Studiens syfte är att bidra med kunskap om barns inflytande i förskolan utifrån förskollärarens perspektiv. Jag strävar efter att göra detta genom två frågeställningar: Vad innebär inflytande för förskollärare? Och, hur anser förskollärare att de skapar möjligheter för barns inflytande? För att besvara frågeställningarna skickades fyra frågeformulär ut och fyra telefonintervjuer genomfördes, samtliga riktade mot förskollärare. Materialet transkriberades sedan för att sammanställas. Studiens resultat visar att barn får inflytande i olika utsträckning beroende på situation och förutsättningar. Samtliga förskollärare strävar efter att barn ska få inflytande men det framgår även att verksamhetens rutiner, förskollärares förhållningssätt och barns åldrar kan vara hinder för detta. Den slutsats jag dragit av min studie är att samtliga förskollärare arbetar för att ge barn inflytande utifrån de förutsättningar som finns i verksamheten. Förskollärarna är medvetna om de hinder som finns och det framgår genom min studie att de använder olika arbetssätt för att försöka kringgå dessa. / The study aims to contribute knowledge about children's influence in preschool from preschool teacher’s perspective. I aim to do this through two issues: What does influence mean to preschool teachers? And, how do preschool teachers consider themselves creating opportunities for children's influence? In order to examine the issues, four questionnaires were sent out and four telephone interviews were conducted, all directed to preschool teachers. The material was then transcribed to be summarized. The results show that children receive influence in varying degrees depending on the situation and circumstances. All preschool teachers strive for children to have influence, but it is apparent that the preschool practices, preschool teachers' attitudes and children's ages may be obstacles. The conclusion I drew from my study is that all preschool teachers work to give children influence on the conditions that exist in the preschool. The preschool teachers are aware of the obstacles and I reveal through my study that they use different approaches to try to circumvent them.

The aim of the study is to investigate how “listening” takes placein apreschool in Reggio Emilia, a city in northern Italy. This is a phenomenological study that investigates “listening” as a phenomenon based on children ́sand pedagogues ́ experiences. Three pedagogues and eleven children was interviewed in order to get knowledge about three main aspects: how “listening” is interpreted by pedagogues and children and put in practice in a Reggio Emilia pedagogy-also known as “the pedagogy of listening”; if children experience that they are being listened to and whether they have an influence in the preschool ́s activities; and whether the Reggio Emilia pedagogy affects the relationship between pedagogues and children. The findings show that “listening” is a complex concept that includes a variety of meanings that result in many different interpretations on how to put it in to practice. As described in other studies there is a risk of making children objects of adult research, thus affecting a genuine relationship between pedagogues and children. In these studies, the Reggio Emilia pedagogy is described as a method with fixed and rigid techniques of listening. According to the results in this study this seems to be avoidable by considering the Reggio Emilia pedagogy as an approach that is adaptable to different children groups, as well asactively involving children in their own documentation process. The results also demonstrate that children donot feel that they area part of the decision making when it comes to the preschool ́s activities. This is due to the fact that children’s interests are subject to interpretation by the pedagogues, who then often redirect them towards more desirable contents according to their own intentions. Also, the preschool environment is seen as a “third pedagogue” as it communicates to the children which activities and interactions are considered possible in a certain space.

This thesis explores the everyday practice of school bullying by examining children's participation in peer group activities as well as in school-based anti-bullying activities within an educational setting. The empirical material is drawn from a long-term (1 year) ethnographic study conducted among preadolescent children in a 5th grade class in a Swedish elementary school. An ethnomethodological approach is used in analysis of ethnographically based fieldnotes, and in detailed analysis of video recordings collected during participant observations.    The first study examines, through elaborated investigation of a peer group's everyday peer encounters, how social exclusion is situated within the flow of intricate, subtle and seemingly innocent interactions. In this, the study offers detailed information about how girls' everyday peer group interactions, taken across a range of activities, may be consequential for the process of social exclusion.    The second study examines the interactional moral work accomplished within the situated practice of ART classroom sessions on moral reasoning used as part of the school's anti-bullying prevention program. The study contributes an understanding of the interactional managment of children's moral stance-taking, something that has previously been overshadowed by the quest to project the outcomes for individual children's moral reasoning. The third study examines a gossip dispute event, in which a group of girls take action against another girl for reporting school bullying to the teacher. The study demonstrates how, as the gossip dispute unfolds, the girls accused of bullying appropriate and even subvert the social organization of the school's anti-bullying program, and manage to turn the tables so that the girl initially reporting to be a victim of bullying is cast as an instigator, and the girls accused of the bullying as victims of false accusations.    The thesis illuminates the complex meanings and functions of social actions referred to as bullying within a school context and in the literature. Also, it sheds light on the difficulties that come with teachers' attempts to structure children's social relationships. All in all, the thesis illuminates the need to challange an individualistic approach to bullying, recognizing the social and moral orders children orient to in their everyday life at school.

The purpose of the study was to investigate if empathic communication (see definition further down) can contribute to children´s participation in a preschool environment. The purpose is answered through my research questions: Does the preschool teachers work through an empathic approach, and if so how is it manifested in their cooperation with the children? Empathic communication in this context is equated with the term non violent communication; (nvc) an approach and a model of communicating with empathy, compassion and openness, which in itself, may contribute to less violent language and actions among children and adults, as well as greater cooperation and participation levels in their activities. The empirical data for this qualitative theses was collected through two interviews with two preschool teachers working in one nvc oriented preschool. I used semi-structured interviews, which is characterized by open questions and a curious and open attitude for me as an interviewer, where I tried to follow the interviewee by asking follow-up questions. Another part of the material I collected through non-participating observations of twelve children and one preschool teacher, in their everyday activities in a nvc oriented preschool. The theoretical understanding is based on the socio cultural perspective, a theory used to describe awareness of circumstances surrounding individuals and how their behaviors are affected specifically by their surrounding, social and cultural factors. This perspective also relates to how we communicate, understand, relate and cope with one another. The three socio cultural concepts cooperation (described through Vygotskijs theories), children´s participitation and empathy, (all parts of the nvc process), are presented and  described as a ground for the analyze of my empirical data. The Results presents the observations and the interviews, analysed through the social cultural view, in line with Vygotskijs theories of cooperation, as well as through the implication of the concepts children´s participation and empathy. The results are also discussed in the sight of the results of two research surveys, presented in my essay, one investigating the effect of using the nvc as a model in preschools, the other one investigating children´s particiaption in a preschool environment. The conclusions of the study are that empathic communication (nvc) in many ways, can contribute to children´s participation in a preschool environment. This is seen in the interviews and confirmed in the observations; in the children´s behaviors, preschool teachers approach and the unity in their cooperation. The results of this study is also confirmed by other studies in the research field. However, to consolidate my conclusions further, more and deeper studies in this area is needed.

Det finns idag brister kring hur barn görs delaktiga i sitt eget ärende i kontakt med socialtjänsten. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka hur socialsekreterare beskriver hur de arbetar med barns delaktighet i praktiken. Detta gjordes genom kvalitativa intervjuer med sex socialsekreterare. Barnens röster kring hur de kan uppleva kontakten med socialtjänsten har i denna studie gjorts hörda genom citat från tidigare publicerad litteratur. För studiens analys har Shiers delaktighetsmodell använts.Det studien visar är att barn görs delaktiga kring delar av ärendeprocessen, men det förefaller som att delaktigheten är bristfällig när det rör beslut om insats och dess innehåll. Det informanterna lyfter som en negativ påverkande faktor i arbetet med att göra barn delaktiga är framförallt tidsbristen. I studien framkommer även att det i organisationernas riktlinjer finns en otydlighet kring hur och i vilken omfattning barn ska göras delaktiga. Dessutom saknas det en klar definition av vad barns delaktighet innebär. / Today there are deficiencies about how children are involved in their own case in contact with the social services. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate how social workers describe how they work with childrenʼs participation in practice. This was done through qualitative interviews with six social workers in Skane. In this study, the childrenʼs voices on how they can experience the contact with the social services have been heard through quotations from previously published literature. For the studyʼs analysis, Shierʼs pathways to participation has been used. What the study shows is that children are involved in parts of the case process, but it seems that participation is deficient when it comes to decisions on treatment and its content. What the informants highlight as a negative influencing factor in the work of involving children is, above all, the lack of time. The study also shows that there is an ambiguity in how and to what extent children should be involved in the organizationsʼ policies. In addition, there isnʼt a clear definition of what childrenʼs participation entails.

Barns uppfattning av delaktighet i vården är utforskat, men när det gäller vårdkvalitet är källan till uppgifterna sällan barnen själva. En förutsättning för ett barnperspektiv i vården är att barn själva deltar i utvärderingen. Studier visar att det är angeläget att ta del av åsikter gällande delaktighet i vården då barns uppfattning inte nödvändigtvis överensstämmer med föräldrars uppfattning. Studiens syfte var att undersöka barn och föräldrars uppfattning om barns delaktighet i vården. Två frågeformulär, ett avsett för barn och ett för föräldrar har använts i studien, som genomfördes med kvantitativ metod och med deskriptiv design. Enkätundersökningen genomfördes på barnavdelningar och barnmottagningar vid ett mellanstort sjukhus i västra Sverige. Totalt ingick 19 barn åldern 10-17 år samt 18 medföljande föräldrar i studien. Barn och föräldrars svar indikerar gynnsamma förutsättningar för delaktighet och en majoritet av barnen upplevde sig delaktiga. Dock ses tendenser som pekar på att det föreligger viss skillnad mellan barns upplevelse av delaktighet, relaterat till barnets ålder. Viss diskrepans mellan barns och föräldrars svar kan även skönjas. Att enbart förlita sig på föräldrars utsago om barns uppfattningar anses därför inte tillräckligt. Vidare kartläggning av barns delaktighet i verksamheter riktade till barn är önskvärt. / Children's perception of participation in health care is rarely based on the children’s experiences. A prerequisite for a child-centered perspective in health care is that children themselves participate in evaluations. Studies show that it is important to take part of opinions regarding participation in health care due to the fact that children and parents' perceptions not always are consistent. The aim of this study was to investigate how the child and their parent perceive the child's participation in health care. Two questionnaires, one intended for children and one for the parents were used in the study. The study was conducted using a quantitative method with descriptive design. The survey was carried out in pediatric wards and child clinics at a midsize hospital in western Sweden. 19 children in the age of 10-17 years and 18 accompanying parents participated in the study. Children’s and parents' responses indicate favorable conditions for participation. A majority of the children stated an experience of involvement. However, trends indicate that there is some difference between children's experience of participation, related to the age of the child. Some discrepancies can be discerned between the children’s and the parents' responses. Relying solely on the parents' admission of the child's perception is therefore not sufficient. Further research of children's participation in activities directed to children is desirable.

The purpose of this study was to analyse how adults in preschool staff reason about circle time and its purpose as well as children’s participation and planning. The study was conducted as qualitative interviews with four adults in preschool staff. Results from the study show that the planning of the circle time is the responsibility of every adult in preschool staff and demands a grounded and a thoughtful view. The adult in preschool staff also claim that is important to have the children active and included in circle time and that they should be in focus. There are three main reasons why adult in preschool staff decide to have circle time with the children. There are reasons to encourage language, social and emotional development. The literature, however, takes up the collection's purpose is more about providing security, community and school preparation. The biggest reason they also point out the affirmation of the children. Both adult in preschool staff and literature speaks of confirmation and community but the adult in preschool staff does not speak about school preparatory activity that reason that they have set. The study also showed that there are ready-made materials for different kinds of circle time. Children's participation is something that should be the focus of the circle time, but the adult in preschool staff use too often and easy the ready materials instead.

Abstract The aim of this study is to retrieve knowledge about how teachers in the preschool talk about children’s participation and influence in the work of pedagogical documentation, and what they think about children’s integrity associated whit it. I have used qualitative interview as method, and I have interviewed five teachers from four different preschools. The result from my study shows that the teachers don’t see so much of children’s participations and influence in the work of pedagogical documentation. One contributor to that they think is the less of time. The teachers however, would like to let the children take more part of and have more influence in the documentation. They also believe that documentation cannot be pedagogical until you’ve done something whit it. When it comes to children’s integrity in the pedagogical documentation, the teachers feel like they don’t see to it as much as they should do. The teachers have a clear view on what pedagogical documentation is and how children’s participation and integrity should be in it, but they aren’t there just yet. / Sammanfattning Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med mer kunskap om hur förskollärare tänker om barns delaktighet och inflytande i den pedagogiska dokumentationen, samt hur de tänker om barns integritet i samband med den. Jag har använt mig av en kvalitativ intervjustudie, där jag har intervjuat fem stycken förskollärare från fyra olika förskolor. Resultatet av min studie visar att förskollärarna inte ser så mycket av barns delaktighet och inflytande i dagens dokumentation, en bidragande faktor till det anser de vara bristen på tid. Förskollärarna skulle däremot vilja låta barnen vara mer delaktiga och ha ett större inflytande i dokumentationen, då de anser att en dokumentation inte blir pedagogisk förrän man gjort något med den. När det kommer till barns integritet i den pedagogiska dokumentationen, känner förskollärarna att de inte ser till den lika mycket som de kanske borde. Förskollärarna har en tydlig syn på vad pedagogisk dokumentation är och hur barns delaktighet och integritet i den borde vara, men de är inte riktigt där än.

Studien syftade till att undersöka hur socialsekreterare arbetade med barns delaktighet i socialtjänstens barnavårdsutredningar samt hur covid-19-pandemin påverkade detta. Kvalitativa intervjuer hölls med åtta socialsekreterare om deras erfarenheter av utredande arbete med barn innan och under covid-19-pandemin. Socialsekreterarna visade stort en­gagemang för barns delaktighet, men det framkom att delaktigheten främst handlade om att inhämta information från barn om deras situation. Resultatet visade att pandemin har haft negativ påverkan på barns möjligheter till delaktighet. Socialsekreterarnas handlings­utrymme påverkades i varierande grad beroende på verksamhetens förhållningssätt till riktlinjer och restrik­tioner. Det framkom stora skillnader mellan hur socialsekreterare har träffat och inkluderat barn både innan och under covid-19-pandemin. Av resultatet att döma var arbetet med barns delaktighet en utmaning sedan tidigare, men det har ställts på sin spets under covid-19-pandemin. För barn kunde situationen liknas vid ett lotteri för i vilken utsträckning de gjordes delaktiga, utifrån den socialsekreterare de tilldelats. / The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how social workers at child welfare agencies implemented the principle of children's right to participation in child protection investigations and how the covid-19-pandemic has affected it. Eight social workers were interviewed on their experiences before and during the covid-19-pandemic. The social workers showed much interest in children’s participation, but findings showed they mostly thought of it as acquiring information from children. The study found that the covid-19-pandemic had a negative effect on the possibilities of participation. Experiences of how the covid-19-pandemic affected discretion and relative autonomy differed between the social workers. Notable differences emerged regarding how they met and included children in investigations both before and during the covid-19-pandemic. The challenges of implementing children’s right to participation seems to persist. The situa­tion appeared much like a lottery, where children’s level of participation greatly depended on which social worker they were assigned.

2020 blev Barnkonventionen lag i Sverige och Sverige hade redan under många år strävat efter att följa de riktlinjer som Barnkonventionen ger. Trots de ambitioner som formulerats ovan så visar uppföljningar att barn generellt inte görs tillräckligt delaktiga i socialtjänstens beslutsprocesser. Studier gällande hur barn med funktionsnedsättningar görs delaktiga i socialtjänstens utredningar visar att socialsekreterare ofta saknar kompetens att tala med dessa barn på deras nivå och träffar barnen för sällan. Utifrån detta kan identifieras ett problemområde gällande hur barn ska göras mer delaktiga i barnavårdsutredningar och de förutsättningar och arbetssätt som behövs för att göra detta möjligt. Syftet med denna studie har varit att öka kunskapen kring förutsättningar och arbetssätt som kan möjliggöra barnets ökade delaktighet i samband med socialtjänstens beslutsprocesser. Frågeställningarna är vilka olika förutsättningar och arbetssätt krävs för att socialsekreterare inom barnavårdsutredningar ska kunna skapa möjligheter för barnets delaktighet i beslutsprocessen samt vilka gynnande respektive hindrande faktorer som påverkar barnets delaktighet. Studien är grundad på en granskning av 14 vetenskapliga artiklar genererade vid sökning i PsycInfo, Universitetsbibliotekets databas samt vid sekundärsökning. Dessa analyserades med en metaanalytisk ansats.  Resultat: Den finns flera olika faktorer på individ-, organisations- och strukturell nivå som kan verka gynnande eller hämmande på barnets delaktighet. På individnivå kan identifieras faktorer som professionellas inställning till delaktighet, socialsekreterarens roll och personliga egenskaper, kunskap om olika samtalstekniker och barnets närvaro på möten. På organisationsnivå kan identifieras förutsättningar för förberedelse och reflektion samt anpassad miljö och tillgängligt material. På den strukturella nivån kan identifieras att större förändringar gällande innehållet i socialsekreterarens utbildning samt lagförändringar kring barnombud skulle kunna haft en gynnsam effekt. Slutsatsen är att för att stärka gynnande faktorer och minska hindrande faktorer gällande barns delaktighet i barnavårdsutredningar krävs dialog och samverkan inom arbetsgruppen. Det finns en vikt i att tillsammans definiera begreppet delaktighet och tydliggöra målsättningen för att sedan genom kollegialt lärande utnyttja varandras kunskaper och erfarenheter för att skapa goga möjlighet för samtal med de barn socialsekreterarna möter. / In 2020, the Convention on the Rights of the Child became law in Sweden, and Sweden had already strived for years to follow the guidelines provided by the Convention of the Rights of the Child. Despite the ambitions formulated above, follow-ups show that children are generally not made sufficiently involved in the social services´ decision-making processes. Studies regarding how children with disabilities are included in the social services´ investigations show that social workers often lack the competence to speak with these children at their level and meet the children too rarely. Based on this, a problem area can be identified regarding how children should be made more involved in child welfare investigations and the conditions and working methods needed to make those possible.  The purpose of this study has been to increase knowledge about the conditions and working methods that can enable the child´s increased participation in connection with the social service´s decision-making processes. The questions are what different conditions and working methods are required for social workers within child welfare investigations to be able to create opportunities for the child´s participation in de decision-making process and witch favourable and hindering factors affect the child´s participation. The study is based om a review of 14 scientific articles generated by searches in PsycInfo, the University Library’s database and secondary searches. These were analysed using a meta-analytic approach.  Results: There are several different factors at the individual, organizational and structural level that can have a beneficial or inhibiting effect on the child´s participation. At the individual level, factors such as the professional´s attitude to participation, the social worker´s role and personal characteristics, knowledge of different conversation techniques and the child´s presence at meetings can be identified. At organizational level, prerequisites for preparation and refection, as well as an adapted environment and available material, can be identified. At the structural level, it can be identified that major changes regarding the content of the social secretary´s training as well as changes in the law regarding children´s representatives could have a beneficial effect.  The conclusion is that in order to strengthen favourable factors and reduce hindering factors regarding children´s participation in childcare investigations, dialogue and collaboration within the working group is required. There is an importance in jointly defining the concept of participation and clarifying the objective in order to then use each other´s knowledge and experience through collegial learning to create good opportunities for conversations with the children the social workers meet.