Browsing Doctoral Theses /LS BUS by Title

Barns kamratrelationer i förskolan: Samhörighet tillhörighet vänskap ...
Jonsdottir, Fanny : Malmö Högskola Lärarutbildningen Malmö Studies in Educational Sciences;35 (2007)	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:	The thesis is a survey of 353 preschool children’s social relations emphasizing their peer and friendship relations in particular. The study also concerns the conceptions the preschool personnel have concerning the children’s social characteristics and social skills. The aim of the work is to contribute empirically to provide an answer to the question of whether the preschool represents a social environment that gives all children the opportunity of establishing good relations with other children. Children between three and seven years of age from a total of 18 preschool groups and the preschool personnel assigned to the groups participated in the study. The basic methods used are sociometry and a teacher’s rating scale. Reasons why the preschool is regarded as a place where all children should be able to establish good social relations with other children are based on a variety of assumptions made in three different discourses; moral theory, developmental psychology and the curriculum for the Swedish preschools (Lpfö-98). The sociometric results reveal three main patterns in the children’s social relations; belonging, solidarity and friendship. The majority of the preschool children appeared to gain belonging and experience solidarity within their peer group and to be a part of friendship relations from an early age. Approximately every ninth child was not named as someone’s peer (referred to as excluded children). The children’s social belonging and social solidarity is found to be related primarily to the group to which they belonged rather than to any structural variables like gender or age. The main differences were those within and between the different groups, primarily in the numbers of children included and excluded respectively. A relationship is clearly found between the teachers’ understanding of the children’s social characteristics and social skills on the one hand and the children’s group status and their belongings and solidarity on the other. The difference between the children that have belonging and solidarity compared to those who does not in how the teachers understood their social characteristics and social skills increased with an increase in the child’s popularity. One of the conclusions to be drawn is that the preschool groups in which there are children who do not gain belonging or who do not recognize their having a friend, appeared not be fulfilling their task of providing an environment in which all children are able to experience themselves as valued members of the group. An other conclusion to be drawn is that it appears that the characteristics and skills the teachers ascribe the children are related to the children’s ability to develop good relations with other children. The dominant discourse concerning the competent child clearly does not apply to all the children. The differences between the various preschool groups in the social belonging and social isolation the children expressed could not be adequately explained in the study, but it would be of utmost interest to examine this further in a new study.
Swedish abstract:	Studien är en kartläggning av 353 barns sociala relationer i förskolan med fokus på deras kamrat- och vänskapsrelationer. Studien handlar också om pedagogers uppfattningar om barnens sociala egenskaper och färdigheter. Studiens syfte är att få ett underlag för att diskutera om förskolan är en miljö som verkar för alla barns möjligheter att skapa goda relationer med andra barn. I undersökningen medverkar barn i åldern tre till sju år och personal från 18 avdelningar fördelade på nio förskolor. Avhandlingen bygger på två empiriska studier, dels intervjuer med barn om val av kamrater utifrån en sociometrisk metod, dels pedagogers skattning av barnens sociala egenskaper och färdigheter. I studien tas utgångspunkt i tre teoretiska perspektiv eller diskurser för att motiverar varför förskolan bör vara en plats där alla barn skall ha möjlighet att skapa goda sociala relationer till andra barn. Dessa är moralfilosofi, utvecklingspsykolog och förskolans läroplan (Lpfö-98). Den sociometriska studien visar att flertalet barn i undersökningen känner tillhörighet och samhörighet med sina kamrater och att tre fjärdedelar av barnen ingår i vänskapsrelationer. Resultaten visar även att det förekommer stora skillnader både mellan och inom avdelningarna i fråga om barnens sociala relationer, en skillnad som inte har kunnat relateras till studiens bakgrundsvariabler som barnens ålder och kön eller antal barn på avdelningen. Den största skillnaden gäller antal valda och inte valda barn på så kallade inkluderande och exkluderande avdelningar. Jämförelsen mellan resultaten från den sociometriska studien och pedagogskattningarna visar att det föreligger skillnad mellan å ena sidan pedagogernas uppfattning om barnens sociala egenskaper och färdigheter och barnens sociala tillhörighet och samhörighet. Pedagogerna uppfattar barn utan kamrater som mindre kompetenta jämfört med de barn som väljs som någons kamrat och vän. Skillnaden mellan pedagogernas uppfattning av de ”inte valda” barnen jämfört med ”kamraters” egenskaper och färdigheter ökar i takt med kamraternas ökade popularitet. De slutsatser som dras av resultaten är att barn på skilda avdelningar ges olika möjligheter till socialt samspel och social gemenskap med jämngamla kamrater. En annan slutsats som dras av resultaten är att personalens uppfattningar om barns egenskaper och färdigheter antas säga något om vilka förväntningar som personalen har på barnen och att barnen i stor utsträckning lever upp till dessa förväntningar. Dessa processer av förväntningar och ageranden kan vara dubbelt riktade. Barnens handlingar och agerande i sociala situationer kan påverka personalens uppfattningar om barnens egenskaper och färdigheter, samtidigt som personalens uppfattningar kan påverka barnens sociala relationer. Den viktiga slutsatsen är emellertid att den dominerande förskolediskkursen om det kompetenta barnet inte gäller alla barn. I föreliggande studie finns det inte underlag för att svara på frågan om vad barn i förskolan har för avsikter, känslor och relationer som de söker respons på av sina kamrater, men jag ser det som en mycket intressant fråga att studera vidare.

Fanny_MUEP_10_maj.pdf (2.107Mb)

Den svenska skolan och det mångkulturella - en paradox?
Ljungberg, Caroline : IMER, Malmö högskola / Tema Etnicitet, Linköpings universitet Malmö Studies in International Migration and Ethnic Relations;nr 4 Linköping Studies in Art and Science;nr 359 (2005) För att köpa publikationen kontakta Jan Nilsson, e-post: jan.nilsson@mah.se tfn: 040-6657294	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:

The preoccupation of the study revolves around relations between everyday life in Swedish schools and the multicultural context of Swedish society. Based on fieldwork, media debates, analysis of policy documents, discussions with teachers as well as teacher’s educators, and interviews with principals working in the elementary schools of Malmö, the dissertation explores three analytical arenas; schools as (re)producers of values and norms, the multicultural school and finally the locations of schools in time and space. The aim of the discussion concerning relations between the functions of education in modern societies, and migration related issues and aspects of multiculturalism, is to highlight paradoxes in the role of schools. The policy documents specify certain goals of education, which are paradoxically caught between the ideals of a traditional understanding of modernity and consequences of migration and globalisation. Schools and education in general, have a pivotal role in Swedish society, not merely as mediators of knowledge, but also as (re)producers of systems of values and norms. These values and norms constitute what is acceptable in society. The scope for ’otherness’ is restricted, but also negotiable and changeable. Values and norms in the context of schools are often considered to be self-evident and are therefore not up for discussions or debates in everyday work of teachers and principals. Some of these values are so well integrated in a ’common sense’, that they become invisible and unconscious. The ambition of the dissertation is to make them visible – to formulate and analyse them – to make a further discussion possible. The study concludes that the concept of critical multiculturalism could be useable for highlighting ideological aspects and paradoxes of the school in Sweden today. The role of education should be discussed in the light of relations between individuals and groups in society, and with self-understanding as well as, self-criticism as key aspects.

Disputation.pdf (244.1Kb)

Inlaga.pdf (5.357Mb)

Omslag.pdf (154.8Kb)

Kategoriseringar av barn i förskoleåldern - styrning och administrati...
Lutz, Kristian : Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen Malmö Studies in Educational Sciences;44 (2009)	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:

The present thesis investigates, analyses and critically discusses the manner in which children with special needs are categorised in the Swedish preschool. The emergence of the category and its construction depends on a number of "truths" concerning children, related to historical and cultural processes in society. A main focus of the thesis is to investigate how legitimacy is established for the practice of defining deviance among preschoolers, and analyse the knowledge and rationalities that prevail in discursive practice. As part of this, the ways of defining children with special needs as a group are clarified, as well as the administrative procedures for handling their cases throughout the organisation. The study combines two strands within discourse analysis: "classical" discourse analysis with origins in Foucaults' work and critical disourse analysis (CDA). The concept governmentality was used to make an analytical matrix, adapted to prescool practices. Data has been collected in a disadvantaged district belonging to the conurbation of a Swedish major city. Empirical material includes recording of an administrative meeting, application documents, interviews and national policy documents. The study shows that the categorisation have different effects and functions in different contexts. Implemental perspective: The practice of development evaluation of preschoolers has increased the written documentation, often based on techniques originating in compulsory school. These techniques are frequently ill adapted to the curriculum of the Swedish preschool, which emphasise the competent child and clearly encourages the child`s agency in preschool activities. Evaluation techniques also play the role of an incentive driving towards increasing individualisation. Educators tend to distance themselves from generalising concepts, and often assume a relational standpoint to defining deviance in children, but adapt to techniques that require a more individually based practice, which places the problems with the child. When parents consent to submit application documents, power is transformed to a range of professional actors, and a client-expert relationship is established. Administrative perspective: On the management level, the child primarily is subject to an economical rationality, and is expected to fit into existing preschool activities. The empirical material of this thesis does not display the inclusive perspective which occupies such a prominent position in special education discussions concerning compulsory school. The administrative conversation observed in the study was characterised by a quantitative approach, concerning resources for children who are considered deviant. Discussions at the meeting did not concern any aspect of the quality of the support offered, and the relationship between children and educators was reduced to a number of resouce hours per child. Societal (professional) perspectives: In an analysis of how resources for children with special needs are allocated in the city district, results will depend on which type of knowledge and rationalities are judged to be legitimate. Children who received a diagnosis delivered by a physician, or who are in the course of being investigated at the habilitation centre, obtain the largest support measures. A pattern supported by national policy documents, who constitute a steering mechanism towards implementation in educational establishments. Development evaluations in preschool can be seen as a step in Foucaults' term "psycomplex", where psychology is manifested in the institutions dealing with preschool children and their activities. The close historical link between pedagogy and developmental psychology, combined with a general development in society towards giving the individual perspective a central position, may contribute to the dominance of psychiatric assesments in explaining deviance among preschoolers.

Inlaga PDF tryck.pdf (1.111Mb)

Omslag Lutz tryck.pdf (304.8Kb)

Med livet på schemat : om skolämnet livskunskap och den riskfyllda ba...
Löf, Camilla : Lärarutbildningen, Malmö högskola Malmö Studies in Educational Science;59 (2011)	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:	The aim of this thesis is to understand and cast light over how the school subject Life Competence Education (Sw. Livskunskap) is developing in the Swedish school context. In focus of the study is how this school subject is defined and organized by actors (i.e. politicians, national governmental institutes, local governmental authorities, teachers and children in compulsory schools) in the different practices that together constitute the field of school. Of specific interest is how children and childhood is formulated within this specific subject, as well as what possibilities to contribute and participate in the process of defining and organizing Life Competence Education as a school subject. The study is conducted in Malmö, a community where Life Competence Education is part of the local public health strategy. The study draws upon a theoretical framework in which childhood sociology (James & Prout, 1997; Corsaro, 2005) is combined with critical discourse analysis (CDA, Fairclough, 2010). The empirical data has been collected by a variety of methods: such as policy documents at both a national and a local level; interviews with local key persons; as well as an ethnographic fieldwork and video recordings from classroom interaction. This methodological design offers the possibility to analyze Life Competence Education from different perspectives, with a special interest in how childhood is constituted within different formulations of this specific school subject. The analysis shows a national concern for children’s vulnerable positions in the society. At a national level politicians and governmental institutes formulate Life Competence Education as a way for schools to improve children’s health and empower children to act as democratic agents. In local curricula this subject is formulated as a possibility for schools to organize values education and other mandatory cross-disciplinary subjects. Thus, when Life Competence Education is interpreted in the local school practice t is transformed into more of a solution of locally defined social and individual problems. Children’s personal experiences are often at center of attention when problem solving, risking exploiting children’s private relations. As a consequence, the educational setting transforms into a therapeutic setting. The analysis shows that the children, in classroom interaction, demonstrate their agencies opposing the values upheld by the teachers.
Swedish abstract:	Skolämnet livskunskap har vuxit fram i svenska skolor under det senaste decenniet, ofta utifrån en ambition att främja hälsa och att konkretisera skolans värdegrundsarbete. Mot bakgrunden att livskunskap inte är obligatoriskt i svensk skola och därför saknar nationella riktlinjer har ämnet i den lokala skolpraktiken kommit att omfattas av en mängd olika arbetssätt och program. Avhandlingens syfte är att förstå och belysa hur skolämnet livskunskap växer fram, definieras och organiseras i skolans kontext. Studien omfattar hur aktörer i de olika praktiker som omfattas av skolans fält (politiker, statliga myndigheter, kommunala tjänstemän, pedagoger och barn) tolkar och organiserar livskunskap som skolämne. Särskild uppmärksamhet riktas mot den syn på barn och barndom som skapas genom organisationen av detta komplexa ämne. Studien har en barndomssociologisk ansats (James & Prout, 1997; Corsaro, 2005), kombinerad med kritisk diskursanalys (Fairclough, 2010). Det empiriska materialet är insamlat med flera olika metoder: som exempelvis policydokument på såväl nationell som lokal nivå; intervjuer med kommunala nyckelpersoner; samt ett etnografiskt fältarbete och videoinspelningar. Studien fokuserar framförallt grundskolor i Malmö, en stad där man satsat särskilt på livskunskap som skolämne som en del av kommunens folkhälsoarbete. Analysen visar bland annat hur ämnet i skolans vardagspraktik snarare utgår ifrån lokalt avgränsade sociala problem, än från de gemensamma värden som framhålls i läroplanen. Sättet att organisera ämnet i klassrummet medför i vissa situationer en förskjutning av lärarens roll, från att vara pedagog till att bli mer terapeutisk. Innehållet i ämnet rör sig ofta på ett för barnen privat plan och barns privata relationer lyfts upp till offentliga samtal i syfte att lösa konflikter. Barnen gör dock i flera fall motstånd mot lärares upplägg och innehåll.

camilla_lof_avhandling.pdf (4.660Mb)

On childhood and the good will: thoughts on ethics and early childhoo...
Dahlbeck, Johan : Malmö University (2012)	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:

The aim of this thesis is to critically examine how ethical principles are conceptualized and applied in educational contexts, focusing on the intersection of early childhood education and education for sustainable development. Its contribution to educational research in general, and to philosophy of education in particular, is to; first, discuss the presumed relation between ethical principles and individual actions and events, and to illustrate how this connection frames the understanding and application of ethics in educational situations. Second, it is to problematize the conditions for how the ethical framework is understood and applied by examining disturbances in the relation between ethical principles and its individualizations using a philosophy of immanent ethics as a conceptual framework. Education for sustainable development is targeted specifically as it offers some interesting examples of educational situations where children are working with ethical decision making and where ethical principles – manifested in the form of universal human rights – are commonly invoked. These examples are analyzed in terms of paradigmatic examples as they are taken to say something about the conditions for conceptualizing ethics in contemporary education. Looking at texts produced or commonly referred to within the discourse of education for sustainable development, the four articles of this thesis are looking to make visible some basic assumptions necessary for understanding and making sense of the examples looked at. The paradigmatic examples range from official documents on children’s rights to various forms of teaching materials produced within the discourse of education for sustainable development. The Kantian concept of the good will is identified as a useful way of describing the imagined link between principles and actions, facilitating the general understanding of the process whereby children are anticipated to make good ethical decisions in educational situations. The concept of the good will is, in turn, dependent on some form of transcendent ethics where ethical principles are presumed to exist independent of historical and social changes. Through the concept of immanent ethics, the presumed stability of the relation between principles and actions is scrutinized and destabilized. This is so as it introduces intrinsic dimensions of change and particularity into the overarching ethical scheme. Without the seemingly stable guarantors of universally valid ethical principles, the educational aspects of ethics appear to take on new characteristics, demanding the construction of new problems and the formulation of new questions regarding the relation between ethics and education.

Johan Dahlbeck muep.pdf (4.526Mb)

Understanding what it means to be a Montessori teacher : teachers ref...
Malm, Birgitte : School of Education, Malmö University Malmö Studies in Educational Sciences;5 Avhandlingar från Lärarutbildningen vid Malmö högskola;5 (2003)	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:	The overall aim of this study has been to come to a better understanding of what it means to be a Montessori teacher, by getting a group of Montessori teachers to reflect on their lives and work. Data exploration has comprised journals, interviews, written reflections and collaborative con-textual analysis. Analysis of the teachers? occupational life histories and the findings as a whole have been used to shed light on: ?Values and specific aspects of the philosophy of Montessori edu-cation that primarily attract teachers to this profession. ?Ways in which teachers? conceptions of their professional roles reflect their own personal values, beliefs and convictions. ?Teachers? views regarding the role of Montessori education to-day and in the future. Eight female Montessori primary school teachers participated in the study. Findings reveal that the strengths of the Montessori method lie in its focus on philosophical awareness, the holistic approach and a genuine ethic of care. Montessori?s fundamental educational principles are also in alignment with the current Curriculum for Compulsory Schools (Lpo 94). On the other hand, difficulties are experienced due to conflicting tradi-tional/contemporary interpretations of Montessori theory and practice and a general lack of collaboration among Montessori teachers. Open discussion and a sharing of ideas and experiences would help Montessori teachers come to terms with how to apply fundamental principles in new ways without the fear of losing an educational ?identity?. The Montessori teachers in this study reflect this attitude. Tendencies toward continu-ity/meaningful change in education depend to a great extent on the ways in which teachers are able to critically reflect about how they think and what they do. Taking seriously what teachers have to say is in fact essen-tial in order to understand the forces that, among other things, govern and sway teachers? inner as well as outer motivations, something of relevance and concern to all involved in teaching and educational processes.
Swedish abstract:	Det övergripande syftet med föreliggande studie är att utveckla en bättre förståelse om vad det innebär att vara montessorilärare. Utgångspunkten är lärarnas egna liv och verksamhetsberättelser. Insamling av data har skett genom loggböcker, intervjuer, skriftliga reflektioner och diskussioner. Analys av lärarnas livsberättelser i samband med övriga data har granskats för att belysa grundläggande värderingar, lärarrollen och fram-tida perspektiv. Åtta kvinnliga montessorilärare deltog i studien. Det visar sig att Montessorimetodens styrka ligger i en välutvecklad filosofisk medveten-het, ett holistiskt perspektiv och en genuin känsla av omsorg. Montesso-ris grundläggande principer stämmer väl överens med den nu gällande läroplanen (Lpo 94). Svårigheter är motstridiga tolkningar av montessoris teori och praktik och en allmän brist på samarbete mellan lärare. En mer öppen diskussion och ett delgivande av idéer och erfarenheter bland montessorilärare borde leda till att grundläggande principer kan applice-ras på nya och innovativa sätt, utan att montessoris ?identitet? går förlo-rad. Detta synsätt delas av montessorilärarna i denna studie. Tendenser mot att hålla fast vid det gamla eller att bidra till menings-full förändring beror till stor del på lärarnas förmågor att kritiskt granska den egna verksamheten. Genom att ta lärares röster på allvar kan en dju-pare förståelse uppnås för krafter, som styr lärarnas motiv och handling-ar. Det metodologiska angreppssättet är av relevans för alla som är in-tresserad av lärande och utbildning.

Utbildningssegregation och självsortering. Om gymnasieval, genus och ...
Sandell, Anna : Malmö: Lärarutbildningen, Malmö Högskola Malmö Studies in Educational Sciences;31 (2007)	DOCTORAL THESIS

English abstract:

This thesis explores and analyzes segregation and self-sorting in education. It aims at discussing how this relates to gender, individualization and young men and women’s positionings in local practices, through choices of upper secondary school education. It focuses on how young men and women cope with and adapt to the changing society in late modernity. The thesis is based on three empirical studies as well as national and local statistics. Observations in a natural science programme class at upper secondary school, interviews with study and vocational counsellors and statistics made the foundation for an interview study with 35 ninth graders about to make their choice of upper secondary school education in a middle-sized city with tradition of labour work. Statistics show a clear segregation among girls and boys at upper secondary school, especially when differentiated by class, geography, and to some extent ethnicity. The segregation continues on higher levels of education and then on to the labour market. This challenges political goals, both in gender equality and in education. It also challenges the late modernity demand for individualization. Theoretically this is explored with Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and capital as well as with late modernity concepts of cultural release, individualization, agency and positioning. Gender is explored by Harding’s model for analyzing the gender order. The interview study shows that both girls and boys distance themselves rhetorically from what is traditionally considered female. Both female domains and behaviour are lowly ranked. Girls’ strategy is to choose gender neutral marked programmes. They experience restrictions on basis of their gender, and want to use education as a means to break gender patterns. The boys’ also positioned themselves, but to a higher extent to avoid divergence from the hegemonic masculinity. These differences could not be seen in the observation study, which is interpreted as a result of the self-sorting young people do in relation to their gender and class. The conclusion is that the place encourages girls and boys to act differently. The relation between structures and agency differs. Girls are, in the interview study, encouraged to have a broader perspective on education, future professions, moving and so on. Their future can also be looked for outside the place and the positionings they now possess. Boys are encouraged to have a narrower perspective on the same phenomenons. The place also enables for the boys to stay to a higher extent than for the girls. The boys have, for example, a local labour market that corresponds to their choices. It is suggested that agency should be better supported in school. The pupils themselves stressed the importance of getting alternative experiences, for example through the work experience programme. It is also of importance that teachers encourage pupils to make changes in positions. The counsellors stressed the importance of doing outreached work and find pupils that do not voluntarily come to counselling. Through counselling, the pupils can be given tools for opening alternative ways. The gender marking of programmes could be loosened by introducing branches that attract the opposite gender. The naming of the programmes should also be under consideration. New technology and computers as means to enable changes in positionings are discussed.

Anna Sandell Omslag.pdf (749.6Kb)

Anna Sandell Ut ... ion och självsortering.pdf (1.929Mb)

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Möten som formar : interaktionsmönster på förskola mellan pedagoger o...
Månsson, Annika : Institutionen för pedagogik, Lärarhögskolan, Malmö Studia psychologica et paedagogica. Series altera;147 (2000) Med sammanfattning på engelska.	DOCTORAL THESIS

Rap(p) i käften. Hiphopmusikers konstnärliga och pedagogiska strategier
Söderman, Johan : Lund university (2007)	DOCTORAL THESIS

Rätt elev i rätt klass : skola, begåvning och styrning 1910-1950
Axelsson, Thom : Linköpings universitet Linköping studies in arts and science;397 (2007)	DOCTORAL THESIS