Practitioners working with children under three are often marginalised; both in terms of group settings and in terms of being a focus of research (see Manning-Morton, 2006; McDowell-Clark and Baylis, 2012). This research prioritizes the practitioner’s voice by exploring the subject area of personal theory. In this thesis, personal theory is conceptualised as a composite of understandings and experiences including policy, organisational procedures, Early Years literature, training and Continuing Professional Development as well as personal and professional experiences, beliefs, and values. As Stephen and Brown (2004) indicate, particular constructions of care, learning, and children shape what is considered desirable educational practice. Drawing on Aristotle’s intellectual virtue of phronesis, this research’s aim is to understand how practitioners’ personal and professional experiences and understandings contribute to practitioners’ construction of personal theory. Research questions focus on: 1) understanding which relationships are particularly influential, 2) understanding which experiences are particularly influential and 3) identifying key features of practitioners’ personal theories. Case study methodology frames the research design. The research demonstrates that although personal theory is tacit, linking to specific instances of practice enables practitioners to articulate personal constructions of care, learning and children. Findings relate to six key characteristics of practitioners’ personal theories: practice as an ‘Ethic of Care’, practice as pedagogy, practice as ‘subsitute mothering’, practice as distinctive for children aged birth to three years, practice as rooted in experience and practice as emotional activity. Joan Tronto’s (1993, 2013) ‘Ethic of Care’ affords further consideration of personal theory; particularly the contradiction between personal theory that shapes engagements with young children as an ‘Ethic of Care’ and that which shapes engagements as ‘substitute mothering’. The thesis’ discussion highlights how the articulation and discussion of personal theory enables a richer construction of Early Years professionalism and professional identity within Birth to Three settings.

“Låt romanen komma in – Transformativt lärande i gymnasieskolans litteraturundervisning“ är en litteraturdidaktisk studie i forskningsämnet pedagogik som tar syftestexten för litteraturundervisningen i det gymnasiala svenskämnet som utgångspunkt. Genom en förstudie där elva svensklärare och en skolbibliotekarie samtalar i fokusgrupper riktas projektet mot sitt huvudfokus som är en läsloggsintervention där 31 elever i gymnasiekursen Svenska 3 läser John Ajvide Lindqvists “Låt den rätte komma in” (Ordfront, 2004/2015). Med hjälp av begrepp från läsforskning (Rita Felski, “Uses of Literature”, Blackwell Publishing, 2008) och erfarenheter från förstudien för eleverna logg över sin läsning. Resultatet av läsloggsinterventionen visar att elevernas metareflektion hjälps framåt av begreppsanvändningen och att eleverna därmed tar steget in i en transformativ lärandeprocess. Licentiatavhandlingen innehåller en analys av den didaktiska potentialen för transformativt lärande med fokus på fokalisation och främmandegöring i Ajvide Lindqvists roman samt en praktisk modell för hur begreppsorienterad litteraturundervisning med läslogg på gymnasiet kan utformas. / The function of reading fictional texts in Swedish secondary school education has been questioned in public debate (e.g. Melin, 2016-07-17), even though the reading of fictional texts has been shown to be important to young people’s academic achievement (Jerrim &amp; Moss, 2019). Swedish policy documents clearly state that upper secondary teaching of literature in the subject of Swedish is aimed at increasing the pupils’ self-awareness and their comprehension of experiences and perceptions of others (The Swedish National Agency of Education, 2011). However, results from a large-scale reading project show that Swedish teenagers find it difficult to reflect upon their own roles as readers of fictional texts (Nordberg, 2018). Therefore, this licentiate thesis targets upper secondary reading of fictional texts, and the possibility of using literary terminology pedagogically to visualize and develop pupils’ transformative learning processes. The overall research question posed is: - How can applied literary terminology be used in upper secondary literary studies todevelop pupils’ transformative learning processes? A pilot study was conducted based on three focus group-sessions with teachers and the librarian at an upper secondary school. The main study was based on reading journals written by pupils reading John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel Låt den rätte komma in (2004) [Let the Right One In, 2008] as part of the Swedish 3 course. The methodological framework is inspired by participatory research. Consequently, this research-project uses an inclusive approach to the participants – 11 Swedish teachers, 1 librarian and 31 pupils – which means that they are considered as subjects rather than objects of knowledge. My own role in this project is tripartite: as a colleague, a teacher, and researcher. The pilot study was conducted in order to find out which possibilities and obstacles arose when the staff participants worked on teaching literature. The main study, within which the pupils are included as participants, focuses on advancing meta-perspectives of their own reading and made use of results from the pilot study and concepts derived from Felski’s (2008) ‘modes of textual engagement’. The pilot study revealed tensions which obstruct the teaching of literature, including the teacher-experienced importance of pupils ‘stepping into’ stories, as opposed to a great many pupils’ reluctance both towards the text and the act of reading. Moreover, the tension between engaged reading and the heavy emphasis placed on assessable outcomes of teaching and learning was addressed by the teachers. The main study revealed that reluctance is an inherent part of reading fictional texts. Further, that the pedagogical application of concepts used in literary studies can support the reading process, make it move forward, encourage the adoption of meta-perspectives on reading and on the pupils themselves as readers, as well as supporting a cohesive view of the finalized text. In summary, the findings suggest that applying literary concepts in literary studies supports pupils towards advancing their transformative learning and potentially points to a new way of making the goals section of the policy documents tangible for teaching and learning practices. According to this study, transformative learning-goals can be achieved if critical perspectives are preceded by individual engagement with the reading of the text. The suggested concept of transformative potential is beneficial to an analysis of the pedagogical function of a certain fictional text used in a certain learning situation geared towards transformative learning. This finding stands in contrast to trends of using reading as a means of writing practice or imaging historical epochs. / <p>Licentiate Thesis in Education with Specialisation in Didactics.</p>

”To drift towards old habits” is an exploratory essay in which I examined how my practical knowledge and morally based duties affected my actions and how those led to a hard-assessed situation where I stood without knowing right from wrong. The dilemma laid in that I didn’t know whether my approach should have been based on my gathered experience and knowledge or have based on the rules and framework of the new work assignment I had accepted. By the figuration of two self-experienced situations I portrayed my work and practical knowledge through the first one, in which my assignment was to work with a student in need of extra support. That lead on to the second figuration, where this knowledge, in combination with a sense of duty, influenced my course of action even though my work assignment had changed to be a leisure time pedagogue. The main perspectives in this essay were therefore to be focused on an interpretation of practical knowledge and on how the ethics of duties are constructed. With these two perspectives my purpose was to explore how I could relate my choices of actions according to these and how they could come to affect future repertoires of actions. / ”Att glida in i gamla spår” är en utforskande essä där jag har undersökt hur min praktiska kunskap och mina moraliska plikter påverkat mitt handlande, vilket lett till en svårbedömd situation där jag inte visste vad som var rätt val att ta. Dilemmat låg i att jag inte visste om jag skulle förhålla mig till tidigare erfarenheter och kunskaper eller om jag skulle hålla mig till de regler och ramar som fanns för mitt nya arbetsuppdrag. Genom att gestalta två olika situationer målas mitt arbete och min praktiska kunskap upp i den första gestaltningen då jag arbetar som elevresurs till en elev i behov av stöd. För att sedan visa hur denna kunskap i kombination med en känsla av plikt påverkar mina val i den andra gestaltningen, där jag antagit en ny arbetsroll som lärare mot fritidshem. Huvudperspektiven i denna uppsats kom därför att rikta sig mot en tolkning av den praktiska kunskapen och hur pliktetiken utformas. Med dessa två perspektiv var syftet att undersöka hur jag förhållit mitt handlande utifrån dessa två och hur de kan komma att påverka framtida handlingsrepertoarer.

This master´s thesis has the form of a scientific essay. Its purpose is to explore how supervisors, in supervising professionals, balance between creating security and building relationship as opposed to challenging participants by introducing unexpected elements. The purpose is also to investigate whether philosophical theories can constitute impulses and unexpected elements for reflection on the supervisor's balancing act. The essay raises the question whether philosophical theories in the same manner can constitute impulses and unexpected elements in reflection on theories and practice in supervision. Experiences and conversations constitute the empirical material of the study. Certain themes have crystallized on those basis. These themes are discussed in relation to theories in supervision and to philosophical theories. The essay has highlighted the importance of the practical knowledge that supervisors use in the balancing act. The body and its signals and memory seems to play an important role for the interpersonal contact, as well as for the conversation and for the listening. The essay also shows that the supervisor's balancing act means more complexity than the balance between security and challenge. / Denna masteruppsats har formen av en vetenskaplig essä. Dess syfte är att utforska hur handledare i handledning med yrkesverksamma balanserar mellan att skapa trygghet och bygga och behålla relation i motsats till att utmana deltagarna genom att introducera främmande moment. Syftet är även att undersöka om filosofiska teorier kan utgöra impulser och främmande moment för reflektion över handledares balansakt i handledning och i reflektion över teorier och praktik inom handledning. Gestaltningar och samtal utgör undersökningens empiriska material och utifrån dessa har teman utkristalliserats. Dessa teman diskuteras i relation till teorier inom handledning och i relation till filosofiska tänkare. Undersökningen har synliggjort betydelsen av den praktiska kunskap som handledare använder i balansakten, där kroppen och dess signaler spelar en viktig roll för såväl mötet, som samtalet, lyssnandet och den gemensamma reflektionen. Utforskningen visar också att handledares balansakt innehåller fler utmaningar och är mer komplex än balansen mellan trygghet och utmaning.

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In the past 30 years there has been a steady and growing appreciation in the literature of the importance and value of teachers' practical wisdom (TPW) - or phronesis as it is also known - to further an understanding of classroom practice and of the need to find ways to help teachers generate and share their perspectives with others. Nevertheless, the potential of this kind of knowledge (understood by Aristotle to be both practical and moral in its orientation) to contribute valuable insights to educational debates has still to be realised. Rather, educational decisions about policy and practice in many contexts (whether at a national or institutional level) are still largely driven by theoretical and technical knowledge perspectives and teacher practical wisdom perspectives are still often under-valued and remain under-represented in educational literature. One of the main reasons for this put forward in this thesis is the tendency in much of the literature to see this form of knowledge as classroom bound rather than to realise the ways in which it can inform broader pedagogical discussions. Bearing all of the above in mind, the aim of the study reported in this thesis into the TPW of 14 experienced expatriate English as a foreign language teachers (EEEFLTs) working in English language centres (ELCs) across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is threefold. Its first aim is to provide a platform for the EEEFLTs to demonstrate the contribution their TPW can potentially make in addressing syllabus related issues in the KSA ELCs they have worked and, in doing so, show how the use of TPW is not confined to the classroom. Its second aim is to increase the visibility of the participants' TPW and thus raise awareness of the importance of research into TPW and to provide a model for how this can be conducted. The study's final aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of TPW. Located in the interpretive paradigm, this study uses a TPW-friendly methodology to investigate TPW: interpretive phronetic educational research (IPER), which approaches and conducts educational research through a moral and practical problem-driven lens. This understanding drives the study's methodology and all stages of its data collection and analysis and the methods used in both. The goal of such methods is an epistemological one to generate TPW whilst empowering it also by highlighting its validity and how it is easily articulated - and thus captured - and not confined to the classroom. To assist with its articulation and capture, the study employs a process defined as Problematisation: a four-stage process consisting of reflection, problematisation, deliberation and articulation which drives and shapes the semi-structured interviews the study employs and the secondary research questions that inform the primary research question. The study concludes that the EEEFLTs use their TPW as a lens (that has 12 qualities) through which to view KSA ELC syllabi and, in doing so, identify many problems with the syllabi and subsequent consequences and suggest solutions to address both. These problems, consequences and solutions have been organised under six prominent categories that represent six main problem areas to emerge from the data that suggest the syllabi are teacher, textbook and test-centred, top-down, teacher-proof and time-driven. These categories represent six problem areas that in turn reflect the problematic, negative and disempowering context from which the data informing such categories and themes have been drawn. In this study, TPW is considered disempowered knowledge as a result of the disempowering context within which it has been acquired and is used. Previous TPW studies have been conducted in more positive settings and have perhaps for this reason not focused on TPW's disempowerment. In contrast, this study takes on a much more political role as it explores TPW's disempowerment in the KSA ELC context as well as in the broader context of academia and the literature. TPW's lack of visibility in TESOL and education has several implications because unless TPW achieves greater visibility, it may fade into extinction and its potential may never be realised. This study has been conducted in an attempt to prevent this happening.

Social Investments (SI) have become a significant policy tool during the 2010s for developing and implementing social policy. This study explores how the SI framework, based on social innovation, evidence-based policy and practice, and impact evaluation, affects professionals when it is implemented and evaluated.  The empirical material of the study was based on semi-structured interviews with professionals operating in the City of Stockholm. The author applied practical philosophy, relational sociology, and evaluation theory to answer four phronetic social science research questions focusing on phronesis (practical wisdom). SI comes with constitutive effects that affect the praxis of professionals. It is accompanied by different logics that can both enable or restrict common understanding between economists or social advocates, these differ between professional groups. It creates new content to strive for to create measurable outcomes, which can often lead to conflicts of power. Whether it is delivering outcomes within a certain set of time, or following evidence-based policy and practice, different chains of accountability put a lot of pressure to not do wrong, rather than do right.   The design and implementation of the SI fund in the City of Stockholm have had problems that need addressing. Thus, this study concludes with a warning that any attempts to fix these problems must refrain to create an evaluation machine that risks alienating professionals’ relationship with their work.