Research indicates that a more hands-on education in mathematics could improve how students relate to mathematics. Laboratory mathematics is a way of making mathematics more concrete.  How is the purpose of laboratory mathematics perceived? This thesis has its focus on the pupils? perceptions of the purpose of laboratory mathematics, but the intention of the teacher involved is also investigated. The main research questions asked were:What is the teacher's definition of laboratory mathematics?Which is the teacher's purpose in using laboratory education?How do the students perceive the purpose of the laboratory teaching of mathematics?To answer the questions, I conducted a series of qualitative interviews.

Overweight and obesity is currently a major health problem in our dogs all around the world and it is becoming more common each year. There are few studies on the proportion of overweight dogs in Sweden, but it was estimated to be 33% in 2005. Studies in other countries report that between 25-40% of all dogs are overweight. The aim of this study was to survey the animal care for an overweight dog. It was also important to develop a scientifically based advice.

This essay is about literature instruction in the last three years of Sweden?s compulsory school from one teacher?s and six of his pupils? perspective. The research is analysed from a socio-cultural perspective on learning and literature reception.The empiric material is based on interviews with the teacher and six of his students.The research shows that there is a difference between what the pupils read on their spare time and what they read during Swedish instruction. It also shows that the pupils wants literature full of action where descriptions of people and the setting don?t slow down the reading experience.The teacher is successful in finding literature the pupils appreciate but sees the value of literature on another level ? in the processing of the reading experience.

AbstractThe purpose of my study is to examine the experiences and opportunities to support teachers in preschool to help children in vulnerable environments, a good self-esteem. Hindberg (1999) writes that of all children today are growing up in Sweden, so ten percent live in families where there is abuse. According Pousette (2011) as the National Public Health Institute has a new appreciation for families where there is hazardous and this means that drinking or abused so much that it can become an addiction. They appreciate the investigation that twenty percent of all children in Sweden are growing up in these conditions.The results show that teachers' work is about building a sense of security in the children, both the teacher and the environment. It also shows that teachers believe that it is important to work with the self-esteem of all children, but especially children living in abusive families.

The aim of this study was to examine the possibilities to enter the regular labour market for pupils and young adults with intellectual disabilities. The method used is tape-recorded qualitative interviews with; Two pupils with intellectual disabilities, studying the last year at a special school. Two young adults with intellectual disabilities, former pupils at a special school and at the moment in search of work at a Public Employment Service office for young adults with disabilities. Furthermore were interviews made with two professionals, one student counsellor at a special school and one representative at a Public Employment Service office for young adults with disabilities. For analysing the empirical data, Iris Marion Young's theory about Five Faces of Oppression, Crip theory and Dalrymple and Burkes theory about empowerment was used.

 In today?s society teachers will face students of foreign origin. It is up to the teachers to help these students gain the knowledge they need to flourish in society. Despite the fact that mathematics is a universal topic with high status in many countries, studies have shown that mathematics is a subject where a large proportion of foreign students fails. The purpose of this study was to see wherein the problem lies and describe teachers' perceptions of the barriers and the opportunities in mathematics for students with Swedish as a second language.

AbstractThe purpose of my study is to examine the experiences and opportunities to support teachers in preschool to help children in vulnerable environments, a good self-esteem. Hindberg (1999) writes that of all children today are growing up in Sweden, so ten percent live in families where there is abuse. According Pousette (2011) as the National Public Health Institute has a new appreciation for families where there is hazardous and this means that drinking or abused so much that it can become an addiction. They appreciate the investigation that twenty percent of all children in Sweden are growing up in these conditions.The results show that teachers' work is about building a sense of security in the children, both the teacher and the environment. It also shows that teachers believe that it is important to work with the self-esteem of all children, but especially children living in abusive families.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate how three schools work with special education needs, what they consider is special education needs and what measures they put in for the student to achieve the goals. I will also study how the evaluation and the follow-up of the individualized education program work at the schools.The empirical material consists of all active programs in grades 7, 8 and 9, together with and interviews with special education teachers and the principal at each school. The results are compared with similar previous researches and analysed by two dominant perspectives of school difficulties.The result shows that it is mainly the critical perspective that dominates the individualized education program. The student is the carrier of the problem and is excluded in many cases from the other students in the class. These measures are different compensatory accommodations for the student in order to catch up with other students..

The aim of this essay is to find out how different factors influence the occupational role in a rehabilitation garden. The study is based on two qualitative interviews with and shadowing of the gardeners in the rehabilitation gardens of Alnarp and Gröna Rehab in Gothenburg. The result shows that the main factors that influence the occupational role is the gardener?s background, the garden/place, the participants, the team and the possibilities for development. The occupational role appears to consist of several different roles; the team-worker, the activity and project manager, the source of inspiration, the educationalist, the informer, the therapist and the fellow human being.

The purpose of this essay is to show the opportunities and difficulties of teaching within distance education. I will show this from two different parts of the world. One being Sweden and the other Australia, both countries run a distance education program with similar reasons students whom travelling, some living hundreds of miles from any schools and some students with health and or social disadvantages. This study is based on the actual teacher?s accounts and experiences the opportunities and difficulties in teaching in distance.

The purpose of this study was to use qualitative interviews with students at Södertörn University to find out what drives the men who begin to study for preschool teachers, how they are treated and how they are influenced by others. I also wanted to find out what the informants believe is the cause to why so few men apply to the program and what they think need to happen to change this.This is a qualitative study based on the selected students' experiences. In order to get different perspectives, I chose to interview three students and former students. One of them chose to terminate their studies after half the time, the second is at the end of the program and the third graduated a couple of years ago and has been working for a while.I originated in the theory of ethical concepts of gender, gender contract, "token" and hegemonic masculinity. Previous research addresses that the perception of men in pre-schools can look very different.

The purpose of the research is to find out how the teacher of the pre-school looks at the value of the nature Pre-school. To get an understanding of what the nature pre-school enviorment can bring, we are talking about learning, knowledge, and experience combined with the everyday lessons learned from the natural world. The research is a stepping stone on the pre-school teacher?s thoughts and reflections of what a nature pre-school is. This is grounded in a view of how having options for alternative schools lead to wider research, and all conclusions where formed after multiple interviews and analysis.The results showed that the teachers involved are very positive to the nature pre-school environment and learning process.

This study sets out to research the effects of perceptions regarding teacher education as well as the teacher profession in general amongst college students studying to become teachers. The aim of the study is to get a better understanding in what perceptions that constitutes the foundation of the aspects that may affect the students of education by interviewing students about how they perceive their education. The study relies on a sociocultural perspective to analyze the data as well as justify the relevance of the study. The method for researching this will consist mainly of interviews and literature studies. Four students of education, where two are Swedish and two are Finnish, will act as the main source of empiric information.

Through qualitative interviews with five teachers from three schools, two public schools within the same school management and a Waldorf school, the purpose of this study is to find out teachers' views on the phenomenon of life skills in the lower classes in school. What is the subject, how do teachers work with life skills, and should it be seen as a separate subject or integrated in all school subjects?The results show that the definition of life skills is a term with many interpretations. Two concepts that can be seen as the common denominators in the educators' views on the subject, however is, social and emotional skills. This is something that educators believe develop self-awareness and empathy in children and sees that as important as learning other subjects.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine how comics, here defined as a combination of text and images, are handled by the libraries in regards to subject analysis, classification and indexing. A comparative approach has been used in this study. First, common practices, methods and theories concerning subject analysis developed for documents consisting of text or images are presented. Then the current systems at two special libraries, specializing in comics and consequently dealing with both text and images, are examined and related to the above mentioned practices, in order to discover differences and similarities.