This essay argues that Mark Twain’s novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Pudd’nhead Wilson can be applied in Swedish upper secondary schools to address racial inequality in the purpose of achieving intercultural competence and understanding. Racism is a vast issue, evident in both schools and in our society, locally as well as globally, where ethnical minorities are abused or disfavored societal privileges. This leaves teachers with the vital task of counteracting racism in classrooms, in accordance with the educational goals of imparting democratic values. The essay is conducted through a Close Reading, which is beneficial in exposing a text’s complexity by examining its literary aspects. The primary focus from the Close Reading is put on narration and its subordinate categories. Word choice, repetition or metaphors are highlighted and analyzed from the selected passages as they are literary aspects that the students can react to and further discuss in relation to racism in their everyday lives. The findings show that Twain’s ways of narrating racism and stimulating empathy are integral features in promoting an increased understanding to meet the curriculum’s requirements.

This diploma thesis deals with the comparison of democratic values within the Czech Republic between the Millennial generation and Husak's Children generation. It sets out to answer the issue as to whether or not a significant difference can be found for the support of democracy within these two generations of the Czech Republic. It also sets out to answer the question whether or not Czech Millenials show low support for democracy. Based on the researched literature, the research for this paper found a low support of democracy of less than 50%. To answer the mentioned questions, data from the sixth round of the 2012 European Social Survey was analysed. The research was quantitative and SPSS was used to analyse the data. Differences in the support of democratic values were examined using exploratory factor analysis, analysis of variance ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. The level of support of the democracy of the Czech Millennials was resolved using descriptive statistics and pairwise comparisons. The results are presented in the form of graphs and contingency tables. The conclusions are also introduced in the form of contingency tables and graphs. The test results do not exhibit a significant aberration in the support of democratic values between the studied generations; however, there was a...

Misinformation poses a significant threat to democracy, as it undermines informed decision-making, creates distrust among citizens, and exacerbates social and political polarization. Public libraries can in theory mitigate this threat by serving as trustworthy sources of information and promoting critical thinking, but must contend with issues such as the politicization of library services, which have the potential to erode public trust in libraries. This paper explores the critical role of public libraries as democratic institutions in countering the growing problem of misinformation and disinformation. Six librarians and library managers from Sweden's largest public libraries were interviewed using semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative data on this topic. Thematic content analysis was conducted on the data, which resulted in several key themes that demonstrate issues involved in public libraries’ approaches to addressing misinformation. The results reveal that public libraries grapple with whether an open, unrestricted acquisitions policy is better, or whether a more selective policy is more effective in combatting misinformation-related problems. The results also indicate public libraries’ uncertainty in deciding how active and outspoken of a role they should take in combatting the issue of misinformation at large. The study highlights the importance of public libraries in addressing this societal challenge and provides insights into the tensions surrounding the library’s preservation of public trust and the protection of its democratic values when challenged by misinformation.

During the beginning of the 20th century, the Swedish School Sports Association was started with the goal of developing sports for students in Swedish schools. The association arose as part of the sports movement in Sweden and is a committee of the National Sports Confederation. During the first half of the 20th century, the Swedish Sports Association functioned like any other sports association, but with students as the focus group. In connection with their 50th anniversary, 1966, the Swedish School Sports Association invited students to their association's board. This became a turning point for the Swedish School Sports Association and what kind of association they have become in today. In modern times, the Swedish School Sports Association is an organization that works to teach young people to lead and take responsibility through democratic leadership, an organization for young people, led by young people.In this essay, the aim is to examine how the Swedish School Sports Association's development into a association led by students and young people began and developed. To analyze this development, this essay uses a qualitative text analysis as its method to analyze the Swedish School Sports Association's own archive material in the form of the member magazine Final, Activity Reports and campaign protocols between the years 1966–1981. Robert Putnam's theory of social capital which defines how an organization's social capital can be valued through "civic virtue" is used to value and develop a functioning democracy within a group. Putnam's theory will be used to visualize how this development of the Swedish School Sports Association has changed the organization's social capital with a focus on the students' integration. The essay asks three questions that aim to answer how students are engaged and involved in the organization of the Swedish School Sports Association and how this has developed democratic values ​​within the association. With the aim of investigating students involvment within the organization, these questions will shape the structure of the inquiry and focus the reading of the archival material.The essay comes to the conclusion of how the development of the Swedish School Sports Association has gone over 15 years, from an organization with a low social capital where the students were only participants in the physical activities, to an organization with high social capital where the students are involved in everything from the physical activities to participation on the board. The survey also shows how unique this development has been during the latter half of the 20th century when placed in a larger societal and international perspective. A unique development for Swedish sports where the Swedish School Sports Association is one of the earliest to let students participate and lead. At the same time as it is an opposite development from American sports that is developing.

本研究旨在探討台北市國中生的家庭背景與民主價值的關連性研究，希望藉由政治社會化相關理論來瞭解不同家庭背景的政治文化差異是否影響國中生的政治社會化行為。 本研究是採分層及立意抽樣法，同時是研究者自行抽樣，礙於經費以及人力 的限制，所以根據研究者所研擬的研究架構自行抽樣，施測總人數為795人。依 據研究假設，筆者自行設計一份「臺北市國中生政治社會化問卷」，依本研究設 計，除於問卷開頭說明本問卷的調查目的、作答原則以及隱私之保密外，第一部 份為「政治興趣」、「家庭民主程度」、「家庭決策模式」、「家庭政治化程度」； 第二部分為「政治信任感」；第三部份為「國家認同」；第四部分為「民主價值」； 第五部分為「基本資料」。使用的統計方法採用描述性統計分析、信度分析、單 因子變異數分析、相關係數分析、迴歸分析等統計方法處理。 本研究共有以下幾點發現: 一、國中生家庭的民主程度及家庭的政治化程度與其政治興趣及民主價值有統計上的顯著相關。 二、國中生的年級高低會影響其政治興趣：在「年級」這個測量指標當中，高 年級的學生的政治興趣與低年級的學生的政治興趣具有顯著的差異，其中 高年級的政治興趣明顯高於低年級的政治興趣。 三、政治興趣與民主價值的關聯性:國中生的政治興趣高低會影響其民主價值高 低，國中生的政治興趣與民主價值兩者具有顯著的關聯性，而且在相對上 是對民主價值較具影響力的因素。 / The research aims at dealing with the relation between family background and democratic values of junior high school students in Taipei City. And hope to use the political socialization theory to understand whether the behaviors of political socialization of junior high school students will be influenced by different family backgrounds with political and cultural differences. The stratified and cluster sampling are applied, and purposive sampling sampling is conducted as well because of the limited budget and manpower. According to the research hypotheses, a questionnaire is designed and 705 valid questionnaires are returned out from 795 questionnaires. At the beginning of the questionnaire, the purpose of the research, the principles of answering questions and the promise of secrecy are explained. The first part focuses on “political interest,” “the level of democracy within the family,” “family strategy model,” “the level of politicization within the family; ” the second part focuses on “sense of political trust;” the third part focuses on“national identification,” and the fourth and fifth part focus on “democratic values” and “background information” respectively. The research uses the following analytical methods: the description covariance, reliability analysis, one-way ANOVA, correlation analysis and the regression analysis. Major findings from the research are as follows: First, statistics show that there is a positive relationship among the level of democracy within the family, the level of politicization within the family, political interest and democratic values for junior high school students. Second, among junior high school students, seniors have more intense political interest than juniors. Third, for junior high school students, there is a positive correlation between political interest and democratic values. Relatively speaking, political interest will be a more influential factor to democratic values.

This thesis concerns the mediation of history in a public arena in society, namely in historical exhibitions in museums. The foci of the thesis are exhibitions on migration history, cultural encounters, “Us” and “the Others”, and in particular how relations based on the principles of class, gender and ethnicity are mediated. The research concerns two exhibitions – "Afrikafararna" (The Travellers to Africa) and "Kongospår" (Traces of Congo). In this thesis museums are viewed as arenas for public education and meaning-making. It explores how the historical contents as well as the forms of mediation in the exhibitions correspond to the task of promoting democracy that has been assigned to Swedish museums. This task is expressed in the intentions of the respective museums, in the general policies on culture and also in the policy documents for schools. Therefore the thesis also explores how pupils and teachers understand the mediation of history and use the museum as a source for learning. Exhibitions are regarded in this thesis as mediation processes of history. Three distinct phases can be seen in this process – the phase of production, the phase of mediation and the phase of reception. People connected to the different phases, such as curators, producers, museum educators, and pupils, have been interviewed. These interviews show how conditions, convictions and scope for action influence how the stories of migration and cultural encounters are told and understood. The contents of the exhibitions are analysed from a perspective of class, gender and ethnicity. Furthermore, the limitations and possibilities for the visitors to intensify their historical consciousness are discussed. The study shows how economic conditions and access to historical source material influence the way history is mediated, but also, and to a very large extent, convictions on pedagogy and concepts of history among museum staff. The latter two are determining factors when it is made clear that the way the historical source material is used results in the fact that history is mediated in a way that does not correspond to the intentions and goals to promote democratic values, such as equality, and active democratic readiness for action. The study shows that the exhibitions in question mediate patterns of subordination and asymmetrical relations between women and men and between Swedes/Scandinavians and Africans in their mediation of history. There are sometimes very distinct lines between “Us” and “the Others”. One of the exhibitions offers more space for individual meaning-making and reflection than the other, however, because of its problematization of the occurrence of African artefacts in Scandinavia and because there are more stories and more voices in the exhibition. The interviews with teachers and pupils show that the visits to the exhibitions are often isolated events that are rarely incorporated into the students’ education in a prolonged theme or perspective. Several students uncritically accepted the mediation in the exhibition, others were provoked and challenged, but the students had little opportunity to discuss these experiences in either the museum or in school. In summing up, several of the results of the analysis show that the mediation of history in the exhibitions cannot be described as corresponding to the demands of a democratic conception of education.

Studien syftar till att beskriva hur fyra lärare mot yngre åldrar förhåller sig till och arbetar med värdegrunden genom litteraturen. Där litteraturen används som ett pedagogiskt verktyg för att förebygga konflikter eller belysa andra frågor som berör skolans värdegrund. Utifrån detta diskuteras litteraturens möjligheter och funktion i skolans värdegrundsarbete och därtill lärares beskrivna mål med värdegrunden genom litteraturarbetet samt val av litteratur. Studiens övergripande mål är att föra en diskussion om synen på skolans huvudsakliga uppdrag kunskapsuppdraget och värdegrundsuppdraget. Denna studie beskriver hur lärare förhåller sig till kunskapsuppdraget och värdegrundsuppdraget, där litteraturen får ha en central plats för arbetet med värdegrundsfrågor. Studien är också en beskrivning av lärarnas ämnesuppfattningar inom svenskämnet. Studien utgår ifrån följande frågeställningar: -Hur beskriver lärarna sitt arbete med värdegrunden genom litteraturen?  -Vilka förtjänster respektive utmaningar upplever lärarna att det finns med ett arbetssätt där litteratur används i värdegrundsarbetet?   -Vilka mål beskriver lärarna att de har med sitt arbete med värdegrunden genom litteraturen? -Hur motiverar lärarna sina didaktiska val av litteratur i syfte att beröra värdegrundsfrågor? Studiens valda metod är kvalitativa metoder genom lärarintervjuer och har därför ett lärarperspektiv. De utvalda lärarna har alla svenska som ett av sina huvudämnen. Det empiriska materialet analyseras utifrån teorier nära Louise M. Rosenblatts tankar om litteraturen som en nödvändighet i en demokrati och för att utveckla demokratiska medborgare. Även Gunilla Molloys syn på svenskämnet som ett demokratiämne samt Aidan Chambers teorier om litteraturläsningens inverkan på individen tas upp. Resultatet visar att lärarna har en konstruktivistisk syn på värdegrundsarbetet inom värdepedagogiken då värdegrundsfrågor arbetas medvetet med i hantering av konflikter och förebyggande värdegrundsarbete. Resultatet visar att lärarna ser litteraturen som en möjlighet att utveckla både elevers demokratiska värderingar och demokratiska förmågor. Litteraturens möjligheter att utveckla den känslomässiga inlevelseförmågan innefattande empati och förnuft genom att göra textkopplingar till sig själva och världen omkring sig framkom som centrala delar av arbetet med litteraturen. Lärarna beskriver rika möjligheter till deliberativa samtal utifrån litteraturen i undervisningen till att arbeta med värdegrundsrelaterade frågor men det framkom som en utmaning att få med alla elever i samtalen. Lärarna väljer texter utifrån elevernas samt gruppens behov och tidigare erfarenheter och kan därför sägas ha en erfarenhetspedagogisk ämnesuppfattning. Det framkom att lärarna inte bara ser svenskämnet som ett färdighetsämne utan också som ett demokratiämne med många möjligheter att bidra till den växande människans utveckling av demokratiska värderingar.

This study examines the significance of reading aloud for work with values in school through an analysis of Pojken i randig pyjamas (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas). The analysis considers the themes and narrative technique of the texts. In this study, reading aloud is viewed as an opportunity for the teacher to read aloud to pupils from a work of literature. The book Pojken i randig pyjamas was selected for study because it is a book that is often chosen for reading aloud and it can lead to many discussions in the classroom. The results show that this book is suitable in many ways for reading aloud in the classroom. The study also finds that this book functions well as a basis for work with values. Although the book deals with the Holocaust, a topic that can be difficult for teachers and pupils to deal with in a good way, the study shows that this book, when the reading is followed by a discussion, can contribute to a broader understanding of both the Holocaust and the outlook on humanity.

Denna uppsats är en textnära läsning av Gul utanpå (Lundberg, 2013), en självbiografisk roman om Patrik Lundberg som är adopterad från Korea till Sverige. I sin berättelse om resan tillbaka till födelselandet ger han en berörande skildring av hur det är att upptäcka sina rötter. Det är också en berättelse om hur det är att förstå var man har befunnit sig alla de år innan man har utforskat kopplingen till sitt hemland. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att utforskar olika identitetskategorier i en självbiografi skriven av en utlandsadopterad svensk författare för att diskutera hur en sådan bok kan användas som ett litterärt verktyg i skolans värdegrundsarbete genom didaktisk läsning. Frågor som tas upp rör etnicitet, kön och klass samt kulturell mångfald och hur detta synliggörs i denna typ av självbiografi. Uppsatsen innehåller en litteraturteoretisk del som grundar sig på teorier av Mieke Bal vad gäller narratologi och fokalisering, samt en litteraturdidaktisk del baserad på Louise M. Rosenblatt med referens till hennes teori om didaktisk läsning. Metoden som tillämpas är läsning ur ett intersektionellt perspektiv. Min hypotes är att när en människa som inte har upptäckt sig själv ännu skriver en memoar ger berättelsen utrymme för en vidgad tolkning. Slutsatsen är att temat om adoption ger möjlighet att diskutera kulturell mångfald i klassrummet. Läsning av en självbiografisk roman ger också rum för elever att reflektera över sitt eget identitetsskapande. Men den tillåter ändå samtidigt en viss distans i läsningen, vilket gör att mottagaren kan ta till sig textens utanförskap. / This essay is a qualitative close reading of Gul utanpå (Lundberg, 2013). This book is categorised as life-writing and labelled adoption memoire. The story unfolding in the book centers around Patrik Lundberg who is adopted from Korea to Sweden. In his story about travelling back to his birth country he shares new perspectives and emotional discoveries, poignantly writing about finding your roots for the first time. This is also a story about learning how to understand your own essence in a life previously lived before discovering your roots. This essay aims to analyse perspectives and categories of identity in adoption memoires by way of using an intersectional method of reading. Theories applied are on the one hand narratology by Mieke Bal and her ideas of focalisation, and on the other theories based on Louise M.Rosenblatt’s ideas concerning didactic reading strategies. The idea is to bring forward how this type of literature can be used as a tool for working with democratic values in school, such as human rights and cultural diversity. Hopefully this will expose the didactic potential of this particular type of book. Hypothetically, when a person who has yet not reached self discovery writes a book about discovering himself the story in itself gives the reader multiple opportunities to interpret various perspectives in a wider sense. The conclusion is that the theme of adoption enables a discussion about diversity and cultural diversity in the classroom. Reading such a memoire, or autobiography, also makes way for reflecting about one's own self construction. However, it also presents the reader with a chance to separate himself from the text in order to view it with the spectacles of an outsider.

I studien undersöktes hur det dagliga ledarskapet inom offentliga verksamheter tar sig uttryck i relation till det offentliga styrningsidealet samt hur detta kan förstås i relation till chefsnivå. Studien tog sitt stöd ur teoretiska aspekter i form av vårt offentliga etos, styrning ledning och chefsnivåer. Studien har genomförts med semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer där det målstyrda urvalet bestod av fyra institutionella chefer samt fyra administrativa chefer. Resultatet påvisa tendenser till både likheter och skillnader vad gäller arbetet med styrningsideal inom offentlig förvaltning i förhållande till chefsnivå. Detta diskuteras och kan förstås genom att det råder olika logiker beroende chefsnivå. Bifynd upptäcktes även i form av att arbetet med styrningsideal kan bero på vilken verksamhetspraktik organisationen verkar inom. Slutsatsen är således att arbetet med styrningsideal är komplext inom offentliga verksamheter men där demokrativärden generellt tenderar att vara det primära. / The purpose of this study is to explore the daily leadership within public administration concerning control ideas and how it can be understood and seen from a managerial level. The thesis bases its conclusions on theoretical aspects such as our public ethos, control management and managerial level. The thesis derives from eight semi-structured qualitative interviews which of the goal-oriented selection consists of four institutional managers and four administrative managers. The result of the study identifies trends such as similarities and differences in terms of control ideas within public administration concerning the managerial level. Furthermore, the results are discussed and can be understood in terms of that different logics are depending on managerial level. The thesis also finds incidental findings which are that control ideas also can depend on which business internship it operates within. The study concludes that the work with governance ideals is a complex topic within public administrations however, democratic values tend to be the primary focus.