The interest in providing a post 9/11 image of Islam to contrast the media?s frequent focus on its practitioners? alleged tendencies toward hostility and violence has in Sweden manifested itself (among other things) in an increased range of courses on Islam given by denominational Muslim organizations. In this paper I examine the construction of Islam by two Muslim organizations that offer education in Islam to non-Muslims in the context of the management?s stated goals of the education. My aim is to illustrate how discourses within these organizations are a result of the combination of local and global conditions..

The breakdown of the ratification process of the EU constitution was in Sweden blamed on a lack of a debate concerning European issues. The constitution can be seen as the best and latest, but in no way the only, example of this problem. The breakdown can also been seen as proof of a larger legitimacy crises within the EU. The aim of the study is to determine whether or not there really was of lack of debate concerning the constitution in Sweden. This question is theoretic¬ally connected to EU legitimacy through Habermas idea of a public sphere.

When the producers? responsibility for packaging was introduced in Sweden in 1994 the industry set up public recycling stations to facilitate the collection of the waste material. In order to establish recycling stations at suitable locations the municipalities assist the industry?s service organization for operation of the recycling stations, the Package and Newspaper Collection Service (Förpacknings- och tidningsinsamlingen, FTI). The objectives of this thesis are to improve the service of the public recycling stations within Lidingö town and to increase the accessibility to these stations for the inhabitants of Lidingö.

This masters thesis takes the providers perspective on public library story times for children. The main questions are: What perspectives can the providers have? How does the perspective affect the content and how is the story time drawn up? Five story time providers were interviewed about the purpose of their story times, the methods they used and the content they chose. A model with four criteria was used to analyze the result of the interviews. The criteria were: adult criteria, consideration of the childrens view, pedagogical criteria and literary/story time criteria.

The purpose with this essay is to examine and create an understanding for what meaning graffiti and street art has for those who practice it. Furthermore, the practice of graffiti and street art is seen in relation to how urban space is produced. Five semi-structured interviews and one group interview has been made to answer the questions "What meaning does graffiti and street art has for those who practice it? Can it be seen as a way to construct identity?" "How do the artists relate to existing ideals about public space?" and "Does the artists see graffiti and street art as a resistance against the normative representation of the city, in that case, how?" The theoretical framework consists of Mitchell's ideas about public space, Tonkiss' definition of social order, Lefebvre's spatial triad, de Certeau's concept of strategy and tactics, the concept of appropriation and Castell's theory about collective identity. The results showed that the practice of graffiti and street art can be understood as a more complex practice than earlier research has shown.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to, referring to Shulman?s pedagogical content knowledge theory (PCK), examine how selected Physical Education teachers, educated in GIH and with a maximum of two years' work in upper secondary school, pursue their education in training theory. Moreover, another purpose is to examine how their education at GIH has prepared them for teaching in this subsection. Questions to be answered:? What are teachers' attitudes to training methods as part of physical education and health in upper secondary school?? In what way, referring to PCK-theory, are teachers working with training theory??In what way do the teachers think that their education at GIH has contributed to their teaching in training theory, referring to the pedagogical content knowledge theory?Method: The study has a qualitative approach and study design consisting of five semi-structured interviews with teachers working with Physical Education in upper secondary school. The selection was made considering that all teachers have been educated at GIH and had a maximum of two years working experience.

Religious education in Swedish schools aims to be as objective and non-confessional as possible. This sort of education can lead to that the different religions are presented in a way which is unfamiliar to the followers of the different religions. This problem is what I have focused on in this essay since I myself was a victim of a similar situation. As a syriac-orthodox youth I felt that my Christianity was not the same as the one presented in school. I felt that it had nothing in common with what I learned in my church, therefore I asked myself the question: Whose Christianity is being represented? Therefore I have focused on the syriac-orthodox church in this research.The purpose of my essay was to enlighten the differences between religious education in syriac-orthodox churches and Swedish community schools.

Gymnastics is a reoccurring event in the physical education of many students. Despite this, there is still today limited research which describes the students? perspective and interest for this activity and if there are any differences between genders. The purpose of this study has therefore been to investigate students? interest for gymnastics and if there are any experiences, which can affect this interest.

This master thesis deals with the problem of integrated libraries. The number of integrated public and school libraries has significantly increased over time. These libraries are integrated for different reasons, most often because of economic considerations. The goal of the thesis is to investigate librarians´ understanding and perceptions of the professional role in this type of integrated libraries. I have investigated how librarians see and interpret their own professional role, and what factors influence their perceptions in an integrated library.The three main questions are: How do the librarians explain their professional role in an integrated library? How does their professional role change because of the fact that they work in an integrated environment? What factors, according to the librarians, influence and/or change the professional role mostly? The data has been collected through interviews with eight librarians at integrated libraries.

The means to political participation at the local level in Sweden are changing and this change is analyzed through a case study. The first aim is to explore the forms of public political participation in Swedish municipal Älvkarleby, namely public question time in local government, citizen motions and open meetings. A part of this is also to analyze he every day contact between citizens and representatives. The second aim concerns the reasons why politicians decide to support these means to participationThe empirical material consists mainly of semi structured interviews with local politicians, civil servants, participating citizens and local press. Official documents such as public minutes are also used in the process of creating an image of local participation.Local political participation is found to be limited but yet having the potential to strengthen democracy, provided that public decision-makers are open to a dialogue with the participants.Using Kjell Arne Røvik's theories of organisational change, the changes in local democracy can be explained as being partly rational, partly symbolic and partly identity shaping political decisions..

This essay aims to examine Martha Nussbaum's proposal for a classical defense of reform in liberal education and her critique of utility thinking in higher education. I want to explore how Nussbaum uses history to create an ethical alternative that cultivates both moral and intellectual virtues, which she considers to be crucial for the survival of democracy. In examining Nussbaum's use of Aristotle, I focus on her work as a proposal for institutional implementation of an Aristotelian epistemology and the cultivation of the individual as an ethical political subject. This study highlights the epistemological, educational and political ideas that form the basis of Nussbaum's ideals. I intend, however, to go beyond a contextualizing reading and thus establish a dialogue with a radical intersubjectivity to respond to Nussbaum's ambitions to recognize human vulnerabilities as assets for reason.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera hur SVT jobbar med och använder sig av förändringar i koncept och om detta i sin tur påverkar varumärket. Vi vill se till det unika i SVT:s situation i och med deras public serviceuppdrag och om detta påverkar arbetet med programmen. Vi ämnar studera detta genom två av SVT:s mest populära program, för att se om vi kan se dem som varumärken och vad som förändrats efter att framträdande attribut har bytts ut.Vi har i denna studie sett till vad ett varumärke är, vilka beståndsdelar ett varumärke har enligt Aaker (2002). Vi ser till hur förändringar av ett varumärke kan gå till utifrån Kapferers (2004) modell samt teoretikers ord om icke- kommersiella organisationers svårigheter.Empirin är hämtad från tre olika intervjuer, den första med varumärkesansvarig på SVT, den andra med På spårets producent och den tredje Så ska det låtas projektledare. Vi har även sett till den information SVT ger ut via sin hemsida och sina public servicerapporter.Vid förändringar ser vi att de båda programmen förändrar med en viss försiktighet och verkar för att behålla programmens kärna.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to describe how librarians inSwedish public libraries use Facebook and Twitter in themediation of literature. Our study focus on the librarians? role inthat process. The research questions are:? How do the librarians in this study regard mediation of literature through Facebook and/or Twitter in relation to othermediation strategies?? What goals and purposes do the librarians give in the selection of literature that they promote on Facebook and/or Twitter?? What do public librarians think about the future for mediation of literature through social media, how will it evolve?The methodology used was qualitative interviews.

In today?s school in Sweden the assignment of community encompasses mediated values and education of democracy as well of single subject matters. What does it mean then, that teachers have a certain kind of idea of democracy, and what implications may biology have for the assignment of community? In upper secondary school there are quite many courses in biology with a national curriculum, and findings show that students of teaching perceive or think of biology as helping to promote the dual-purpose of teaching. In this study, the author of the paper has interviewed four future teachers of upper secondary school with biology as one of their main subjects.

This essay examines the 1962 Swedish parliamentary debate preluding the proposition to introduce a uniform compulsory education for all Swedish children. The proposition aimed at ending the previously heterogeneous educational system and replace it with a more equal and democratic system.A widespread debate ensued, regarding the status of Christian religious education (kristendomskunskap) and its new emphasis on scientific objectivity. This essay will examine the relative position of Christianity within the new uniform school system, as it was articulated by the members of the Swedish parliament. This analysis will be achieved through the use of a discourse analytical study of the parliamentary records, the recorded motions and bills. From these records a substantial disparity in the parliamential members articulation of the concept of Christianity can be ascertained, even within the discourse of an educational regime.