This study is about the teacher’s cooperation with the recreational pedagoguein the classroom and it ́s basically based on interviews made at the Orionschool situated in one of Stockholms northern suburbs. The theories usedin this study are Moira Von wrights “the intersubjective turn” and Uire Bronfenbrenners “Ecology of the human development”and Norbert Elias “The established and the outsiders”. Bronfenbrenners theory was used toshow that the development of the recreational pedagogue’ssituation in the classroom is affected by processes located in different levels from his or herown point of view. Moira Von wrights “the intersubjective turn” was usedtoshow that the perspective, the punctual or the relative, which is brought into the communication between the two parts is a determinant factor for the development of theircooperation. The theory about the established and the outsiders was usedto show the fact thatmany teachers is holding on to old traditions andlooks upon the recreational pedagouges as “newcomers” and less competent. During the past twenty years,the after-school centre has been integrated in school and the recreational pedagoguesare now working side by side with the teacher in theclassroom. My results showthat the recreational pedagoguesmission in school contexts as extremely unclear. And italso shows that the teacher’sperspective on learning with theoretical knowledge in focus has higher status thenthe recreational pedagoguesfocus which is on social developmentand social learning. The Swedish National Agency for Educationhave lately started to pay more attention to the recreational pedagogues and their mission.They have concludedthat their work needed to be strengthen up and are now initiatingdevelopment work in the local schools. Such a development work had just begunat the Orion school where this study took place.

Free Media is an essential part of democracy, a goal Sveriges Radio’s Development Program is aiming for. Existing since 1996 based on tax-financing, it offers its long experiences of public broadcasting and its ideal of serving democracy to other countries. The partaking Sveriges Radio journalists provide the countries with assistance for training in management, journalism and technical issues in both broadcasting, print and online media. The present research investigates based on the interviewees’ perceptions to what extent Swedish democracy and Swedish journalistic identity is transmitted during their media (radio) development projects, using post-colonial theory as a guiding theoretical approach. The study is based on interviews with Swedish and foreign journalists who have been involved in radio development projects. The study shows that despite common understandings of democracy and professional aims, differences occur based on the perception of the participants. These cannot be separated from the context and progress outcome of the projects. The study furthermore shows that there exists an ambivalence between the post- colonial awareness among participants.

Free Media is an essential part of democracy, a goal Sveriges Radio’s Development Program is aiming for. Existing since 1996 based on tax-financing, it offers its long experiences of public broadcasting and its ideal of serving democracy to other countries. The partaking Sveriges Radio journalists provide the countries with assistance for training in management, journalism and technical issues in both broadcasting, print and online media. The present research investigates based on the interviewees’ perceptions to what extent Swedish democracy and Swedish journalistic identity is transmitted during their media (radio) development projects, using post-colonial theory as a guiding theoretical approach. The study is based on interviews with Swedish and foreign journalists who have been involved in radio development projects. The study shows that despite common understandings of democracy and professional aims, differences occur based on the perception of the participants. These cannot be separated from the context and progress outcome of the projects. The study furthermore shows that there exists an ambivalence between the post-colonial awareness among participants.

Water shortage is one of the greatest challenges that the world faces today. International and national water initiatives are increasing simultaneously with the number of implemented drinking-water projects. The provision of sustainable safe drinking-water supply is here conceptualized through the Sustainable Livelihood Approach with the view of helping poor people secure their essential basic needs, improve their quality of health and increase their livelihood opportunities. However, a lot of drinking-water projects do not end up with satisfactory outcomes. Widespread results have demonstrated low quality water resource management, worsened access to water supply, constructions shutting down and not the least, that consumers have not been able to take advantage of their new basic drinking-water systems. Projects have often failed in remote rural areas in developing countries where strong social norms, cultural values and power structures prevail. The research is based on identifying and analyzing to what extent past drinking-water projects have addressed public participation and been aware of social, cultural and structural surrounding factors. By using Gunilla Åkesson’s sociological framework the research also addresses the role and value of sociological aspects in drinking-water projects. It is found that past projects have often failed to include public participation and lacked situational awareness to a sufficient extent. The research show the importance for projects staff, managers and technicians to take into account social behaviors, cultural norms and societal structures in the local environment and to provide local people with health awareness and education. By taking this into consideration it would enable people to change their behavior and take advantage of the improved drinking-water systems provided for them. In conclusion, there is a need to address more sociological aspects in water resource management in order to promote sustainable safe drinking-water supplies in remote rural areas in developing countries. It can be argued that this is not only applicable in drinking-water projects but also in other areas of fields within grass root development work.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2009. / Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 145 p. Includes bibliographical references.

The goal of the thesis is to find if the community approach used by its leading figures is based on the theory and how they use the theory. The thesis introduces modern concept of community, which can be seen as the actual ground for community work. First of all it presents wide range of often used definitions, then it offers the view of community by disciplines like philosophy, theology, political philosophy - communitarism, and last but not least it presents the sociological interpretation of community and marginally also the anthropological one. In the research part the reader is acquainted with five personal stories of community approach leading figures - people, who were engaged or who are still actively interested in the work with community. Showing the main ideas of these people which characterize their approaches to the practice and studying their relation to the theory and view on community the thesis uncovers, if they see the theoretical support as needed for their work. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Purpose: To describe occupational therapists experiences of development in occupational therapy at The Swedish Public Employment Service. Method: The study was conducted using qualitative interviews. Thirteen occupational therapists working at The Swedish Public Employment Service participated. The occupational therapists had a geographical spread throughout Sweden. Collected data was transcribed and analysed according to qualitative content analysis. Result: Data resulted in five categories as follows: To work with development of scientific methods, Importance of feasibility to competence development, Cooperation as a part of the improvement work, Preconditions to be person-centered and Importance of continual evaluation to improve actions. The occupational therapists describes in these categories various supportive and hindering factors at to what extent they had preconditions to carry out and develop occupational therapy at The Swedish Public Employment Service. Supporting factors were described as well-developed methods, a person-centered approach and intern cooperation. Obstructing factors were described as defective coordination between social actors in the community, insufficient evaluations, limited possibilities to competence development and implementation of research. Conclusion: This study contribute to knowledge of occupational therapists preconditions to development of methods and improvement work. The study shows that it is a lack of knowledge and a need of research is required to illustrate the role of occupational therapists within vocational rehabilitation at The Swedish Public Employment Service. / Syfte: Att beskriva arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av utveckling inom arbetsterapi vid Arbetsförmedlingen i Sverige. Metod: Studien genomfördes med kvalitativa intervjuer. Tretton arbetsterapeuter med anställning vid Arbetsförmedlingen deltog. Arbetsterapeuterna hade en geografisk spridning över hela Sverige. Insamlad data transkriberades och analyserades enligt kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Data resulterade i fem kategorier enligt följande: Att arbeta med utveckling av vetenskapliga metoder, Betydelsen av möjlighet till kompetensutveckling, Samverkan som en del i utvecklingsarbetet, Förutsättningar till personcentrering samt Betydelsen av ständig utvärdering för förbättrade åtgärder. Arbetsterapeuterna beskriver i dessa kategorier olika faktorer som stöttade och hindrade i vilken utsträckning som de hade förutsättningar att utföra och utveckla arbetsterapi vid Arbetsförmedlingen. Stödjande faktorer beskrevs bland annat som välutvecklade metoder, ett personcentrerat arbetssätt och interna samarbeten. Hindrande faktorer beskrevs som undermålig samverkan med samhällsaktörer, bristande utvärderingar samt begränsade möjligheter till kompetensutveckling och implementering av forskning. Slutsats: Studien bidrar till kunskap kring arbetsterapeuternas förutsättningar till utveckling av metoder och förbättrande arbetssätt. Studien visar på en kunskapslucka och behov av forskning kring ämnet är nödvändigt för att belysa arbetsterapeuters roll inom den arbetslivsinriktade rehabiliteringen vid Arbetsförmedlingen.

In Egypt, the school educational system has been suffering a deteriorating quality over the last few decades. Since the revolution that took place in Egypt in 2011, political tensions and conflicts have consumed so much energy and time, making it hard for Egyptians to focus on development. Therefore, through this doctoral study that follows an action based methodology, I aim to contribute to the current efforts to improve the Egyptian educational system. In this study, I introduced an intervention that draws upon the principles of school improvement, reform strategies and non-positional teacher leadership. This is done through adopting and adapting the ‘teacher-led development work’ (TLDW) approach. In this study, a group of 50 teachers from four different Egyptian schools took part in the programme for one academic year. Through this programme I supported them to lead innovations in their classrooms and schools as a whole. Each teacher/participant was expected to initiate and lead a development project that improves teaching and learning in their schools, and other teachers could benefit from as well. Data was collected throughout the academic year to continuously monitor and adapt the programme, and to explore what the programme made possible and the conditions that made it possible. The programme usefully supported teachers in taking action that had a positive impact on the students, teachers and school as a whole. However, the most significant impact observed was on the participating teachers themselves: their professionality, self-confidence and self-efficacy that underpinned growth in their own skills and pedagogic repertoires. There were a set of conditions that were required for this programme to have an impact. Practitioners and policy makers interested in educational reform through teachers could benefit from considering these factors in their own development.

The overall aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of development projects carried out by teachers within the Swedish 9-year compulsory school. The study concentrates on the everyday classroom work of the teachers, firstly when there were extra funds to use for the development projects, and secondly, when the funding had expired. Eight projects at the primary level were selected. Each project was visited three times during the first year. A follow up was made three years later. Data were collected by way of interviews, questionnaires and observations. The projects had different aims, contents and organization. Some projects changed or developed their aims and contents in the course of the project period, while others kept their original direction. Differences in the development of project activities were found to be related to such factors as the amount of personal support given by headmasters and colleagues, and on whose initiative a project was started, whether by the authorities or by the teachers themselves. Within the framework of the projects, the teachers often instigated relevant in-service training, developed new forms of cooperation, sought to integrate school subjects and tried new pedagogic practices. When financial support was terminated, the new ideas and the new practices were incorporated in the changed every day way of working. The project work tended to make the teachers feel more harmonious and whole, in that the activities tended to tie the teacher's personality and career more firmly together. Besides this personal development, the teachers felt that the project work enhanced more and closer cooperation in the schools. The teachers emphasized that it had become very important for them to collaborate, and that they felt they were no longer left alone with the responsibilities and problems in the classroom. The projects led to more committed pedagogical discussions in the staff- rooms resulting in a claim for more knowledge. The project teachers often invited lecturers and arranged other forms of in-service training. The results of the study are discussed in relation to theories of school development, teacher work and career as well as to gender theories. / digitalisering@umu