This thesis examines non-confessional religious education and upper secondary school teachers' experiences in this context. The purpose of the study is to explore how five teachers in five different upper secondary schools in Sweden interpret and implement non-confessional principles in teaching religious studies in today's society. The research addresses the following questions: How do secondary school teachers interpret the policy document's speech on non-confessional teaching? How is teaching practice in the subject of religion affected based on a non-confessional approach? What challenges emerge in the assignment of being non-confessional in religious education? The study gathers data trough five interviews with upper secondary school teachers from various regions in Sweden and is based on qualitative method with semi-structured interviews. The result of the thesis has been analyzed using thematic analysis. A theory used in this thesis is intercultural religious didactics. This theory emphasizes the importance of cultural diversity and interactions between different religious traditions. The result, which is based on the study's research questions, shows that the informants largely share a common understanding of a non-confessional education that emphasizes neutrality and objectivity without promoting specific religious or secular positions. The impact on teaching practices is reflected in a more tolerant classroom environment that promotes understanding of different cultures and perspectives. Challenges identified show that different religions are understood in different depths and that it is sometimes difficult to balance students' different opinions which can lead to discussions and conflict if the teacher is not providing new perspectives on the students' opinions. In conclusion, a non-confessional approach in school's religious education allows all religions and worldviews to be treated equally. Despite challenges arising from diverse student backgrounds, success lies in reflecting on teaching impact and fostering an open and tolerant classroom environment.

The study highlights English teachers’ attitudes towards the teaching of creative writing in the English subject in Swedish compulsory school years 7-9 and upper secondary school. The data in this study was collected through a quantitative web survey answered by 13 respondents and qualitative, semi-structured interviews with four teachers selected from the survey respondents. The findings show that the teachers’ attitudes to creative writing as a part of English teaching are influenced partly by how important they think writing in English is but also by external factors, such as the school’s steering documents and the social environment.

Outdoor education is a common practice in the lower ages of compulsory school, and research shows great benefits of teaching outdoors, both for students' knowledge and their retention of knowledge. In the science curriculum for upper secondary school, there is little to no connection to education in the outdoors, and furthermore teachers experience many barriers to implementing outdoor education. The purpose of this work is to investigate what the research tells us about outdoor education in upper secondary school in the natural sciences. To answer our question, we did a systematic literature review. We found twelve articles that were considered relevant, from the timespan between the years 2001 and 2022. The results show that outdoor education may increase students' positive attitudes, raise their interest and motivation for further studies in the natural sciences and may furthermore strengthen their retention of knowledge. But these aspects cannot be taken for granted and we believe that research that is less biased for outdoor education is needed to confirm the effects as we identify the tendency of studies highlighting only the positive results, something we discuss in this work. Thus, we urge teachers to introduce outdoor-based learning, even if it's just a matter of going outside the classroom, to test if those positive effects apply to their students. The negative aspects are usually presented by studies as barriers towards introducing outdoor education rather than focusing on student learning. Our results also show that research of outdoor education at upper secondary school and in the natural sciences does not take place on a larger scale. Especially, research focusing on the enhancement of student knowledge because of outdoor-based learning is scarce. The biology subject is overrepresented in research due to it being the most easily linked to outdoor learning, and most of our found articles are focusing on students' and teachers' attitudes towards this learning style. To explore and clarify the potential of outdoor education, we propose to researchers to investigate outdoor education in several subjects with an emphasis on upper secondary school students' enhancement and retention of knowledge. / Utomhuspedagogik är vanligt förekommande i grundskolans lägre åldrar, och forskning visar på stora fördelar med undervisning utomhus, både för elevers kunskap samt deras bibehållande av kunskap. I läroplanen för gymnasiet saknas anknytning till utevistelse och naturen, och lärarna upplever barriärer för att implementera utomhuspedagogik. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka vad forskningen säger om utomhuspedagogik på gymnasiet i de naturvetenskapliga ämnena. För att besvara vår frågeställning gjorde vi en systematisk litteraturstudie. Vi fann tolv artiklar som ansågs vara relevanta, mellan åren 2001 och 2022. Resultatet visar att utomhuspedagogiken kan öka elevernas positiva attityder, höja deras intresse och motivation till fortsatta studier inom det naturvetenskapliga ämnet och kan stärka deras återkallelseförmåga av kunskap. Men dessa aspekter kan inte tas för givet och vi anser att forskning som är mindre partisk för utomhuspedagogiken behövs för att bekräfta effekterna eftersom studierna inom området kan ha bias, något vi diskuterar i detta arbete. Vi uppmanar lärare att införa utomhusbaserat lärande även om det bara innebär om att gå utanför klassrummet eftersom forskningen tenderar att lyfta de positiva aspekterna i hög grad när det kommer till elevernas attityder och upplevelse av inlärning. De negativa aspekterna handlar oftast om lärares barriärer till att införa och testa denna didaktiska metodik snarare än om elevernas lärande. Vårt resultat visar även att forskning om utomhuspedagogiken på gymnasiet, i de naturvetenskapliga ämnena inte sker i större skala och speciellt kunskapstest används i låg utsträckning. Biologiämnet är överrepresenterat eftersom detta naturvetenskapliga ämne är enklast kopplat till utomhusvistelse, och majoriteten av artiklarna fokuserar på elever och lärares attityder mot lärostilen. För att utforska och klargöra utomhuspedagogikens potential föreslår vi till forskare att undersöka utomhuspedagogiken i flera ämnen med betoning på gymnasieelevers kunskapsförändring och återkallelseförmåga.

Although the benefits of peer feedback have been widely studied in the EFL classroom, fewer studies have focused on the perceived challenges of giving and receiving peer feedback from the perspective of upper secondary students in Sweden. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study is to increase teachers’ knowledge of the challenges surrounding peer feedback for EFL writing as voiced by students. This study also discusses students’ suggestions to minimise such challenges. Using data collected from eleven semi-structured interviews with students, thematic analysis and the theoretical framework of Sociocultural theory, this study found that giving feedback was perceived as being more challenging than receiving feedback. Moreover, findings show that the majority of students perceive heterogeneous language proficiencies and negative emotions arising from negative feedback to be major challenges, hence students’ suggestions for homogenous language proficiency groupings and for anonymous feedback. It can be concluded that students’ beliefs about peer feedback in heterogeneous language proficiency pairings and various negative emotions related to peer feedback can influence language development negatively.

Our study investigates the possibility of integrating ChatGPT, an AI text generative tool, as a didactic supporting tool within the Swedish upper-secondary school curricula. Particularly, it takes interest in the English foreign language teaching context and examines eight peer reviewed articles on the matter. The questions it aims to answer are: In light of existing research, 1) what are some of the implications of integrating ChatGPT as a didactic supporting tool in Sweden’s English as a Foreign Language (EFL) upper-secondary classroom and 2) how could this tool be incorporated successfully into the teaching process? In the results, the synthesis identifies ethical concerns, teacher beliefs and perspectives, and pros and cons of integration as the three primary themes and shows how 75% of the articles are concerned with the ethical implications of ChatGPT, hence requesting ethical frameworks and guidelines. Additionally, it identifies teachers' beliefs and attitudes on integration of AI as the biggest influencing factor on the integration of ChatGPT and that the dominant benefits of integration of ChatGPT are in student accessibility and reduced workload for teachers. Conversely, the concerns include those of unethical nature such as cheating, plagiarizing, and information security and accuracy. The discussion suggests that ChatGPT, as a didactic tool, is supported by the Swedish upper-secondary curricula. However, additional efforts are needed to ensure its safe and effective integration. The study concludes that ChatGPT, and other AI generative tools, could be implemented in the curricula, but before this is accomplished we require policies, guidelines, and ethical frameworks to ensure it can be done safely and effectively.

The aim of this study is to attain a deeper understanding of how English teachers approach the incorporation of gender equality in their English teaching, and the challenges and successes encountered in their pedagogical method. The study takes a qualitative approach, where the research examines the attitudes, teaching strategies and practical experiences of English teachers through semi-structured interviews. Six upper secondary English teachers were interviewed, and the results show a positive attitude towards including gender equality into their teaching. The results also present several ways to include gender equality in English teaching, emphasizing common discussions in the classroom. Some challenges were also identified, including the management of strong opinions, navigating cultural differences, limitations in language skills and long term-impact. The conclusions are that English teachers show a positive outlook towards including gender equality, highlighting the importance of collaborative dialogue in the classroom. The challenges mentioned by the teachers are addressed through open communication, and students are engaged through approaches such as games and audiovisual media, connecting language learning with learning about gender equality.

This study investigates Swedish upper secondary students’ familiarity with English idioms, and whether or not there are differences depending on what level of proficiency the students are at. The participating students took an idiom familiarity test adapted from Nippold & Rudzinski (1993) which aimed at measuring students’ familiarity with a number of English idioms. The test included 15 items, and was designed to elicit responses based on a linear scale from 1 to 5. The results showed that there were differences depending on the year of English studies at upper-secondary school level. A possible conclusion is that students develop their idiom familiarity as they are being more exposed to English language both in school and outside of the school. The study has implications for the upper-secondary school English curriculum in Sweden.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att synliggöra gymnasielärare i svenska som andraspråks syn på och användning av elevers flerspråkighet som resurs för att främja elevers inlärning av svenska som sitt andraspråk. Forskningsansatsen är kvalitativ genom intervjuer och observationer och det teoretiska perspektiv som används för studien är teorin om transspråkande. Resultaten visar på en koppling mellan lärares syn på elevers flerspråkighet och didaktiska val, vilket bekräftar tidigare forskning om ämnet. Trots lagstadgat stöd på olika nivåer gällande vikten av ett flerspråkighetsperspektiv, visar några av lärarnas uppfattningar och praktiska undervisning snarare på en utgångspunkt från en enspråkighetsnorm, vilket i sin tur missgynnar flerspråkiga elever och bidrar till en ojämlik utbildning. Lärare som ser på elevers flerspråkighet som en resurs, använder sig av undervisningsstrategier som gynnar och stärker elevers flerspråkighet. Studiens slutsatser visar på att lärarna har en varierad syn gällande elevers flerspråkighet, där vissa betraktar det som en resurs medan andra förespråkar en användning av endast svenska i klassrummet med en syn på flerspråkighet som utmaning. Studien indikerar ett behov av fortbildning hos lärare för att implementera ett flerspråkigt perspektiv i undervisningen, i form av en transspråkande praktik, för att säkerställa en jämlik utbildning.

It is certainly important for the Swedish school to prepare students for the adult world. It iscertainty a priority according to our curriculum, once students graduate, they should behaving democratic principles which includes an understanding and respecting all humankind, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and sexuality. For this to be achieved, the Swedish teachingin schools must incorporate teaching contents which allows students to understand socialstructures and norms that underlies in society that causes inequality. Such contents should bemore about racism, sexism and for this research primarily focus, homophobia. Often within subjects, LGBT+ has been invisible in Swedish teaching which causes students to be rather ignorant to their surroundings. Therefore, it is crucial and necessary to teach especially in the subject history for upper secondary schools. Hence, the fact that history contributes to shaping students’ identity. Thus, this research investigates how history teachers includes the LGBTQ+ in their history teaching. It is also in this study’s interest to analyze how heteronormativity underlies in teachers teaching ability in relation to history teaching. To research this matter, the method for this study is a qualitive method which has collected data in form of interviews from seven different teachers and different schools. The chosen theory was queer theory as the study primarily focuses on how sexuality is conceptualized and understood by teachers aswell as their reflection on heteronormativity. The result of the findings was that none of the teachers had taught about LGBTQ+ in history but simultaneously showed a great amount of interest in doing so near the future. However, the teachers expressed some uncertainty in how LGBTQ+ could be taught in a more practical sense. According to the teachers, this uncertainty that was an obstacle they needed to overcome, had many factors. Among the factors were that the teachers were uneducated in the history of LGBTQ+, time seemed to be against them and there are no proper teaching materials which the teachers can confine in. This gap has also caused teachers to be unprepared for conflicts in the classroom related toLGBTIQ+-questions. This finding shows that both the academic world along with the teaching programs must educate teacher students about such important matters for them to be prepared once their careers begin.

This essay is a qualitative study meant to highlight new religious movements and cults are portrayed in textbooks used to teach the subject of religion in upper secondary school, as well as how they correlate to the syllabi and course objectives set by Skolverket. The object for my analysis contains three textbooks by different authors, all from different publishers, in order to enable an accurate and representative interpretation of said portraying. Three questions lead the study as they demand the answer to which parts of new religious movements that are most frequently presented, whether the portraying of these movements contain tendencies of stereotyping and consequently identify efforts to reduce the issue. Furthermore, light is cast on the depiction of belief and life view within new religious movements and cults. My study reveals that these textbooks are dealing with new religious movements and cults with some lack of nuance and a deficiency of developed arguments. The sum of my results lead to the conclusion that none of the textbooks fully qualify for the control document set by Skolverket, regarding both syllabi and course objectives. By not doing so they give rise to potential negative didactic consequences in the education which can not be disregarded.