This work deals with interpersonal relationships in all their komplexity including the absence of these relationships. We try to interpret the ways of singles' lives in today's world. The aim of this work is to point out several aspects of interpersonal mutuality, which is represented by eight respondents, who live as the singles. The expressions stated in this work refer to problems of this increasing group of people. The work is a probe into life of present- day single people, who live without partner, without sharing home together. The increase amount of single people makes us to ask many questions. In these theme we try to look for andresearch the motives of these people, the reasons for accentuating the freedom, their own borderlines and we try to look for impacts, which can influence making decision of single people. Keywords: singles, mutuality, isolation, freedom, borderline, marriage, family, home, self- giving, interpersonality.

The main issue of this work concerns the meaning of educational supervisionas a tool for collaborative work-related knowledge formation in preschool. The study is based upon and complements the analysis of the phenomenoneducational supervision in a previous study presented in my previousbook Det mångtydiga mötet – ett försök att förstå komplexiteten i pedagogiskhandledning med yrkesverksamma [The many folded encounter – anattempt to understand the complexity in collaborative educational supervision].Supervision dialogues are in the focus as one of several tools for developingthe content of knowledge in preschool, the knowledgebase of the professionals,and their coping with professional issues within their daily work.These two studies together form my licentiate treatise. For studying the phenomenon,two perspectives have been used: a societal and an inter-subjectiveperspective. Educational supervision, as an epistemic culture, is analysed inrelation to an emerging knowledge society. The implementation of a new curriculum for preschool, with its model forparticipatory goal-steering, has been the basis for the analysis of the supervisionprocess as an activity for knowledge formation. The analysis is relatedto curriculum theory. Issues related to power are crucial in contexts for supervision.These are analysed with regards to the participators in the supervisiondialogue on the one hand, and to institutional actors, e.g. the relationshipbetween university and preschool and between the professionals in a localpreschool and the administrative level of the municipality, on the other. Thefundamental premise of the work has been that supervision is to be conductedon the conditions of those being supervised. The study relies on previous experiences of and reflections on supervisionas well as on consultee-centered case consultation. Further material and methodsused for the study are interviews with supervisors and supervised, andtextual analysis of contemporary educational literature on supervision. Thelatter includes both a close and a distanced re-reading of my above mentionedbook. Educational supervision of professionals seems to have developedinto a specific domain within the field of supervision. As a result of the review,supervision was categorised as three approaches with regards to their respectiveoverarching goal. The potentially positive and negative effects of supervision, as well assome pitfalls, have been identified. The conclusions concern criteria for goodsupervision that contribute to a dialogue for knowledge formation within aninter-subjective perspective. An inter-subjective relation, with an object forsupervision that is negotiated with regards to autonomy as well as reciprocalityis emphasized. A narrative strategy for supervision is seen as a possibilityfor developing a professional language and a domain for further investigations. / <p>With an abstract in English</p>

Motivations, Attitudes and Modern Languages. A study of students’ motivational processes and attitudes while learning foreign languages. This doctoral thesis investigates students’ motivational processes and attitudes while studying and learning foreign languages (FLs). Students were asked about their choice of FL, and what had motivated them during their many years of studies. The study analyzes open-ended questionnaires and interviews with 43 students enrolled in the last year of foreign language studies in two schools, limiting its focus to the three most commonly studied FLs – French, German and Spanish. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws on sociocognitive theory (Bandura 1997; Linnenbrink &amp; Pintrich 2002). Several informants refer to motivation in terms that could be related to intrinsic motivation. They have chosen to continue studying their particular target language due to an emotional state which could be related to enjoyment, pleasure and curiosity (Deci &amp; Ryan 1985). Another salient feature is the frequent reference to mastery goals. Many of the informants express a motivation directed towards mastery and growth, or a main goal to be fluent or communicatively competent in their target language. Several informants also underline the motivational importance of experiencing competence, success and development. They become motivated by experiencing self-efficacy (Bandura 1997). This self-efficacy is rooted in experience of success, but also in being encouraged by significant others or role models, i.e. family members and friends. Despite a frequent awareness of the weakening general interest for FL, most students have a supportive network. Likewise, family and friends play a crucial role for many informants while choosing their target language initially. This key factor interacts with other important factors, such as the experiences of visiting countries or settings where the target language is used. In this context, target language attitudes tend to be important when choosing language and pursuing studies.

The purpose of this study was to explore nurse-patient encounters from the perspective of the Home Healthcare Registered Nurse. A qualitative descriptive design was used to collect data from a purposive sample of 20 home healthcare registered nurses from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island currently or previously employed as a home healthcare nurse. Four themes and one interconnecting theme emerged from the data: Objective Language; Navigating the Unknown; Mitigating Risk; Looking for Reciprocality in the Encounter; and the interconnecting theme of Acknowledging Not All Nurse-Patient Encounters Go Well. One goal of the study was to propose an empirically informed definition of what constituted a difficult encounter. An important early finding was that the terms difficult patient and difficult encounter were not generally used by study participants. HHC RNs voiced a preference for objective and nonjudgmental language to communicate outcomes of nurse-patient encounters. Three types of HHC RN-patient interactions emerged from the data, with constructive encounters the norm and non-constructive or destructive encounters less frequent. A constructive encounter is when two or more human beings, the nurse on the one side, and the patient, caregiver, or both on the other, interact to achieve a mutually agreed upon outcome. A nonconstructive encounter is when one or more human beings obstruct efforts to achieve at least one positive outcome. A destructive encounter is when one or more human beings direct anger at or physically aggress toward another human being. Strategies to promote reciprocality are routinely employed during HHC RN-patient encounters, but HHC RNs who miss cues that a strategy is ineffective or failed may be at risk in the home. Study data lend support to key concepts, assumptions, and propositions of Travelbee’s (1971) Human-to-Human Relationship Model. Study results provide a foundation for further research to increase the understanding, recognition, and development of empirically derived responses to non-constructive or destructive encounters such that HHC RNs are safe and best able to meet patients’ healthcare needs.