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This study of the conditions of developmental on-the-job training and learning for operators in highly automated industries is written in Swedish but contains an English abstract and 18-page summary. The summary begins with the study objectives, which were to determine the following: (1) conditions of developmental on-the-job learning in highly automated industry; (2) ways the conditions of developmental on-the-job learning are realized; and (3) the importance of vocational education, personnel training, and on-the-job learning to operators' vocational competence. Discussed next is the study methodology, which included case studies at 4 companies that involved interviews with 22 managers and union representatives and 40 operators, administration of a questionnaire completed by 145 operators, and observation of 15 operators. The study found that the conditions for developmental learning depend on the presence of the following: (1) challenging problems and wide degrees of freedom given to operators; (2) an integrated or informally open work organization that offers possibilities for participating in problem-solving; (3) a multitude of tools with multiple functions, both digital and analogue, manual and written; and (4) clear demands on knowledge and skills that can be applied and developed in day-to-day work. The bibliography contains 200 references, including 88 in English. Appended are three interview guides and five tables, all in Swedish. (MN)

This monograph describes a program for development of professional competence in junior lecturers in teacher education at Linkopings University, Sweden. Seventy junior lecturers participated in the program from 1991 through 1996. The program involved a combination of courses especially designed for the project and individually chosen courses from the ordinary schedule of postgraduate studies at the university. Informal evaluation suggests that despite widely varying career paths of participants, the program has been very successful. The monograph also addresses theoretical considerations concerning development of professional competence and the role of junior lecturers in teacher education, as well as changing trends in faculty development. (Contains 33 references.) (Author/DB)

Art education has traditionally played an important role in the Swedish preschool. The subject includes a variety of activities, and different aims have been stressed from both aesthetic and pedagogical points of view. This study sought to describe and analyze how preschool teachers work with children in art activities. The investigation used a qualitative approach whereby five preschool teachers were observed by means of video recordings. Analysis revealed different categories that described the teachers' ways of leading the activities. The categories are related to: (1) teaching functions, such as instructing and stimulating; (2) actions that create order, such as directing and serving; and (3) actions that create relations, such as conversing and taking notice of children. All the teachers were very active creating relations and serving the children, but they also varied in their ways to lead the activities. Three patterns were discerned concerning ways of working with art activities: "the gardener," letting children use the material freely without much instruction; "the instructor," teaching the children how to handle the materials; and "the pedagogue," stimulating the children's cognitive development. The three patterns seemed to be connected to both the aims and the content of the activities. Findings were explored in light of theory from the aesthetic and art educational field as well as from the preschool pedagogical field. (HTH)

This thesis presents a picture of how staff interact with infants (age group 1-3 years old) and parents at three day care centers. The study focused on the situations of leaving and collecting the children and the children's time of free play both in and outdoors. The theoretical content has an attachment/psycho-dynamical perspective with emphasis on the works of Bowlby, Stern, and Winnicott. The day care staff were observed when the children were left, collected, and during free time play. They were also interviewed as to what they themselves believed to be their most important task in relation to the children in the above mentions situations. In analyzing the data, a qualitative approach was used. The results of the study showed that the staff have different ways of relating to the children; three patters of interaction were discerned. The interviews showed that the staff have different views and justifications of what they believe to be important in their relation to the children during leaving, collecting, and free play. They also expressed differing points of view concerning the various situations at each respective day care center. The patterns indicate that the interaction between the staff and the children provide the individual child and children as a group with varying conditions for development, dependent upon which day care center the child is in. The results were also interpreted from a qualitative viewpoint, in which the different patterns show qualitative dissimilarities in the children's day care environments. (Author)

The aim of this study was to examined the impact of a new charging system in child care in two different Swedish municipalities, on personnel, parents, and children. Four day care centers situated in different socioeconomic areas were studied. A qualitative approach was used, and data were collected by means of interviews and a questionnaire. Individuals at different levels in the organization, managers in the municipal government, and managers and personnel in the four day care centers were interviewed. Some of the parents of children in the centers were also interviewed and completed a questionnaire. The primary findings indicated that personnel had no opportunity to influence the decision to introduce the new system. Child care personnel interpreted the change as implying that they had more control over parents concerning punctuality and described this new role as being difficult and negative. Consequently, child care center personnel gradually adapted both the rules and their behavior toward parents in a process of mutual adaptation. Differences between centers in different socioeconomic areas were identified. At centers in higher socioeconomic areas, the personnel were more service-minded than in lower socioeconomic areas, and also more eager to find solutions for the parents. The parents in the four centers were under more stress with the new system, especially those who had contracted for too little time for their children in day care. Consequences for the children were also found to vary between areas. In lower socioeconomic areas, the new system meant larger groups, longer time in day care, and change of departments. It also meant that children of unemployed parents, who stayed only 3 hours a day, missed educational activities and meals. (Author)

The International Adult Literacy Survey, IALS, is the first international comparative study of reading ability and reading habits among adults. The IALS was carried out in seven countries in Europe and North America during 1994 and 1995. Swedish participation in the study consisted of a representative sample of the population, 16 years of age and older, who were interviewed and who took objective tests of their reading ability. Results indicated substantial differences in reading ability among the population both within the country and in comparison with other countries. Analysis of the Swedish data focused on three variables--education, reading ability, and reading habits. Individuals with a high educational level demonstrated better reading ability and more frequent reading activities, both at work and in leisure, than did individuals with a lower educational level. Approximately one-third of the Swedish population analyzed did not reach the level of reading ability set in the national curriculum as a goal for the end of grade nine in the Swedish compulsory school. A pilot study tested a method of researching adults' reading habits in depth by using reading diaries. From the diaries it appeared that the time individuals reserved for reading during weekdays increased substantially from the lowest to the highest level of education. Findings suggest the need for emphasis on increased opportunities of recurrent education to avoid a wider and deeper gap between individuals with high and low levels of reading ability. (Contains 65 references, and 12 figures and 20 tables of data.) (RS)

This study evaluated a project for integrating preschool- and school-age children in a joint educational program. The integration project (SKOBO) has been implemented in all education units in the investigated municipality. Each school has, however, had a considerable degree of freedom in carrying out the program with the potential to find its "own path." The classes in SKOBO consist of children 6-9 years old. The teacher and preschool staff cooperate in the school work, which is mainly individualized. Each child works with tasks that are appropriate according to the child's degree of maturity and his or her needs and interests. The staff cooperation during the school day makes possible the synthesis of both school work and play. Care and education are combined, and the personnel can make use of their different qualifications in a cooperative fashion with the child in focus. The aim of the present study is to investigate, using interviews, how the staff (on three studied units) and the parents of the children comprehend the integration program. In addition, the interaction of staff with staff, children with children, and staff with children was observed. The study found that the units (two classes with staff) work out their own models for integration. Among the things that differ are: (1) the nature and extent of cooperation between teachers and preschool staff; (2) the extent of integration of children of different ages in the classroom (quite often the six-year-olds were not taught in the main classroom, but separately.) Both the staff and the parents believe that this kind of program favors the social development of children. They are, however, unsure whether it also favors the intellectual development of the child. (Author/HTH)

This report was developed as part of a Swedish study to examine whether videotelephones can be used to develop the communicative ability of individuals with mental retardation and whether access to telecommunications increased the possibilities of social integration. Communication was viewed as sharing a feeling, action, or experience with another person. This part of the study focused on designing an assessment form for assessing the communicative competence of individuals with moderate mental retardation and testing of the form by 10 speech pathologists working with adults with mental retardation. Results showed that the form functions effectively only if several persons who know the disabled person well participate in the assessment procedure and combine this with information from the participant him/herself. A copy of the assessment form is appended. (Contains 62 references.) (JDD)

This study surveyed how respite care services functioned for Swedish families who have children with disabilities and compared the results with a previous study made 6 years earlier. The study was based on a questionnaire completed by 245 of Sweden's municipalities. The study examined the quantity and quality of the services and respondents' views of respite care as a form of family support. Results showed that there are shortcomings in the support and that families' needs are not always fulfilled. Education, in-service training, and supervision for respite care staff is neglected, as are identification of the parents' needs, goal description, and evaluation of the activities of the local authorities. The questionnaire is appended. (Contains 44 references.) (Author/JDD)

This Swedish language report describes a preliminary study to test a retrospective life-history-inspired approach to studying children's experiences in a day care center, and whether children's experiences vary in different educational contexts and in relation to the teachers' experiences. The theoretical part of the study dealt with theories of developmental psychology and of memory theory as well as sociological theory. The empirical part of the study included 12 former preschool children in three age groups, 10, 15 and 20 years of age, and 2 preschool teachers, all with experience at the same day care center. The method tested was a retrospective life-history-inspired interview with stimulated recall: a tour of the day care center. The study showed that this method gives access to varied and profound memories from the preschool period and that it gives both an individual and a collective meaning from the children's perspective. The preliminary results underline the importance of peers. Both agreement and non-agreement between different informants were important. Another preliminary result indicated that children and preschool teachers have a shared, overall picture of the emotional atmosphere in the educational context. This overall picture varies in different contexts at different times. Self concept, memory, and time axis are concepts common to the different theories and may be used to analyze children's day care center experiences and their long-term effects. Contains 130 references. (Author/HTH)

This report describes the birth of the Eve Malmquist Institute for Reading (EMIR) and its first year of operation. The report is in two parts. The first part presents the addresses given at the opening ceremony where the speakers gave their views on different aspects of reading and reading development, such as reading for pleasure, reading difficulties, dyslexia, and training of reading teachers. The second part of the report contains the annual report of EMIR for 1992-93. (Author/NKA)

This report describes a project that is part of a national assessment program in Sweden under which the performance and attitudes of students in the 5th and 9th years of the compulsory school are being studied. The study focuses on the description of classroom activities and attained goals as well as on attitudes towards the subject, English as a foreign language. The objective of the project is to survey teachers' views on various aspects of language instruction and curricular goals, as well as their needs for in-service training. This report describes overall results. The measurement instruments include detailed questionnaires for students and teachers, as well as English language tests. Emphasis is on assessment of productive skills. Two-large-scale field studies have been undertaken one in the 5th grade, involving 3,000 students, and one in the 9th grade, involving 10,000 students. To conclude, general questions relating to purposes and design of national assessments are discussed. Proposals for further research are put forward. An extensive appendix section is provided that includes most of the English language teaching tests and all the questionnaires used in the investigation. (VWL)

This study was designed to examine the attitudes of teachers and students in Swedish upper secondary schools in regard to the use of higher education scholastic aptitude test (SAT) scores in lieu of secondary school grades to gain entrance into higher education programs. Since 1991 applicants to higher education have been allowed to take the higher education SAT even before they have used their secondary school grades to apply to such programs. An analysis of teacher interviews and student questionnaires found that the image teachers have of students who take the higher education SAT does not correspond to the students who actually take the test. The findings indicate that the test should be considered as a necessary and important part of the selection process for admission to higher education. A copy of the student questionnaire is included. (MDM)

Written in Swedish with an English-language summary, this report describes a study which examined the interaction between mothers or caregivers and their children with profound mental retardation and multiple disabilities, particularly looking at the function of play in communicative interaction. The six children all had five or six handicaps in addition to profound retardation and between the ages of 1 to 10 years. The study involved interviews with parents, information from naturally occurring conversations, and videotape recordings of meal and play situations. Results indicated that the most important function of play was as a means of communication and learning. A four-phase pattern of interaction was found: (1) an impression-receiving phase with orientation; (2) an expressive phase with motor activity; (3) a pause with processing and preparation of an answer; and (4) a break or a limited reaction. Mothers' ability to interpret the children's signals was extremely context-dependent. The living conditions of the parents were an important factor in play, communication, and child development. (Contains 250 references.) (Author/DB)

This report describes the results of adult education students and upper secondary school students on two recently introduced standardized English tests in Sweden. Comparisons of the results are made between these two categories of students because they are entitled to compete, on an equal basis, for admission into restricted intake programs of study at Swedish universities and other institutions of higher learning. Test results indicated no substantial differences in proficiency between the groups of students compared. There was, however, a slight but statistically insignificant tendency of the secondary school students to do better than the adults. Analysis of results by sex showed that female students achieved higher total scores than male students on one test, but lower on the other. Females scored higher on essay portions of the test, whereas males tended to score higher on non-essay portions of the test. School leaving grades were higher for female students. A brief summary is provided of the outcome of a study determining the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the essay scores. (VWL)

Observations of one mainstreamed child and one "ordinary child" at each of 12 day care centers were compared. Five of the 12 mainstreamed children were mentally retarded, and seven had a slight developmental retardation mainly due to deprivation. Observations of 10-minute duration, totaling 4 hours and dispersed across 7 days, focused on (1) time each child spent in active communication; (2) qualitative aspects of this communication; and (3) the child's behavior while alone. Findings indicated that deprived children did not differ much from the "ordinary" children. However, the observations of the five mentally retarded children differed significantly. The mentally retarded children were not socially integrated, were significantly more often alone, were alone for longer periods, and played noticeably less with other children than the "ordinary" children did. Most of the children communicated only short periods of time with an adult. Mentally retarded children needing practical help received a little more time with adults. While positive about integrating the children, none of the staff considered their own role as an active one in the integration process. Results are discussed in the context of day care centers as learning environments and implications for the development of all children. (RH)

Part of a larger investigation of day care climate and children's social and emotional behavior in Sweden, this study interviewed 99 staff members at 12 day care centers about their work experiences and opinions of their work. Interviews focused on the system by which decisions are made, variation of working tasks, the meaningfulness of work, the goals of the preschool activity, the possibility of personal development for staff, the communication system, and the strain in work. Most of the personnel were to a great extent satisfied with their working conditions. Staff members thought that they had the same work tasks, despite differences in the education of preschool teachers, nurses, and special teachers guiding children's use of leisure time. Work goals were of a general nature, mostly concerning care of the children. Half of the group considered experience as being more important than education. Most respondents felt that they had too little contact with central administration and that they did not get enough feedback in their work. The splitting up of the day by different routines and the arrivals and departures of children and adults at different times were seen as strain factors. Another strain factor was working in groups of children in which the age span was very large (1 through 10 years). Personnel also indicated that they received too little further education and had too little time for work with individual children. The survey instrument is included. (RH)

A total of 145 children 4 through 6 years of age attending 12 day care centers in Sweden answered a picture questionnaire consisting of 10 stories about everyday events which might occur in the center. Each child listened individually to the stories and gave his/her answer by choosing one of two or three pictures describing possible outcomes of the event. The stories concerned peer relations, possibilities for exerting influence on decisions, care situations, general feelings about being at the center, and perception of adult reactions toward disobedience. Findings indicated that 50 percent of the children viewed peer relations as being friendly, 48 percent gave answers suggesting they could exert influence, 67 percent suggested that they perceived the adults as caring, 63 percent depicted an adult as having an angry face in situations of disobedience, and attitudes toward being at the center were ambivalent. Children's answers did not differ significantly from center to center. Some differences were found regarding age. Older children seemed to have a more positive impression of the day care center than did younger children. The picture questionnaire is included. (RH)

Twelve day care centers in a Swedish commune were systematically observed. Centers were selected on the basis of responses to a questionnaire on attitudes about upbringing which was answered by all the personnel at the 104 day care centers in the commune. Four of the selected centers represented a so-called "present-focused" upbringing pattern, four a "future-focused" upbringing pattern, and the last four represented a mixture that was common in the commune. In this report each of the 12 centers is described according to the variables observed. These variables cover different aspects of the social relations between the children, between the children and the adults, the upbringing norms, and the patterns of control exerted. Contents also include a comparison of the centers that focuses on the traits which are common for all of the 12 centers as well as traits that are specific to the differing day care climates. This comparative analysis issues from a model of variables constituting a day care climate presented in a earlier report. (Author/RH)

This paper considers the problem of differentiating thought and language in a way that makes it possible to relate them to each other. The analysis covers approaches of sociolinguistic research, different models of language and cognitive functioning within psychology and linguistics, the cybernetic approach, and psycholinguistic analyses. A common approach has been to consider similarities and differences between languages and between cultures in thinking and linguistic forms. More recently, this approach has been extended to include comparisons between subcultures, social classes, and dialects. Another approach has more directly focused on the relation between units of thought and linguistic units. Problems associated with comparisons between languages and cultures and with focusing on linguistic form are discussed. To illustrate the problem of differentiating thought and language, a few examples involving written answers to questions about the meaning of a text are presented. It is concluded that to obtain an understanding of the relation between language and thought, one should study the successive change of conceptions and the use of linguistic forms and the interplay between such changes. Descriptions of the relation between thought and language should be made within a learning or development perspective. A Swedish translation of a portion of the text is appended. (SW)

The document reports on a 10-day tour to study rehabilitation facilities for the visually handicapped in the Soviet Union. Briefly described are the programs of the following institutions that were visited: Helmholtz Institute of Opthalmology, Specialized School Number 5 for Partially Sighted Children, Scientific Research Institute of Defectology, and the All Russian Society for the Blind. Experiences are considered in terms of the blindness system, low vision aids, medical rehabilitation, and research and development on technical aids and job situations. Differences and similarities between the Soviet Union and Sweden are mentioned. (SBH)

Approximately 900 employees in the day care centers in one Swedish commune answered a questionnaire measuring child rearing attitudes and personnel's engagement and feelings concerning their work with the children. The child rearing attitudes were described as either "present-focused" or "future-focused." Of particular interest in this investigation was the issue of how answers to the questionnaire were related to such variables as type of education, age of respondent, length of day care employment, and whether or not personnel had children of their own. Findings indicated that personnel older than 35 years were more future-focused towards child rearing than the younger personnel. They were also more engaged in the work with the children. Educational background was not significantly related to attitudes toward child rearing. Approximately 30 references include 15 English entries. The survey instrument is included. (RH)

All day care personnel (about 900) in a Swedish commune answered a questionnaire concerning attitudes toward child rearing. The questionnaire consisted of 10 short descriptions of daily day care situations representing a child rearing dilemma which could be solved in different ways. Respondents indicated their views of typical and preferred ways of handling each situation. The questionnaire was administered twice: initially and one year later. Across time, the group means for dealing with the child rearing dilemma situation did not differ. Findings indicated that 61 percent of the centers showed comparable patterns on the two occasions the questionnaire was administered. A significant statistical correlation was found between stability of attitudes and the age of the day care center. No significant correlation was found between stability of attitudes and the number of personnel who had changed jobs during the year. The survey instrument is included. (Author/RH)

Using a new approach to studying day care centers, this study focused on the total climate of the day care center and the climate's effects on children's social and emotional behavior. A theoretical model for analyzing day care climate is presented. The model includes variables such as job satisfaction, work atmosphere, interactions between children and personnel, children's perceptions of center atmosphere, children's social behavior, and two contrasting sets of staff attitudes toward child rearing which focus on either "future-oriented" or "present-oriented" control strategies. The child rearing attitudes of an entire municipality were investigated, and 12 day care centers were selected in which personnel exhibited contrasting attitudes toward child rearing. In the selected centers, interviews with personnel and measurements of children's attitudes were carried out. Instruments used in the study are appended. (RH)