The question of direct citizen participation in politics and administration is a contestable one. Its proponents claim that it has positive consequences even for the more "traditional", representative democracy, since participation leads to an increased political knowledge and increased political interest, and thus creates a revitalised democracy. Critical voices have however been raised to the validity of this claim. Critics have also pointed out direct participation as problematic, because it leads to problems of political inequality: a difference of political influence between ? on the one hand, the citizens participating directly and those that restrict their political participation to voting, and ? on the one the other hand ? between the institutions, for example schools, that employ, and don?t employ this method of direct citizen influence.In this essay, these two points of criticisms are tested in the context of user-boards in elementary and secondary schools.

This essay covers the subject of children with language disorders. We are two educators writing an experience-based essay on our preschool experiences and the literature with the subject of speaking disorders and verbal development. The main focus of this essay is how educators can recognize and stimulate children with language disorder. The starting point in the essay is two experience-based events from preschool which tells of two different boys, aged three and four. Both boys have some kind of verbal disorder and one of them also has Down´s syndrome.

AbstractEvidence based research has shown that organized parent support programmes have a goodeffect in strengthening the role of the parent and preventing problems during growth. Thisin turn has a great significance for Public Health.Komet is one of the evidence based programmes used in Sweden, based on Americanprogrammes and adapted to Swedish conditions.This qualitative study consists of interviews with six children between six and nine yearswith behaviour problems, whose Parents have taken part in the Komet programme.With Grounded Theory as research approach the children?s experiences of the programmeand relations within the family have been looked into and analysed.The result of this study suggests that a space for growth of their own is a common need ofthe children, and that this can be achieved by giving them the opportunity to function in afamily environment where they are seen and understood.The Komet programme contributed to this by giving the family tools to strengthen relationswithin the family, create calm and make the children more visible.The self image of the children in this study had improved which gave them more room togrow in a strengthened family situation. This in turn improved conditions for good feelings,and sense of well being, of importance for child development and health..

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are constantly evolving in today's information society. The school uses ICT as a teaching tool and it begins to be included at the leisure-time in school by the educators.Aim of this study is to examine how educators describe their perceptions and experiences of using ICT in the leisure activities. The questions is about how the educators use ICT, what they believe children learn of ICT, and which advantages and disadvantages they see with ICT at leisure-time in school.Through a qualitative approach, I have had my questions answered by six trained educators, five of whom are recreational educators and one who is a preschool teacher. These have individually answered my interview questions as an interview took place over a phone call, while the others answered the same questions by e-mail. The interview questions were open-ended questions that were formulated so the educators could respond so freely and fulfilling as possible.The survey shows that teachers use ICT in multimodal approach at leisure-time in school, both in informing Parents and in activities with the children.

This essay investigates the pupils, in Swedish upper secondary school in the greater Stockholm area, who choose to study the Russian language as a foreign language. The essay asks; who are these students, and what is motivation behind their language choice? In order to answer these two questions the essay uses both interviews and paper survey. The theoretical background ofth is essay is based on the works and theories of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and thus the question; who are these students is aimed at the students' social and economical background in lines with Bourdieu's theories. The essay also uses the earlier study of Swedish sociologist Mikael Palme, in which he maps the different schools and programs in the greater Stockholm area, in a socio-economical context based on habitus.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva de copingstrategier som föräldrar och syskon till barn med cancer använde för att hantera problem under vårdtiden, samt att beskriva vilka faktorer som påverkade dessa copingstrategier. Litteratursökningen utfördes via databasen Elin@Dalarna och sökorden som användes var childhood cancer, paediatric cancer, cancer, Parents, siblings, coping, och coping strategies. Inklusions-kriterierna var att artiklarna skulle vara publicerade 1999 eller senare, skrivna på engelska och finnas i fulltext på databasen. Sökningen resulterade i 20 artiklar som ansågs vara relevanta för arbetets syfte. En granskning av artiklarna gjordes och betygen G, VG, MVG och IG delades ut.

Alla har i varierad utsträckning egna erfarenheter av skolan, det medför att tankar och synsätt om den skiftar beroende på vem som tillfrågas. Lyhördhet, kommunikation och engagemang är grundläggande förutsättningar för samarbetet mellan hem och skola som i sin tur har stor betydelse för barnets skolgång. Skolan har under lång tid präglats av olika maktförhållanden som bidrog till att pedagogens auktoritet var given. Idag betonas vikten av att skolan och vårdnadshavare gemensamt är ansvariga för elevens skolgång, därmed blir det pedagogens personliga egenskaper som bygger auktoritet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur föräldrar till barn i årskurs 1-3 resonerar kring samarbetet mellan hemmet och skolan.

Fryczynska, Izabela, Persson, Sara (2008). Klass och etnicitet på utomhusförskola. En studie utifrån föräldrarnas bakgrund. [Class and ethnicity in an outdoor preschool. A study on the basis of the Parents' background].

Children from different backgrounds, cultures and home environments attend school everyday. The educational system of today focus on the importance for every individual pupil to take responsibility, in order to gain knowledge. From an early age should the pupils learn how to work independant and take responsibility for their education. My questian, and what I have decided to discuss in this paper, is wether everyone has the same opportunity to gain knowlwdge and learn trough this method. In preperation for this essay I read litterature where the authors claims that this kind of educational system is not for everyone, but it benefits those pupils that comes from a middleclass background.So, is our school system fair and equal? Can everyone, no matter what social and cultural group they belong to, get the education thay have right to? In order to get a deeper understanding I interviewed three teachers that works in different schools.

Earlier studies shows that democracy within the preschool is an important and on-going work, but could implicate certain consequences. For example that goals regarding democracy and influence in the preschool, rarely is done in practice but instead remains just words on a paper. It could also mean that the pedagogues lack education and knowledge within the area, but also how they react to the influence of children. Preschool is expected to be a place for all children, no matter what luggage the child is carrying. The luggage is filled with the life experience, the personality and in this case the needs that the child has. The needs could be anything from nearness to physical and psychological disorders that requires more pedagogical attention.

The main purpose of this essay is to study the Swedish labor law concerning employees who are, aspire to be, or are expected to become Parents, both men and women. Thereby accomplishing a gender perspective on the issue at hand. The study also take in to account the laws issued by the European Union, and their impact on the Swedish law system, so as to gain an international perspective. The laws regarding parental leave, both Swedish and European, involve protection for workers from being treated in a less favorable way than someone in a comparable situation, as employers are forbidden to disfavor any employee or job-seeker in basically all situations in the work place or in a recruiting context, if the disfavor is in any way related to the parental leave. The only situation where an employer is allowed to disfavor an employee regarding his or her parental leave, is if the disfavoring is a necessary consequent of the employee?s absence.

The aim of this master thesis is to examine information seeking andinformation use among high school pupils in two Norwegian highschools. The main research question focuses on different kinds ofinteraction or lack of interaction in the pupils? information seeking andinformation use.The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on a socioculturalperspective which allows for a specific focus of various forms ofinteraction. I investigate interaction in relation to concepts such associal practices, previous experiences and meaning making. Theempirical material consists of data from a large scale questionnaire (n=217) and in-depth interviews with six pupils.The results show that these pupils are used to interact with digital tools.The pupils trust printed sources more than digital ones, but at the sametime they prefer digital sources since these are easier to handle, it isquicker to locate information and this is easier to understand.

Uppsatsen "Att leva med bonussyskon ? Om de biologiska barnens situation i familjehemmen" ur ett föräldra- samt professionellt perspektiv är utförd och skriven av Annie Dahlbom.Denna studie syftar till att få kunskap om de biologiska barnens situation och behov i familjehemmen. Följande frågeställningar har ställts: Hur ser familjehemsföräldrar och familjehemssekreterare på de biologiska barnens delaktighet och roll? Vilka upplevelser och erfarenheter får biologiska barn i och med familjens uppdrag? Har biologiska barn ett behov av stöd och hjälp för sin egen del och i så fall hur?Denna studie är av kvalitativ karaktär och bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med familjehemssekreterare samt familjehemsföräldrar.Studiens resultat visar att biologiska barn i familjehem anses ha en betydelsefull roll för uppdraget och är i hög grad delaktiga i den dagliga vården av det placerade barnet. Familjehemmets egna barn har ingen delaktighet vid möten eller i kontakten med socialtjänsten.

Bakgrund: Övervikt och fetma bland barn är en av de största folkhälosutmaningarna på 2000-talet och sprider sig som en epidemi i värlfärdsländer. Preventivt hälsoarbete ger en möjlighet att identifiera tidig övervikt och kunna sätta in åtgärder som hälsosamtal och rådgivande samtal i tid. Skolsköterskan har en viktig roll i att upptäcka övervikt och fetma hos barn i lågstadiet. Tidigare forskning har visat att föräldrarnas inställning och familjens livsstil har en stor inverkan på barnets övervikt. Syfte: Styftet med studien var att belysa skolsköterskors erfarenheter av föräldrars reaktioner vid samtal om barnets övervikt eller fetma i lågstadiet.

To this date there are 14 major armed conflicts, four of which are defined as war. Every day several people come to Sweden as asylum  seekers and refugees looking for a residence permit in Sweden. This paper is about the children who receive a residence permit in Sweden and attend Swedish schools. Many of these children have experienced trauma ? damage to the psyche after a traumatic experience.From two qualitative interviews of a principal and a counselor at a school in Järfälla municipality, and three teachers at the same school, I studied what trauma management at this school looks like.