The study focuses on mapping how well prepared the counties in the west region of Sweden is in case of restructuring. The study explores what kind of activities and routines that contributes to prepare the organization for restructuring. The study also aims to investigate the effect of precedent restructuring, and if the counties who experienced restructuring are more prepared than others.The research within the field of restructuring characterizes of an evaluating nature and the focus has been after the restructuring occurred. There have also been a lot of studies of the negative consequences on individual and organizational level. Since downsizing is a frequently used method by management despite its consequences is it important to investigate how organizations can learn and thereby be more prepared for restructuring.

Recent studies show that the knowledge in and understanding of science, technology andmathematics of Swedish junior high school and high school students is decreasing. As a resultof this the Swedish government has initialized several studies, research and reforms. One ofthe theories for teaching that today is seen as effective is the socio-cultural perspective and itsdescendants, including scientific inquiry. Using the pedagogy of the socio-cultural perspectivefour assignments regarding the human body was constructed for junior high school studentsattending summer research school in the summer of 2008, hosted by AstraZeneca. Theassignments follow a structure (goal of assignment, preparations, experiment and follow-up)inspired by the concept of NTA ? Naturvetenskap och Teknik för Alla (Science andTechnology for everyone).

This thesis deals with the question of how and to what degree Swedish history books for schools changed between the early 20th century and the 1960s. The theoretical foundation for this study is a perspective which treats historical accounts as narratives, bringing meaning and orientation to the present. According to this perspective, historical accounts may be divided into four different types of narratives, traditional, exemplary, critical and genetical. The basis for this division is how the narratives use the past to make the present understandable.The following conclusions are reached:That Swedish history books for schools have changed less, and in a moore gradual way than those dealing with general history. There is a growing use of genetical narratives at the expense of mainly exemplary ones.

Klimatfrågan är idag mer aktuell än någonsin tidigare. Detta beror på den akuta situation som vi levande på jorden faktiskt befinner oss i. Det har nästan alltid funnits hot mot vårt klimat, men det är först idag som vi tydligt börjar se följderna av vårt tidigare handlande och det jag syftar på är den förstärkta växthuseffekten och dess konsekvenser. Syftet med studien är att utifrån en lärandesituation i form av ett rollspel beskriva elevers handlingsberedskap och känslor kring växthuseffekten. Frågeställningarna är följande.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how activities in elderly care matters to well-being among elderly people, from both user perspective and staff perspective. The study is made out of a qualitative method, this to create a deep-going understanding of how the people participating in the investigation are experiencing the impact of activities on well-being from their unique situation. Personal interviews have been used as method. Six persons were participating, three elderly persons and three persons working as staff. All interviews were made in a ?short-time? ward in the county of Västernorrland.The result of the investigation shows that the elderly people that were interviewed not directly related the participation in activities to feelings of well-being.

This qualitative study aims to highlight if there are any gender difference in social workers reasoning about a particular case. To achieve a deeper understanding we had to explain and understand our respondent?s answers, primarily from a gender perspective, but also from a power perspective. Our questions were: how does social worker reasoning about a particular case? How can we understand the social workers answer from a gender- and power perspective? The method consisted of a construct case and of semi-structured interviews.

The purpose of this study is to examine how school meals are organized in a selection of Stockholm's secondary schools and to examine the relationship between school meals and the different parameters that indicate each school's symbolic capital and educational capital. By looking at the statistics from each school on the basis of the final grade average, percentage of pupils with foreign background and gender, I examine whether it is possible to see a relationship between how schools organize meals and which pupils attend the school.  In my study, I systematically went through each school's website and tried to identify how school meals at each school are organized. To increase the validity of the study, I have also conducted a questionnaire survey by mail addressed to school principals.   In order to analyse and understand my results and put them in relation to my current knowledge about the schools in my sample, I am using Bourdieu's theoretical tools that a given aid, both in methodological and analytical purpose. Based on Bourdieu's theories of symbolic capital, cultural capital and educational capital, I can understand and analyse school meals are organized and focused as part of schools' symbolic assets in competition with other schools.   The first part of the study shows that there are four different organizational models for school meals, fully equipped kitchen and canteen, heating kitchen and canteen, school meals in restaurants and school meal card.    In the second part, I have examined the relationship between the type of organization for school meals used and the symbolic resources available at the school. I can conclude from the results that it is difficult to find a correlation between the symbolic resources and the different categories. But even though it is not possible to see all the schools' symbolic assets equally clear, there are still some very telling examples. In many ways, these examples can be seen as polar opposites to each other based on Mikael Palme?s concepts ?goal rational? and ?education oriented? schools..

The purpose of this study was to describe, understand and analyze the thought behind the perception amongst pedagogues´ on multicultural work in preschools, based on an intercultural perspective. In this study, I questioned the pedagogues´ view on the work in preschools that prepares children for a life in a multicultural society and also the way they describe the cultural challenges.The study was accomplished and questions were answered by studying current literature and previous research in the field. I also interviewed four pedagogues from two different preschools located in separate areas.This study shows that many opinions that pedagogues expressed in the interviews can be traced back to an ?us vs. them? perspective, in which your own culture, the Swedish one in this case, is the most critical and should receive the greatest attention in preschool.

The objective of this study was investigating social worker?s perspective of how alcohol consumption can affect, and what elements in the social environment that may be of significance for, alcohol consumption and development of identity. The questions at issue were: Do social workers experience any positive effects from alcohol consumption in 16-17 year-old girls with problematic alcohol consumption and what influence do the effects have on self esteem, self image and development of identity? What do social workers experience are the negative effects from alcohol consumption on self esteem, self image and development of identity? How important do social workers find the social environment and how do they believe the social environment affect the alcohol consumption and development of identity? This was investigated with a qualitative approach from a social worker?s perspective, hence social workers were interviewed. The study?s theoretical basis was Symbolic Interactionism and Erikson?s theory of Psychosocial Development.

AimThe aim of this study is to discuss process orientated education by identifying and describing general elements in two alternative pedagogies that in different ways attempt to separate themselves from the didactics in the traditional school. The questions are:1. How do the general elements for example the pupil, the knowledge and the lesson, in classroom education appear at a Waldorf and a Freinet school respectively?2. How do the general elements for example the teacher, the lesson planning and the overall goal, that teachers obey to and create in their lesson?s planning appear at the two schools respectively?MethodThe study is based on four days of observations in one ninth grade class at a Freinet school and a corresponding amount of time in one eighth grade class and one ninth grade class at a Waldorf school.

In a Swedish classroom today there will be students with different ethnicities, world views and religious beliefs.  The students will be taught religion through a non-denominational education, where as a teacher you are meant to be objective, open-minded and fair in the representation of different traditions. This representation is colored by the outsider-perspective and the students then learn about religion from a party which is not involved in the religion being taught. This essay discusses how to balance the outsider-perspective in religious education in the Swedish school with insider-voices. More specific, the use of Muslim websites when teaching about Islam.The material this essay studies are three Muslim websites: al-islam.se, islaminfo.se and islamguiden.se. In order to make a didactic analysis of the websites, they are compared to a standard Swedish textbook.

 Purpose: The purpose with this study is to investigate how preschool teachers understand the concept the competent child and in what ways this understanding affects their role in children?s learning. Question at issue: What perspective on children do the contributing educationalists have? How do they define a competent child? Do such children exist and if so, are they always competent in all situations? What is the educationalists perspective on learning and knowledge? What is the preschool teacher?s view of their role as educationalists? What do they consider as their most important tasks?Method: To execute this study I have made a qualitative research based on interviews with eight teachers from four different preschools.Main theories: I have built the theoretical part of this study based on four different perspectives on the concept the competent child according to the philosophies of Dion Summer, Jesper Juul and Reggio Emalia. I also describe different theories about learning, knowledge and educationalists as well as the preschools role in the development of child according to different well-known scientists and researchers.Summarized conclusion: The study shows that the interviewed preschool teachers chose to interpret the concept the competent child in three ways.

The main intention with this study was to explore how parents, employed in three Swedish small- and medium-sized companies, experienced their combination of work and parental leave. The investigation was carried out by a questionnaire, and the 21 participants estimated the attitude from and the treatment by mainly the management and the colleagues. The answers were analyzed both from a perspective of gender and in the aspect of high- and low utilizers of parental leave. The results showed that although both men and women generally estimated the attitude from the management and the colleagues towards parental leave to be positive, the parental leave was divided traditionally and unequally between the parents..

This Masters thesis is a study of the truck-driver profession and their use of libraries located in gas-stations and restaurants along the highways in Sweden. The reason for this interest is the positive trend that has occurred concerning men without any university education and their reading-habits, that is due to their increased interest in listening to audio books. This challenges the general opinion that this group is not particularly interested in reading literature. Questions posed in this study are: How do the truck-drivers relate to the activity of reading literature, what part does the road-libraries play, and how can the services that the road-libraries offer be improved according to the truck-drivers. The method used in the study is interviews made by telephone.

The purpose of this paper is to see which ethical content arguments have in the debate about wolfhunting, particularly with regard to the Svensk Jakt respective Tidningen Djurens Rätt's arguments. The method used in this paper is the analysis of arguments in which I investigate the pro and contra arguments of the four authors of the articles that I have chosen to study. I will avail myself of theories from Carruthers and Franklin. Analysis shows that the authors of the Swedish hunting above all have a ecocentric view of the wolf where it is an instrumental value for the ecosystem, and the authors of Djurens Rätt's has especially a biocentric view of the wolf where it may be an absolute value, but they can also extend to the that the wolf has instrumental value in the ecocentric perspective. The discussion has shown that Djurens Rätt's and Svensk Jakt has a common position that is an ecocentric perspective where the wolf has instrumental value, even though they believe that different actions are different law to protect the species and the ecosystem..