Sammanfattning Detta är en kvalitativ fallstudie av fem specialpedagogers arbete med specialundervisning i matematik. Syftet är att kartlägga deras arbete och uppfattningar genom att beskriva och analysera hur de organiserar sin undervisning i matematik, hur de undervisar ämnesinnehållet och hur de ger feedback till eleverna i klassrummet, samt hur de själva beskriver det de uppfattar som det specialpedagogiska inslaget i sin undervisning. För insamling av empirin har en kvalitativ metod med halvstrukturerade djupintervjuer samt observationer i form av ljudinspelningar och ostrukturerade fältanteckningar under lektioner gjorts. Ramfaktorteorier, fenomenografiska teorier, inlärningsteorier samt fallstudien, har styrt mitt sätt att bearbeta och analysera det empiriska materialet. Resultatet visar att det lärande som erbjuds eleverna av fyra av specialpedagogerna bidrar till ett ytinriktat lärande, och feedback som erbjuds bidrar till yttre motivation. Det specialpedagogiska inslaget anser de vara att se människan bakom ett beteende, att ha en positiv förväntan, att utgå från barnet, att vara personlig, att tycka om eleverna och att vara konkret i undervisningen. Den femte pedagogen erbjuder ett djupinriktat lärande och erbjuder ett arbetssätt under lektionerna som skapar vilja och motivation att lära sig. Det specialpedagogiska inslaget anser hon vara att ta reda på var eleven befinner sig kunskapsmässigt och utgå därifrån så eleven har möjlighet att förstå det den inte har förstått. / Summary This is a qualitative case study of five special educators work with special education in mathematics. The aim is to identify their work and ideas by describing and analyzing how they organize their teaching of mathematics, how they teach the subject matter, how they give feedback to students in the classroom, how they describe what they perceive to be the special education component of their teaching. For the collection of empirical data, a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews and observations in the form of audio recordings and unstructured field notes during classes was used. Frame factor theory, phenomenographic theory, learning theories and case study have leaded me through the way of processing and analyzing the empirical material. Results show that the learning that four of the special educators offer the students contributes to a surface approach to learning, and the feedback they offer contributes to external motivation. The special education components they say are important: to see the person behind a behavior, have positive expectations, let the teaching be based on the child’s experience, to be personal, to like the students and to be concrete in teaching. The fifth special educator offers the students a contribution to deep approach to learning and she offers a way to work at the lessons that creates motivation and willingness to learn. The special education component she thinks is important is to find out what knowledge the child has, and work from there so the child has the possibility to understand what he or she hasn’t understood.

Syftet med min studie är att belysa elevers uppfattningar om vad det innebär att ha matematik. Delar av studien ägnas åt att lyfta fram uppfattningar som elever i behov av särskilt stöd, d.v.s. elever med åtgärdsprogram, har. Åtta elever intervjuades i en fenomenografisk studie om vad de lägger i begreppet "att ha matematik". Studien visar att det finns en uppfattning att det individuella arbetet är grunden för att ha matematik och att kommunikation mellan elever ses som ett avsteg från matematiken. Det kvantitativa formella matematikarbetet med läroboken betonas av eleverna. Men samtidigt finns också en uppfattning att matematik kan has i samlärande. När eleverna hjälper varandra utvecklas lärandet hos alla förutsatt att det finns ett matematiskt tänkande enligt denna uppfattning. Det finns också en uppfattning om att det existerar ett visst samband mellan den informella vardagsmatematiken och den formella skolmatematiken. Men utanför matematiklektionerna upplevs matematiken finnas endast när eleverna rent påtagligt räknar och mäter. De intervjuade eleverna med åtgärdsprogram i matematik tenderar ha en uppfattning som starkare betonar att matematik has individuellt i läroboken, helst utan hjälp och ofta med fokus på algoritmer. Att räcka upp handen för att söka hjälp och att samarbeta tycks därför för dessa elever inte vara eftersträvansvärt. Den informella och den formella matematiken uppfattas ha få beröringspunkter. Utanför läroboken finns inte så mycket matematik enligt intervjuade elever med åtgärdsprogram. Risken är att det gemensamma matematikarbete som framhålles i Lpo94 av eleverna inte uppfattas som matematiklärande. Eleverna kan därmed missa de lärtillfällen som bygger på lärande i kommunikation. Att endast arbete i läroboken räknas som att ha matematik torde inte underlätta för elever i behov av särskilt stöd att förstå matematikens roll i vardagen. Så ska vi med dessa elever arbeta vidare med deras formella lärande i läroboken eller ska vi i stället börja arbeta för att eleverna ska förstå kopplingen mellan den informella och den formella matematiken för att öka den matematiska förståelsen?

The aim of this study is to describe the variation in two teachers perceptions of their work with individual developments. The study begins with a review of the Swedish National Agency for Education’s guidelines for working with individual developments. With this I want to give the reader an insight into the teachers working conditions and the responsibilities the school authorities have against their students. Using phenomenography, I have examined the differences between two mathematic teacher’s perceptions in working with individual developments for student’s in need of special education.     My questions are:   How do mathemathic teachers perceive their work with individual developments?   What support and what information do the teacher’s feel that they have been given in order to use individual developments as a tool?   How do the teachers perceive that their work situation has influenced their work with individual developments?   The two teachers I have interviewed showed different perceptions both in how they understood the guidelines for working with individual developments and how they chose to work with them. My conclusion is that the work situation and further education are those things that the most affects the perceptions of working with individual developments. The different working conditions of the teachers affect how they formulate the individual developments and how they use them as tools. Knowledge and teamwork are the key words in order to work succesfully with individual developments. Didactic knowledge is needed to determine which teaching materials that are useful and really helps the student. Teachers need support when introducing new reforms and when working with all the documentation. A good action plan is neccessary for students in need of special education and collaboration between everyone involved in the student's school situation. The main issue we have is to resolve how we can help teachers manage their teaching situation so they can respond to all students based on each student's unique needs.   Keywords:   Individual development   Phenomenography   Special support / Studiens syfte är att beskriva variationen i två lärares uppfattningar om åtgärdsprogram. Arbetet inleds med en genomgång av Skolverkets riktlinjer för arbete med åtgärdsprogram. Detta för att ge läsaren en inblick i de förutsättningar som lärarna har och vilka skyldigheter skolverksamheten har gentemot eleverna. Med hjälp av fenomenografin har jag undersökt vad som skiljer två matematiklärares uppfattningar åt i arbetet med åtgärdsprogram. Mina frågeställningar är:   Hur uppfattar matematiklärare arbetet med åtgärdsprogram? Vilket stöd och vilken information uppfattar lärarna att de fått för att kunna använda åtgärdsprogrammen som ett redskap? Hur uppfattar lärarna att deras arbetssituation påverkat arbetet med åtgärdsprogrammen?   De två lärare jag har intervjuat visar på skilda uppfattningar både i hur de uppfattat riktlinjerna kring arbetet med åtgärdsprogram samt hur de valt att arbeta med åtgärdsprogram. Min slutsats är att arbetssituationen och fortbildning är det som mest påverkar uppfattningen om åtgärdsprogram. Lärarnas olika förutsättningar påverkar hur de utformar åtgärdsprogrammen och hur de sedan använder dem som arbetsredskap. Kunskap och samarbete är nyckelorden för att lyckas med åtgärdsprogram. Didaktiska kunskaper behövs för att kunna avgöra vilka pedagogiska hjälpmedel som är användbara och verkligen hjälper eleven. Lärare behöver stöd vid införandet av nya reformer och i arbetet med all dokumentation. Det behövs en bra handlingsplan för elever i behov av särskilt stöd och ett samarbete mellan alla som är inblandade i elevens skolsituation. Den viktigaste frågan vi har att lösa är hur vi kan hjälpa lärare att klara sin undervisningssituation så de kan bemöta alla elever utifrån varje elevs unika behov.      Nyckelord:   Åtgärdsprogram   Fenomenografi   Särskilt stöd

Studien syftar till att undersöka lärares uppfattningar om läsförståelseutveckling och om hur läsförståelseundervisning. Det är en kvalitativ studie inspirerad av fenomenografisk metodansats med halvstrukturerade intervjuer som datainamlingsmetod. Resultatet visar att det finns en variation i lärares uppfattningar om vad som utvecklar läsförståelse och hur läsförståelseundervisning ska genomföras. Det som framkommer i intervjuerna med pedagogerna är att de flesta vill och försöker arbeta medvetet med sin läsförståelseundervisning men att det till stor del förekommer mest implicit undervisning. Resultatet påvisar en tendens till att eleverna blir sittande att genomföra uppgifter på egen hand eller i par och pedagogen blir instruktionsgivare och kontrollant istället för undervisare och övervakare av elevernas läsning. Det finns även en risk att de läsare som inte har några svårigheter inte får möjlighet att utveckla sin läsförståelse utan att fokus endast blir på de elever som är svaga läsare.

De senaste årens strukturella förändringar i svensk hälso- och sjukvård har påverkat vårdpersonalen i det sjukvårdande arbetet såväl fysiskt och psykiskt. Kontinuerlig återkoppling genom reflektion kan vara ett verktyg för avdelningschefen att leda utveckling, lärande och förnyelse i omvårdnadsarbetet. Studiens syfte var att genom fenomenografisk ansats beskriva avdelningschefers uppfattningar av reflektion i omvårdnadsarbete.Analysen av 15 intervjuer resulterade i fem beskrivningskategorier av reflektion: kunskapsintegrerande, bearbetande, utvecklande, arbetsledande och patientinriktad. Den kunskapsintegrerande reflektionen fångar studenternas utbildning som kan användas i omvårdnadsarbetet. Genom bearbetande reflektion skapas en fortlöpande tankeprocess av omvårdnadsarbetet. I utvecklande reflektion stärktes medarbetare genom att samtala med varandra. Arbetsledande reflektion beskrevs som ett eget forum för att bearbeta chefsrollen. Patientinriktad reflektion lyfte fram patientens delaktighet. Slutsatsen var att avdelningscheferna använde reflektion på olika nivåer och i olika sammanhang. Reflektionen visade sig betydelsefull för omvårdnadsarbetet. Studiens resultat kan bidra till ökad kunskap för att utveckla ledarskapet i riktning mot bättre arbetsmiljö och patientsäkerhet. Fortsatt forskning borde inriktas på interventionsstudier med reflektion i fokus. / Continuous feedback through reflection can be used as a tool by the department head for leading the development, learning and innovation in nursing work. The aim of the study was to describe the department heads´perceptions of reflection in nursing care by a phenomenographical approach. The analysis of 15 interviews resulted in five description categories of reflection. Knowledge integral reflection captures students´training that can be used in nursing work. Processing creates a continuous thought process in nursing work. Reflection development was reinforced among employees when talking to each orther. Managerial reflection was described as a separate forum in the process manager role. Patient-oriented reflection highlighted the patient´s participation. The conclusion was that department heads used reflection on different levels and in different contexts. Reflection proved important in nursing care. Study findings may help to increase knowledge in order to develop leadership whick leads to beter quality of care and patient safety. Continued research should focus on intervention studies with an emphasis on reflection.

Today's increasingly interconnected world creates new challenges related to the use and understanding of the concept of citizenship. The idea of a global citizenship is not new; however, in recent years there has been an evolution of increasing research leading to the expansion of interest with regard to the exploration of the concept and how it could be implemented in practice. This study attempts to deepen the understanding of the qualitatively different ways of perceiving this concept amongst a number of Indian and Nepalese young adults. The study is based on a phenomenographic research approach, where the data material was collected through semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show that global citizenship can be perceived as being related to equality, cultural diversity, global responsibility, global communication and cosmopolitan governance. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the young adults perceive themselves either only as national citizens, or as both national and global citizens. Finally, the respondents believe that formal education can contribute to the promotion of global citizenship by including the concept in the educational curriculum and by encouraging cultural exchange. The role of formal education in promoting global citizenship is also perceived to be unclear due to terminological confusion.

This study investigates variation in IT professionals' experience of ethics with a view to enhancing their formation and support. This is explored through an examination of the experience of IT, IT professional ethics and IT professional ethics education. The study's principal contribution is the empirical study and description of IT professionals' experience of ethics. The empirical phase is preceded by a review of conceptions of IT and followed by an application of the findings to IT education. The study's empirical findings are based on 30 semi-structured interviews with IT professionals who represent a wide demographic, experience and IT sub-discipline range. Their experience of ethics is depicted as five citizenships: Citizenship of my world, Citizenship of the corporate world, Citizenship of a shared world, Citizenship of the client's world and Citizenship of the wider world. These signify an expanding awareness, which progressively accords rights to others and defines responsibility in terms of others. The empirical findings inform a Model of Ethical IT. This maps an IT professional space increasingly oriented towards others. Such a model provides a conceptual tool, available to prompt discussion and reflection, and which may be employed in pursuing formation aimed at experiential change. Its usefulness for the education of IT professionals with respect to ethics is explored. The research approach employed in this study is phenomenography. This method seeks to elicit and represent variation of experience. It understands experience as a relationship between a subject (IT professionals) and an object (ethics), and describes this relationship in terms of its foci and boundaries. The study's findings culminate in three observations, that change is indicated in the formation and support of IT professionals in: 1. IT professionals' experience of their discipline, moving towards a focus on information users; 2. IT professionals' experience of professional ethics, moving towards the adoption of other-centred attitudes; and 3. IT professionals' experience of professional development, moving towards an emphasis on a change in lived experience. Based on these results, employers, educators and professional bodies may want to evaluate how they approach professional formation and support, if they aim to promote a comprehensive awareness of ethics in IT professionals.

The current study examined the conceptions of learning held by upper primary children in government schools in Brunei. Previous studies have shown that the conceptions of learning held by students influence the ways in which they approach learning tasks and, in turn, impact on their learning outcomes. However, the majority of these studies were carried out with university and secondary school students, with little research involving primary school children. A phenomenographic research approach was used to describe the qualitatively different ways in which a group of sixteen upper primary children experienced learning in two government schools in Brunei. Data were gathered using scenariobased semi]structured interviews. Iterative cycles of analysis revealed three categories of description depicting three qualitatively different ways in which the children experienced the phenomenon. The three categories of description were: learning as acquiring information (Category 1), learning as remembering information (Category 2) and learning as doing hands]on activities (Category 3). These categories indicate a variation in the ways in which upper primary children experience learning in government schools in Brunei. The conceptions of learning held by the children provide a platform from which educators and policy]makers can consider possibilities for meaningful learning in government schools in Brunei.

This study investigates small firm internationalisation from an individual owner-manager’s perspective. Despite advancing our understanding of small firm internationalisation, process-based theories including the Uppsala, innovation-related and networks explanations, and more recently entrepreneurial-based theories remain vague in relation to what characterises and constitutes the internationalisation practices of small owner-managed firms. Process theories overlook the owner-manager and their practices, while entrepreneurial explanations focus on individual characteristics to the exclusion of their internationalisation practices. Furthermore, existing explanations are constrained by rationalistic assumptions prevalent in small firm internationalisation research which de-emphasise comprehensiveness, connectedness and complexity in favour of de-contextualised parsimonious causal relationships, thereby limiting investigations into how owner-managers understand and practice firm internationalisation. As a way forward, an alternative interpretive lens is adopted using a phenomenographic approach to explore how owner-managers understand and practise firm internationalisation. Consequently, the owner-manager’s lived experiences of firm internationalisation provide the point of departure for this study. In-depth interviews with owner-managers of small internationalising wineries, together with observations, field notes, documentation and secondary data formed the basis of my empirical material which was analysed in two-stages. The material was initially analysed in terms of what constituted firm internationalisation practice, and was subsequently examined to explore how owner-managers understand firm internationalisation. A small firm internationalisation activity cycle comprising: assessing and knowing markets, prospecting and attracting agent interest, assessing agent compatibility, supporting and sustaining agent relationships and termination or failure of agent relationships emerged as what constituted their internationalisation practice. Subsequent analysis revealed how owner-managers understood firm internationalisation by identifying four qualitatively different understandings of firm internationalisation practices: seeking market knowledge, competing on price, portraying distinctiveness and storytelling. The internationalisation activity cycle and the understandings of firm internationalisation were later connected to form an understanding-based theory of small firm internationalisation. This study contributes to small firm internationalisation theory in two ways: first, the articulation of an on-going and inter-connected internationalisation activity cycle of the small firm extends existing theories by providing a more complete and accurate explanation of how owner-managers of small firms conduct their internationalisation practices. It makes visible the activities, processes and relationships obscured by existing theories. The internationalisation activity cycle, through the inter-relatedness of each of the activities concurrently, combines market knowledge processes with processes of attracting, building and replacing network relationships with domestic and foreign-based actors. Second, revealing different understandings of internationalisation practices of small owner-managed firms, and associating these understandings of internationalisation with their internationalisation activity cycle not only extends existing theories but offers a new explanation of small firm internationalisation. An understanding-based theory of small firm internationalisation advocates that variations in conduct and activities undertaken by owner-managers are determined by their different understandings of firm internationalisation. As a result, owner-managers attach different meanings to the activities within the internationalisation activity cycle as they conduct their internationalisation practices. Consequently, the variability and idiosyncratic nature of small firm internationalisation is captured as one of multiplicity, rather than demanding universal explanation proposed by existing theories. Keywords: small firm, internationalisation, understanding-based theory, internationalisation activity cycle, phenomenography Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classifications (ANZSRC): 150304 entrepreneurship 10%, 150308 international business 70%, 150314 small business management 20%

The purpose of this paper is to examine how preschool educators reflect about celebrating holidays in preschool settings. We interviewed six educators from three preschools. Two of the preschools are independent preschools with religious profiles; Jewish and Muslim. The third preschool is a municipal preschool without a religious profile. In our interviews we aimed to examine how holidays are celebrated, how the educators think and reflect about the function of the holiday celebration, and how the educators relate to holiday celebrations that are not directly connected to their own profile. Which similarities and differences can we see among the educators' stories about holiday celebration in preschool settings?  Our main questions are: What comprises the concept of holiday celebration, according to the educators in their own preschool setting? Which function do the holidays have? Our research approach is phenomenography which seeks its results in qualitative interviews. With a qualitative analysis you can determine the educators own perception of the phenomena you want to examine. Our method of choice is there for qualitative interviews. In the results from the study we saw that using holiday celebration has a strong connection, according to the educators, to culture and identity. They use holiday celebrations as both an identity-generating function as well as a way to integrate both families and many objectives from the preschool curriculum.