The purpose of this study was to illuminate the everyday work of school counsellors in the City of Stockholm with a gender perspective by studying the school counsellors ́ talk about masculinity and femininity. The aim was to reach an understanding of how parts of the counsellors everyday work are influenced by gender through the perspective of the school counsellor. The study was conducted using qualitative methods. Six school counsellors, five woman and one man, were interviewed. An interview method called thematically open interview was used to identify themes regarding aspects of gender in the school counsellors ́ everyday work. The theoretical perspectives that were applied during analysis were Judith Butlers ́ theory on gender performativity and Mimi Shippers ́ theory on gender hegemony. A qualitative data analysis was conducted using hermeneutic principles for interpretation. The results show that the school counsellors gave femininity and masculinity three different meanings, that gender influenced varying aspects of the counsellors work including the interaction with teachers, pupils, parents and principal and that indications of gender hegemony could be found in the stories told by four of the school counsellors. Further some school counsellors experienced gender as an obstacle to a larger extent than others. / Syftet med denna studie var att belysa skolkuratorer i Stockholm stads vardagliga arbete ur ett genusperspektiv genom att studera hur skolkuratorer talar om maskulinitet och femininitet. Målet var att nå kunskap om hur delar av skolkuratorernas vardagliga arbete influeras av genus ur skolkuratorns perspektiv. För att genomföra studien användes kvalitativa metoder. Sex kuratorer intervjuades, fem kvinnor och en man. En Intervjumetod kallad tematiskt öppen intervju användes för att identifiera teman beträffande olika aspekter av genus i skolkuratorernas vardagliga arbete. Under analysen tillämpades Judith Butlers ́ teori om genusperformativitet och Mimi Schippers ́ teori om könshegemoni. En kvalitativ dataanalys genomfördes med hjälp av hermeneutiska tolkningsprinciper. Studiens resultat visar att skolkuratorerna gav femininitet och maskulinitet tre skilda betydelser, att genus influerade olika aspekter av skolkuratorernas arbete inklusive deras interaktion med elever, lärare, föräldrar och rektorer och att det är går att se tecken som tyder på förekomsten av könshegemoni i fyra kuratorers berättelser. Vidare upplevde vissa kuratorer i högre grad än andra kuratorer att genus utgjorde ett hinder i det vardagliga arbetet.

Vid frågor som rör barns utsatthet för sexuella övergrepp har internet fått en allt större roll där den omfattande teknikutvecklingen har lett till nya möjligheter för personer att ta kontakt med unga för sexuella ändamål. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka skolkuratorers erfarenheter av att möta och arbeta med unga som utsatts eller riskerar att utsättas för sexuella övergrepp på nätet. Studiens empiri baseras på kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med sju skolkuratorer som arbetar på högstadium. Empirin analyserades med hjälp av en teoretisk referensram bestående av yrkeskompetens samt tidigare forskning. Resultatet visar att skolkuratorerna arbetar till med förebyggande insatser såsom kunskapsspridning och utbildning till både elever och föräldrar. Det framkommer dock att insatserna ter sig resultatlösa då alltfler elever blir utsatta och skolkuratorerna har inte har kunnat se några förändringar. För att fånga upp elever som blivit utsatta för nätövergrepp utgör relationen ett viktigt verktyg. När det gäller att stödja elever som blivit utsatta utförs arbetet vid misstanke eller när skolkuratorerna har fått kännedom om att en elev har blivit utsatt. En utmärkande utmaning är skolkuratorernas kunskapsbrist kring fenomenet som leder till svårigheter i det förebyggande, upptäckande och intervenerande arbetet. / The internet has gained an increasing role when it comes to issues regarding child sexual abuse, where the extensive technology development has led to new opportunities for people to contact young people for sexual purposes. The aim of this study was to investigate school counselors' experiences of meeting and working with young people who are exposed or at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse online. The empirical study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with seven school counselors’ working at high school. The empiric material was analyzed using a theoretical framework consisting of professional competence and previous research. The result shows that school counsellors’ work on preventive measures such as information work for both students and parents. However, it appears that the efforts seem futile as more students are being exposed and the school counsellors’ have not been able to see any changes. In order to capture students who have been subjected to sexual abuse online, the relationship is an important tool. When it comes to supporting students who have been exposed, the work is carried out on suspicion or when the school counsellors’ have become aware that a student has been exposed. A distinct challenge is the lack of knowledge about the phenomenon that leads to difficulties in preventive, spotting and intervening work.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur skolkuratorer beskriver skolrelaterad stress hos barn samt hur de i sin yrkesroll arbetar med frågor som rör skolrelaterad stress hos barn. Metoden i studien var kvalitativ och semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med skolkuratorer arbetandes inom grundskolan. Studiens teoretiska tolkningsram var känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) och socialt stöd för att få en vidgad förståelse för barns skolrelaterade stress och skolkuratorns roll i det psykosociala arbetet med frågor som rör barns skolrelaterade stress. Studiens resultat visade att skolkuratorerna såg en hög förekomst av skolrelaterad stress hos barn och då främst relaterat till det sociala samspelet, prestationskrav och förväntningar i skolarbetet samt skolans organisatoriska struktur. Av studien framkom att skolkuratorerna ansåg att frågor gällande skolrelaterad stress är viktiga att arbeta med, på individ-, grupp- och organisationsnivå. / The purpose of the study was to investigate how school counsellors describe school-related stress in children and how they work in their profession with questions related to school-related stress in children. The method in the study was qualitative and semi-structured interviews were conducted with school counsellors working in elementary school. The theoretical frame of the study was a sense of context (KASAM) and social support in order to gain a broader understanding of children's school-related stress and the role of the school-counsellor in the psychosocial work on children's school-related stress. The results of the study showed that school counsellors saw a high incidence of school-related stress in children, mainly related to social interaction, achievements and expectations in school work and the organizational structure of the school. The study found that school counsellors felt that school-related stress issues are important to work with at individual group and organizational levels.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att utifrån skolkuratorers perspektiv öka förståelsen om skolkuratorers arbete för att hjälpa unga mellan 12-19 år som lider av någon form av psykisk ohälsa. För att analysera vårt material har vi använt oss av tre teorier: KASAM - känsla av sammanhang av Aaron Anthonovsky, Utvecklingsekologi av Urie Bronfenbrenner och Krav- Kontroll - Stöd av Robert Karaseks och Töres Theorells. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod med hjälp av sex semi- strukturerade intervjuer med sex skolkuratorer. Resultatet som vi kom fram till i vår studie är att skolan medför stress och oro för unga. Hemförhållanden och sociala medier är även två faktorer som bidrar till psykisk ohälsa bland unga. Skolkuratorers huvudfokus är individuella stödsamtal till elever, dock visade vårt resultat att på grund av tidbrist kan de inte jobba lika förebyggande som de vill. Skolkuratorernas svårigheter med arbetet är att upptäcka psykisk ohälsa bland unga. / The purpose of the study is to, from the perspective of the school curators, increase understanding of the work of school workers to help young people between 12- 19 years suffering from some of mental illness. To analyze our material, we have used three theories: Aaron Anthonovsky about KASAM, Urie Bronfenbrenner theory about Developmental Ecology, and Robert Karaseks and Töres Theorells theory about Requirements- Control - Support. The study has been conducted with a qualitative method using six semi- structured interviews with six school counsellors. The serults we found in our study are that the school brings stress and concern to the young people/students. Home relationships and social media are also two factors that contribute to mental ill health among young people. Schools main focus is individual support talks for students, however, our results showed that due to lack of time they can not work as preventively as they like. The school counsellors diffculties with the work are to detect mental ill health among young people.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Current debates in education and education support focus on the importance of schools needing to facilitate the holistic development of learners and also ensuring the achievement of educational objectives. This study focused on the need for counsellors to support teaching and learning in Schools of Skills and investigated challenges that emerged when school counsellors facilitate school development. The research question which framed this study was, what is the role school counsellors play in supporting teaching and learning and school development? A mixed methods approach that employed both qualitative and quantitative techniques was adopted in an attempt to construct a rich and meaningful picture of school counselling practice within School of Skills. Participants included principals, counsellors and educators at four schools of skills situated in the Western Cape. The data collection process included interviews and questionnaires. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with the four principals and the four school counsellors and questionnaires including both open-ended and closed questions were completed by educators. The findings illuminate the psycho-social barriers experienced by learners and how school counsellors can support learners. Roles of school counsellors are varied and involve the provision of support to various members of the school community in addition to teaching and administration. Challenges faced by school counsellors were highlighted as lack of human resources, lack of support and workload. The recommendations are presented as suggestions for consideration at various levels in the system, from micro (level of the individual) to macro (level of the state).

This diploma thesis focuses on career guidance in primary and mainly lower secondary schools. The goal of the thesis is to identify and describe the best practices of career guidance from the perspective of a lower secondary school career or educational counsellor, and also from the perspective of the education system. The theoretical part fulfills this goal by describing inspirational approaches to career guidance in selected European countries (Finland, England and France). Using in-depth semi-structured interviews, the research part examines and describes the work of six career guidance facilitators at four lower secondary schools and one upper secondary school, which were purposefully selected as possible examples of best practice. The outcome of the thesis is a detailed insight into the attitudes and approaches to career guidance of the selected respondents, description of 36 unique career guidance activities, and a set of both systemic and specific recommendations for improving the state of career guidance in lower secondary schools. Although the work is focused on lower secondary schools, its outputs are also applicable to upper secondary schools.

Cyberbullying is a phenomenon that has negative impact on children’s and adolescents’ mental health and can be categorized as a potential mental health issue. Research suggests that school climate, the school’s unity and collaboration between school counsellors and personnel and the work with students and guardians is of importance in preventing and acting against cyberbullying. The aim of this study is to investigate how school counsellors on lower secondary schools describe their work with cyberbullying and how they speak about the collaboration with other professions within the school in their work against cyberbullying. The study’s theoretical frame is based on Danermark’s (2005) collaboration model and the collected material consists of seven semi-structured qualitative interviews with school counsellors which have been analysed thematically.  The results suggest that school personnel and guardians need to create knowledge and competence about social media and cyberbullying as it is a comprehensive problem that is constantly evolving. The importance of relationships with students is addressed for a successful work against cyberbullying where pedagogical staff are often described as having better relationships with students, which means that the school counsellors’ collaboration with other school personnel becomes important for detecting and resolving cyberbullying. The results of the study show that the school counsellors shed light on several factors that affect the collaborative work and how it takes place. The school counsellors emphasize the importance of collegial relationships to develop a favourable collaboration. Furthermore, school counsellors describe that different views in a pedagogically dominated school world creates challenges and make the collaboration work more complex. The results also show that the school as an organization should be characterized by an open discussion about cyberbullying. / Nätmobbning är ett fenomen som har en negativ inverkan på barn och ungdomars mentala hälsa och kan kategoriseras som en potentiell psykisk hälsofråga. Forskning visar att skolmiljö, skolans sammanhållning och samverkan mellan skolkuratorer och skolpersonal samt arbetet med elever och vårdnadshavare är av betydelse för att förebygga och åtgärda nätmobbning. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur skolkuratorer på högstadieskolor beskriver deras arbete kring nätmobbning i skolan samt hur de talar om samverkan mellan andra professioner inom skolan i deras arbete mot nätmobbning. Studien har en teoretisk utgångspunkt i Danermarks (2005) samverkansmodell och det insamlade materialet består av sju semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med skolkuratorer som har analyserats tematiskt. Studiens resultat synliggör att skolpersonal och vårdnadshavare behöver skapa kunskap och kompetens kring sociala medier och nätmobbningsproblematik då det är ett omfattade problem som ständigt utvecklas. Vikten av relationer till eleverna tas upp för ett lyckat arbete mot nätmobbning där pedagogisk personal ofta beskrivs ha godare relationer till eleverna vilket innebär att skolkuratorernas samverkan med annan skolpersonal blir betydelsefull för att upptäcka och åtgärda nätmobbning. I studiens resultat belyser skolkuratorerna flera faktorer hur samverkansarbetet mot nätmobbning påverkas och utspelar sig. Skolkuratorerna lyfter fram den kollegiala relationens betydelse för att utveckla en gynnsam samverkan.  Vidare beskriver vissa skolkuratorer att skilda synsätt i en pedagogiskt dominerad skolvärld skapar utmaningar och gör samverkansarbetet mer komplext. Resultatet visar också att skolan som organisation bör präglas av en öppen diskussion kring nätmobbning.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka skolors och skolkuratorers arbete med att uppmärksamma, förebygga och motverka hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Intervjuer genomfördes med sex skolkuratorer i en kvalitativ intervjustudie. Resultatet visade varierande erfarenheter gällande skolans arbete med och kunskap om problematiken. En stor del av skolkuratorerna beskrev en avsaknad av en handlingsplan och riktade insatser specifikt mot hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck medan ett fåtal beskrev ett mer utvecklat och inriktat arbete mot problematiken. Mänskliga rättigheter och barnkonventionen visade sig vara grundläggande beståndsdelar i det förebyggande och motverkande arbetet och att kunskap och relationen till eleven är av vikt för att kunna uppmärksamma och upptäcka problematiken. Samverkan, organisatoriska faktorer samt sociala konstruktioner ansågs påverka handlingsutrymmet och arbetet med hedersrelaterat våld och förtryck. Resultatet visade även ett behov av ständig kompetensutveckling samt att det förebyggande och motverkande arbetet alltid måste utvecklas och uppdateras. / The aim of the study was to examine how schools and school counselors pay attention to, prevent and counteract honour related violence and oppression. Six school counselors were interviewed in a qualitative study. Results showed varying experiences regarding the school’s work with and knowledge of the problem. A majority described a lack of an action plan and specific interventions against honour related violence and oppression while a few described a focused work against the problem. Human rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were fundamental components of the preventive and counteracting work and that knowledge and the relationship with the student are important to be able to pay attention to and identify the problem. Collaboration, organizational factors and social constructions affected the work and discretion. The results demonstrate a need for constant competence development and that preventive and counteracting work must always be developed and updated.

I den här studien beskrivs hur skolkuratorer arbetar förebyggande mot kränkande behandling för att främja elevers välmående och utveckling. Studien syftar till att undersöka skolkuratorers arbetssätt gällande förebyggande arbete mot kränkande behandling på grundskolan. Frågeställningar för att uppfylla studiens syfte är: Hur arbetar skolkuratorer förebyggande mot kränkande behandling? Hur är handlingsutrymmet i det förebyggande arbetet mot kränkande behandling utifrån skolkuratorers perspektiv? Hur ser samverkan ut med andra professioner i det förebyggande arbetet mot kränkande behandling? För att uppfylla studiens syfte och behandla frågeställningarna valdes en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Datainsamlingen transkriberades och analyserades genom tematisk analys och jämfördes sedan med relevant tidigare forskning inom det aktuella ämnet. Resultatet som presenteras innebär att det förebyggande arbetet mot kränkande behandling utförs på olika sätt, på olika nivåer. Andra betydande delar i studien påvisar handlingsutrymmet och samverkan med andra yrkesprofessioner på skolan. Resultatet har diskuterats och analyserats med en grund i den systemteoretiska utvecklingsekologiska teorin, vilket har varit studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt. Ytterligare fynd, som studien redovisar, är: förebyggande arbetssätt i form av vuxennärvaro, värdegrundsarbete och förebyggande i kombination med åtgärdande arbete. / This study describes how school counsellors work to prevent bullying in order to ensure pupils' well-being and development. The aim of the study is to investigate school counsellors' approaches to preventing bullying in primary schools.  The questions posed to fulfill the purpose of the study are: How do school counsellors work to prevent bullying? From the perspective of school counsellors, how is the professional discretion in the prevention of bullying? How is the collaboration with other professions present in the prevention work preventing bullying? In order to fulfill the study's purpose and answer the research questions, a qualitative method was chosen using semi-structured interviews. The data collection was transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis and then compared with relevant previous research on the topic of bullying. The result of the study shows that the prevention work against bullying is carried out in different ways at different levels. Other significant elements of the study are the scope of action and the interaction with other groups of professionals present and active at a school. The presented result is discussed and analyzed with the basis in the system theoretical developmental ecological theory, which has been the theoretical starting point of the study. Other findings in the study are: preventive approaches in the form of adult presence, value-based work and prevention combined with remedial work.

This study aims to explore the perspective of school counsellors on sibling violence, focusing on their understanding of the phenomenon through their professional experiences and their perceptions of their own abilities in addressing it. The study was conducted through a qualitative approach, where six school counsellors working with teenagers aged thirteen years and up were interviewed using a semi-structured interview method. The findings of this study suggest that school counsellors play an important role in identifying, responding, and promoting change in cases of sibling violence within the school system. Furthermore, their observations indicate that the family environment can be significant to the occurrence of sibling violence through the normalisation and perpetuation of the violence, be it directly or through a general culture of violence in the family. Additionally, the occurrence of sibling violence has also been observed to have some potential consequences for persons experiencing it, such as anxiety, low self-esteem, and mistrust of others.