Swedish Secondary School Research Articles

Student conceptions of motivation to study in upper secondary school in Sweden revealed through phenomenography

The motivation to study may affect students’ successes and setbacks in their studies. Research has shown that multiple factors affect students’ motivation to study. The purpose of this article is to describe how students conceptualize the motivation to study. We gathered empirical data through group interviews with 32 Swedish students in six study programs. Through phenomenographical analyses, we identified six categories of how students experience the motivation to study: the importance of teachers, the subject, student characteristics and attitude, study results, and support from friends and family and the environment. Within each category, we distinguished various aspects. Differences in conceptions between students and programs or types of programs exist, but they are small. Only students from study preparation programs emphasized the importance of student characteristics and attitude for increasing study motivation and getting good jobs. The study’s results show both general and distinctive content in the meaning of study motivation. We make recommendations to develop incentives for all students, not just those who have favourable socio-economic study conditions, to develop motivational strategies to study.

Students' Insights from Interactive Visualizations Arranged Multimodally in Knowledge Visualizations

In this study, a visual analytics application is put into practice in Swedish secondary school social science classrooms. The application offers support to analyse vast amounts of data through interactive data visualizations. Previous studies have demonstrated that the visual interactive interface challenges the traditional practice in school, where students usually demonstrate their knowledge by means of written texts. Thus, this study examines what happens if students work with more malleable, adaptable, or fluid modes when attempting to express their conclusions from work with interactive data visualizations. It aims to detect patterns in how knowledge visualizations are produced and arranged multimodally. Inspired by design-based research, the study conducted two classroom interventions followed by video captures. It employed a socio-material semiotic approach, which enables the study of interactions between both social and material actors. Three patterns emerged when students’ insights were translated into knowledge visualizations – exploring, gathering, and inserting. It became obvious how different actors taking part of such a digital multimodal writing activity affect and change every actor/everyone/everything, which in turn transfers, relocalizes, reformulates, and re-presents the communicated message. Knowing how knowledge visualizations are produced might strengthen students’ visual abilities when transforming insights multimodally.

Reading in Language Introductory Program Classrooms in Sweden

The ability to read is important for studies, work and social life, and therefore, reading needs to be central in all school subjects. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the factors that either facilitate or limit second-language students in a transitional program at an upper secondary school in Sweden in terms of their reading and reading comprehension skills. Observations of teacher-initiated reading practices and interviews with teachers about reading and texts, which were analyzed using Bernhardt’s compensatory model for second-language reading, show that all teachers highlight the importance of reading and the fact that reading in the subject they teach can help students to become competent readers of Swedish texts. Despite this, the amount of reading and processing of texts varies—in some classes, students do not read at all, and in other classes, they read a great deal. The only teacher who seems both to include the processing of texts and to choose texts that interest students is the teacher of Swedish as a Second Language (SSL).

Change as technology in a Swedish secondary high school

ABSTRACT This article addresses the fact that local school practices in Sweden today seem to be under constant change as a consequence of the ongoing and forceful neoliberalisation of society that has been going on for about three decades. The pressure on teachers and school leaders has increased due to school rankings and quality assessment has become an important instrument for administrators and evaluators. In this ethnographic study, we describe and analyse school change; the reactions on change and the initiatives to employ school change within a secondary high school. Moreover, we develop our thinking on how this situation of constant school change may be viewed in the larger social scheme of things. Or to be more precise, this study focuses on school change that seems to have become one of the central features of the neoliberal educational system.

Unity lost. Negotiating the ancient roots of Pedagogy in Sweden, 1865–1971

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate attempts to safeguard classical humanism in secondary schools by appealing to a cultural-historical link with Antiquity, voiced in the face of educational reforms in Sweden between 1865 and 1971.Design/methodology/approachBy focusing on the content of the pedagogical journal Pedagogisk Tidskrift, the article highlights a number of examples of how an ancient historical lineage was evoked and how historical knowledge was mobilized and contested in various ways.FindingsThe article argues that the enduring negotiation over the educational need to maintain a strong link with the ancient past was strained due to increasing scholarly specialization and thus entangled in competing views on reform and what was deemed “traditional” or “modern”.Originality/valueFrom a larger perspective, the conflict over the role of Antiquity in Swedish secondary schools reveals a trajectory for the history of education as part of and later apart from a general history of the humanities. Classical history originally served as a common past from which Swedish culture and education developed, but later lost this integrating function within the burgeoning discipline of Pedagogy. The findings demonstrate the value of bringing the newly (re)formed history of humanities and history of education closer together.

Choreographing gender: masculine domination and heteronormativity in physical education

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to highlight gender norms in physical education (PE) dance lessons, in order to analyse how secondary school students, both girls and boys, negotiate these norms. To do this, we used Bourdieu’s concept of masculine domination and Butler’s theory of heteronormativity. Video material was collected from eight Swedish secondary schools. This material was analysed qualitatively with the help of masculine domination and heteronormativity. We bring to light three relevant vignettes that illustrate gender norms during the dance lessons. The first vignette explains that, in most cases, girls choreograph and boys execute. Hence, this situation testifies the emergence of traditional and normative gendered positions between students, accordingly to their gender. Secondly, if the roles are reversed between girls and boys, suggesting that masculine domination is less prevalent during the dance lessons, we demonstrate that girls are still dominated because they teach boys how they should lead girls (at least so that it looks like they are leading). Finally, we observed that masculine domination can be considered a double oppression on boys and girls. There appears a co-construction of the students’ own submission because girls teach boys how these have to be masculine, meanwhile boys, victims of their own oppression, keep the position as followers in this feminine activity. In parallel, girls assign masculine and feminine positions according to the gender of the students and support, eventually, the reproduction of balance of power representing the heteronormativity of gendered norms. In conclusion, masculine domination seems, at first glance, to be challenged in PE dance lessons because girls have the dominant role. However, by keeping the balance of power between the gendered positions, they strengthen heteronorms, that is, a principal element of the emergence of masculine domination.

A comparative study of CLIL implementation in upper secondary school in Sweden and students’ development of L2 English academic vocabulary

Although research on content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has shown that CLIL instruction may enhance students’ second or foreign language learning compared to regular foreign language instruction, there are also studies that have indicated similar language development between CLIL and non-CLIL students. However, CLIL can be organized and implemented in many different ways and thus, it is necessary to identify the specific features of various CLIL contexts when comparing learning outcomes. In this study, CLIL implementation at three Swedish upper secondary schools was explored and compared. Further, students’ development of second language (L2) English productive academic vocabulary was compared over three years between CLIL groups at different schools as well as between CLIL and non-CLIL groups ( n = 230), using corpus-based methods. The results revealed significant differences in the progression of L2 academic vocabulary between CLIL groups that may be attributed to substantial differences in CLIL implementation, e.g. with regard to the time allotted for CLIL, teacher availability and the balance between first language (L1) and L2. At the school where the CLIL group’s L2 productive academic vocabulary progressed more than in other groups, both Swedish and English were languages of instruction, increasing the proportion of English over the three years; in the third year, English dominated as the language of instruction. The results indicated similar development of L2 academic vocabulary between CLIL and non-CLIL groups when CLIL implementation was very limited in scale and scope. Further, the results showed that apart from vocabulary, CLIL teachers of non-language subjects generally paid very little attention to other aspects of language.

Trapped Between: ‘Coming Out’ and Forced to Stay Closeted

Research with a specific focus on bisexual students’ schooling experiences is still quite rare, and studies focusing on bisexual students’ positive schooling experiences are even more uncommon. The present study addresses this scarcity by analyzing interviews with students from a lower secondary school in Sweden. In the article, the center of analysis is one key informant, a male bisexual student who has had positive experiences of ‘coming out’ at school. The results reveal a local school culture at the school that could be categorized as inclusive and safe. The study also explores everyday situations in which the key informant is forced to stay closeted. These narratives are framed in relation to heteronormativity and loneliness. At the investigated school, the student welfare team is aware of the student’s life situation and supports him. The overall picture that emerges in the narratives is an everyday life situation that could be described as being trapped between being out and being closeted.

What can student-generated animations tell us about students\u2019 conceptions of evolution?

BackgroundA large body of research has investigated students’ conceptions of evolutionary changes and emphasizes that students have alternative conceptions about their causes. A conventional way to monitor students’ conceptions is through inventories where researchers analyse their written answers. However, textbooks are being increasingly complemented with, or even replaced by, various multimedia materials where multiple modes are used to communicate evolutionary processes. This has profound implications for students’ learning, and highlights that allowing different modes of expression may influence which knowledge they present. Therefore, the goal of this exploratory study is to expand the understanding of students’ conceptions of evolution through natural selection by applying student-generated stop-motion animations to reveal their conceptions. Forty-seven Swedish upper secondary school students generated 18 animations concerning evolution through natural selection. We analysed these animations qualitatively using content analysis to reveal key concepts, alternative conceptions and connections between organizational levels and time. This analysis is related to findings from previous studies on students’ conceptions of evolutionary change.ResultsOur study highlights some of the benefits and limitations of using these two assessment methods. In terms of identifying alternative conceptions, a clear difference between the results of the two methods of assessment was observed. In particular, the alternative conception of essentialism appeared to a lesser extent in the student’s animations than in their written responses, while natural selection as an event was more prevalent.ConclusionsThese findings support the view that students’ expression of different misconceptions is influenced by the context and representational form. The work also reveals that generating stop-motion animations to explain scientific concepts is an engaging approach that stimulates students to explore their understanding in a creative and personal manner. This is potentially positive for engagement and learning. The potential for complementing standard paper-and-pen tests with tasks that encompass stop-motion animations is also discussed.

When documentation becomes feedback: tensions in feedback activity in Learning Management Systems

ABSTRACT Teachers’ feedback via Learning Management Systems (LMSs) is studied within the subject of social studies at upper secondary school in Sweden. A qualitative study involved classroom observations within LMSs, gathering teachers’ feedback on pupils’ submitted assignments, and semi-structured interviews with six teachers. With the support of activity theory, the interest of the study was directed towards the tensions that arise in an activity system consisting of teachers’ feedback actions in a digital assessment context. The results reveal tensions in the relationship between grading documentation in the LMS and the subject’s traditions in the form of discussions, for example. Tensions were distinguished in the interaction between a school policy of using a feedback matrix and teachers’ formative ideals. Tensions were also distinguished between teachers’ need to legitimise grades and give feedback according to formative ideals. Finally, a tension was distinguished between the time available for providing feedback and teachers’ formative ideals for giving feedback.

Perspectives on written L1 in Swedish CLIL education

This article presents a longitudinal investigation of texts written by students in upper secondary schools in Sweden. The texts are collected at three different schools implementing Content and Language Integrated Learning, CLIL, where school subjects are taught in a second or foreign language, L2, in this case English. CLIL research with an L1 focus in the Swedish context is rare. The present study explores and compares vocabulary use in texts written in L1 Swedish by students attending schools where English is used as the medium of instruction to various degrees, thereby representing diverse CLIL models. One school uses English in practically all subjects except in language arts (subject area of Swedish and optional German/French/Spanish). The other two schools use L2 English in some lessons but not all, thus representing other CLIL models. The data comprises 306 pieces of texts that were analysed using quantitative and corpus linguistic methods to examine the vocabulary use including linguistic variables connected to academic writing. The texts were written at four different occasions during a period of three years, Results indicate that the L1 vocabulary use concerning specific word variables show no substantial diversifications between the three CLIL schools despite the dissimilar exposure to L2 English and L1 use. The impact of L2 on students’ L1 is sometimes raised as an apprehension against CLIL education in Sweden. The results regarding productive written academic vocabulary of the present study indicate that there are no grounds for such concerns.

Negotiating (dis-)engagement in K-12 blended learning

It is well-recognised that engagement is critical for learning and school success. Engagement (and disengagement) are, however, also influenced by context. Thus, as digital technologies add complexity to the educational context, they influence classroom leadership, lesson designs and related practices, and thereby engagement. Despite being critical, engagement and disengagement are not well explored concerning these influences, with a lack of research undertaken within socially disadvantaged schools. In this qualitative study, 14 classroom observations were conducted, during five months, in twelve classes in an upper secondary school in Sweden, along with dialogues with teachers (n=12) and students (n=32). The data were analysed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Identified themes include digital context, teacher leadership, engagement and disengagement. A network of relations between the (dis-)engagement compound and themes is presented. The results identified processes in which engagement shifted into disengagement and vice versa; in particular, that the intention of active learning does not automatically translate to active learning for all students, although teachers employed a higher work pace than did their students. Teacher self-efficacy and awareness of how to manage digital technologies in and outside the classroom was found to play a vital role in facilitating engagement. Understanding the (dis-)engagement compound in blended learning environments is key to inform active and visible learning for future research and supportive organisational structures.

Teacher professionality at a time of mobility:

This study aims to investigate how the educational and linguistic backgrounds of teachers affect how they are positioned and how they position themselves in relation to their profession in a language introduction programme at upper secondary school in Sweden. Material from two years of study at one school was used to conduct a nexus analysis. The material comprised policy documents at the national and local levels; interviews with principals and teachers; and classroom and school environment observations. Conflicting discourses appear in the analysis in terms of teacher competence and teacher roles. Those teachers who had the relevant professional competence, as according to national documents, felt that their knowledge was not acknowledged and that they were not listened to. Official documents state that principals are responsible for fulfilling stipulated demands; however, they do not always have the necessary knowledge as this is not a requirement for their position. Thus, an ambiguous picture appears where teachers who are positioned as competent at the national level are positioned only to teach their own subject and are not given voice on issues relating to general teacher competence and organisation of education at the local level. This article highlights the importance of knowledge and understanding relating to L2 student learning at the management level.

Developing design principles and task types for classroom response system tasks in mathematics

This article reports on results from a design research project that implements a formative assessment practice with support from a classroom response system (CRS). Cumulatively building on earlier research and drawing on iteratively generated data from secondary schools in Sweden, the article elaborates on design principles and task types for constructing CRS tasks aimed at generating mathematical classroom discussions. The study generated three design principles, six task types and 31 empirically evaluated tasks useful for developing and using CRS tasks in classroom practices. The results are discussed in relation to earlier research, methodological considerations and the cultural context of Sweden.

Alfabetização midiática e informacional na Suécia: a chave da democracia e o papel do bibliotecário como mediador

Las bibliotecas de las escuelas de secundaria son importantes para el apoyo en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes, más que saber leer y escribir, es fundamental el desarrollo de las habilidades digitales tanto de los profesores como de los estudiantes. Siendo así, la alfabetizaciónn mediática se hace cada vez más necesaria en la sociedad actual. El propósito de este artículo es analizar el papel del bibliotecario en el contexto social y democrático junto a la alfabetización mediática e informacional de los jóvenes de enseñanza secundaria en Suecia. Este estudio es cualitativo y los datos empíricos fueron recopilados a través de análisis de documentos, observaciones y entrevistas con tres bibliotecarias en escuelas de enseñanza secundaria en Suecia. Los resultados de esta investigación concluyen que, aunque queda un largo camino y un esfuerzo continuo para llegar a una colaboración más amplia con todos los docentes, estos bibliotecarios han logrado desarrollar un modelo pedagógico con contenidos estructurados específicamente para trabajar la alfabetización mediática e informacional de manera efectiva. El gobierno sueco y los organismos de educación han permitido desarrollar proyectos, leyes e iniciativas para apoyar a los bibliotecarios y docentes con el objetivo de que los jóvenes sean capaces de obtener las habilidades y competencias necesarias para ejercer su papel como ciudadanos en una sociedad democrática.

Moving in liminal space: A case study of intercultural historical learning in Swedish secondary school

The aim of this article is to explore the processes of learning when students are engaged in intercultural historical learning (IHL), specifically how spaces of learning were, or were not, opened by students’ struggle to construct meaning. Since IHL is complex, involving both intrinsic disciplinary and extrinsic curricular goals, it is vital to understand this process in detail. The research questions address which aspects seem to activate intercultural learning, and which ones hinder or complicate it. The methodological approach employed was an instrumental, multisite case study where three teaching–learning sequences from two secondary classrooms were investigated. Here, the concepts of ‘decentring’ and ‘perspective recognition’, as aspects of IHL, were seen as threshold concepts. The threshold concepts framework – and specifically the idea of ‘liminal space’, a ‘place of potential learning’, the in-between moments in the learning process where students find themselves before ‘getting it’ – was applied as an analytical tool to uncover and describe specific moments in the selected teaching–learning sequences. Several liminal spaces were unpacked, and it transpired that ‘troublesomeness’ is an integral, potentially productive component when students navigate liminal space as a place for intercultural learning. ‘Barriers’ that obstructed learning, as well as possible ‘entry points’ where a student steps into a productive liminal space, were identified, as well as some major enabling breakthrough moments – ‘junctures’ – for IHL.

A technical workforce for regional industrial development? Origin and dispersion of graduates from the technical secondary schools in Malmö and Borås 1855–1930

ABSTRACT This article connects to the discussion on skills and knowledge during the early industrialisation. It focuses on how two out of four technical secondary schools in Sweden (Malmö and Borås) lived up to their aims communicated by politicians and other stakeholders: to provide emerging industries and crafts in their regions with technicians and to prepare for studies at the Technological Institute. Initially, a majority of students came from the school regions, but the share of long-distance students increased over time. A majority served in industry and craft, and the study reflects chemistry’s and electricity’s breakthrough with increasing shares of graduates employed over time. Several graduates continued to further studies; not only at the Technological Institute but also elsewhere in Sweden and abroad. As for the purpose to provide the regions with technicians, the results are ambiguous. Many graduates, especially from Borås, moved to other parts of Sweden and abroad. Malmö graduates stayed more often in the school region because Malmö was a larger city, and the school region more industrially diversified. The brain-drain from the school regions was not necessarily problematic as in-migration of technicians from other schools compensated.

The role of Informal Digital Learning of English in Korean and Swedish EFL learners’ communication behaviour

AbstractContemporary young students in Asia and in the Nordic region are increasingly learning English outside the classroom by using technology (a.k.a. Informal Digital Learning of English [IDLE]). This comparative study examines to what extent IDLE influences Korean and Swedish students’ willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC), a critical antecedent affecting actual L2 communication behaviour. After having achieved a cross‐cultural equivalence of the research instrument, Korean (n = 388) and Swedish (n = 144) secondary school students were surveyed. Results of hierarchical regression analyses show that Frequency of IDLE (the total amount of IDLE activities) predicts both cohorts’ L2 WTC, while Receptive IDLE activity (consuming English content) and Productive IDLE activity (producing English content) are predictors for only Koreans’ L2 WTC. Results suggest that Korean and Swedish students tend to more frequently initiate English communication when engaging in IDLE activities. Results also suggest how Receptive and Productive IDLE activities could uniquely facilitate the L2 communication behaviour of Korean EFL learners, who learn English in a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society. Apart from context‐specific pedagogical implications, this study could provide insights for L2 learners worldwide who have been learning language remotely with minimal supervision. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE) has been found to be beneficial in Korean and Swedish EFL students’ communication skills and productive vocabulary knowledge. Diversity (a combination of form‐ and meaning‐focused activities), not frequency (amount of time) of IDLE activities, is a significant predictor of Korean learners’ scores on a productive vocabulary test. These results stand in contrast to results found in Sweden that reported a positive relationship between frequency of IDLE activities and productive vocabulary test scores. After having achieved a cross‐cultural equivalence of the questionnaire, this comparative study aims to examine to what extent IDLE influences Korean and Swedish students’ willingness to communicate in a second language (L2 WTC), which is a critical antecedent affecting actual L2 communication behaviour. What this paper adds Frequency of IDLE predicts both cohorts’ L2 WTC. Receptive (consuming English content) and Productive IDLE activities (producing English content) seem to uniquely facilitate the L2 communication behaviour of Korean EFL learners, who learn English in a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society. Implications for practice and policy Informed by these results, L2 policymakers and teachers can design and implement socio‐culturally and contextually appropriate curricula and pedagogical practices to enhance learners’ L2 WTC and, ultimately, L2 communicative competence. This study also provides insights for L2 learners worldwide who have been learning language remotely, with minimal supervision.

Practice before policy? Unpacking the black box of progressive teaching in Swedish secondary schools

ABSTRACT The aim of the article is to deepen the knowledge of progressivism and how it was manifested in practice in Swedish secondary schools from a teacher perspective before it was prescribed in policy during the reforms of the 1950s. In the current educational debate, progressivism is blamed by some for being the root of a permissive style of education in decline that no longer provides any knowledge to students, and regarded by others as the starting point for the modern form of democratic schooling. The question we pursue is in what way progressive teaching practice existed before policy. We do that by investigating teacher narratives describing their own teaching practices found in a historical archive from 1946. Hence, rather than looking at the policy level as in most studies, we are unpacking the black box of progressive teaching. Through thematic analysis, we investigate 209 secondary teacher narratives from teachers of History, Biology and Mother tongue. We found that the theme of student participation was very frequently reported in 76% of the accounts, while student interaction (33%) and extended classroom (37%) were somewhat less reported. Hence, our study shows that progressive teaching existed in different ways before it appeared in policy.

Expansive learning in a change laboratory intervention for teachers

The theory of Expansive learning and the change laboratory (CL) methodology has been developed and applied in many studies on workplace learning and educational change. There are fewer studies made on small-scale interventions, exploring the longitudinal development of expansive learning in an educational change effort. This article examines a CL intervention performed in an upper secondary school in Sweden, with a small group of teachers engaged in a participatory design project. By identifying and analysing the relationship of the seven learning actions posited by the theory of expansive learning, the aim was to contribute to the discussion of the CL methodology and the empirical usability of the theory. The results showed that the seven expansive learning actions functioned as analytical tools to map the teachers learning and development, but the analysis also showed many deviations, disruptions and occurrence of practical actions of design in the process. This challenge the notions of cyclicity and ascension in the theory of expansive learning. Cyclicity might be desirable but not necessary for expansive learning which questions the need to first grasp the problem at a conceptual level before generating concrete solutions. The Findings in this study suggests the opposite; that the entanglement and parallel movement between the abstract and the concrete was a driving force for the teachers expansive learning and the design of new curricular units.