The Swedish Social Democratic Party was for a long time skeptical of Sweden?s opportunitiesto apply for membership in the European Community. Sweden?s longstanding policy ofneutrality was until the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe 1989 seen as an obstacle tomembership. These changes were an important factor to why the social democratic partychanged their position on the EC and in October 1990 applied for membership.

This paper is written in the field of Educational Science, and it focuses on literature that pupils read. Literature has the power to shape readers beliefs, that is why this paper aims to examine, and compare two novels that are used in Swedish schools in class settings. Both novels deal with the issue of psychiatric disorder from a woman´s perspective. Research done in the field of psychiatric disorder shows that it is an important subject that should be addressed in schools. Research done from the perspective of gender studies points out the need of representation of female perspective in literature that pupils are working with.

The purpose of this essay was to enhance the understanding and knowledge about phenomenon access support. Access support means that a third person (contact person) must be present during access visits between a child and its parent, if it is necessary for the child?s security or because the child needs support. The study was based on qualitative interviews with four contact persons and two professional social workers, whose main task have been to support and, partially, coordinate the work of contact persons. During the interviews I put the focus on participant?s experiences and thoughts about the phenomenon access support.

The purpose of this study is to show what melancholy and irony in my poems express and what techniques that are used to accomplish these effects. Many theorists, among them Sigmund Freud and Julia Kristeva, characterize melancholy as an experience of loss, and therefore one of my questions is what kind of losses appear in my poetry. In search for an answer I analyze the texts from both a psychoanalytic and a sociological point of view. In the latter perspective I discuss the postmodern society using concepts from contemporary thinkers like Zygmunt Bauman, Fredric Jameson and Jean Baudrillard. Finally, I also examine if melancholy has an influence on the form of the poems.

Secondary schools have for decades debated whether they promote social reproduction which is considered to generate the homogeneous student compositions. The gap between the academic programs and vocational education programs is considered to increase. What in recent years has appeared in research is that the gap is increasing most tend to be in the specific academic program, particularly in science. This paper's intention is to describe the science program at a local level and the pupils who were admitted to the science program autumn 2009 on the basis of an educational sociological perspective. The survey consisted of a census in which all students were given the opportunity to answer a questionnaire.

The purpose of this study was to illustrate a parental perspective of children´s participation and quality of live through personal assistance. Important aspects of parents' experiences were highlighted based on how they experienced participation and quality of life for their children. We chose to use a qualitative approach in the form of four individual interviews with parents from different municipalities in central Sweden. The study was conducted with a narrative approach in which we used a holistic perspective. Parents' experiences were highlighted over time to create a complete picture.

AbstractThe school today has an assignment to offset traditional gender patterns as well as to create opportunities for all pupils to achieve the same good results in school regardless of sex, ethnicity and conditions. The educator?s assignment is determined by governing documents, and the educator plays a role in helping the pupil find their equal role in society. This means that the educator needs to work in a way that offsets traditional gender patterns and require approaches that would benefit equal opportunities for both boys and girls to achieve good results.The purpose of the study was, through interviews, to get an idea of how primary school teachers from a gender equal perspective perceive how they see them relate to boys and girls in their teachings. The study is based on the presumptions that the pupils have but focusing on the relationship between school achievements and equality.The study brings up concepts like gender theories, equality, the biological sexes, the history of the schools development and changes in acceptance of boys and girls and the role of the governing documents to reach acceptable achievements.

A large number of genocides have taken place in our history. The purpose of this essay is to examine how genocide is treated in five high school history textbooks. I have studied a large number of issues. I have examined which genocides are discussed in the textbooks and which genocides the textbooks don?t discuss.

This degree project aims to evaluate alternative methods to the unanaesthetized castration of piglets. Castration of piglets is performed to prevent the development of boar taint. Boar taint can cause great financial losses for the pig manufacturer. Unanaesthetized castration of piglets is not regarded to be satisfactory from an animal welfare perspective and the procedure will for that reason be outlawed in the near future.Several alternative methods are used in countries all over the world with promising result. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if this methods could be applied in Swedish pig production.A literature study has been combined with interviews; field studies, questionnaires and a small study on male pig production.To be applicable to and applied in Swedish pig production the alternative method must be financially accepted by the manufacturers but also accepted from an animal welfare perspective.Castration is the only way to guarantee a meat free of boar taint.

Mathematics is a central topic in today?s society. There are many different approaches each teacher has their own way. In this essay, I compare four teachers? mathematics teaching in two different countries with regard to ways of learning, particularly in the four operations.

AbstractThe aim of the study was to examine how a school team works with formative assessment in compulsory school for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The study had a particular focus on formative assessment in relation to pupils with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. Since there is a lack of research within the field of formative assessment and pupils with moderate and severe disabilities this study may contribute to new knowledge in this field. A sociocultural perspective has been used as a theoretical framework. A central concept in the sociocultural perspective is that people develop knowledge in interaction with other people and that communication and language is important.  The methodical framework was inspired by an ethnographic approach and the empirical material was concocted by participatory observations and by interviews.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the conflict of interest between shareholders, life insurance companies and insurers in stock life insurance companies operated on a mutual basis from an agency-theoretic perspective. Further, this thesis aims to explore from an ownership-theoretical perspective, why this conflict of interest exist. A qualitative research has been performed and the empirical data is foremost based on interviews with persons from the life insurance industry and public prints. The study concludes that the stock life insurance company operated on a mutual basis has two principals whose interests are in conflict. History has shown that stockowners? interests have been prioritized on the expense of the insurers.

The purpose of this study is to present a critical analysis of how certain themes of the Norse pagan religion are portrayed in ten selected textbooks used for Religious Science education in grades one through nine. The themes included in the analysis are; the description of the transition from the Norse Pagan religion to Christianity; Adam of Bremen?s portrayal of human sacrifice, and lastly Ibn Fadhlan?s characterization of widow burning. By using a critical knowledge text analysis, and applying a theoretical starting point that pedagogical material analyses and interprets events from a specific perspective; in this case from a Christian perspective, I have from the study concluded that the chapters covering the Norse pagan religion in these textbooks have a distinguished Christian bias seen as the norm. The themes analysed in this study all describe different phenomena in a similar way and make use of the same sources, even though these are often questioned.

Syftet med denna studie är att göra en jämförelse mellan pojkarnas och flickornas tal- och språksvårigheter/språkstörningar i elva förskoleklasser..

This report describes a comparative study of the change in grading system in the year of 1995 and the coming year of 2012. The objective is to analyze and compare the political debate from two Swedish parties, the Social democrats and the Moderates, from a number of the parties political periodicals. Futher the objective is to show, from the periodicals debate, what approach to knowledge the parties are presenting. The theoretical base of this study is rooted in the political background of grading system and in literature defining different theories about knowledge and approach to knowledge. The investigation is qualitative and the main research method is text analysis.The conclusions is that the parties overall stood their ground and kept their opinions throughout the two debates and the change in grade systems.