Whereas conceptions of giftedness, assessment tools, and models espoused in contemporary psychology are all grounded in the West, there are different ways to look at giftedness. This study investigated Shona culture of Zimbabwe’s conceptions of giftedness with a view to generate theoretical ideas that inform gifted programming from an African cultural perspective. The study was conducted at two levels using different research designs: a) a cultural level seeking to highlight Shona culture’s implicit theories of giftedness and b) an individual level seeking to understand Shona artists’ talent attributions. At the first level, Shona culture’s implicit theories of giftedness were explored by a questionnaire completed by 16 Zimbabwean academics of Shona cultural background. Data were analyzed in thematic frames, using frequency tables to gauge a consensus of responses among the respondents. The second study adopted a grounded theory study approach to generate a mid-range theory of Shona stone sculptors’ talent attributions focusing on how they propel a field of art. Participants in the study were 20 top talented Shona stone sculptors (icons of creative works in Zimbabwe). The Shona model of giftedness that emerged is spiritual, participatory and community focused. The grounded theory generated in the study suggested a dynamic interactive process model (DIPM) which explains how artists’ talent attributions help to propel a field of art. The DIPM posits that creativity emerges from dynamic and interactive processes activated or reactivated (by some trigger stimulus) in interactions evoking one’s unique experiences, cultural consciousness and domain specific consciousness and realized through practice and experience. In the DIPM model, creative vision and inspiration in art evolve from the interplay of six major factors which are not necessarily discrete: a) inherent/inborn potential, b) cultural consciousness, c) individual’s unique experiences, d) activation/reactivation stimulus, e) domain specific consciousness, and f) practice and experience. The DIPM model is based on beliefs systems as the magic carpets by which the artists ascend into the unknown to unleash their creativity. The study suggests that belief systems could become an interesting focus for future studies to understand creativity. The study makes a case for diversity sensitivity in gifted programming.

Whereas conceptions of giftedness, assessment tools, and models espoused in contemporary psychology are all grounded in the West, there are different ways to look at giftedness. This study investigated Shona culture of Zimbabwe’s conceptions of giftedness with a view to generate theoretical ideas that inform gifted programming from an African cultural perspective. The study was conducted at two levels using different research designs: a) a cultural level seeking to highlight Shona culture’s implicit theories of giftedness and b) an individual level seeking to understand Shona artists’ talent attributions. At the first level, Shona culture’s implicit theories of giftedness were explored by a questionnaire completed by 16 Zimbabwean academics of Shona cultural background. Data were analyzed in thematic frames, using frequency tables to gauge a consensus of responses among the respondents. The second study adopted a grounded theory study approach to generate a mid-range theory of Shona stone sculptors’ talent attributions focusing on how they propel a field of art. Participants in the study were 20 top talented Shona stone sculptors (icons of creative works in Zimbabwe). The Shona model of giftedness that emerged is spiritual, participatory and community focused. The grounded theory generated in the study suggested a dynamic interactive process model (DIPM) which explains how artists’ talent attributions help to propel a field of art. The DIPM posits that creativity emerges from dynamic and interactive processes activated or reactivated (by some trigger stimulus) in interactions evoking one’s unique experiences, cultural consciousness and domain specific consciousness and realized through practice and experience. In the DIPM model, creative vision and inspiration in art evolve from the interplay of six major factors which are not necessarily discrete: a) inherent/inborn potential, b) cultural consciousness, c) individual’s unique experiences, d) activation/reactivation stimulus, e) domain specific consciousness, and f) practice and experience. The DIPM model is based on beliefs systems as the magic carpets by which the artists ascend into the unknown to unleash their creativity. The study suggests that belief systems could become an interesting focus for future studies to understand creativity. The study makes a case for diversity sensitivity in gifted programming.

Whereas conceptions of giftedness, assessment tools, and models espoused in contemporary psychology are all grounded in the West, there are different ways to look at giftedness. This study investigated Shona culture of Zimbabwe’s conceptions of giftedness with a view to generate theoretical ideas that inform gifted programming from an African cultural perspective. The study was conducted at two levels using different research designs: a) a cultural level seeking to highlight Shona culture’s implicit theories of giftedness and b) an individual level seeking to understand Shona artists’ talent attributions. At the first level, Shona culture’s implicit theories of giftedness were explored by a questionnaire completed by 16 Zimbabwean academics of Shona cultural background. Data were analyzed in thematic frames, using frequency tables to gauge a consensus of responses among the respondents. The second study adopted a grounded theory study approach to generate a mid-range theory of Shona stone sculptors’ talent attributions focusing on how they propel a field of art. Participants in the study were 20 top talented Shona stone sculptors (icons of creative works in Zimbabwe). The Shona model of giftedness that emerged is spiritual, participatory and community focused. The grounded theory generated in the study suggested a dynamic interactive process model (DIPM) which explains how artists’ talent attributions help to propel a field of art. The DIPM posits that creativity emerges from dynamic and interactive processes activated or reactivated (by some trigger stimulus) in interactions evoking one’s unique experiences, cultural consciousness and domain specific consciousness and realized through practice and experience. In the DIPM model, creative vision and inspiration in art evolve from the interplay of six major factors which are not necessarily discrete: a) inherent/inborn potential, b) cultural consciousness, c) individual’s unique experiences, d) activation/reactivation stimulus, e) domain specific consciousness, and f) practice and experience. The DIPM model is based on beliefs systems as the magic carpets by which the artists ascend into the unknown to unleash their creativity. The study suggests that belief systems could become an interesting focus for future studies to understand creativity. The study makes a case for diversity sensitivity in gifted programming. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Even though it is prescribed by law in Sweden that children in elementary school must fulfil a compulsory education, a significant number of students are absent. The aim of this thesis is therefore to analyse two municipalities’, Halmstad and Borås, efforts to improve student attendance in elementary school. The two municipalities are of middle size with approximately the same number of citizens and elementary schools. Both municipalities, that have large autonomy, have recently developed new policies regarding how schools should manage absence in elementary school. By studying these policies and interviewing responsible authorities, principals and representatives from student health care, the goal is to find out what governance models characterize the municipalities’ efforts to promote attendance in school. The methods used are of a qualitative character and the interviews semi-structured. The theoretical framework concentrates on organization theory, such as management models, instrumental, mythical and culture perspectives and evaluation.   The results found show that the management model is strongly dominating the governance within the educational system. However, the practical methods used to promote school attendance depend in wide measures on experience and values among the actors working with the students, indicating a cultural perspective. Since the management model is dominating the governance of the school system, and this model highlights public servants’ acting space, the actors’ values and interpretations become important factors for the outcome.

Abstract The Swedish society has always been monolingual, but has for the past decades transformed into a multicultural and multilingual society. The aim of this study is to investigate if and in that case how preschool teachers work with language development in bilingual and multicultural preschools. The concept of linguistic and cultural diversity includes several different components, not least the social interactions that are of great importance to every individual's development, learning and participation in the world. By understanding the importance of language, language development and the role of mother tongue in second language acquisition, we look into various researches done concerning the effects of the preschool teachers’ opinions, methods used to language developmental primarily for children who are multilingual and how the physical environment is shaped to promote language in multicultural and multilingual preschools. The method used in this study is semi-structured interviews with preschool teacher working in multicultural or bilingual preschool settings. The questions concerns opinions on multilingualism, which methods are used to promote children´s second language acquisition and development, and also how the physical environment is shaped to influence children´s cultural and lingual backgrounds in the preschools. The results are analyzed through the socio-cultural perspective, the curriculum for preschool, language acquisition theories, language and second language development and prior research in the studies three areas, opinions, methods and the physical environment. Regarding the preschool teachers opinions about multilingualism the results shows that knowledge of the child’s mother tongue, culture and background is of importance when working with children from a multicultural and multilingual background. The preschool teachers express a need for further education and knowledge of multilingual children’s language acquisition and development. Furthermore the results shows that preschool teachers point out that literature conversations is the most common methods as well as TAKK (sign as a complement for communication). Concerning how the preschools physical environment is shaped the results shows that such is not the case. The children's different experiences often get little or no space in the preschools physical environment primarily in terms of creating an environment that is recognizable for children from a linguistic and cultural diverse background. The discussion about the results stresses the need of further research and deeper knowledge among the preschool teachers concerning methods used and the importance of ensuring that the preschools physical environment reflects the children’s different cultures and languages. Keywords: Multilingualism, Second language acquisition/ development, Place identity Socio-culture perspective, Preschool Nyckelord: Flerspråkighet, Andraspråks inlärning/ utveckling, Platsidentitet Sociokulturellt perspektiv, Förskola

Abstract Since 2010, the National Agency for Education has had an intention to improve teaching and learning in schools by introducing collaborative structures. In order to develop a learning school organisation, with the aim that all students are able to reach their educational goals, shared responsibility and common learning is advocated. The study focuses on a school´s implementation of teaching learning communities (TLC) based on teachers´ engagement in systematic collaborative work. The theoretical framework is based on social- culture perspectives. The aim of the study is to explore important conditions as well as success factors which can be related to a TLC work. The analyses are based on nine interviews and findings indicate that challenging factors are; the importance of leadership, a democratic collaborative structure and the teachers´ attitudes towards professional learning. The success factors indicate that a collaborative teaching learning is possible by challenging each other’s ideas and practices, a development of professional language, increased self-esteem and the improvement of teacher´s relations and new perspectives according to teaching and pupil´s learning. The study indicates that a demanding factor for a well-performing teaching learning community is based on a well-organized leadership. Leaders ought to be aware of how democratic processes might threaten collaborative work and how a successful leadership is formed.

Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605, 1615) is one of the most significant works of European literature. In the 20th century, the two-part novel became one of the fundamental texts for literary and cultural theorists, on which they based their theoretical studies on writing, literature, and culture in general. But do external theoretical views agree with a specific literary history? The diploma thesis presents three selected interpretations of Don Quixote (by V. Shklovsky, M. Bakhtin, and M. Foucault), which are compared with the findings from Spanish studies and with the novel in the original. At the same time, the reading of theoretical works should not be primarily revisionist; the thesis has a comparative character, and the aim is to express the relation between external and internal views of Cervantes' novel.