Why should teachers devote themselves to reading aloud? Reading aloud has a given place in most of the Swedish preschools. Many teachers read to children. Research on the subject has shown that it is very rewarding for preschoolers to have stories read to them. They hear how the language is constructed, becomes aware of matter of text, and they are able to take part of how other people live.

This bachelor thesis delves into the role and impact of cultural dimensions, identity and leadership on post-merger acquisition in Sweden through an in-depth analysis of two companies that have undergone acquisitions or mergers. Using an abductive method, where theories are continuously adapted based on empirical data, qualitative information was gathered through semi-structured interviews with managers and employees from the two companies. The study aimed to gather well-founded insights on how corporate cultural dimensions, identity and leadership are experienced by individuals during the merger. By examining culture, leadership and identity in three different time phases of the integrationprocess, a comprehensive understanding of the integration process was achieved. The results of the study highlight that cultural factors such as leadership, culture, and identity play a central and crucial role in mergers and acquisitions. By considering and managing employees' and leaders' identities, organizations can create a sense of coherence and continuity despite changes.

The purpose of this study was to, using statistical analysis, investigate to what extent families of a different cultural background have participated in family therapy and other family treatment programs at Familjeenheten in Lund. With questions regarding the goals of treatment, and the importance of cultural competence in the treatment process we have let two unit managers comment on the statistics. The population of the study is too small to allow general conclusions to be drawn, however, we have been able to ascertain that families of a different background are over-represented relative to their percentage of Lund´s population. Familjeenheten has no statistical record of ethnicity and the interviewed persons express no certain importance in the families´ cultural origins. They express no need to develop special treatment methods that take the clients´ cultural background in regard as they feel that so many of family issues are universal.

This thesis is of an historical nature and deals with two institutions in Bosnia and Hercegovina: waqf and the Library of Gazi Husrev bay. These institutions are placed in a societal context which makes it easier to understand their origins, development and decline. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the history of the Library of Gazi Husrev bay and its specific characteristics as well as analyze the institution of waqf in a societal context. The questions posed by this thesis are: What is waqf and its meaning? What are its benevolent as well as hostile periods? How did the Library of Gazi Husrev bay and its mission develop? The thesis is limited to waqf in its societal context.

The purpose of the study is to explore preschool teachers experiences of how immigrant parents become involved in the preschool activities and how their linguistic and cultural background appears in relation to participation.The survey was conducted through individual interviews with eight preschool teachers working in various multicultural preeschools.The results of this survey shows that the preschool teachers perceive that parents with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are reluctant to participate in various forms of cooperation, such as parent meetings. Preschool teachers believe that the lack of parental participation depends on the parents linguistic and cultural backgrounds, such as different approaches to understand the pre-school educational activity or the view of parenting, and other things such as language difficulties.Another result reveals also a great lack of written methods, because teachers sometimes face difficult dilemmas. To seek itself the right approach in a current situation can be both difficult and time consuming, therefore, the preschool teachers wish that there were already complete methods for use..

The purpose of this study was to examine how SOS Children's Villages as an organization in Swaziland is affected by, and takes into account, the cultural, organizational and societal context in which it acts. Material was gathered through a field study during one month in one of the three SOS Children's Villages in Swaziland. The study has a qualitative approach and is based on the result from 12 semi-structured interviews with village mothers and other representatives from the organization. The other representatives were: social worker, program director, child and youth development coordinator, board member and educational manager. Since this study is both characterized by a specific historical, cultural and organizational context, we decided to connect the postcolonial perspective with an organization theory with focus on the concepts of culture, power and a children?s right perspective.

Purpose/Aim: Exhibitions in cultural-historical museums have traditionally been object-centered and associated with one-way communication. The aim of this thesis is to gain knowledge about how exhibition producers ? and educationalists at swedish cultural-historical museums today relate to communication in exhibitions from a communication scientific perspective.Material/Method: The method of the thesis is interviews exhibition producers ? and educationalists at five swedish cultural-historical museums about how they work with communication issues in exhibitions. The empiricism gained from the interviews have been analyzed from a communication scientific angle, using two communication theories as idealtypes for communication processes; Shannon and Weaver´s model and Stuart Hall´s encoding/decoding-theory.Main results: Communication in exhibitions have developed, much due to the use of more channels for communicating with the visitors and the acknowledgement of the visitor as an active subject in interpreting the exhibitions and their message.Despite this development, communication in exhibitions still have features of a one-way communication. The main feature is the lack of possibilities for visitors to communicate their interpretations and point of views of the exhibition back to the exhibition producers.

AbstractIn the heart of Paris, you will find Sweden?s only cultural center abroad. Since the early 70?s a wealth of cultural activities has been offered, and every year the center receives more than 100,000 visitors. The center is a branch of the Swedish Institute (Si), a public authority which promotes mutual relationships between Sweden and other countries through culture, education, science and business.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to study how Catalans´ identifications, with respect to their city (Barcelona), their region (Catalonia), their country (Spain) and Europe, are related to each other. Furthermore it deals with whether they use cultural or civic notations when they speak of their identification with the different territorial levels.The thesis is based on a qualitative method with interviews with ten Catalans living in Barcelona, aged from 18 to 58. The result showed that Catalans´ identifications with different territorial levels vary in how they relate to each other. This variation can be classified using three models, namely; ?The Russian doll model? which implies that the identities are ranked hierarchically, ?cross-cutting? that is people can identify themselves with the different levels depending on various situations, and also ?The marble cake model? which means that the different identities are so intertwined that they cannot be separated.

Ekoturism har utvecklats som ett alternativ till annan typ av turism, med inriktning på att undvika negativa effekter på lokala ekosystem. I Sverige finns ekoturism som bedrivs i relativt orörda naturmiljöer, men också ekoturism som bedrivs i miljöer som påverkats av människan på olika sätt och som rymmer både kulturvärden och naturvärden. På gården Sjögetorp i Östergötland bedrivs ekoturismverksamhet i familjeföretaget Urnatur. Mitt syfte med studien var att undersöka vilka kulturvärden och naturvärden som finns på gården idag, och hur dessa värden hänger ihop med ekoturismen. Jag genomförde en inventering av hela fastigheten där jag registrerade ägoslag och strukturer viktiga för kultur och naturvärden. För mer information om gårdens skötsel och ekoturismverksamheten intervjuade jag ägarna. Jag undersökte också historiskt kartmaterial för att kunna sätta gårdens skötsel idag i perspektiv till hur jordbrukslandskapet sett ut historiskt. I min inventering dokumenterade jag många olika typer av naturvärden, bland annat död ved i många former, hamlade träd, slåtterängar, betesängar och skog skött till förmån för lövträd. Kulturvärden som fanns var ofta kopplade till naturvärden, som till exempel slåtter, hamlade träd och skogsbete.

I både den svenska och den danska kursplanen för historia på grundskolan står det att eleverna ska känna till det egna landets kulturarv respektive historia. Men vad är kulturarvet och hur förmedlas det? Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka det svenska och det danska kulturarvet under en tidsperiod då länderna har många gemensamma beröringspunkter, d.v.s. svensk stormaktstid. Undersökningen jämför tre svenska och två danska historieläroböcker.

Nature conservation has for a long time been founded on the assumption that high ecological values depend on low human impact. In Sweden this has led to forests with these characteristics being strictly protected from human influences. However, it is also known that historical land-use can enhance ecological values in forests. Mountainous forests in Sweden, which have not been affected by modern forestry, have for a long time been considered as untouched by people. However, forest history research has in recent years shown that even these areas have been used by people for a long period of time.

The aim of this study has been to analyze how society is constructed in the workbook Möte med människor från andra kulturer, a popular material within the ?cultural competency? industry. The analysis has largely been carried out from the perspective of a pedagogy against oppression as it has been outlined by Kevin Kumashiro. I have found that the material combines discursive movements, which in complex and hybrid ways deconstruct, decenter, recenter and reproduce stereotypes and norms, through its normative language and pedagogy. A language constructing culture as cleanly demarcated, static and homogenous.

My thesis is based on a qualitative study. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether the educationalist at an especially chosen school in Stockholm promotes the students multicultural background in the education or not.This is due to the fact that the Swedish school to a considerable degree reflects the multicultural Swedish society. The socio-cultural starting point is when people come together and meet. The language is the tool of the socio-culture and it is the dialogue, discussion and sympathetic understanding that makes people meet.The cultural concept is diffuse and very wide. Everyone has their own definition of it.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine the discourses of concepts related to diversity and ethnicity in Swedish cultural policy. It focuses on how the society is presented in different contexts and how people with a different ethnic origin than the majority, are represented in the cultural policy of the Swedish State. The study is restricted to concern immigrants. Six governmental cultural policy documents, reaching over a time period of eight years 1995-2003 are examined as follows: Which key terms are used in the presentations? Which contexts and discourses can be distinguished? Have the discourses changed over the time period examined, and if so, how? The theoretical starting point in the thesis is the discourse perspective of Laclau and Mouffe.