The objective of this graduate work is to gain a better understanding in how pre-school educators are able to work with music in their pre-school activity to promote child development. We also want to enlighten possible factors for the development of children based on music and to form our own ideas of whether teachers choose to apply music in their didactic practice or not.The point of this essay has been to attempt answering on what importance music makes for children's development and learning in pre-school, and how teachers could work with music in pre-school in order to promote children?s development. Our data consists of six interviews and two observations realized at a pre-school in Södertälje.We took heed from the theories laid out by Lev Vygotsky's which describe four different levels of development that includes educational development in social interaction between teacher and child. Our choice of this theory is inspired by our seeking deeper understanding of Vygotsky's theory´s application to the aesthetic approach in the interaction in meaning making and learning.The result of our study confirms previous theory and research in that music as a form of expression has a major impact on children's development.

The aim of this study was to search for a link between the subject pictorial studies in means of expression and the ability to communicate in written and spoken language. To do so findings in relevant literature and a few complementing theories was addressed to cast light on interviews made with teachers dedicated to the subject pictorial studies in a subject-integrated curriculum.Interviews were conducted with nine teachers and all but one were teachers in the subject pictorial studies, spread across all of the nine grades in compulsory school. Informants were located in areas of socioeconomically high as well as low status, in central and densely populated areas as well as areas less densely populated. The diverse theoretical background consisted of semiotics, constructivist theory, social constructivist theory and genre theory. Theories and literature partly both contradicted and supported each other, depending on situation and circumstance.No evident conclusion could be made that discriminated one affecting cause from another on speech or writing skills.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how the literature criticism are in the Swedish media in the reception of the novel Mosquitoes and tigers from 2007 written by the Swedish author Maja Lundgren. A second aim is to examine how master suppression techniques have been used by the literature critics in the newspaper debate. This qualitative study is based upon a total of 52 articles and reviews from five big Swedish newspapers. The theoretical approach, literature criticism, mainly originates from the Swedish professor in Literature Science Tomas Forser and the literature scholar Gunnar Hansson.

The purpose of this study was to explore preschool- and primary school teachers? perceptions of fairytales, why they use fairytales and what thoughts they have about the impact of fairytales on children?s reading and writing development. We interviewed seven teachers and three preschool teachers in northern Sweden to find out how work with fairytales is carried out in preschool and primary school. We also interviewed twelve pupils who were seven and eight years old to find out what they thought of fairytales in primary school. The result showed that preschool- and primary school teachers had a positive attitude towards fairytales and the opportunities provided by fairytales.

The aim of my thesis was to examine if educators need to be critical of what they read to the children from a gender perspective. I examined how picture books depict gender and if the books enhances or breaks perception of gender roles. I also examined educator?s perception of gender and if they think picture books can affect children?s perceptions of gender, but also what educators think about gender equality through picture books. The study is based on analysis of five picture books and interview with five educators.The results of analyzes showed that picture books are stereotyped and enhances perceptions of gender roles.

This Master?s thesis explores three contemporary Swedish poets? ? Lars Mikael Raattamaa, Anna Hallberg and Johan Jönson ? understanding of their work as a political activity. By using Jonathan Culler?s theory on literary competence and literary conventions as a theoretical tool for an idea analysis, the three poets' arguments for or against certain literary techniques, and their ideas about readers and reading, are explored and discussed. In what ways are established literary methods questioned by the three poets? In what ways are established theories on readers and reading questioned? In what way can their poetic work be regarded as political? As a background, the debate about poetry in Swedish newspapers and literary magazines is presented, as well as the common focus on readers and reading in social sciences and in humanities and arts.

This is a study of how four teachers work with pupils? early literacy learning. Interviews were conducted with two teachers who chose to use a specific method, Writing to Read (WTR), for teaching pupils to read, and with two teachers who had not chosen a specific method. The aim of the study was to compare how the teachers worked, their motives for their choice of method, and the ideas the teachers have about early literacy learning. To see whether the teachers? choice of method was related to the individualization of the teaching and their views of pupils? learning in interaction, Vygotsky?s theories about children?s learning have been used.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how out-pedagogy, drama and art can be used as means of promoting language development of bi-and multi-language learners, and to show what benefits these three methods offer to children of year three of an elementary school in Stockholm City. This is a small survey of work-style and the results are based on observations and interviews with five teachers which included three class teachers, one resource teacher and one other language teacher and it was carried out two full days of observations in both classroom and outdoor environment. In this work, I note how out-pedagogy, drama and art can help bi- and multilingual children develop language. My study shows, in accordance with the respondents interviewed, as well as research in general that out-pedagogy, drama and art is language development practices. They argue that out-pedagogy and the aesthetic elements promote language development of bi- and multilingual children in different ways and complements the traditional approach.

The aim of this study was to explore and describe how four teachers work with literacy in preschool and grade one, ages 6 and 7. The aim was also to explore the progression of reading and writing as well as the collaboration between teachers in preschool and grade one. The study has a qualitative approach and data was collected through observations and interviews. The findings indicate that teachers in preschool have similar activities and approach to what guides the work. Regarding teachers in grade one it shows that they both are working with reading and writing in a varied way.

The aim of this study is to investigate a number of class teachers' thoughts on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in early literacy learning. The study has been conducted as a qualitative study, interviewing five teachers with the help of an interview guide. Three central questions were posed.What perception do the teachers have about the use of ICT in their tuition?What perception do the teachers have about the pupils' literacy learning in teaching with ICT tools?What perception do the teachets have about teaching and learning by means of ICT when it comes to pupils with reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia?The overall theoretical basis of the study is Vygotskij's sociocultural theory.In conclusion, the result of the study is as follows.Most class teachers feel that the training they have undergone in ICT education was adequate, but they also call for skill development.Most teachers believe that the use of ICT tools provide opportunities to adapt their teaching to pupils' knowledge level. The teachers' opinion is that ICT in teaching is useful for pupils' progress in early literacy learning.Most teachers also believe that ICT tools in teaching can be of some help for pupils with reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia.One obstacle in helping these pupils is lack of time.Therefore, the majority of the teachers hand these pupils over to special education outside the classroom..

Purpose: my aim was to explore ways that teachers can support students with dyslexia and what/ which tools some teachers / special education teachers use to facilitate students.Method: I used a quantitative method by interviewing some regular teachers and special education teachersResults: In my study, I learned how some teachers can support students by reading loud to them; a main task for the teachers could be to create the love of reading for the students. That task was reinforced by students' self-image..

The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers practice Arne Tragetons theory of using computers as the first writing instrument in reading and writing development. We wanted to clarify how the work from using Tragetons theory was applied while investigating if and how other methods of reading and writing instruction were used. Our interest lays in how the teachers accomplished the knowledge of this theory and also how the choice of this approach came about. To investigate this we used interviews with a qualitative nature, where seven active teachers were interviewed. They worked in three different schools in years one to three, they were all women and had various long experiences of work on the computer writing tools.

The purpose of this study was to investigate young teenagers 13-16 reading habits and attitudes concerning todays modern teenage literature especially written for the young teenagers. The study also includes the readers apprehension of the literature and how the target group is reached. The study is based on results from questionnaires, interviews and by compiling summaries of literature relevant to this study. Earlier research has been compared with results from this study. Reflections made by teachers and librarians concerning the youths reading habits are an integral part of the study.

This study is based on my work as a teacher of Swedish language and literature to upper secondary school students, and my interest in developing the teaching of literature by using both new criticism theories and theories of literary perception focusing on reader response. The purpose of the study is to examine the learning process in trying to develop literary competence and to find out how to describe the competence shown by the students. My starting-point is a discussion about literary competence and the theory and model of literary competence by Örjan Torell. In examining literary competence, by how students use their constitutional competence as well as performance and literary transfer competences, Torell´s model shows the possibility and the need for both knowledge of literature and personal reception by focusing on the dialogue between author and reader.The method is qualitative and the empirics are material collected in one senior high school class in the Social Science programme during their second and third year. The material contains written reading logs, written answers to tasks and transcribed recordings of discussions of literature.The analysis shows a variety among the literary competence shown and developed by the students and points to the complexity of understanding the concept of literary competence.

The purpose of this study was to examine what students themselves think about using computers in school. The study was conducted in a school in central Sweden. The students in focus were students with reading and writing difficulties, dyslexia or language difficulties such as an other native language. A total of eight students were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.