What can make us identify ourselves with places? Why do we feel stronger for certain environments? Is it possible to change the identity and how can we do it? What exactly is building identity on a site, what elements it is safest to hang on to when the wind of change is blowing? In this paper, I?m going to discuss the subject identity in different ways and from different angles. Important questions I have had, has been how to analyze a site and what is the importance of identity and the possibility of changing it?The first part of the paper aims to provide an introduction to the concept of identity. I'm giving a short explanation of what identity is and how places relate to identity.

The purpose of my study is to investigate teacher?s perceptions of their mission in the preschool class, and how they work to promote children?s written language development. What methods and working methods they use to awaken curiosity and motivate children to read and write. I am using the qualitative research method to get answers to my questions. I have made four qualitative interviews with four teachers in preschool classes from different schools.My questions are:What conceptions does teachers have about their mission in a preschool class?What different methods and approaches does teachers use to stimulate and wake children?s curiosity for reading and writing development?The theoretical basis for my study is the socio-cultural perspective, where learning occurs in interaction.

This Bachelor?s thesis is related to the area within library and information studies that focuses on information seeking and information practices. The study deals with how politically engaged young people seek information in relation to their political interests. The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of the roles that different forms of information-related activities play within the framework of political interest and of the feelings, experiences and challenges that such activities may give rise to for those involved. The study also discusses purposes and motivation for information seeking and use in political engagement.

The aim of the thesis is to identify and investigate central themes in two video artworks, Poliisi and Pink Ball, by Swedish artist Annika Larsson. Moreover it is an investigation of the configurations of violence, and an enquiring whether these works have a social-minded intention.Elements in scenery, framing and narration are analysed with the term ?crystalline regime? (régim cristallin), described by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, which defines the artificial as opposed to the purely representational. Processes within the narrations of the two works are analysed as rituals, which leads to an investigation of an internal sign-system and to the question whether the rituals in these works have a function. Theory by French philosopher Georges Bataille is used to analyse the ritual with no external purpose, which aims at an intense experience of life.

The purpose with this work is to describe the language that is built around the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in Sweden. Our questions are: What does the professional field look like; who writes, about what and for which kind of readers? How do they describe the expressions and the upcoming of CFS? For which reasons can CFS be considered as a medical diagnosis/illness? How can CFS be understood from a social perspective? Our theoretical starting point is a social constructive theory and also Karin Johannisson's theory about medicalization and Foucault?s theory about power. We have from a literature-exposition of Swedish articles from 1989 to 2006, done a social constructive discourse analysis with help from Laclau & Mouffe's discourse theory, and Fairclough's model of social practices. In our textual analysis we found three dominating discourses: A medical discourse, a social/cultural discourse and a general/popular discourse.

Based on earlier experiences of mathematics and mathematical learning, both as a student and as a teacher, I became more and more interested in how well the publicly accepted opinions about mathematics as an uninteresting, difficult and ?geeky? subject corresponded to reality. What do Swedish pupils really think about mathematics and is it possible to identify any differences in their attitudes based on the pupils? age?From this point of view the following questions were formulated:·What are pupils? attitudes towards mathematics in grades 3, 6 and 9 and how do they conceive their learning conditions?·Is it possible to detect any differences in the attitudes and preferences depending on the pupils? age?The result of this study compares well with previous studies done in this and overlapping fields and indicates that:·Younger pupils tend to have a better liking of mathematics but with increasing age that interest fades out.·Most pupils, without regard to age, consider mathematics to be one of the most important subjects, despite the fact that many pupils also find mathematics difficult and boring.·For pupils of all ages, the teacher is the most important factor in the learning process. Older students have more specific demands on the teacher for knowledge and pedagogical skills.·A high noise level, talking and disturbances in the classroom are the most bothering elements when it comes to learning mathematics.

The aim of the study is to investigate how social workers relate to the self-determination in cases that involve people who have dementia. To investigate this we have chosen to build a qualitative study. The study is based on four interviews with social workers in elderly care in Sweden. To analyze our material we chose the concept autonomy, and legal texts from the Social Services Act (SFS 2001: 453) and Parental code (SFS 1949: 381). Our results show that social workers are often forced to deviate from the law and guidelines to ensure the best for the person with dementia.

The BA thesis Front Yard Gardens ? spatiality, design elements, expression and social aspects is a summary of the entrance and front yard garden phenomenon ? where the entrance is the set design and the designer is the director. The thesis touches the social context of which entrances have been and still are shaped. The various appearance of the entrance and front yard gardens throughout the history, starting with the first entrance by the edge of the wood and coming up to the front yard gardens of today, is described. It touches the present day through an analysis of some entrances and front yard gardens of modern residential areas.

The aim of this essay was to create an understanding of teachers strategies to respond to children in economic hardship in school and if these children can participate on equal terms in school. To examine this, we chose to do semi-structured interviews which is a qualitative method. Eight teachers were interviewed from four different elementary schools. In our interviews, we found that all the schools both had elements of inclusion and exclusion, which can result in both equal and unequal terms for participation in school. We also found that the school with the most students in economic hardship had the most inclusive strategies.

The aim of this study is to examine how one can understand the experiences that social workers within the social service's have of children who have committed sexual assault against other children, and the social workers? thoughts about the choice of actions and the family involvement in those actions. The study has a qualitative character. Information was obtained through interviews with social workers within two Swedish counties, and the analysis of the results was based on earlier research findings as well as theoretical aspects, such as systemic theory and salutogenesis.Regarding the actions taken for the target group, the social workers have, in many ways, a systemic perspective as they emphasize elements within the child as well as within the family. It is also shown that the collaboration with other authorities affects the choice of actions, and that it is important to involve the entire family in any interventions, so that the effect of those interventions may last over time.

Jonas, Buhr & David Nordin. (2011). Uppfattningar om futsal ? En studie om futsal och etablering avidrott (Opinions on futsal ? A study on futsal and establishing of sport) Bachelor Essay in Swedish.Umea: Umea university, Department of Education.AbstractThe study is based on an assignment from Vasterbotten Football Association that because of poorparticipation in futsal activities wants to find out what clubs, the coaches and players in Vasterbottenthink of futsal. The aim is to find out the opinions on futsal and what these opinions are based on.

Syftet med undersökningen var att klargöra hur lärare arbetar med skönlitteratur i undervisningen. Jag har utgått från tidigare teorier om hur skönlitteratur kan användas i undervisningen, både genom läsning och genom samtal. Det är en survey undersökning baserad på enkäter och intervjuer från ett antal lärare verksamma på samma skola. Frågorna fokuserade på varför lärarna använde sig av skönlitteratur, hur de valde böcker och om och hur de sedan samtalade om böckerna de läst. Resultatet visade att både skönlitteraturen och samtalen var naturliga inslag i undervisningen, men de var inte alltid genomtänkta eller byggda på en tydlig struktur.

The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent the senior level Swedish school can be viewed as supporting, or counteracting, a colonial discourse that legitimizes global and national injustices. The study is executed through a discourse analysis of five textbooks in social science for senior level Swedish schools.Using elements from Foucault and Edward Said a theoretical framework is constructed, in which a colonial discourse is perceived as structured around four clusters of ideas, namely (i) the use of dichotomies, (ii) the concept of progress and civilization, (iii) the construction of -we- as synonymous with (ii), and (iv) the construction of -the others- as the opposite of (ii) and, therefore, the opposite of -us-.The results show that a colonial discourse is still highly present in the textbooks, in that the texts are structured around dichotomies such as tradition/modernity and democracy/dictatorship. Sweden and the Western world are perceived as closely associated with democracy, freedom, and modernity, whereas -the others- of the world are being associated with e.g. poverty, conflict, tradition, and ignorance. -The others- within Sweden, i.e.

Since the beginning of 1940 there have been externally developed tests in Sweden. Their appearances have changed over the years together with the cognitive approach. Nowadays, this kind of tests is going by the name of the national tests, which was introduced in the year of 1994. When the Swedish National Agency for Education received the assignment to develop new purposes and national tests to the third grade students, debate took a bounce. The matter was well discussed; national tests in third grade or not?The national tests thus far carried out four rounds in the third grade and the purpose of my study was to find out how teachers are reasoning about the tests.

 The purpose of my study is to illumine the aesthetic learning process significant in the preschool. Focus has been on allowing educators in different preschools to answer questions valid the use of aesthetic learning processes. I chose to do my study using an opinion poll and a literature review. The result shows that the preschools use aesthetic learning processes and according to the educator?s aesthetic learning process is a very important tool for education in the preschool.  The notable in this study is that the educators have different views of what aesthetic means. The first view is that you only work with aesthetic subjects.