This investigation is about how teachers in school can motivate and create interest for science among younger children. Teachers were interviewed about attitudes to their subject and how this affects their lessons. I have also tried to find out, both by interviewes but also by studying litterature, what the most important thing is to teach in science, which knowledge is necessarry in the future and why. My result indicates that teachers find science both interesting and important but at the same time they also think it is a difficult subject to teach even if they are educated. Both the litterature and the teachers in my study agree that knowledge in science gives us a chance to ask questions, take stands and solve problems and that this knowledge is important for us in our future. / Detta arbete handlar om hur vi som lärare i grundskolans lägre åldrar kan skapa och bibehålla elevernas intresse för naturvetenskapliga ämnen. Genom intervjuer har jag försökt få fram lärares attityder till ämnet och hur detta eventuellt påverkar undervisningen. Dessutom har jag försökt ta reda på vad som anses vara viktiga kunskaper för framtiden. Mitt resultat pekar på att lärare tycker det är intressant och viktigt med naturvetenskap men att det samtidigt är ett svårt ämne att undervisa i även om utbildning finns. Lärarna menar att det är kunskaper som gör att vi kan ta ställning, ifrågasätta och lösa problem som är viktiga att förmedla bl a för att vi skall klara av att ta hand om vår jord och dess tillgångar. Detta är också något som forskning anser vara viktigt och det får också stort utrymme i läroplanen.

Syftet med den här undersökningen har varit att undersöka hur lärare i förskoleklass beskriver att de använder sig av lek i matematikundervisningen i förhållande till lärare i årskurs 1. Vidare har undersökningen syftat till att undersöka lärares beskrivningar av den kollegiala samverkan för lek och matematik mellan de olika verksamheterna. För att få svar på lärares beskrivningar av lek, dess organisering i matematiken och deras kollegiala samarbete användes semistrukturerade intervjuer, som grundar sig i en kvalitativ metod.  Resultaten visade att majoriteten av samtliga lärare i matematikundervisningen använde sig av styrda och strukturerade lekar. I förskoleklass visade resultatet att lärarna främst använde sig av organiserade lekar, medan lärarna i årskurs 1 använde sig mer av spel. Vidare visade resultaten en avsaknad och önskan till ett större samarbete mellan de olika verksamheterna. Utifrån resultatet går det däremot att se en enighet av lärares beskrivningar av lek och lekens betydelse för elevernas lärarande. Det här visar en god grund att stå på i ett samarbete till att utveckla lekens möjligheter i matematikundervisningen.

The aim of this qualitative interview study is to investigate which methods some teachers in grades 4–6 say that they use to strengthen multilingual pupils’ development in language and knowledge. A central place in the study is devoted to these teachers’ choice of method and how they justify it. The study seeks answers to the following questions: How do teachers in grades 4–6 describe their work to strengthen multilingual pupils’ language and knowledge development? What obstacles and possibilities do the teachers think are afforded by the methods described?  The study proceeds from a sociocultural perspective, focusing on learning through interaction with others. The method on which the study is based is qualitative interviews with teachers in grades 4–6. The twelve participants in the study, who work as teachers at three different schools in Götaland, were interviewed in four focus groups where a semi-structured interview form was used.  The results of the study show that the teachers think that language- and knowledge-development teaching benefits all pupils and that the teachers want and need more training in how to work to develop language and knowledge, a finding that agrees well with research in the field. The teachers in the study cannot give an explicit and unambiguous explanation of language- and knowledge-development teaching, but they are in relatively good agreement in their description of factors that are fundamental for language- and knowledge-development, such as interaction and cooperation, support, pre-understanding, positive expectations and proceeding from the pupils’ knowledge and experience. The teachers see opportunities to develop the pupils’ language and subject knowledge through explicit teaching about the various concepts in school language, different forms of group work which give high pupil activity and interaction, and explicit teaching about reading and writing strategies, for example, work with model texts, the circle model and reciprocal teaching in reading comprehension. Other methods and aids used by the teachers are picture support, film, body language, concept boxes, small whiteboards, recorded teaching material in different languages, and cooperation with study advisers. Obstacles mentioned were limited availability of digital aids and shortage of time, which mean that the teachers were not able to give as much pre-understanding, adapted teaching, and support as they would have liked.

The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge about how technology teachers in grades 1-3 perceive their own teaching in the subject technology linked to conditions such as education, time frame, teaching materials, materials and equipment. The study was conducted with the help of qualitative interviews in which eight active and educated technology teachers in grades 1-3 participated. The interviews examined the teachers' individual views on the technology subjectaround the deficits that the Swedish Schools Inspectorate report from 2014 highlights. Furthermore, it was investigated how the teachers' attitudes are affected by the mentioned conditions and whether there were more factors that they considered influenced their teaching in the subject of technology. The analysis of the interviews was inspired by a phenomenography inspired model where the teachers' statements were analyzed and linked to previous research. The results of the survey show that the teacher's competence in the subject of technology is not decisive for whether the teacher feels safe and competent in teaching. The security and competence are rather clarified in how much education the teacher has in technology. It emerged that the conditions of the technology subject are affected by the economy, parts such as materials, equipment and further education are given lower priority financially by both teachers and school management. Conclusions drawn in this study are that technology teaching and teachers' attitudes are largely influenced by how the subject is prioritized by the schoolmanagement. If the subject is not prioritized more by teachers and school leaders, the subject will not be more visible than it already is.

Syftet med denna studie var att bidra med ökad kunskap om elevers motivation och förhållningssätt till läsning av skönlitteratur i grundskolans årskurs 4–6. Tidigare forskning har visat att unga idag läser för lite och att elevers motivation att läsa skönlitteratur behöver stärkas. För att besvara forskningsfrågorna fick elever i mellanstadiet fylla i en enkät med fritextsvar. Enkäterna kompletterades med fokusgruppsintervjuer med lärare. Resultatet visade att både inre och yttre motivation är betydelsefullt för att eleverna ska läsa skönlitteratur i skolan. Många elever vill läsa för att koppla av men några elever läser främst för att få bättre ordförråd. Lärarna å sin sida ansåg att det är viktigt att samarbeta med hemmet för att öka elevernas motivation och läsintresse. Resultatet visade också att eleverna i årskurs sex är mer motiverade att läsa skönlitteratur är eleverna i årskurs fyra. / The purpose of this study was to contribute with increased knowledge about students’ motivation and approach to reading fiction in primary school in grades 4–6. Previous research has shown that students today are reading to little and that student’s motivation to read fiction needs more work. To answer the research questions, students in one school filled out a form with questions about how they feel about reading and how they want the school to work with reading. After the form from the students, a group interview was made with teachers that have work 20+ years in the Swedish school.  The result showed that both internal and external motivation is important for students to read fiction at school. Many students want to read to relax, but some students read mainly to improve vocabulary. The teachers believed that it is important so cooperate with the home to increase the student’s motivation and interest in reading. The result also showed that students in year six are more motivated to read fiction than students in year four.