The aim of this essay is, firstly, to ? through a text analysis ? compare the curriculum of Waldorf education in Sweden (in the essay referred to as ?WL?) to the Swedish national curriculum ?Lpo 94?, to uncover possible differences and similarities between these documents, and, secondly, to present the roots and educational philosophies that these two curricula, respectively, are based upon. The purpose hereby is to be able to trace, describe and explain the differences between the pedagogical practices of Waldorf education and that of conventional Swedish schools.In the essay, a historical investigation of the main traditions of ideas behind the Swedish national curriculum is briefly carried out, where I swiftly present the educational philosophies of John Dewey (1859-1952) and Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1934). Next, an investigation of the worldview and philosophy of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is effectuated, where I attempt to bring to light Steiner?s anthroposophical and holistic worldview ? a worldview that throughout the 20th century has developed into an international and wide-ranging anthroposophical movement ? as well as his concepts of knowledge, science and educational philosophy.

The aim of my study is to examine how six teachers discuss their choices of work methods in teaching mathematics, as well as the methods they are currently using and what they have based their choices on. This study also covers how these teachers approach educational planning and where they get inspiration for their teaching material, and finally the advantages and disadvantages of each method according to the teachers. To be able to fulfill my purpose of this study some questions had to be considered: How do these teachers approach the planning of studies of mathematics and where do they find ideas for their lesson planning? Which methods do these teachers use in the teaching of mathematics and what are the reasons behind their choices of methods? Which advantages and disadvantages do these teachers see in the methods they use during the teaching of mathematics? This is a qualitative study, mainly based on qualitative research interviews according to an interview guide. Six teachers, from five different elementary schools, grade 1- 3, have been interviewed for this study.

This study deals with work environment from a legal perspective. The study includes legislative history, legislation today and one empirical study. The legislation that concerns work environment (health and safety) in Sweden today is found in the Swedish Work Environment Act (WEA), the Work Environment Ordinance (WEO), Provisions issued by the Work Environment Authority, related legislations and also collective agreements. The WEA, passed by the parliament in 1977, came into force on the 1st of July 1978 and it defines the framework for Provisions issued by the Work Environment Authority, which is an authority superintended by the Swedish government. These Provisions contain more detailed stipulations and obligations with reference to the working environment.

The aim is to examine how students with attention difficulties may demonstrate their mathematical understanding through visual representations. A curiosity about how students think about mathematics, national tests and Concepts cartoons has also permeated the study. With help of observations combined with interviews and actively work for a week, the study shows an idea of how visual representations can help students with concentration difficulties to stay focused on their tasks. I chose a selection of pupils to do some mathematical tasks from the national tests which they had not been able to solve before. Now in the form of Concepts cartoons, which I designed, they managed to solve the same mathematics data. In my study treatment and interaction reveals as key pillars for a successful Educational work with the students with concentration difficulties. Thus, all pupils who previously have been unable to solve these assignments on the National test were now able to show their mathematical understanding supported by visual representations..

This study has examined how teachers in primary education with experience of inclusion look on inclusive education. The study was based on the concept of inclusion and how it is made possible in primary school. The study was conducted using semi-structured qualitative life-world interviews with three teachers in primary education with included pupils with learning disabilities in their class. The results show the complexity of having a pupil with learning disabilities in class. To interpret, follow and then assess under two syllabuses are seen as difficult.

The aim of this study was to examine how the interviewed teachers in one school observe their view of gender and equality regarding the educational system.  Accordingly, I would like to present my intention with this study, also be to analyze how the interviewed teachers way of working with matters of gender and equality, carry out as a portrait of their values considering the distribution in terms of gender. The research questions are the following: What is the teachers view on the concepts of equality and gender in school?How do different teachers talk about their way of working in relation to gender and equality in school?How is boys and girls images presented in the teachers descriptions in their discussion about gender and equality?This study is based on a fundamental qualitative method, where a handful number of teacher?s from one school were interviewed in order to obtain information and data for the examination. The interviews were analyzed and discussed in association to earlier research in aspiration to study different writer?s theories about the conception of gender and equality.

With this empirical essay I want to research how and why pedagogues use music in their preschool activities. Music is important to me and in relation to the new educational plan I have cautions about that the esthetic subjects may be less prioritized than before. The purpose with my study is to find out preschool pedagogues perspective in learning and evolving children?s educational matters through music. I base my literature theories in this study on Vygotskij and Fröbels theoretical perspectives.

Work environment has been an important part of the Swedish working life for a long time and with the help of the Working Environment Law the work environment is mandatory. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper insight into how the system of middle managers systematic work environment looks like. The question was: How do six middle managers perceive and deal with systematic work environment? A qualitative study was conducted with six middle managers from a global company. During the analysis, there were three main themes to be recognized (cooperation and support facilitates the work environment, problem with the systematic work and difficulties with staff) and six sub themes.

The purpose of this work is to investigate how 4-5 year olds perceptions of materials and material properties can be developed through an educational activity. The study is based on two interviews with eight children in that age category. The interviews were conducted before and after an activity where the children were first introduced to the subject by the tale of The three little pigs (Harris, 2009) and then given the opportunity to explore various materials related to the book. The kids got to experiment and explore how water affected materials and to compare different materials properties. The children were also attracted to build and create the material that was offered during the activity.

Utbildningsradion (Swedish Educational Broadcasting Company) is a public service broadcaster with a mandate to produce and distribute educational programmes. 80% of Swedish teachers use its products either during lessons or for professional development. Utbildningsradion?s guidelines, set by the Swedish parliament and government, state that the company?s programmes should meet the interests of the country?s whole population, regardless of their background.The purpose of this study is to examine how Utbildningsradion?s products that are intended to be used in a classroom setting for ages 6 to 9 represent the variety of children that live in Sweden and thus reflect the aforementioned guidelines. The main focus of this research project was further defined to only include the company?s television programmes produced in Sweden between 2006 and 2011 that do not have social issues as the main subject.50 programmes were analyzed using quantitative content analysis and the following results were further interpreted using mainly Kydd?s and Snead?s models for discussing representation.

This essay investigates the work situation for teacher educators at a university with focus on the subject areas education, research and administration. The research questions contain the work situation the teacher educators have, how they apprehend it, and how they find their position within the work organisation. Six interviews have been executed at the teacher education at a university. Some of the results from the investigation indicate that the teacher educators find education to be very a very demanding work and that the split of work during the academic year is uneven. The work with administration before and after the education, for example work with syllabuses and descriptions for courses, are activities demanding much time.

This study investigates the internet habits of students in the Swedish gymnasium. The part that internet plays in their lives and their attitude towards the educational system is reflected upon the philosophical background that stretches from Kant to postmodern philosophers such as Baudrillard. The aim is to create knowledge about how the social aspects of the internet affects their concepts of reality and their own and others identities. The method used for the collection of empirical data has been semi-structured interviews, preformed with students in a Swedish gymnasium. The data is then interpreted against the theoretical and philosophical background.

AbstractA Problem to Every SolutionThe Corrymeela Community, René Girard and the ambiguous pluralismThe main purpose of this study is to examine how Girard´s ideas of society, culture andreligion have become part of the reflexion in the praxis of Corrymeela Community through the work of Roel Kaptein and how this praxis can shed light over the work with dissonances of faith and values in education in RE, Social Studies and other subjects.In earlier publications I have studied how dissonances of faith and values can beunderstood in educational settings and in connection with issues of interreligious dialogue.The extensive discussion of how differences in culture, religion and value in a pluralisticsociety are to be analysed and treated in pedagogical reflexion seems to increasingly occupyactors in different parts of the educational system. It is obvious that these issues also arebrought into focus as an important field of research. My main interest in this paper is to study how a reconciliation group in the middle of the conflict in Northern Ireland has developed a view of conflict reason and conflict resolution under the influence of the French researcher René Girard and what aspects of this study that can improve the reflection over pluralism and dissonances of faith and values in everyday praxis in education.For a period of more than a decade I have been in contact with actors in the peace process inNorthern Ireland in connection to different educational projects. The attempts to analyse the different aspects of ?The Troubles? and the efforts to find ways out of conflicts and civil war are many and the literature on subjects related to these tragic history of social, cultural and religious conflicts is difficult to survey.

This thesis has aimed to study steering process and institutionalization in the context of educational policy work. This has been conducted by using empirical material from the political decision-making process that preceded the implementation of a new national program on how principals should be educated and certified. By using an aggregated theoretical point of view containing new institutionalism and traditional Swedish curriculum theory, the process was analyzed from different perspectives. The results depict a process that contained several actors who tried to shape the principal education program differently. From the theoretical perspectives, the decision-making process could be understood as an act of both self-interest as well as trust in their own beliefs and cultural values.

This thesis has aimed to study steering process and institutionalization in the context of educational policy work. This has been conducted by using empirical material from the political decision-making process that preceded the implementation of a new national program on how principals should be educated and certified. By using an aggregated theoretical point of view containing new institutionalism and traditional Swedish curriculum theory, the process was analyzed from different perspectives. The results depict a process that contained several actors who tried to shape the principal education program differently. From the theoretical perspectives, the decision-making process could be understood as an act of both self-interest as well as trust in their own beliefs and cultural values.