In this thesis I investigate aesthetic preference for picture books among children aged 3?6 as well as criteria for preference among parents. Through my design project: illustration of a picture book, I aim to put my research on preference in the context of illustration and design. By using the design project as an applied method for research I have sought to answer how one as an illustrator can apply knowledge regarding preferences of the target groups when illustrating for picture books. I have primarily based my research within the field of cognitive developmental psychology, with primary focus on stage theory, and the field of literature.

In a school for children from 6-9 years in a small town in the southeast of Sweden, is areading activity program in progress since 8 years. The original purpose of this program wasto enhance the student?s reading interest. All of the students read at least one book a week andthen they review the book in front of the class.The purpose of the present study was to examine vocabulary, word retrieving, narrative skillsand grammatical abilities in children in this school. The objectives were to investigate if thechosen language abilities in these children were different compared to normative data andearlier studies in children at comparable ages.

The aim of the study was to understand how the family home secretary reasons and thinks and how they express themselves in their actions towards the family home?s biological children. The method used is qualitative semi-structured interviews, involving six family home secretaries from four different municipalities. The results were analyzed with the help of two theories ? the theory of grassroots bureaucracy and the sociology of childhood theory.

The aim of this masters thesis is to examine what intentions handbooks, laws and regulations have had about children and childrens literature, as we think that they can serve as guiding principles for childrens libraries in Sweden. The questions are: what signals have the childrens libraries got from the documents concerning the view of children and childrens literature during the 20th century? What has the social opinion about children been during the 20th century? How have children been seen during the 20th century? The method we used is a qualitative source analysis of mention above documents seen from a hermeneutical point of view. This analysis is woven together with the social opinion on children during the 20th century. Our results show that the aim of childrens literature before 1945 was a pedagogic and moral one.

The purpose of this thesis was to study how four swedish lifestyle magazines: Veckorevyn and Cosmopolitan for women, King and Café for men, represent three groups of people and how often these people appear in the magazines. These groups are HBT, homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals, disabled and immigrants. The years we studied were 2007 and 2008.Our main questions were: How often do the three groups appear in the four magazines? How are the groups represented? In order to answer these questions we used a qualitative analysis. We used tools from semiotics, narratology and discourse.

The purpose of this study was to examine how some children with reading problems experience and use libraries. The main problem was: How do dyslectic children experience and use libraries and how do they handle their reading difficulties when using libraries? The questions at issue were: 1. Do children with reading problems use libraries, and if so how? - in which purposes do they use libraries? - which materials and services do they use? - why dont some children use libraries? 2.

Play is an important part of children´s everyday life, it is through play children develop. Play occurs a lot in kindergarten and in this study, the aim is to examine how play activities play is used in preschool teaching and the role of the teacher´s in the play. Video recordings of play activities done and qualitative methods (conversation analysis) has been used to analyze the video recordings. The results of this study show that play are widely used as a pedagogical tool in preschool. It is through play children develop.

In this examination paper I have studied how teachers can help children who are in crises. For example when children end up between parents divorce or someone close to them dies. The purpose of this essay is to know more about how children react in crises and how we as teachers can help them in the best way possible. I have also looked at school?s crise plans to see how and if they work.

Aim: The aim of this study was to study through papers if early intervention of children and adolescents with deaf-blindness can be facilitated through early intervention programs, cochlear implants (CI) and communication strategies.Method: The method that we used was a literature study of scientific articles through Pubmed and Cinahl databases. The articles reference lists were also studied which lead to that more papers were found.Results: Children and adolescents with deaf-blindness can benefit from early intervention programs, when their caregivers were educated to give appropriate response to the children?s behavior. The interaction between children and their caregivers can improve through an early intervention model. Children and adolescents with Deafblindness have variable results from CI.

The aim of the thesis is to find a deeper understanding and knowledge concerning the interpretation of racism as a phenomenon in the everyday life of children in the age of 12-13 years old. To achieve the aim of the thesis I have used parts of the phenomenographic theories as a methodological implement. The conclusions made are represented through four different themes. The first theme deals with the way children apply to verbal overtones of racism in their everyday language. The second theme is about how some children discuss thoughts on integration and assimilation as phenomenon.

The aim of this study was to understand how staff at residential homes for unaccompanied children experiences their professional role. The main focus of the study was on how the staff defines their professional role and how they handle the situation to be close and at the same time keep a distance towards the children in care. Five women and two men were interviewed at five different residential homes for unaccompanied children. By symbolic interactionism we are able to see that the professional roles are shaped through interaction with the children in care as well as in relation to colleagues. The main role for the staff is to build up a relationship with the children.

Aspects of computerized learning in terms of educational situations in kindergarten andschools where the teachers use software either made for children or for adults, is thesubject of this paper.The market for software produced in Sweden and intended for educatilonal situationswith small children is discussed and analysed by qualitative method. The software, theusers, the producers and other related groups are looked upon from an educationalperspective and a mode1 of this process is presented in the paper.The software is categorized and discussed according to area of use and underlying educationalperspectives. The educational situations in which the users are a part are discussedfrom an educational perspective and examples from use of software in kindergartenand schools are given. The images of their target group which the producers haveare categorized according to phenomenographical method. A proposal of a classificationsystem for software used in educational situations is made..

The token economy program, which is a method for behaviour modification, has been used worldwide for different groups within different settings in order to vhange behaviour.Research has found the token economy program to be effective. However, research is limited to quantitative and experimental studies, and Swedish research in this field is brief. Nevertheless, the program is used in several institutions n Sweden. A qualitative study in Swedish settings could therefore be useful. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of a token economy program using qualitative interviews.

The purpose of this study was to examine how some child welfare case workers say they go about to give children in foster homes the opportunity to be heard. The idea was also to examine how much weight is given to the children?s views and if the respondents believe that the childrens right to be heard has improved over the time they have been working with foster children and if so, how? The study was conducted by using qualitative research method and the analysis of the results was made using Shier?s model of childrens participation. The results have also been tied to previous research in the area. The conclusions of this study was that according to the respondents it?s important that they get to know the children well so that the children can have confidence enough to speak their minds.

The aim of this theoretical study is to explain how the notion of the Other and Otherness affect individuals possibilities to form multiple, personal identities. This is done by the use of the theory of the Other and the construction of identities. In my analysis I will be using the power perspective presented by Lukes. The purpose of my study is also to investigate whether a focus on similarity over difference between groups can change the situation for individualsMy study shows that otherness affect individuals identity constructions through stereotyping and categorising. This is made possible by the use of power from outside and inside different groupings.