During the last ten years, PIRLS and PISA have evaluated the reading levels of children and youth around the world, sometimes with grim results. The Swedish evaluation show a constant decline in reading comprehension, and Sweden, which from the start produced one of the best results in the world, have plummeted to the bottom of the ranks. The librarians of the public library have extensive experience of working with different projects engaging children and youth in reading, and so they have a major part to play in this matter. Consequently, the aim of this study is to examine and describe the different perceptions the public librarians have of these projects. Four research questions were formulated, each focusing on the perceptions regarding different aspects of the reading promotion projects.

This essay examines how witches are portrayed in American produced TV-series in the year 2000 and forward, what elements could have effected that portrayal in the series and also how this portrayal differs itself from witches within Wicca. The material used for this examination are the TV-series Charmed, The Vampire Diaries and Witches of East End and as comparing literature; Living Wicca, The Spiral Dance and Witchcraft Today. The methods used for this process are discourse analysis and content analysis. I used theories of Pierre Wiktorin about religion and popular culture. I used three themes (Characteristics, Practice and mode of thinking) for the processing of the material and to structure the result.

Children's language development is highly connected to the success of every school. Especially when it comes to the children learning reading and writing skills, regardless of what method the schools use in order to achieve this. An early intervention can facilitate the learning of reading comprehension. Reading aloud and playing with the language learning is the greatest gift we can give our children and students. Children learn how to use a book by turning the pages and see how the words and texts are structured.

The situation on the Swedish labour market is different in opportunities whether you are a native Swede or someone who has a foreign background. People with foreign backgrounds tend to have lower wages, higher rate of unemployment and often have temporary employment contracts. There is a conception that the Swedish culture is the standard and other foreign cultures are abnormal and different. The purpose of this study has been to investigate why there is discrimination on the labour market against ethnic minorities and how the Swedish history has contributed to the structural ethnic discrimination that we are struggling with. I have been using the right dogmatic method and a social science perspective as complement in order to answer the purpose.

Trough a literature study based on both philosophic and objective fact this essay is taking off in the meaning of public space. It investigates how the information society and its virtual world are affecting the idea and use of public space in the city. The city and the actual world have developed from the traditional meeting between people while the virtual world is based on flows of information. The information flow has expanded through the Information and Communication Technique (ICT). ICT covers among others Internet, mobile phones and computers.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine the ways in which the constructions of heterosexuality and gender in three Disney movies about princesses affect the power relations between men and women in the movies, and how discourses on gender and heterosexuality have changed over time. Research questions were:How do characters in the movies talk about gender and heterosexuality?How does the interplay between gender and heterosexuality affect the power relations between men and women in the movies?What are the likenesses and differences between movies from different time periods?Discourses were mapped out using a model based on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe?s political theories. These discourses were then analyzed with a theoretical framework consisting of Yvonne Hirdman?s concept of gender system and gender contracts, Judith Butler?s view on the heterosexual matrix and an understanding of power relations based on Michel Foucault.

In the light of the problems the media industry are struggling with, local news reporting is only one of the challenges the news organizations are facing. When local editors is being moved to the cities the tie with the local community is being severed.The aim of this study has been to analyze how the inhabitants of Vilhelmina municipality talks about their experiences of local journalism. With methodological inspiration from the Critical discourse analysis (CDA) this study examined the discourses of local journalism, social media, journalism's role and municipal policy. The theorectical framework consisted theories of media and democracy, convergence culture and discourse theory.The survey was conducted with four focus groups interviews. The focus groups were divided in different cathegories based on the participants experiences, ages and employment.

The aim of our study is to explore which norms that exists in the home care service, who is sending those norms, how are they maintained and how do they affect the interactions between staff and manager? We want to deep en our knowledge about home care service as an organization and increase our understanding for the psychosocial work environment and also the importance of leadership. We mean to read the organizational culture that exists which allows us to deal with the values that influence the behavior in the organization.The study is based on a qualitative method. The data consists of two focus group interviews, one with managers from the home care service - organization and one with staff from the same organization. T he interview with the managers consisted of five participants and the corresponding figure for the second interview with the staff was eight participants.The theoretical viewpoints have been communication - theory, organizational theory and Foucault´s th eory of power.Our result indicate that norms are something that unconsciously controls us and that we have learned that there are consequences when you step out of what is normative for the group.

Syftet med denna rapport är att utreda hur kultur värdesätts i samhället. Tanken är att strukturera upp den kulturpolitiska debatten och sammanföra olika begrepp och perspektiv i en överskådlig modell. Rapporten fokuserar på de kulturverksamheter som är mål för den svenska kulturpolitiken, nämligen konstarterna, medierna, bildningsarbetet och kulturarven. Till grund för min analys ligger särskilt Anders Frenanders forskning kring den svenska kulturpolitiska historien.När det gäller att värdera kultur finns två dominerande synsätt genom historien. Med ett ?kulturkonservativt? synsätt uttalar man sig om vad som är bra och värdefull kultur i allmängiltig bemärkelse.

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between text and picture in two works by Sven Nordqvist, with the focus on how the action is propelled. The two works are compared in order to bring out any differences in the relationship and what significance this can have for the interpretation. The study also considers the theory of conceptual worlds to examine how the books can promote pupils? literary understanding. The method of analysis is based on Rhedin?s (2001) theoretical concepts and elements of Nikolajeva?s (2000) terminology.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how a valuation model of a Private Equity firm is interpreted into a management control system within the company's different organizational levels. A case study was developed based on the infra-net company Eltel. The management control systems developed by Malmi and Brown (2008)(1) was used to characterize the control systems at each organizational level. The building blocks of this system are planning, cybernetic, reward/compensation, administrative and culture. Miller and O'Learys (2007)(2) theory of mediating instruments and technology roadmaps was applied to analyze the mediating process of the valuation model.

Abraham is the original patriarch. How does his leadership compare with a modern day popular culture patriarch with his roots in advertising, the shopkeeper Stig, star of the ICA advertising? The essay compares the leadership and masculinity of two male leaders from different backgrounds and settings, and discusses similiarities and differences.

We must all take our responsibility to our common environment, we have to make sure that the following generation is guaranteed a healthy and good environment. Swedens universities have a significant role too achieve this. Environment questions have to integrate in the educa¬tion as a compulsory element, then more people will have an increased comprehension for the influence we have ion the environment. . My degree project have I decided to do about the environmental work at Halmstad University.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur lärarrollen karaktäriseras i filmer och TV-serier under 2000-talet. I undersökningen görs en framställning av karaktärernas utmärkande drag samt en indelning i kategorierna: The Good, The Saint, The Sad och The Bad. I resultatet ställs karaktärernas drag i förhållande till människosyn och etiksyn. Sist men inte minst dras några tänkbara slutsatser utifrån resultatet..

The European history of bath has its roots in the Greek culture about 2500 years ago. In every Greek town was situated at least one center of culture, a gymnasium, that contained bath establishements, areas for physical training, restaurants, librarys and readingrooms. Already 400 B.C. Hippokrates, founder of the art of healing, spoke for the waters important qualities in medical treatements. After the Greeks the Romans overtook and maintained the polished manners of bathing, and thanks to them the culture spread to the north of Europe. During the middleages the art of swimming was well respected among soldiers and knights, and was frequently practised in tournament games and competitions. At the same time the bathhouses were developed in the towns of Europe.