This study examines an educational intervention, which attempts to create experiential learning opportunities, to gain an understanding of the effects of teachers’ and students’ development as active democratic citizens. The educational intervention comes in the form of a youth program entitled ‘Day of Information for a Lifetime of Action’ (DILA). The research answers the following question: does an experiential approach to the delivery of the Grade 10 Civics Curriculum such as DILA affect the development of active democratic citizens - as characterized by civic identity, civic engagement, and civic competence? And if so, how does it influence the students' understanding of their role in a democratic society, their self-reported likelihood of future civic engagement and their self-reported ability to be civically effective?

The Association of American Colleges and Universities considers internships as one of several “High Impact Educational Practices.” While these experiential learning exercises are not new, there are resurgent calls for universities to help students find and engage in more internship experiences before completion of their undergraduate degrees. At the same time, however, the US Department of Labor has strict guidelines as to what constitutes “internships” and what constitutes “unfair labor practices.” While there is a history of the private and public sectors creating internships for students in professional-degree programs and business schools, a need exists for more internships for humanities students—particularly English and writing students. This dissertation examines considerations for faculty members working with English majors to develop internship initiatives with structures that have pedagogical foci and follow the US Department of Labor internship guidelines. Using a case study approach, this project examines the growth of Georgia State University’s English Department internship program over the past twenty years. Through exploration into the opportunities, locations, and structures relevant to an urban university, the study reveals how faculty members designed a student-focused program that serves students, the university, and the community. Relying largely upon the review of departmental archives; a study of the history of GSU in the Atlanta community; interviews with faculty members and internship providers; and an exploration into the terms “intern” and “internship,” the dissertation ultimately sets forth considerations for those working with student internship programs and a model for college and university internship program evaluation.

This study examines processes connected to teacher’s transformation of the Montessori theory and it's described application to a daily practice.  The aim is to create knowledge about what constitutes possibilities and limitations for teachers in their daily work with Montessori education. This does not only refer to what constitutes opportunities and limitations in teachers'  everyday work with teaching, but also to what constitutes opportunities and limitations for teachers to learn at work. The theoretical framework is based on action theory and theories on adult learning and connects to a tradition called workplace-learning in which learning is considered to take place in, but also between, individuals. This approach indicates that the contextual conditions which the teachers were imbedded in are important to identify. The study was conducted in four different Montessori-environments and involved nine Montessori teachers. The methods used were participant observation, interviews, informal conversations and review of teacher produced material and documents. Possibilities and limitations in teachers work were related to if they had access to Montessori materials or not. In work with Montessori materials teachers identified the children's abilities to a greater extent than they did when other materials were in use. This identification directed their interventions. When the teachers did not have access to Montessori material their method often appeared to be the same as “individual work” with the provided material. Furthermore, interventions of the teacher were then significantly often procedural rather than content-related, although the teachers clearly expressed that they wanted to go into a dialogue with children about the treated subject area. The survey therefore contradicts with the opinion that Montessori-teachers withdraw in favor of Montessori materials that sometimes has been brought up by interpreters of the pedagogy. Rather, teachers stepped back when other materials were in use. The study also shows how a prerequisite for a collective development-oriented learning among the teachers was dependent on whether teachers made their own private understanding of the pedagogy available to each other. At times, however, teachers took the use of the materials for granted. Some of the teachers also deliberately refrained from making their personal understanding available to others due to the fact that they then could be seen as a less competent Montessori-teacher. This maintaining of a “false” collective understanding is seen as an expression of an institutionalization of teaching practice which was maintained by sanctions from the environment if the individual didn´t recognize the institutionalization in question. Since teacher’s “space for action” in this way was limited, the institution created conditions that prevented a possible development of the working methods in use. In those cases when conditions for a collective development-oriented learning were more favorable, it was clear that the teachers did not perceive Montessori education as a given method but rather saw it as a "model" for teaching in which the teachers had to interpret and define their own method from. The teachers thus came to take advantage of a potential “space for action” which was not noticed when the pedagogy was seen as a method.

I skolorna talas det alltmer om utomhuspedagogik som arbetssätt och dess inflytande på elevers inlärning. Det finns forskning som behandlar huruvida arbetssättet påverkar elevers förståelse och kunskapslagring, men desto mindre kring hur arbetssättet bedrivs i praktiken. Frågor som kan ställas är om det även kan finnas faktorer som har inflytande på användandet av arbetssättet, och varför. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att bidra med kunskap om hur lärare i Stockholms innerstad kontra förorter, använder historiska platser i form av besök i samband med sin historieundervisning. Sju legitimerade grundskolelärare i årskurs 4–6 som arbetar på olika skolor runt om i Stockholm har deltagit i studien. Metoden som använts är kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med en abduktiv ansats. Intervjufrågorna som har ställts är öppna för att respondenterna ska få utrymme till mer utförliga svar med eventuella följdfrågor. Den övergripande teorin för studien är Learning by doing av John Dewey med särskilt fokus på begreppen utomhuspedagogik, platsbaserad undervisning och upplevelsebaserat lärande. Dessa är förankrade med undersökningens innehåll, och därav baseras arbetet utifrån dessa teorier gällande lärande. Resultatet av studien visade att geografiska förutsättningar ökar användningen av arbetssättet i samband med historieundervisningen, då det oftast används i innerstaden med närhet till många av Stockholms kulturhistoriska platser. / In schools you often hear about outdoor education as a way of teaching and its influence of the students learning. There is research that shows whether outdoor education has an impact on the student’s understanding and memorization, however it is hard to find research that describes how it is actually used and practiced. Questions that should be considered is whether factors that affect the use of outdoor education, and why that is. The aim of the study is to contribute with knowledge about how teachers in Stockholm’s inner city versus the suburbs, tend to use historical places in terms of visits in connection with their history teaching. The respondents who participated in the research are seven licensed primary school teachers who teach the history subject in grades 4–6 and work at different schools in Stockholm. The method that is used is qualitative and semi structured interviews with an aduktiv approach. The interview questions that have been asked are opened with the possibility to give the respondent space for a more free answer and also the possibility to ask supplementary questions. The overall theory for the study is learning by doing by John Dewey, with a particular focus on concept outdoor education, place-based education, and experience-based learning. These are strongly anchored with the consent of the research, and therefore the research is based upon these theories about learning. The result shows that the geographic closeness increase the use of the working method in connection with history education, as it is most often used in the inner city with closeness to many of Stockholm's cultural-historical places.

[pt] Esta investigação tem como pano de fundo o estudo da relação interdisciplinar entre Design e Educação, fundamentada na linha de pesquisa Design em Situações de Ensino-Aprendizagem. Com o objetivo de propor uma diversificação de metodologias no espaço da escola, apresenta-se a aprendizagem com base na experiência enquanto práticas de ensino da contemporaneidade. Articulada no uso do recurso pedagógico Inventação, a pesquisa de cunho exploratório mostra como se deram as interações de uma professora do segundo ano do Ensino Fundamental de uma escola particular na zona sul do Rio de Janeiro com o brinquedo. O suporte teórico é construído a partir das interseções dos conceitos chave encontrados no Design em Situações de Ensino-Aprendizagem com a prática do desenvolvimento do Inventação em consonância com seu uso no ambiente escolar, situados nos escritos de Edwards, Forman e Gandini da escola Reggio Children em Reggio Emilia na Itália, de Cope e Kalantzis sobre multiliteracia, de David Kolb sobre aprendizagem com base na experiência e de Couto sobre interdisciplinaridade e Design em Situações de Ensino-Aprendizagem. As reflexões geradas por este trabalho dizem respeito às interações entre professores e alunos na sala de aula e a possibilidade da inserção de novos recursos pedagógicos no dia a dia do espaço escolar. O estudo produzido por esta dissertação vai além do brinquedo Inventação e as relações criadas em sala de aula, ele aprofunda nas possíveis trocas entre os campos do Design e da Educação. / [en] This investigation is based on the study of the interdisciplinary relationship between Design and Education, grounded by the research line on Design in Teaching- Learning Situations. Aiming to propose a diversification of methodologies in the school s environment, experience-based learning is presented as a possible approach to contemporary teaching practices. This exploratory research, articulated by the use of the pedagogical resource Inventação, shows how the interactions with the toy were made by a 2nd year elementary private school teacher in the southern zone of Rio de Janeiro. The theoretical support is given by the intersections of the key concepts found in Design in Teaching-Learning Situations with the development of Inventação, aligned with its use in a school setting and the writings of Edwards, Forman and Gandini of the school Reggio Children in Reggio Emilia in Italy, of Cope and Kalantzis on multiliteracy, of David Kolb on experience-based learning and Couto on interdisciplinarity and Design in Teaching-Learning Situations. The reflections developed by this work relate to the interactions between teachers and students in the classroom and the possibility of inserting new pedagogical resources in the daily life of the school context. The study produced by this dissertation goes beyond the toy Inventação and the relationships created in the classroom, it delves into the possible exchanges between the fields of Design and Education.

Ett övergripande mål för gymnasieskolan har länge varit att fostra eleverna till medborgare i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Därför gäller numera att elevernas ansvar för att planera och genomföra sina studier samt deras inflytande på såväl innehåll som arbetssätt skall vara viktiga principer i undervisningen. Syftet med studien är att studera elevernas inflytande i centrala undervisningsfrågor. Specifika forskningsfrågor i anslutning till syftet är: - Hur sker val av innehåll och arbetssätt och vilket utrymme ges åt elevernas inflytande? Förekommer det någon skillnad mellan olika ämnen? - Vilka kunskaper och vilket lärande lyfts fram och efterfrågas av elever respektive lärare i situationer då respektive grupp har inflytande över innehållet? - Hur uppfattar eleverna möjligheten till inflytande i olika arbetssätt? - Vilka faktorer uppfattar elever och lärare har betydelse för elevernas inflytande över val av innehåll och arbetssätt? Resultaten visar att kursplanerna har stor betydelse för innehållet i undervisningen. Elevernas möjlighet till inflytande kommer till uttryck bl. a. genom att påkalla handledning, avgöra svårighetsgrad på arbetsuppgifter och konstruera instuderingsfrågor. Förutsättningarna för att påverka kvaliteten på kunskaper och lärande varierar med ämnets legitimitet, elevernas studiekompetens och möjlighet till interaktion med läraren. Elevernas utrymme för eget ansvar, deras möjlighet till handledning och en variation avseende gruppsammansättning, arbetssätt och beslutsfattande är viktiga faktorer för att eleverna skall känna sig motiverade och intresserade av arbetet i skolan. Det visar sig finnas flera faktorer som inverkar negativt på elevernas möjlighet till inflytande exempelvis stoffträngsel och otillräckliga baskunskaper. Eleverna påtalar behovet av undervisning och handledning för att komma vidare i sina studier och kunna utöva inflytande. Avslutningsvis diskuteras resultatet i förhållande till John Deweys utbildningsfilosofiska tankar och relateras till läroplanen som styrfaktor, erfarenheten som grunden för undervisningens innehåll, frihet och möjlighet till växande och handledning som en nödvändig interaktion. / One of the overarching goals of Swedish upper secondary education is to foster students to become citizens in a democratic society. It is, therefore, essential that the students learn to take responsibility for planning and carrying through their studies. The aim of this study is to investigate whether students have any influence on central teaching matters such as the choice of subject matter and working methods and what types of knowledge and learning students and teachers, respectively, request in situations where either of these groups is in charge of the contents. The study is based on field work, interviews and document analysis and it is carried out in one upper secondary vocational class. The results demonstrate that the syllabi are very important for the contents of teaching. The students‘ opportunities to influence the choice are expressed, for instance, in asking for tutoring, in deciding the level of task difficulty, and in constructing advance questions. The conditions for influencing the quality of knowledge and learning vary with the legitimacy of the subject, the study competence of the students, and their possibilities to interact with the teacher. The students‘ possibilities to take responsibility and to be supervised by the teacher, as well as a variation as regards group composition, working methods, and decision making are important factors for the students to be motivated for and interested in schoolwork. There seems to be several factors that are important for the students‘ possibilities to influence, e.g., crowding of contents, and insufficient basic knowledge, and the students also comment on the need of teaching and tutoring in order for them to get further in their studies. In conclusion, the results of the study are discussed in relation to John Dewey’s educational philosophy, i. e. the national curriculum, experiences - the point of departure of the contents of teaching, freedom and opportunities to grow, and tutoring - the necessary interaction.

The aim of the thesis is to investigate and analyse students’ expressions of pleasure and displeasure and how these are manifested in actions in the teaching of textile sloyd in lower secondary education. The study’s focus is on students’ expressions of pleasure and displeasure in social action in the working processes of textile sloyd and on how these expressions can be related to learning. The empirical material consists of observations, video and audio recordings, individual interviews and focus group interviews, where video and audio recordings were used as stimulated recall. In all, 32 lessons in textile sloyd and 49 students aged 14-15 years were observed at four different schools. Theoretically, the thesis is based on Mead’s practical intersubjectivity and on Dewey’s theory of experience-based learning and dependence on emotions and actions. Pleasure and displeasure constitute valuating partial aspects of emotions. Based on a socio-cultural perspective, emotions are regarded as practices which arise from different predispositions’ dependence on the social context. The study’s analytical approach is hermeneutical. Critical incidents regarding students’ expressions of pleasure and displeasure in social action found in observations and video and audio recordings were analysed in terms of Mead’s concept of gestures. The events were combined with what the students describe as critical incidents of pleasure and displeasure in the interviews and focus group talks. The material was then thematised. Several situations were then subjected to deeper analysis based on sociality and a change in perspective and related to different concepts of learning. The result of the thesis shows a tripartite semantic structure where students’ pleasure and displeasure in textile sloyd are mainly based on textile sloyd’s specific educational community, students’ relationship to the sloyd object and their experience of the working process. Social interaction, humour and mutual acknowledgement proved to be of importance for the function of pleasure and displeasure in the students’ working processes. The students’ experience of pleasure and displeasure depended on their control of the work, the characteristics of different craft techniques and their awareness of time. Pleasure and displeasure in textile sloyd found an expression in four overarching emotional practices with decisive importance for the students’ opportunities for learning: the repudiating, insecure, accepting and incorporating emotional practice. The study also provides an insight into how different cultural factors enable a certain scope for pleasure and displeasure. In this connection, social changes in relation to objects are discussed, as are changes in sociality and emotionality. Based on the pair of concepts of authenticity and ephemerality and closeness and intensity, cultural changes are visualised that are conceivably important for the students’ experiences of pleasure and displeasure in textile sloyd.

The thesis presents possibilities and hazards resulting from the combination of experience-based education methods and those of doing philosophy with children. Having defined the terms used, it introduces the aims, key features and basic methods of leisure education; furthermore, experience-based education is described in more detail together with its fundamental elements: dramaturgy, adventure, reflection and games. The latter two elements are understood to be the links between experience-based education and Philosophy for children program. Then, the follow-up reflection on the interface between Philosophy with children and experiential activities is the substantial part of the thesis. Besides other topics, the philosophical aspects of games and reflection (review) as possible ways of experience-based philosophical inquiry are dealt with. Thus, in the closing part of the thesis, the potential for connecting philosophical inquiry and the experience itself is outlined.

Förväntan på att företag arbetar aktivt med att minska sin miljöpåverkan växer sig större för var dag. Med en miljöcertifiering kan företag visa sig ansvarsfulla inför sina intressenter och chanserna för en säkrad plats på framtidens marknad kan öka. Miljöcertifikat såsom ISO 14001-standarden inkluderar behovet av ständiga förbättringar av en organisations processer och miljöstrategiskt arbete. Begreppet ständiga förbättringar har sitt ursprung i Toyota Motors framgångsrika arbetssätt - kaizen - och innebär att allt kan göras lite bättre än i nuläget. På så sätt klingar det väl med miljöförbäattringsarbete eftersom vi fortfarande är på en resa mot det mest miljövänliga sättet att leva på. Två företag inom elinstallatörsbranchen har genom den webbaserade applikationen System C2 TM utmärkt sig i sitt arbete med ständiga förbättringar inom miljö. Eftersom en framgångsfaktor för ständiga förbättringar är utbildning kan det antas att dessa två företag har genomgått ett lärande som har lett till denna framgång, men vad som kännetecknat detta lärande är inte specificerat. Syftet med detta examensarbete är därför att undersöka vad en sådan utbildning bör innehålla för att inte bara leda till fler miljöförbättringar, utan även för att skapa förutsättningar för ett lärande inom ekologisk hållbar utveckling. För att generera kunskap kring detta genomfördes kvalitativa fokussamtal i två omgångar, med två  olika företag. Samtalen analyserades med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Resultaten visar att en utbildningsinsats som ämnar leda till ett aktivt miljöförbättringsarbete och ett kontinuerligt lärande ska sträcka sig över flera utbildningstillfällen. Tillfällena i insatsen bör ta vara på verksamhetens kunskap genom inklusion av medarbetare, knyta miljöfrågan till verksamheten, drivas av en engagerad ledning och ta vara på medarbetarnas personliga engagemang. Dessutom ställs krav på företagets kultur i form av att den ska vara öppen för ifrågasättande av rutiner samt drivas av en vilja att utvecklas. Resultaten visar även på likheter mellan konceptet ständiga förbättringar och lärande, och vidare föreslås djupare studier kring dessa likheter. Vidare forskning föreslås även i form av att testa de faktorer som detta examensarbete har resulterat i. / The expectations for a company to actively work on reducing their environmental impact are higher today than ever before. With an environmental certification, companies can show their responsibilities towards the environment to their stakeholders, and improve the chances to securing a position on the future market. An environmental certification, such as the standard ISO 14001, includes the need for continuous improvements to an organization’s processes and strategic environmental work. The term continuous improvements origins from Toyota Motors successful way of working - kaizen. It implies that everything can be madea little better than it is right now. This interpretation of continuous improvements goeswell together with environmental improvements in business since we are still on a journeytowards the most sustainable way of living. Two electrical contracting companies have through the web-based application System C2TM excelled in their work with continuous environmental improvements. Since a success factor to continuous improvements has proven to be education, one can assume that the two studied companies have a learning culture in their workplace that has led to this success. However, this learning culture is not specified. The purpose of this study is to examine what a training session in ecologically sustainable development should involve, not only lead to continuous improvements, but also to continuous learning. To generate knowledge about this, a qualitative study has been made. Two focus group conversations with each of the studied companies were made to gather data about their work with continuous environmental improvements. The data from the focus group conversations were analyzed through a thematic analysis. The results show that a training session that aims to lead to continuous improvements and learning within the organization consists of several sessions. The training sessions should make use of the knowledge within the organization, connect the environmental issue to the organization, involve an engaged leadership, and make use of the personal engagement amongst the coworkers. Apart from this, demands on the company culture are being made in order to create a learning organization. The culture should be open to challenge the existing routines and strive to develop the company to the better. The results from this study show that there are similarities between continuous improvements and learning. Suggested as further research is to examine the similarities between learning and continuous improvements. Another example for further research is to test the factors presented in this study, in a training session about ecologically sustainable development.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka och skapa förståelse kring processerna för hur ledare lär sig vara ledare. Studien har som ambition att undersöka vad ledarna har lärt sig och hur dessa lärprocesser skett i ledarnas vardag. Nio stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med etablerade ledare inom olika branscher. En tematisk analys skildrade hur erfarenheter genom handlande i vardagen tillsammans med reflektion var de främsta processerna som ansetts avgörande för hur ledarna lärt sig vara ledare. Dessutom har villkor som viljan att leda och viljan att lära haft en central roll. Resultatet visade att förmågor som studien tolkar som mer mjuka värden har utvecklats över tid hos ledarna. Ledarna indikerar att personlig mognad, erfarenhet, reflektion och en vilja att lära varit bidragande till deras lärande och utveckling. / The purpose of the study is to investigate and create an understanding of the processes by which leaders learn to be leaders. The study also aims to examine what the leaders have learned and how these learning processes have occurred in the leaders' everyday lives. Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with established leaders in various industries. A thematic analysis depicted how experiences through actions in everyday life together with reflection were the main processes considered decisive for how the leaders learned to be leaders. In addition, conditions such as the will to lead and the will to learn have played a central role. The result showed that abilities that the study interprets as softer values have developed over time in the leaders. The leaders indicate that personal maturity, experience, reflection and a willingness to learn contributed to their learning and development.