Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka fenomenet talrädsla i svenskämnet bland gymnasieelever genom att fokusera på faktorer som kan bidra till och motverka talrädsla. Utgångspunkt i studien var 44 elevers egna erfarenheter av att tala inför grupp. Studien genomfördes via enkät som sändes till informanterna via e-post. Svaren analyserades både kvantitativt och kvalitativt i relation till olika teman funna i enkätsvaren, dels i vidare begrepp och dels kring talrädsla i skolan. Resultatet visar att gruppstorlek, lokal och vilka som är i gruppen bidrar till elevers talrädsla och är också faktorer som kan underlätta talrädsla i svenskämnet. Slutsatsen som dras i denna studie är att lärare måste införskaffa sig kunskap om talrädsla, samt att det bör finnas en koppling mellan den psykologiska kunskapen och den pedagogiska praktiken i svenskämnet.

This study aims to examine the representation of male and female authors and how they are described in three literature textbooks used in Swedish upper secondary school. The theoretical framework consists of gender theory with focus on the stereotyped images that have existed, and still exists, about what is characteristically masculine and feminine. The authors have been counted quantitatively and the descriptions of the authors have been analyzed qualitatively through close reading from a gender perspective. The result shows that male authors are overrepresented in all three textbooks but that female authors are overrepresented in pictures in one of the textbooks. The textbooks do not reach quantitative equality in author representation in text but do so in author representation in pictures. The result also shows that the descriptions of authors are contributing to the maintenance of a male norm and to stereotyped images of men and women. A result which is not in agreement with the Swedish curriculum values concerning equality between men and women.

With the intention to contribute to research in computer programming education the thesis depicts the mind-set of teachers and their beliefs in relation to the early enactment of the informatics curriculum in Swedish upper secondary school. Two perspectives are covered in the thesis. Based on original documents and interviews with curriculum developers, the enactment of the informatics/programming curriculum during the 1970s and 1980s is explored (Paper 1). This historical perspective is supplemented with a perspective from the present day where current teaching practice is explored through teachers’ statements (seminars with associated questionnaires) regarding their beliefs about teaching and learning programming (Paper 2). The historical data reveals that experimental work within the informatics curriculum was initiated in the mid-1970s. In the early stages of the curriculum development process a contemporary post gymnasium programme in computing was used as a blueprint. The curriculum relied on programming as well as system development, wherefore a question of importance was raised early in the process; should the subject matter of informatics, be taught by ‘regular’ Natural Sciences and Mathematics teachers or by contemporary vocational education teachers in ADP? The question was initially solved using stereotypical examples of how to apply system development, which was later suggested as a replacement for programming activities. The initial incitement to offer informatics education during the 1970s was discovered in the recruitment of a broader group of students within the Natural Science Programme and the perception that it would contribute to the development of students’ ability to think logically and problem solving skills. The thesis unravels an instructional dependence among today’s teachers where students’ logical and analytical abilities (even before the courses start) are considered crucial to students’ learning, while teachers question the importance of their pedagogy. Teachers in the study commonly express the belief that their instructions hardly matter to the students’ learning. Instead these teachers perceive learning programming as an individual act. The inquiry also discover two types of instruction; a large group putting emphasis on the syntax of programming languages, and a smaller group putting emphasis on the students’ experiences of learning concepts of computer science (not necessarily to do with syntax), which corresponds with the existence of two groups of teachers during the 1980s; the partisans who perceived learning as based on repeating sequences in a behaviouristic manner, and defenders who perceived learning as based on discovery and self-teaching. In summary the inquiry depicts an instructional tradition based on teachers’ beliefs where the historical development of the subject sets the framework for the teaching. Directly and indirectly the historical development and related traditions govern what programming teachers in upper secondary school will/are able to present to their students. / <p>QC 20121129</p>

Fake news is nowadays part of our everyday lives, especially for those who are exposed to social media. As 8 out of 10 Swedish teenagers mainly read news on social media, this study was conducted to investigate to what extent students are taught to deal with fake news. This was done by examining exercises in English workbooks currently used at the upper secondary level. Skolverket (2021) clearly states that it is part of Swedish teachers’ mission to educate students so that they can orientate and act in a complex reality with a large flow of information, increased digitization and a rapid pace of change. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to examine how and to what extent workbooks in the Swedish EFL classroom provide students with tasks which can be said to further skills related to source criticism and critical thinking. It also aims to address the possible prevalence of insufficient skills of the above-mentioned kind and its potentially harmful consequences. This was done by investigating how exercises in workbooks can be said to promote an improvement of source criticism and critical thinking. The method of the presented study emanates from the theoretical framework of critical literacy from a pragmatic perspective. The study is qualitative as the examined material is limited. The results show that the workbooks vary in how they enable the ability to detect bias and critical thinking and that the workbooks rely on teachers to elaborate instructions. This indicates that the exercises in the workbooks may not be sufficient to fulfil the mission stated by Skolverket (2021).

This thesis has attempted to understand and deepen our knowledge of political participationamong students in upper secondary education. The thesis has explored potential motives to participate, or not to participate, what strategies they would use if they were to hypothetically participate, and furthermore how their political behavior relates to their expectations on democracy. Data were collected through semi-structured interview with 16 upper secondarystudents which was divided into three focus groups. The results imply different reasons forwhy they would, or would not participate politically. The most prominent reasons were frustration, norms, and fear. These reasons are inhibiting them from participating politically. The strategies they would utilize if they would want to change something politically concernboth collective and individual forms of participation. However, individual forms seem to be preferred, especially when it comes to social media. The simplicity and its ability to mobilizewith small resources make social media an attractive alternative among these youths. Participation in elections is important for them as citizens since the election is regarded as their opportunity to change within the scope of democracy. Likewise, participation in elections is an act they expect from other citizens. The result indicates that these students’political passivity is not explained by their lack of trust in democracy. Passivity can rather be described in more optimistic terms where a political interest exists and is nourished continuously, but they do not consider themselves to have enough reasons to act.

This study aims to examine how teachers in upper secondary non-compulsory schools in Sweden, didactically approaches and teach religion with a focus on religion and science as mentioned in the curriculum. Since the Swedish school education system is non-confessional, a further aim is to explore how this affects the teachers' teaching and didactic for the subject of religion. The result is based on findings from interviews with eight upper secondary school teachers. The teachers are employed in different regions in Sweden with teaching experience ranging from two to twenty years. The interviews were conducted using digital communications programs, such as Zoom and Google meet, these interviews followed a semi-structured approach allowing the respondent to freely express themselves. The applied theoretical and analytical framework is social constructivism.  According to the findings, teachers agree that Swedish society is influenced by a secularistic world view, which through students is expressed by a lack of understanding of religion. The didactic approaches vary from teacher to teacher, however, they highly value the non-confessional education system and the opportunities of unbiased education it provides.

This qualitative study aims to offer an insight into the term personal expression and its’ meaning and definition in the upper secondary school environment, in which the purpose of the study is to examine singing teachers’ interpretation of the term personal expression and their descriptions of the methods used to assess personal expression. The study has a discourse analytical approach in which concepts such as power, truth effect and construction are used to analyse the gathered material. Four singing teachers working at upper secondary schools participated in the study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. Three overarching discourses were identified: education, subjectivity and objectivity and personal expression. It was found that the teachers all helped shape and construct the truth effects of these discourses by their language: they constructed the truth effect that subjectivity in assessment is constant and that internalization and externalization are core elements in personal expression. Through the discourse, it was also discovered that a truth effect the teachers all constructed was that personal expression is hard to both teach and achieve.

With the digitalisation of the world, digital literacy is a vital skill. This study investigates how the Swedish upper secondary school incorporates digital literacy in the course English 5 and if the schools have an IT plan. Previous studies have shown that Sweden does not include the competence levels of the European Union for citizens in the steering documents of the upper secondary school or English 5 Syllabus. A survey and the question of participating in an interview were sent out to 1,300 upper secondary schools in Sweden. Information was obtained through an online survey aimed at English 5 teachers. The survey had 33 respondents which resulted in semi-structured interviews with five teachers. The results showed that teachers teach digital literacy in English 5 according to the Swedish steering documents but not according to the European areas of competence. The results also showed that not all Swedish schools have an IT plan on how to educate students in digital literacy.

Föreliggande studie är inriktad på hur lärare i gymnasieskolan ser på möjligheten att inkludera världslitteratur och texter från olika kulturer i svenskämnet. Syftet är att undersöka lärares beskrivna arbetssätt och motiv till att välja denna litteratur till sin undervisning. Postkolonial teori, interkulturellt lärande och det litteraturteoretiska begreppet främmandegöring utgör tillsammans ett teoretiskt ramverk för studien. Det empiriska materialet består av fyra semi-strukturerade intervjuer med svensklärare på gymnasienivå. Resultatet indikerar att lärarna finner det aktuellt att genom världslitteratur lyfta fram allmänmänskliga teman, demokratiska frågor och kulturell mångfald. Således är likheter och skillnader mellan människor en av flera aspekter som lärarna berör. En potentiell problematik som resultatet påvisar är att lärarna uppfattar att elever tolkar skönlitteratur dokumentärt. / The present study focuses on how upper-secondary school teachers consider the possibility of integrating world literature and texts from other cultures in the Swedish subject. The aim is to examine teachers' narrations of their teaching and their motifs for choosing world literature as part of their teaching. Postcolonial theory, intercultural learning and the literary term estrangement constitute the theoretical framework. The empirical material involves four semi-structured interviews with Swedish subject teachers. The result suggests that the teachers find it relevant to use world literature as a context for discussing universal human themes, democratic issues and cultural diversity. Accordingly, similarities and differences between people are one of several aspects that the teachers address. The result raises one potential problem where the teachers report that students tend to interpret fiction documentary.

This essay is based on a societal problem related to the exclusion that arises when young peopledo not reach upper secondary school eligibility, and how low education can have consequencesfor society over time. The thesis focuses on the municipalities' work and responsibility towardsthe individuals who make up the current target group, 16-19 year olds who do not study or havean employment. The study is concretized by these issues: • How do the municipalities in question describe the problem of young people who do not have uppersecondary school qualifications? • What measures are the municipalities taking and do they have stated goals? • Do the municipalities use united actions with public actors and other municipalities in the region tofind common solutions? The results of the thesis are mainly based on a questionnaire answered by representativesworking with the target group from nine different municipalities, where they were asked toanswer questions related to the purpose of the study. The study also used a secondary empiricismin the form of documents to strengthen the answers in terms of goals and measures. Theconclusions we came to were that all municipalities believe that lack of upper secondary schoolqualification entails great future risks for individuals, which in turn has consequences for society.An overwhelming majority of the municipalities have goals and measures linked to the law theyneed to comply with, which includes trying to motivate young people to return to some form ofeducation. United actions occurs in all municipalities, and with an increased understanding of thecomplexity of united action as a theoretical concept, the conclusions are based on the fact thatvarious forms of united actions also imposes different requirements. It can therefore beexperienced both as an asset and a challenge among the participating actors.