The aim of this thesis was to describe teenage girls’ experiences and perceptions of participation and influence during learning processes. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the view that children are social actors with their own agency were central to the study. The girls, who were 13 years old when the study began, and 16 when it ended, were interviewed once per semester for three years. Classroom observations formed the basis of the interviews, which provided insight into the learning environment and its working methods. These, in turn, were discussed during the interviews. Nine girls were selected through the IEPs that the school had established for them. They attended regular classes for most of the school day, but received at least one session of special education in smaller groups each week. Their special needs were due to reading and writing difficulties. All of them received special support in English, while seven of the girls also received special support in mathematics. The girls described current events in their life, regarding both school and their spare time, as well as their thoughts about the future, and how efforts to accommodate their special educational needs have affected their schooling. In addition to the girls’ narratives, the IEPs and grades provided the school’s narrative about the girls. The theoretical basis of the thesis comprises cultural-historical ideas of teaching and learning, and the importance of relationships to group-based learning. Descriptive qualitative analyses were based on the teenage girls’ narratives and resulted in five themes; a sixth theme discussed the school’s assessment of the girls through the IEPs and their grades from lower secondary school. Feeling included or not in the group was the overarching theme of all the stories, which involved the girls’ perceptions of how they were treated by the people around them. The results indicate that the girls needed to have instructions repeated to them. There was also a need for continuous encouragement and affirmation in order for them to dare to take on assignments. When it came to collaborative learning together with classmates, the girls preferred to hide their perceived weaknesses, which only made them more dependent on the teacher’s aid. In addition, the girls felt that the teachers were unhappy with the way they handled their school work, and felt overlooked rather than “seen”. In both the stories and the IEPs, concentration difficulties were highlighted as a consistent problem. The analyses show that it is not possible to speak of concentration difficulties without further specification. Since the girls also explained that they were able to maintain concentration, it is necessary to identify which conditions allow pupils to maintain their skills, and when these skills are lost. One finding was that experiences of playing sports created unexpected development opportunities for performing under pressure, even in test situations. According to the girls, visual strengths could compensate for difficulties remembering comprehensive information. The teaching provided opportunities to demonstrate an understanding of facts through visual expression, but creative elements were not included in graded assessments. The study shows that the girls’ leisure-time experiences created opportunities for generalisation regarding learning strategies in school situations.

Lo studio 1 indaga l’autocategorizzazione dell’identità religiosa in diverse culture, analizzando le differenze tra livello individuale e sociale e tra identità religiosa centrale e periferica, mettendo così in discussione la distinzione tra orientamento religioso intrinseco e estrinseco (Allport & Ross, 1967). I risultati indicano che l’identità religiosa viene categorizzata a un livello sociale dai partecipanti europei e a un livello individuale dai partecipanti non occidentali e che entrambi i livelli sono centrali nell’identità personale. Lo studio 2 esamina gli antecedenti familiari e di gruppo dell’internalizzazione religiosa (Ryan, Rigby, & King, 1993; Assor, 2012). I risultati indicano che la promozione dell’autonomia e la testimonianza di fede data dai genitori predicono l’identificazione religiosa dei figli, mentre l’introiezione viene predetta dall’affetto condizionato dei genitori; i leader religiosi e il gruppo religioso hanno anch’essi un’influenza sull’internalizzazione religiosa. Lo studio 3 indaga la relazione tra internalizzazione religiosa e pregiudizio verso i musulmani, analizzando il ruolo di mediazione dei valori. I risultati indicano che l’identità religiosa identificata è associata a livelli più bassi di pregiudizio rispetto all’identità religiosa introiettata; i valori prosociali mediano la relazione tra identificazione e pregiudizio, mentre i valori di conformismo mediano la relazione tra introiezione e pregiudizio. / Study1 investigated the self-categorization of religious identity in different cultures, analyzing the difference between an individual and a social level and between a central versus a peripheral religious identity, thus questioning the distinction between and intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation (Allport & Ross, 1967). Results indicated that religious identity is mainly categorized at a social level by European respondents and at an individual level by nonwestern respondents, and that both levels are central in personal identity. Study 2 addressed the familiar and group antecedents of religious internalization (Ryan, Rigby, & King, 1993; Assor, 2012). Findings showed that parental autonomy support and intrinsic value demonstration predicted children religious identification, whereas conditional regard predicted introjection; religious leaders and groups also influenced religious internalization. Study 3 investigated the relationship between religious internalization and prejudice towards Muslims, analyzing the mediating role of values. Results indicated that identificated religious identity is associated with lower levels of prejudice than introjected religious identity; prosocial values mediated between identification and prejudice, whereas conformity values mediated between introjection and prejudice.

This master's thesis focuses on the manufacturing system of the company ADOZ, ltd. It describes some systems of production management that leaders of the company want to implement, the company itself, the condition of the default manufacturing system, its deficiencies and motives of the company that led leaders to decide to move to a new space. One section of the thesis describes the space of the new building into which the company wants to move its manufacturing system. The thesis also deals with the calculation of capacity, the quantity of staff, and the size of the areas of the new manufacturing system that should be placed into the new building. The workplaces of the manufacturing system have been divided into various type groups. The relationships between these groups have been analysed, whereupon accurate plans of the placement of workplaces of the new manufacturing system in the manufacturing space of the new building have been created. On the basis of two different attitudes towards calculation of capacity, two different proposals have been created, and a plan of workplace placement has been made individually for each proposal. Both proposals have been compared from a financial viewpoint.