Abstract This paper describes an analysis of social practice taking place between teachers and students within the classroom in a Tanzanian Secondary School. The aim of this contemporary study is to describe and explain classroom interaction with respect to existing role patterns and frame factors. The studied material consists primarily of collected data from classroom observations, with concentration on one class in form one and five single teachers. In addition to the observation method the investigation is also based on complementary informant study where five students within the observed class were interviewed.  An analysis consisting of categorisation, description, and explanation of the different variables of verbal and written communication is expected to yield information about the social practice within the Tanzanian classroom. Such information will aid in addressing a potential connection between pattern of roles and certain frame factors.   The results of the observations imply that the teacher has the most active role; the teaching was almost entirely based on the use of direct, reproductive, teacher-centered methods leaving diminutive room for student moves.  A notably high frequency of questions of a reproductive form, where students merely had to emulate the teacher, was discovered. Even though students were rarely addressed with questions of an open form, observations and interviews reveal students’ eager to break free from their constrained roles. What occurred to be a fixed pattern of steered activities turned out to be highly dynamical process. Considering relevant frame factors, there are reasons to believe that the Tanzanian classroom interaction is about to shift from a monologic to a dialogic classroom discourse; making this a highly interesting matter to investigate.

In this essay I have examined the inclusion in the school, specifically in the classroom and leisure time center. Inclusion means briefly that all students, regardless of their capability for school work, should be part of the planned teaching, and also be able to assimilate the knowledge that is intended to be conveyed. During my years as an educator in classroom and after-school center I've seen how this inclusion is very complicated to implement and sometimes impracticable. I have investigated how inclusion works and how it does not work in both the classroom and in the leisure time center. I have done this by examining the inclusion from three different perspectives: student´s, educator´s and school´s. I show and discuss how different inclusion can be perceived depending on which perspective you look from. I also describe how inclusion is shaped, both positively and negatively, by external factors, so-called framework factors. I discuss how these framework factors provide or do not provide educational opportunities and how they condition the educator´s practice. Opportunities that sometimes are taken advantage of and sometimes overlooked.

To promote people's contact with nature is both an environmental and a health issue. Previous studies show that being in natural environments provides mental, physical and emotional health benefits and is significant in the formation of environmental attitudes, which is also known to be important during child development. This study is about the opportunities that children have to experience natural environments within pre-schools in Sao Paulo Municipality (Brazil) considering their pre-school leaders and teachers' perspectives. Through qualitative interviews and text analysis, five kindergartens were studied. One aim has been to get a better understanding of the preschool's official policy on environmental education and a picture of pre-school leaders and preschool teachers' attitudes regarding children's access to nature. The other goal was to investigate the concrete pre-school activities in which children participate, as reported by their pre-school leaders and preschool teachers. The results show that the municipal curriculum recommends interaction with nature through goal-oriented activities, but does not specifically emphasise free play in nature. It has also been shown that pre-school principals and teachers have a positive attitude towards including nature in unstructured as well as structured pre-school activities. However, the degree to which this is reflected in the current activities is strongly dependent on other factors, such as physical,administrative or organizational conditions that exist in each pre-school. These so-called frame factors need to be known and taken into consideration, whether it is the education planners, pre-school leaders or preschool teachers that are trying to implement change. The study also highlights the importance of a work environment that encourages preschool teachers to seek self-development in their professional capacity, which in turn affects the quality of environmental education that is taught.

In this thesis, I will discuss subject conceptions among social studies teachers who work in upper secondary schools. The aim of this study is to investigate and analyse subject conceptions among social studies teachers and their relationship to the teachers’ personal background. Subject conceptions can be expressed in both planned and realized teaching, which are analysed in this study. The questions posed are: What subject conceptions are expressed in the social studies teachers’ descriptions of their teaching? Are there any relationships between the teachers’ personal background and the subject conceptions they express? Which subject conceptions are manifested in written tests and exercises? This study consists of three empirical sub-studies. The first sub-study is based on a questionnaire with 60 social studies teachers in upper secondary schools in two counties in Sweden. The second sub-study is based on in-depth interviews with eight social studies teachers who expressed different subject conceptions in the questionnaire. The last sub-study is based on a document analysis of 28 written tests and examinations that were collected from the interviewed teachers. The theoretical framework of this study consists of structuration, class, gender and didactic theories. Some conclusions can be drawn from this study. There are different subject conceptions among the social studies teachers. I have found four typical subject conceptions, which I have called the fact-and-concept–focused, value-focused, analysis-focused and citizenship-focused subject conceptions. The study also shows that the teachers’ personal background has a relationship with their subject conceptions, to a certain degree. Gender and the combination of subjects in the teachers’ academic exams are related to the subject conceptions that the teachers express. Also, internal framing factors, like social background, political views and years in the profession, and external frame factors, like steering documents, textbooks, current news events and the students’ interests and needs, influence the teachers’ subject understanding to different extents. The study also shows that there are differences between the subject conceptions, which are shown in the teachers’ descriptions of their teachings and their assessment materials. The majority of the teachers in the study expressed the citizenship-focused subject conception in the questionnaire, while the written tests and examinations are dominated by fact-and-concept–focused and analysis-focused questions. One conclusion drawn from the empirical results is that code, classification and framing vary among the different conceptions of the subject social studies.

Information and communications technology (ICT) is an important part in teaching English. In this respect, teachers’ need to know how they can benefit from the opportunities that ICT has to offer in language teaching. Previous research has described aspects of problems around teachers’ ICT skills, relate to the use of ICT in teaching. The aim of this study is to examine how teachers’ use ICT in their English lesson based on Svenssons (2008) three areas in which ICT can be used, “ICT as a tutor”, “ICT as a tool” and “ICT as an arena”. By studying how teachers’ use ICT in their English lesson, this study also aims to find out what factors teachers’ claim affects their work with ICT, based on Lundgrens (1972) and Stensmos (2008) frame factor theory. For collecting data a mixed method with observations and interviews was used. This study attempts to answer, the concern of why ICT is rarely used in teaching English. Therefore this study is focusing on which other factors than teachers’ ICT skills that have an impact on the use of ICT in the teaching process. From the outcomes of the observation it was noticed that multiple uses of ICT occur in English teaching. It also appears that there are opportunities and limitations in teachers’ work with ICT. From the outcomes of the interviews, the majority of teachers’ claim that the time is a factor that most limit the use of ICT in their English lessons.

The aim of this study is to examine the complexity of teachers’ assessment practice. It is divided into a two part-studies. The first part aims to determine what type of knowledge is tested in teachers’ written tests, and how they relate to the curriculum. To answer this we analyzed two tests from four different teachers. The second part aims to find out how different factors influence the teacher’s in his or hers test construction. To answer this we interviewed the four teachers who provided the test. Together, the two parts helps us to understand how tests work, as well as why they are constructed the way they are. The study uses two different theories as analytical tools. The first part of the study uses Bloom’s revised taxonomy to determine different types of knowledge. The theory is also used to determine the knowledge of the curriculum. The second theory, which relates to the second part of the study, is a frame factor theory, to define different internal and external factors that influence in a teacher’s work. Methods used in the study are text analysis for the teachers’ tests and the curriculum, and interviews for the frame factors. The results of the first part shows a discrepancy between the knowledge tested in the tests and the knowledge expressed in the curriculum. Most notable was the lack of questions requiring evaluating skills in the tests, while the curriculum mentions it 4 times out of 9 different requirements. The results of the second part showed that a number of factors influence teachers in their test construction. The main factor influencing teachers in the test construction, mentioned by all teachers, were lack of ‘social moderation’, i.e. working within assessment as a group and being able to discuss and reflect with colleagues. Other factors mentioned were time and organization, which were partly mentioned along with the responsibility or involvement of the head teacher.

<p>In this text about the mathematics education in a primary school in the Gambia, I am researching what this mathematics education consists of and what surrounding factors might be affecting it. The pupils of the school in question speak several different languages. This language situation is one of the factors considered in the research. A connection between the real life led by the pupils and their mathematics education was a second factor. The third factor is financial resources or the lack thereof. I wanted to see if a lack of sufficient financial resources was visible in forming the education and the teaching of the pupils. The teaching of mathematics in the school seemed to be based on behaviourism, but could perhaps take benefit from the ethnomathematics perspective. Through observations, analyzing documents and an interview, I realized that the government had set ambitious objectives for the teachers to follow, but due to lack of economical resources, as far as my study found, these are not achieved. As ambitious objectives, which are not followed by sufficient funding is an issue not only applicable in Gambian schools and since Sweden is a growing multicultural society, I can use my knowledge from this study in my work in Swedish schools.</p> / MFS - Minor Field Studies

In this text about the mathematics education in a primary school in the Gambia, I am researching what this mathematics education consists of and what surrounding factors might be affecting it. The pupils of the school in question speak several different languages. This language situation is one of the factors considered in the research. A connection between the real life led by the pupils and their mathematics education was a second factor. The third factor is financial resources or the lack thereof. I wanted to see if a lack of sufficient financial resources was visible in forming the education and the teaching of the pupils. The teaching of mathematics in the school seemed to be based on behaviourism, but could perhaps take benefit from the ethnomathematics perspective. Through observations, analyzing documents and an interview, I realized that the government had set ambitious objectives for the teachers to follow, but due to lack of economical resources, as far as my study found, these are not achieved. As ambitious objectives, which are not followed by sufficient funding is an issue not only applicable in Gambian schools and since Sweden is a growing multicultural society, I can use my knowledge from this study in my work in Swedish schools. / MFS - Minor Field Studies

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka vad som styr lärares val, avseende estetisk integrering i undervisningen. Undersökningen omfattar klasslärare i grundskolans tidiga år. Empirin samlades in genom enkätundersökning med slutna och öppna frågor samt genom halvstrukturerade samtalsintervjuer. Under intervjuerna gavs möjlighet att ställa fler frågor som fokuserade på faktorer som kan vara förutsättningar för estetisk integrering i undervisningen. Det insamlade datamaterialet analyserades utifrån studiens frågeställningar samt ramfaktorteorin. Tidigare forskning visar positiva effekter av att arbeta med estetiska uttryckssätt i undervisningen. Forskningen belyser även en mer komplex bild av den estetiska integreringen. Denna studies resultat indikerar att lärare är positiva till estetisk integrering i de teoretiska ämnena, men att det finns faktorer som styr omfattningen av den estetiska integreringen. Det behövs exempelvis tid till förberedelser och efterarbete samt anpassade lokaler när man arbetar med estetiska uttryckssätt. Goda kunskaper i de estetiska ämnena och elevernas intresse för det estetiska är något som motiverar många lärare. Läroplanen upplevs både motiverande och som en ram lärare måste hålla sig inom. En av undersökningens slutsatser är att den estetiska integreringen i undervisning är komplex. Det finns en rad faktorer som spelar in i lärarnas val av hur de bedriver sin undervisning. Lärarna har ett frirum för initiativ. Samtidigt är frirummet en del i ett skolsystem med regler och ramar som lärare måste förhålla sig till. / The purpose of the study is to examine what factors lead teachers to include, or not include, aesthetic elements in their work with children. The empirical data was collected via a web-based questionnaire as well as two semi-structured interviews, all three concerned teachers working within the first grades of primary school. The interviews allowed for deeper discussion of survey questions and the frame factors that may affect the aesthetic integration. The collected information was analysed according to the frame factor theory. Previous research suggests that art integration in early education has a positive effect on learning. However, it also provides a more complex picture of such integration. Our study indicates that teachers in general have a positive view on art integration in theoretical subjects, but nevertheless there are various factors that reduce the extent to which this integration takes place. Time, space, teacher competence within the aesthetic area, as well as interest from pupils and teachers all seem to play an important part. The current curriculum appears alternately to motivate teachers and lock them within an inflexible framework. In conclusion, art integration is rather complex. There is a range of factors which affect how teachers choose to pursue their teaching. Teachers have a certain freedom of initiative, a 'free space' within which they try their ideas. Even so, this 'free space' is part of a school system with regulations and frames, which the teachers have to take into consideration.

The objective of my study is to contribute with knowledge of how the Coronavirus pandemics may have bestowed restrictions, or alternatively, possibilities for the learning, development, and well-being of the children in the selected preschool unit which this study targets. In it, I identify how the teachers in this preschool unit interpret and approach the frame factors that are determined outside the teaching processes and how those frames are perceived as opportunities or limitations for the preschool quality in terms of attained goals as set out in national preschool educational curriculum – both before and during the pandemics. The empirical data comprises nine qualitative interviews of preschool teachers from different preschools in the selected preschool unit. I have chosen to make use of frame factor perspectives to analyze the results of my study. The results of my study show that external economic and political frames such as, time, the children group, the physical preschool setting, teacher density, the teachers’ competence, and different steering documents – which all are perceived by preschool teachers to be external and political frames that impact the preschool teachers’ working conditions and organisation for the diverse preschool educational processes. The Corona pandemics has shaped a number of new external frames for preschool teachers and their work. New resources in terms of staff competence training, clear-cut recommendations from health authorities and political leaders with regard to safer work establishment has been seen as required for the entire pandemics. Staff concerns about contagion, compounded work-loads, teaching-staff animosity vis-à-vis outdoor teaching as well as absence of well-defined frames, are all factors which are perceived as limitations to staff motivation and to a joint concerted action in transforming the adaptive preschool way of working – which results in a worsening educational quality for the preschools in this unit during the Coronavirus pandemics. The preschool group that conducts children education exclusively outdoors have thus been less impacted.