The subject of study of this research is the assessment of vocational knowledge in the health andsocial care program in upper secondary school. The study focuses on the first period of workplacelearning in health and social care program, which mostly occurs in elderly care. Eight tutors invarious nursing homes and seven nursing teachers at three schools participated in the interviews. Thestudy was conducted using qualitative analysis grounded on socio-cultural theory. The purpose ofthis study was to examine how tutors and health teachers interact and assess skills and knowledge inworkplace-based learning. The study reveals core aspects of vocational knowledge in health andsocial care. Findings of the study allow identifying four different categories of vocationalknowledge: Relational-, Medical-, Organizational- and administrative- and Theoretical skills inworkplace learning. The study highlights various tools and situations used in the assessment ofvocational knowledge, such as various checklists, assessment forms and student self-assessment. Thestudy also showed situations that consisted of consulting colleagues, consulting health teachers andtutors. The results of the study shows that students` personal qualities such as sociable, empathetic,initiative taking and being punctual was highly valued in the assessment. The study also showeddifferences in the assessment made by health teachers and tutors. Health teachers strongly focus onthe key goals of the course when they assessed the student's professionalism, whereas the tutorsfocused more on personal qualities important in the field.

The thesis aims at establishing what teachers of programme specific subjects state is the foundation for their assessment at the Hotel and Restaurant Programme (HR-programme). The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on social constructionism. The respondents were practising teachers of programme specific subjects at HR-programme. The empirical data based on interviews and video interviews was analyzed with: types of knowledge, key qualifications, specific vocational knowledge and skill and levels of expertise. Seven key qualifications have been discerned: independence, planning skills, problem solving skills, co-operation, customer contact, communication and power of initiative. These can be divided in three dimensions: personal, cognitive, and social/interactive. For the student, the most important to focus on for getting a higher grade is independence. Five categories of programme specific subjects have been identified: understanding the vocational area, skills in working techniques and methods, hygiene and handling work tools, as well the ability to see the whole and to act simultaneously. Differences in qualifications between levels of expertise can be identified in skills, speed and comprehensive thinking which appear to be valued more by the respondents. Key qualifications include all types of knowledge, theoretical knowledge, practical mastery and appropriate action but also a keen mind for reflection over ones actions. Appropriate action in general is assessed on the level of overall focus, the highest level of expertise, and theoretical knowledge the lowest level of expertise. There’s concordance between respondents on assessment of knowledge and skills. Students have to have a great part of specific vocational knowledge and skills to achieve the degree of Pass. The respondents’ descriptions and appraisements of what is assessed reflect their vocational culture where experience has a master role which could be the main reason why an inexperienced student cannot achieve higher grade levels.

The study investigated subject integrated teaching and vocational knowledge in one Health and Social Care program. The material was collected ethnographically, during a period of a school semester (5 months), and analysed according to the Activity-Theoretical concepts actions, goals and tools. The results identified five goals for subject integrated teaching: the legitimacy of Swedish as a school subject; a focus on linguistic prescriptivism; the identity of vocational subjects; a predominant medical focus in vocational subjects; and a professional language. Further six recurrent tools were identified: a fictional book; a teacher-prepared hand-out; a teacher-constructed case report; teacher-examples from health care; and linguistic rules. There was a theoretical kind of vocational knowledge with focus on language issues, on medical aspects of care, and on a professional language. In conclusion, subject integrated teaching contributed with more than each of the specific subjects contributed with and simultaneously tensions between goals representing different subjects were found. However, tools were shared between subjects.

Syftet med det praktiknära forskningsprojektet var att förstå hur läraren i undervisningen kan kombinera kunskaper om yrkesämnet med aspekter av läsning och vilka interaktioner det skapade i klassrummet. Vidare analyserades hur lärarens språkliga stöttning synliggjorts i elevernas egna texter samt elevernas tankar om undervisningen utifrån genomförda fokusgruppsintervjuer. Deltagare i studien utgjordes av elever i gymnasieskolan som läser inriktningen Samhällsbyggande och miljö på Teknikprogrammet. Eleverna är inte alltid medvetna om vilka strategier de använder när de läser en faktatext. Resultatet visar dock att eleverna som fått undervisning som inkluderar lässtrategier i ett yrkesämne har större förtrogenhet med ämnets innehåll och ämnesspecifika begrepp. Lärarens arbete med att inkludera läsning skapade interaktioner som väckte elevernas engagemang och gav eleverna fler möjligheter att medvetet välja strategi när de läste en faktatext. / The purpose of the action research project was to understand how the teacher can combine vocational knowledge and include aspects of reading and see what interactions it creates in the classroom. Furthermore, how the teacher's linguistic support was made visible in the students' own texts and in the students' thoughts about the teaching based on focus group interviews is analyzed. Participants in the study consisted of pupils in the upper secondary school who studied the specialization Community building and the Environment at the Technology program. The students are not always aware of which strategies they use when reading a factual text. The result, however, shows that students who have received vocational teaching that include reading strategies have a greater familiarity with the subject’s content and subject-specific concepts. The teacher's work on including reading created interactions that sparked student engagement and gave the students more opportunities to deliberately choose a strategy when reading a factual text.