This study was designed to describe and understand how children perceive and explain mathematical situations. During our work based training we have met several students who have been insecure in the subject of mathematics and therefore come to think that it's difficult and boring. The questions we have asked ourselves are why and how this insecurity occurs. In preschools around the country teachers actively worked to create opportunities for children to meet and discover mathematics. The question is whether the teachers are aware of how children perceive mathematics and how children think in mathematical situations. We chose to conduct a qualitative study using different methods of data collecting in order to approach the children's world.

In this essay I reflect on what makes a good preschool teacher today. I discuss the importance of education, the importance of experience and practical knowledge, but also the importance of capacity for self-reflection and listening. I bring up examples from my workplace, where some think more about their limitations than on what and how much they actually can. Others are more satisfied by what they can and see less of their limits. Some are also lack of the will to see differently and to do changes.

AbstractThis study deals with preschool children's ideas about water in our body. Ten children with the age of four to five were interviewed individually, the interviews were qualitative. The children were also asked to draw their answers and answer questions about a picture that represented the excretory system. The results of my study show that children did not have any knowledge about the water being vital for us. Preschool children had no knowledge of why it is important to drink water.

The main purpose of my essay is to inquire into the situation in the preparatory classes. The focus of interest in the essay is to see how new arrived pupils/children from Iraq integrate in the new school environment, foreign culture and what difficulties they come across during their period at the preparatory class. Such as language difficulties and how they manage with the traumatic memories from the war and the effect of that in their learning.I choose to do a qualitative survey and taking part in observing a preparatory class to see how they work. Thereafter, to see from a different perspective and understand the pupils more and perhaps go deeper with some questions I choose to interview some of the pupils. The responds I received gave me a more comprehensible idea of the struggle these children have been through and still go through in a daily basis.The result of this study illustrates the character of a preparatory class, and the central factors that occur in their education.

Swedish as a second language and special education are two topics that have a lot in common. I have chosen to in my study look at something that is covered by the two subjects: Swedish as a second language education that is taking place in a group segregated from the class. I have interviewed students in preschool, grade one and grade two to learn details of their experience of the segregation. Finding out that it is mostly bad planning and trouble getting the schedule together that?s affecting the pupils in a negative way.

It is common today that many children in Sweden  grow up in families that speak two or several languages. Language and identity building is connected to each other. So is also Languages and learning (Becknert m. fl. 2008:13).

The purpose of this study is to see how preschool teachers are working with supportive signs and if it is a working tool for children's language development. Is the supportive signing just for kids with special need for support or can it be good for all children?I've done the study by interviewing preschool teachers that is working with supportive signs in preschool. I also had a questionnaire for parents that yielded less fruitful results. I have chosen to use children's language and constructivist and socio-cultural theories.What I came up with is that the supportive signs are very helpful in preschools, but it requires a lot from the one doing it.

Many children and adolescents up to the age eighteen come from other countries alone to Sweden to seek asylum. Sweden receives many unaccompanied children and the number of unaccompanied children is increasing every year. There are various reasons to why the unaccompanied children flee their homeland to come to Sweden. Many of the unaccompanied children come from countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan and Eritrea. The unaccompanied children?s families choose to send their children to Sweden to protect them from armed conflict and other social or political unrest going on in their homeland. This essay aims to explore how the integration of the newly arrived unaccompanied children works in schools.

 The aim of this essay was to examine the way preschool teachers and children converse during school meals, and also the way preschool teachers start and develop conversations during meals. The conversations were analyzed from the topic of conversation and the teachers' ways of using language acts such as questions, remarks, exhortations. The study was based on observations, tape recording and contact schedule. The result shows that the topic of conversation is significant for how involved teachers are in conversations during meals. The result also shows how conversations develop or end depending on what language acts teachers use.

The purpose of this study was to find out what the educators view on the working method Matte på burk in preschool looked like. I also wanted to find out what the educators thought about the working method. My questions are:How does the educators in preschool experience the method Matte på burk?What do the educators in preschool believe that Matte på burk can give the children?The study was carried out through a qualitative interview study with six educators. During the interviews with the educators it became apparent that the method not only focused on mathematical exercises.

The purpose of the study was to determine the attitudes of the teachers of Reggio Emilia inspired preschools concerning the science work with children between the ages of one and three, as well as their opinions on how the physical preschool environment and the choice of materials influence their scientific work. The study was conducted in three departments of two different kindergartens. Although both kindergartens called themselves Reggio Emilia inspired, their working methods and their environments differed largely. None of them were originally built as Reggio Emilia inspired preschools. One of the kindergartens strived to design their indoor environment the same way as the preschools of Reggio Emilia are constructed, there for they were setting up different stations where the children themselves have the opportunity to explore various scientific areas.

The aim of the study was to explore the psychological well-being of a group of adolescents in relation to how they regarded achieving in school, in a gender perspective. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with students aged 17-19 at a high-achieving school in a big city in Sweden. The interviews were analyzed thematically and the results showed that the adolescents acted differently as well as regarded achieving in school differently depending on gender. The young women were driven by ambition, they were high-achieving and planning for the future. The young men cared less about achieving and thought more about the present.

The aim of this thesis is to study a job-searching process and elements that affects it. The elements I have focused on are gender, class and social network. The study is based on interviews and a survey study with students from the educational program of Social work (Socialomsorgsutbildningen), that graduated 3 years ago. Through the survey I have examined their social-background and their job-searching process. The interviews are the main focus in the study.

Abstract The Act of Education outlines that good quality in schools and preschools, focusing on continuous improvement, promote children?s learning and this in turn is on of the most important factors for child and youth welfare.This thesis was based on the authors´ pre-understanding that there are opportunities to improvement in the quality of preschools. The focus was on studying how analyses can provide a base for quality work, and the purpose of this study was to identify and describe the analytical methods that can be used in the process of continual improvement for quality development in preschools.A qualitative study was conducted in two preschools that have received quality awards. It was conducted through interviews with the preschool principals and through studies of various documents.In the comparative analysis of theory and empirical data, it was made clear that there was a regular analysing process going on at the investigated preschools and an emphasize of reflection could also be identified. Keywords: Quality development, preschool, analytical methods, processes, reflection .

This is a study of the trade union journal for female blue collar women in Sweden, Arbetets Kvinnor, between 1927 and 1931. The purpose is to examine how a female trade union activist's constructs collective identity by those notions of social class, sex, and moral values that are articulated in the journal. The main theoretical basis is Alberto Melucci's analysis where he argues that a collective identity in social movements is made in an interaction between individuals, where the action possibilities and limits are defined. Another purpose is how the female blue collar worker's resistance and/or adaption to the male hegemonic trade union and the bourgeoisie hegemonic society are presented. The essay shows how the collective identity is made of both historical and contemporary images of the working class women as workers and trade union activists.