Examensarbetet har dels haft en övergripande skala i form av utarbetande av program utifrån de reella utmaningar som platsens olika aktörer står inför, och dels ett gestaltande genom tillägg. Utmaningarna som projektet har sökt finna svar på utgår från fyra aspekter. • Upplandsmuseet och Riksantikvarieämbetet som driver Gamla Uppsala museum, visar områdets långa historia med fynd från järnåldern, har i en rapport identifierat att byggnaden är ritad för permanenta utställningar vilket gör det svårt att förändra den och kunna förmedla det snabbt växande kunskapsläget. • Riksantikvarieämbetet och Länsstyrelsen som har hand om skötseln av gravhögarna har identifierat stora problem med erosion då besökare tenderar att röra sig i specifika mönster och man försöker finna sätt att mana till mer varierad rörelse. • Min personliga observation/reflektion är att området dessutom är svårförstått och orienteringen oklar. • Därtill saknas en skyddad plats under tak för rast och vila för rekreationsområdets besökare.

In 2012, Uganda celebrated 50 years of independence. The postcolonial era in the country has been marked by political turmoil and civil wars. Uganda, like many other postcolonial states in Africa, cannot be described as an ethnically or culturally homogenous state. However, history education has globally been seen as a platform for constructing national identities in contemporary societies. At the same time, it is assumed that specific historical experiences of countries influence historical understanding. This study takes its starting point in the theories of historical consciousness and narrativity. A narrative could be viewed as a site where mobilization of ideas of the past to envisage the present and possible futures is made and hence the narrative expresses historical orientation. Through the concept of historical orientation historical consciousness can be explored, i.e. what history is viewed as significant and meaningful. The aim in the study is to explore in what ways students connect to their historical pasts.   The study explores 219 narratives of 73 Ugandan upper secondary students. Narratives elicited through written responses to three assignments. Designed to capture different approaches to history: either to start from the beginning and narrate history prospectively or to depart from the present narrating retrospectively. The colonial experience of Uganda affected the sampling in the way that students were chosen from two different regions, Central and Northern Uganda. The comparison was a way to handle the concept of ‘nation’ as a presupposed category. Narrative analysis has been used as a method to explore what the students regarded as historically significant and what patterns among the narratives that point towards particular historical orientations.   The empirical results show how different approaches to history, a prospective or a retrospective approach, influence the student narratives. For instance, valued judgments on past developments were more common with the retrospective approach. The results also show differences in evaluating past developments according to regional origin. Students from northern Uganda were generally more inclined to tell a story of decline. Also, it is argued that the student narratives were informed by a meta-narrative of Africa. It was as common to identify oneself as African as it was to identify as Ugandan.

In this qualitative research study I explored Grade R teachers’ perceptions of early childhood development and how these impact on their classroom practice. Using an early childhood theoretical framework which was predominately informed by developmental and socio-cultural perspectives I interrogated teachers’ understandings of children, quality classroom practice and early childhood contexts. Although the literature acknowledges the contested nature of quality within the ECD/Grade R context, research evidence indicates that the role of the teacher is pivotal if education is to be successfully realized in the early years. This notion of quality embraces particular aspects of practice such as managing the classroom environment, being able to engage children in the learning process through a process of sustained shared thinking and supporting learning in a variety of different contexts. Furthermore, good practice is informed by an in-depth understanding of contemporary issues embedded in socio-cultural contexts of children and families. Within the South African context Grade R is a problematic year despite being the first year of the Foundation Phase. Policy documents informing practice are ambiguous, Grade R teachers are not required to have a formal teaching qualification and they are not afforded the same conditions of service as other teachers. All these factors have served to marginalize the Grade R teacher. The research sample comprised twelve teachers from ten schools who were purposively selected from GDE and free standing community Grade R classes. An important selection criterion was a willingness to be involved in the project. In this multiple case study data were collected through classroom observations, interviews, critical incidents and documentary evidence. The research findings were first analysed according to three broad themes and then further interrogated through three knowledge positions identified by Mac Naughton, (2003) as conforming, reforming and transforming positions. iv Key findings revealed that although participants could not be definitively situated in any one of the three knowledge positions their practices were largely conforming; with few teachers using aspects of reforming practice. This study is significant within the South African context in that it shows similar findings to those of research done by Nias (1985) and Anning (1991) relating to teachers’ perceptions of themselves and their practice. Teachers perceived themselves as being kind, caring and loving individuals who placed the welfare of children in their care ahead of academic considerations. They all intimated that they followed a constructivist orientation, but found it difficult to articulate a deep understanding of practice. In fact they displayed limited understanding of how in the early years teaching and learning can be realized through a pedagogy of play. A gap was revealed between teachers’ espoused theories and their theories-in-use which were predominately didactic in orientation. The study showed the impact of current constraints of the Education Department. Given these constraints the role of South African universities should be to deepen both theoretical and practical insights into early years pedagogy through appropriate teacher-focused interventions.