eleverna fick rita sina önskemål på färdiga ritningar och komma med förslag på hur de ville att fritidshemmets inomhusmiljö skulle se ut. Baserat på elevernas ritningar och förslag genomfördes aktion två och tre, där två olika ommöbleringar gjordes av den fysiska miljön på fritidshemmet. Under varje aktion genomfördes informella samtal och observationer för att få underlag till vidare reflektion. Resultatet tyder på att eleverna upplevt en ökad delaktighet och motivation när de fått önska vad som skulle finnas på fritidshemmet men projektet hade behövt mer tid för att kunna få ett hållbart resultat på längre sikt. Alla bilder som är med i arbetet har vi tagit själva med godkännande av lärarna på Rubinen. Figurerna har vi illustrerat själva.

The erasure of Latino/a adolescents' multiliteracies in school settings affects both their views of education and their entry into the community outside of school. Framed by literacy-as-social-practices perspectives and communities of practice theory, this case study explored what happened when a group of 13 Latino/a adolescents and their Latina teacher engaged in a six-week play production in an after-school program and performed the play for parents. It examined the relationship between the participants' discourse practices and their performance, and determined how they validated their performances. Data collected included observations, interviews, students' written reflective responses, a fieldwork journal, and a DVD of the performance. Data were analyzed using Discourse Analysis (Gee, 2005), three characteristics of multimodal literacy adapted from three features Cowan (2003) used to analyze Latino visual discourse, and Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The findings revealed a complex performance community mediated by a set of discourse practices and tools, including a script and a video. The video's history, traced to a former 7th grade after-school group, and the participants' social practices framed their interactions. The findings revealed the discourse practice of playing around was constructed in relationship with the teacher's expectations and became an intractable binary. After one actor assessed the situation as hopeless because of the teacher's involvement in the construction of the discourses, she "left" the play and constructed herself through a new critical discourse, and imagined an easier and more equitable discourse. Another discourse juxtaposed Discourses of immigration, recognizing them as speaking to one another across history. Although the methodology was adequate for answering the research questions, it was inadequate for reaching findings on how the performances created effects for both the actors and audience. Both pedagogical and methodological errors were the result of how the visual world of print shaped our thought, extending the visual into the social world, separating it from the other senses. The actors drew from elements of the six modes of meaning to create a system of multimodal design in their performance text, and although they validated their final performance in reflective responses, they invalidated their rehearsal performances. Elements of their Discourse model serve as a blueprint for a Design for Performance Learning. The Design proposes that Latino/a adolescents take responsibility for their learning by producing sharable digital artifacts in after-school performance communities, which might prove to be contexts in which Latino/a adolescents' multiliteracies are validated rather than erased.

This study examined an after-school tutoring and mentoring program that was implemented to help low-income students in the K-12 local district who were struggling with reading and mathematics. To date, the program has not been successful in improving student achievement. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to provide administrators and teachers with insights into parents' and teachers' perceptions of the program, with an emphasis on parental involvement (PI). Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism focused this study on the tenet that social interactions between parents, students, and teachers all impact the program students' construction of knowledge. The research questions focused on the teachers' and parents' perceptions of the effectiveness of the tutoring program, parental involvement, and suggestions to improve the program. Detailed qualitative data was collected through seven parents and three teachers structured interviews that were transcribed, open-coded, and analyzed across participants to identify recurrent themes. There were 5 themes: PI is crucial, behavior problems, improving parent-teacher communication, inadequate PI, and improving PI. Participants had mixed opinions of the effectiveness of the tutoring program, emphasized the importance of PI, and had many suggestions to improve the program. The project white paper includes 6 detailed recommendations supported by data, a timeline for implementation and materials for a teacher training component and a teacher-parent collaboration component. Positive social change may result if the study helps increase the amount of interaction between teachers and parents, increases attendance at parent meetings, and these changes help increase student test scores.