During my practice as a teacher trainee at an upper secondary school it became clear to me that many pupils had difficulties with mathematics. I was surprised to find that many pupils seemed to get stuck on the level of attainment for the senior level of the nine-year compulsory school. As I have not studied anything about difficulties in Mathematics during my training to become a qualified teacher, I would like to get to know more about this.After studying research done on this subject I made the following approach to the problem:? What fields regarding Mathematics do the pupils themselves find most difficult?? What factors have been contributory causes to these problems?? What are the factors that have helped pupils with difficulties in Mathematics to reach the goals for the syllabuses in Mathematics?The answers to my questionnaire and interviews resulted in the following conclusions:? Pupils find theory of equation and conversion of units as most difficult at senior level of the nine-year compulsory school.? Teaching should be done in special instruction groups to give the pupil the opportunity to develop his/her skills on an individual level.? Pupils find it hard to deal with all moments in Mathematics during the time given for each course.? The pace for teaching Mathematics is too high according to the pupils.? Pupils wish for instructions on a lower level.? There is often a lack of contact between teacher and pupil.? The teacher should use more time to help the pupil receive good self-confidence and increase the motivation for instructions in Mathematics..

For many years, I have tried to understand why students end up in difficulties in mathematics. As a future teacher, it is extremely important to have knowledge of the various factors that leads to difficulties in mathematics. As a teacher it is obvious to meet the students who find mathematics a difficult subject, and, therefore it is necessary to have a broader knowledge of how to respond and support these students. According to Ahlberg, number of students with mathematics difficulties is increasing every year, therefore, it is important to help students and organize a supporting school environment that promotes and encourages learning (Ahlberg 2001, p. 104-105).

From autumn 2008 Sweden has reinstalled the Special Education Needs teacher education. For future special education teachers and active teachers in the field, it is important to know the history and be aware of future visions to create a good role for the Special Education Needs teachers. This study examines attitudes towards special education and Special Education Needs teachers amongst school principals and classroom teachers at seven schools in Umeå municipality. School principals were interviewed, and a survey was handed out amongst the selected General Education teachers. From this it appears that school principals have a picture of special needs education and Special Education Needs teachers' work that corresponds well with the objectives of the school's governing documents.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine teachers? perception of communication in the Mathematics lesson. I wanted to find out how teachers look at communication as a didactic manner and how they view their role in encouraging communication and discussion during the Mathematics lesson and what communication can contribute to students? learning in Mathematics, according to their beliefs. I have chosen a qualitative approach; I have interviewed six Mathematics teachers working in three different schools.

The aim of this study is to fill the gap in mathematics education research concerning the relationship between identity and positioning in mathematical collaboration in groups. This study elaborates on the relationship between how pupils see themselves as math students in sixth grade, how they show their identities as math students, in contrast to how they position themselves reflexively in group collaboration while engaging in mathematical problem solving. The theoretical concepts linked to this study are discourse, identity and positioning. Discourse is used to describe and form the setting and context of the study. Identity is seen as a transient and elusive concept formed by the students own perceptions of self through narratives.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how power is distributed in the mathematics classroom and how students achieve agency when ICT (Information and communication technology) is used as a teaching tool. Three learning situations, structured by mathematics, are analysed: in the first situation mathematics is taught in a traditional way, in the second mathematics is taught in interdisciplinary projects, and in the third mathematics is taught using ICT as a pedagogical tool. The theoretical concepts of power and agency are used as analytical tools within a socio-political framework. The concept of power is used to assess the students? ability to influence their learning and degree of inclusion in the three learning situations.

The purpose of this survey is to better understand how students in Swedish upper secondary school perceive knowledge in history. 44 students from two different schools took part in the survey. The students partaking were asked to make a rough plan for a course in history, in which they were to both suggest contents of the course and also motivate their choice of content by arguing their view of the purpose of knowledge in history. The results of the survey were then compared to the curriculum of the history subject. The survey shows that a majority of the students asked find modern history, especially World War 1 & 2, and Swedish history to be of importance.

We have done a qualitative and quantitative study about math problems on second­ary school students. The study is based on the diagnosis, treatment and training of teachers, about students who have math difficulties. The aim of this work is to obtain teachers ?perceptions about students? diagnosis, treatment / improvement and continuing education for students who have math difficulties. By having interviewed various teachers through surveys we have received answers to their concerns about the diagnosis, treatment and the importance of continuous training of teachers on students? mathematics difficulties.

This thesis deals with the question of how and to what degree Swedish history books for schools changed between the early 20th century and the 1960s. The theoretical foundation for this study is a perspective which treats historical accounts as narratives, bringing meaning and orientation to the present. According to this perspective, historical accounts may be divided into four different types of narratives, traditional, exemplary, critical and genetical. The basis for this division is how the narratives use the past to make the present understandable.The following conclusions are reached:That Swedish history books for schools have changed less, and in a moore gradual way than those dealing with general history. There is a growing use of genetical narratives at the expense of mainly exemplary ones.

AimThe main aim of this study was to find out how teachers reflect on their work with developing pupils? interest towards mathematics in grade nine. As a teacher in mathematics, it is important to be aware of different views on interest towards mathematics and how it is possible to work in that direction. Since developing interest towards mathematics is written the in syllabus as criteria for teaching mathematics in grade nine, it is important to know and take an active role in finding ways to approach the issue.Main issues? How do teachers in grade nine reflect over their work with development of interest towards mathematics?? How are teachers? Beliefs Systems reflected in their work with interest?MethodThe main focus of this study was teachers? perspective on their own work on developing interest towards mathematics.

Transition to Non-Compulsory EducationScrutinizing flaws in Students? knowledge in Mathematics.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how museums, seen as heterotopic places where time and space act simultaneously, can, with the help of museum educators and guides, integrate the foreign citizens in Sweden. The analysis is done with the help of three institutions: The Vasa Museum, the Royal Armory and The Great Synagogue in Stockholm.The author of the thesis argues that recruiting trained personnel with foreign roots by museums would help significantly in the creation of a sense of collective identity and belonging among those citizens who are just adapting to the country. Through the use of Swedish, in conjunction with their mother tongue, as well as analogies, an important contribution can be attained in their integration.In this work, concepts such as the accent, are treated in a categorical manner, as the author, with the assistance of other researchers, concluded that the accent should not influence the perception of the intellectual and work capability of a professional museum educator/guide.History represents another key element in this thesis, as it discusses the way to find a new narrative form to channel history and refer to it, thus sharing historical roots with these new immigrants in Sweden..

 The purpose of this essay is to examine some teachers' reflections on the importance of mathematics in preschool and the importance of language, communication and conceptualization in children's mathematics learning. The study's methodology is based on a qualitative approach, where I interviewed four teachers who work with the 6 -year-olds in two different municipal schools. The study shows the importance of language and communication in mathematics learning. It also shows the importance of the teacher's attitude as well as the educational environment to capture children's curiosity and interest.  Purpose and Issues: The purpose of this study is to investigate some pedagogue?s descriptions of mathematics in the preschool class.

Swedish students' knowledge of both mathematics and reading comprehension has deteriorated in recent years. Scientists are discussing whether there is a connection between these areas and that the pupils deteriorating math skills may have something to do with their increasingly lower results in terms of reading comprehension. To investigate this possible connection, I conducted a survey among students in ninth grade and have come to the conclusion that the scientists are right: this connection absolutely exist. Students who received a high score on tasks designed to test students' mathematical problem-solving skills, also received high results on the reading comprehension test. And students who received a poor performance on the problem-solving tasks, were also low performers in the reading comprehension test.

The purspose of this study is to investigate how teachers are working to individualize mathemathics education relative to high-performing students and how they define the therm individualization. According to the Swedish curriculum the teaching process should be based on the students prevoius knowledge and experiences. The teachers should in their preperation take every student in to consideration. To be able to investigate these subjets I prepared following questions:What does the concept of individualization in mathematics mean for the teachers?What does it mean to work with an individualized mathematics teaching?How does teachers individualizes teaching mathematics relative to high performing students?This study is based on a qualitative method with both interviews and observations.