Participation of the people is essential for a democracy's vitality and survival. In this study we focus on the individual as an active participant in the traditional political arena and beyond its sphere into the society as a whole. The first part of the study has a normative aim. Firstly we examine why political participation is essential for democracy, and especially the ideal of representative democracy and the restricted passive participation of its citizens in comparison to the ideal of participatory democracy and its ideal of an active participant in all aspects of society. An ideal participant is drawn up to set the course for the empirical part of the study.

This assignment focuses on the concept of ?school trips? and Gotland. Pedagogically, the school trip was initially focussed on practical and national aspects, the education to be made visible and the idea was to present Sweden, its nature and its industries. The Gotland administration chose to focus on the unique and cultural history, and it was unusual that visits were undertaken to factories and workshops. This was also the start of the current tourism trend where knowledge of the value of the countryside and the opportunities for tourism is a successful combination, which can be seen today even if the school trips now have different areas to visit.

The purpose of this paper is to find out how a few different women with a Roma heritage sees their to succeed possibilities in Sweden.To illustrate these issues has an hermeneutical approach been used. Materials were collected through interviews with Romani women in a municipality in western Sweden. The material created during the interview sessions is based on the five interviewees' interpretations of how they look at their life and the recognition of Roma people.The interview results show that Roma women have gone through various changes linked to school, language, family, work. Young women and their parents have become more aware that education is an important capital to invest in, in order to later obtain a good job and future. When it comes to school the results show that Roma children have become better at reading but there is still some Roma children who do not attend school, even though there is their native language, Romani, in many schools.

English title: Parents? expectations of municipal school of music and of arts.Thesis in Music Education by Jonathan Lilliedahl. Part of the work for the master´s degree. Studies from School of Music, University of Örebro, 2007. Available from School of Music, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate which factors are important with foster home placing, to achieve a positive result for the child. The questions that we have focused on is the importance of the child's earlier experiences and relations, the foster homes attitude and approach, the social service organization and the cooperation between these concerned parties. We have also looked at the importance that the relation between the biological family, the child and the foster home can have. This study has been carried out using qualitative interviews with several foster homes, social welfare secretaries and a researcher in the area. We have also chosen to separate the foster homes on the basis of two foster homes only accepting teenagers while other accepting younger children.The theoretical concepts we have chosen to use are connected to attachment theory and the ecology of human development point of view.

This study has emerged from a growing interest in students' sleeping habits. During practical training as teachers, we have noticed a discussion of students' sleeping habits, fatigue and student performance at school in relation to their sleeping habits. The purpose of this field survey was to examine students? sleeping habits and self-perceived performance ability in school in relation to sleeping habits. The material was collected from a questionnaire that was answered by 200 students in 4-6th grade and 188 students in 1-2th grade in the upper secondary school, this to give an opportunity to see if there were any differences between the different age groups.

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.

This paper aims to examine how children who have experienced violence against their mother experience their school and if the school somehow can compensate for the vulnerable situation of the children?s home situation. The data is an already collected material there interviews with abused children are done. The results presented consist of the previous research in the area where the empirical material analyzed from the developing ecological theory and based on children's different abilities to master life and then give an voice to the collected research. The results showed that if the violence in the family does not affect the child's sleep or the parents do not prioritize enough for the child to get the sleep he/she needs and that the child is not serious difficulty concentrating, it seems that children can use school to learn and enjoy this learning.

It has been roughly 86 years since Gunnar Myrdal?s book ?The Political Element in the Development of Economic Theory? was published, in which he declared economic thought and theory as being established by hidden ideological premises. As well as accusing modern economic theory of being the subject of a pseudo-scientific construct. As such, this study seeks to test Myrdal?s critical view on Swedish economic education in upper secondary school.

The aim of the study was to examine the knowledge that school counsellors in Swedish schools have about young women with anxiety disorders. The study also examines how the counsellors act when there is a suspicion or a case of anxiety in a female student. With a qualitative approach eight school counsellors were interviewed. The theoretical approach that was used is the sociology of knowledge. Some of the study?s conclusions are that anxiety disorders are frequent among young girls.

AbstractThe purpose of our study is to reach an understanding of the situation of unaccompanied refugee minors in school. Thus the study aims to investigate what sort of possibilities and limits they encounter when going through their school education. We have chosen a qualitative method and conducted interviews with four persons between the ages of 18 and 21 years.The result of the study shows that unaccompanied refugee minors experience numerous limitations and lesser possibilities than other students, which prevents their educational and social development. The limitations partly depend on the school personnels lack of knowledge about this target group, and partly on the difficulty of dealing with a new culture which is different from the students original culture.  An important conclusion that our study has shown is that the educational system has a great impact on how well the students manage to function in the new society later on.  Therefore it is of great importance that the teachers have access to competence development , since this is of substantial importance for the  unaccompanied refugee minors development and socialization. .

The essay concerns the role of fiction in school. The research questions is; what is ?readable?, what does the authors think of teacher's task to develop students' literacy skills through fiction and how do the authors think of the teachers' task of using fiction in school. The questions give a basis that describes the role of fiction in school today based on the authors' perspective. We have chosen to use the open surveys as a method.

This study is about different teacher?s ´conception of remedial classes and its function in Today´s School. ?A school for everyone? the utopia that all schools and teachers aspire for. All pupils, regardless of ethnic background, class, and religious affiliation should be able to go to school without being segregated and are seen as different.

The purpose of this study is to find out what children think they learn of taking part in activities organized by the school. I started my study by summarize three essays about informal learning. The results are based on three interviews of totally six children in the age of nine at a school in Stockholm. I interviewed the children using a semi structured method and asked them what activities they prefer to do after school and what they think they learn there, and from their friends. The results emanating from essays which were investigating similar topic..

The aim of this study is to examine how two Kenyan school's approaches gender roles, by what the curriculum says and by how the teachers way of teaching are effecting the creation of gender roles. The aim is further to find out what the Kenyan school settings are, according to gender and equality, and how these are implemented in practice. This was examined through interviews at two local schools in Kenya, with five practicing teachers from grade one through grade six. This work compares the respondents' answers to the research that is related to the topic. Because of lack in the research about Kenya, the research has been based on mostly Swedish investigations.