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We aimed to survey the findings of phenomenological studies built up in the field of diabetes care in Sweden. This is a meta-synthesis of phenomenological studies on experiences related to diabetes in Sweden focusing on learning to live with diabetes. We proceeded by reference to the seven phases of Noblit & Hare. We examined papers from seven phenomenological studies on learning to live with diabetes in Sweden. From the papers, which describe the experience of living with diabetes, three overarching themes were selected—perception and awareness of the body; integration and responsibility; and presence of others who provide support. From those describing the expert's experience, an overarching theme emerged—encouraging reflection in persons with diabetes. We interpreted each of these themes in phenomenological terms and compared them with theories in Japan. Persons with diabetes take responsibility for coping with a range of things brought on by the illness and learn to live with diabetes. Experts support these persons so they can see their world objectively and critically scrutinize it. By building a model of diabetes care in Japan that references Scandinavian human science, it will be possible to find new approaches that support learning at the existential level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscapes and their management are at the center of many of the sustainability challenges that we face. Landscapes can be described as social-ecological systems shaped by a myriad of human activities and biophysical processes, interacting across space and time. Managing them sustainably requires considering this complexity. Resilience thinking offers ways to address complexity in decision-making. In this paper, we analyse the learning and impact on a diverse group of local actors from participating in a participatory resilience assessment. The assessment, focused on sustainable landscape management in the Helge å catchment, Sweden, produced concrete knowledge outputs, describing ecosystem service bundles, a future vision, conceptual system models, and a strategic action plan. Follow-up interviews indicate that the process and its outputs supported the participants' learning process and helped them to articulate complexity thinking in practice. The outputs, and the exercises to produce them, emerged as complementary in supporting this articulation. Furthermore, they helped build participants' capacity to communicate the diverse values of the landscape to others and to target leverage points more strategically. Thus, it supported the application of resilience thinking in landscape management, especially by generating learning and fostering complex adaptive systems thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores learning trajectories in becoming 'rural women' in Sweden, by using a biographical and socially-situated learning perspective. The data is based on in-depth biographical interviews with three young women who moved between rural and urban areas, and finally decided to return to a rural area. The findings show three learning phases: the mythical, the questioning and the self-positioning phase. Furthermore, the paper identifies four types of learning spaces of urban and rural areas: an imagined, a career-related, a cultural-emotional and a biographical learning space. The paper offers valuable insights about everyday life learning and identity development in young adulthood, and how stereotypes of rural areas negatively impact on young adults' views of themselves and their life choices.Keywords: young female, rural/urban dived, countryside returnees, learning space and trajectories, biographical learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lately, theme parks have emphasized the learning and edutainment aspects of their business. This has created new opportunities for theme parks and schools to cooperate. Research has shown that learning at science centers, a similar form of learning arena, tends to be out of context and that the learning outcomes are meager. High Chaparral, in southern Sweden, is a theme park primarily focusing on the American 1870s. With 160,000–170,000 visitors each year, the theme park is one of the largest arenas for history communication in Sweden, alongside traditional cultural heritage institutions. This paper presents an analysis of students, mainly aged 10–12 years, visiting the park. In the park, the children are presented with various fact- and skills-oriented activities. While the children enjoy the activities, they do not align the presentations with their school history education. Rather, the children relate them to their own everyday life experiences, and the idea of 1870s America they take from the park is, to a high degree, informed by popular TV and movie Westerns. While the theme park seems fun for the children, the findings of this analysis show that the park's theme is not easily connected to the Swedish history curriculum for the studied group of students. In particular, the park does not align with the constructivist ideals of the Swedish curriculum. This does not mean that learning possibilities are absent. The park contains multifaceted leaning opportunities, but given the park's present focus, these are not fully developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on school situations students experienced as meaningful and how these experiences can guide educational improvement. Participants included 15 students in grade 3 from a Swedish school. In this qualitative study, the data consisted of drawings, multimodal productions, interviews, and field notes. The analysis resulted in four themes: Having the opportunity to learn in different spaces; Being free and able to participate; Experiencing caring and sharing, and Recognizing one's own growth and achievement. The findings suggest that situations students find meaningful involve aspects of both learning and wellbeing. The practical implication for these results is that student-generated qualitative data can help indicate needs for educational improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore what it means to be able to move in different ways. What does it mean, from the perspective of the learners, to know how to carry out a specific movement? What is there to know and how could this insight contribute to the planning of developing learners' capability to move in different ways? As an example of a ‘new’ way of moving to be learnt, a movement called ‘house-hop’ (i.e. a 360-degree rotation initiated on the ground and completed in the air) was introduced as an object of learning in a physical education (PE) class in a secondary high school in Sweden. The paper explores learners' different ways of moving as expressing different ways ofknowinghow to ‘house-hop’ comprising also certain aspects of the movement being discerned simultaneously by the learners. In this way, an attempt will be made to explicatewhatthere is to know when knowing a movement. Background: Evans initiated a discussion about what ‘ability’ means and how it is recognized and valued within the context of PE which has been further discussed in a growing body of critical research. He also raised the question of which ‘abilities’ the PE subject is supposed to develop while at the same time stating that ‘talk of physically educating the body’ in terms of ‘practical knowledge,' ‘physical literacy’ or ‘kinesthetic intelligence’ has ‘almost disappeared from the discourse of PE'. Rather, physical education in terms of the theme of this paper,capability to move, is reduced to implicit and taken-for-granted ‘standards of excellence,' only reluctantly discussed by PE teachers. There is a need for conceiving capability to move as an educational aim so that it can be explicitly discussed and dealt with in physical education. Theoretical framework and method: The study takes as its starting point an epistemological perspective on capability to move corresponding with Ryle's ‘knowing how,' challenging the distinction between mental and physical skills in regarding the knowing involved in capability to move as comprising interwoven mental and physical processes. Additionally, phenomenography and Variation Theory are used as analytical framework integrated in a Learning Study. Learning Study is a kind of design experiment inspired by the Japanese Lesson Study, where the main aim is to explore an object of learning. Findings and discussion: The findings show different ways of knowing house-hop as well as several aspects to discern in order to know the movement in a powerful way. The knowing involved in house-hopping can be seen assomatic graspingcomprising mental and physical skills as an integrated whole. The paper discusses how this approach to investigating learners' different ways of knowing a new way of moving to be learnt can contribute to the planning of teaching and learning capability to move. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Creative remake assignments using garments and textile refuse are common educational projects to promote environmental and sustainability actions. However, very little empirical research has been carried out on the learning processes of remake projects. In this article, the aim is to examine how students learn with garments and textile refuse when engaging in a remake project. The exploration is conducted in a Swedish crafts class, educational sloyd, as a case. Practical epistemological analysis and the concept of transactant are used to analyse and be attentive to the learning process. The findings show how students transact with the idea of a product, the material’s capabilities and the remake techniques. Further, the transactants show what participates and makes the learning process turn in specific directions, which is further discussed in the paper. Based on this empirical research, we may increase our understandings of how the learning processes is made in the remake project, and that knowledge can help us understand, and thus improve the quality of remake projects in relation to the environmental and sustainability aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study which explores how routine activities in preschool can support young multilingual children’s participation, communication and development of languages. The paper takes as its starting point the idea that young children’s development takes place through interaction and participation, including in routine activities. Empirical data of mealtimes was gathered in eight toddler groups in a Swedish city, and analysed as a context for learning. The mealtimes were video recorded and interpreted by using an interaction analytic approach which allowed multiple layers of mealtime interactions, all of which impact on the level of participation available to children, to be explored. A detailed analysis of activities and opportunities for communication provides an additional perspective for understanding participation and language learning in institutional practices. The findings show how language learning is situated as a communicative and participatory experience, and that common and shared topics are crucial for participation. Further, a shift in children’s participation status during interaction at mealtime is possible. An extended way of incorporating language teaching into multilingual preschool contexts is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Leaders are faced with challenges that are personally and professionally complex. In order to meet these challenges leaders need to be flexible, self-reflective and continually looking for new ways to deepen understanding of their own leadership. Engagement with art based learning enables an innovative and creative exploration of beliefs, values and experiences. The paper draws on mask making workshops that explore leadership style and behaviour as well as feelings and agendas that may be hidden. The paper argues that this constitutes qualitative research with the mask maker as both researcher and the researched. The activity, as well as being enjoyable and intriguing in itself, models creative and lateral thinking, develops self awareness and can enable access to information beyond the objective through the expressive metaphor of the mask. Working with visual, emotional and aesthetic literacies, further developed through non-directive professional dialogue, can lead to a more effective, authentic and therefore ethical leadership. Feedback from participants suggests that the exploration of experience through art based methods offers a valuable process, in parallel with more usual and logical approaches to reflection, and helps to explore both conscious and unconscious drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teaching-research nexus has been studied by many researchers, mainly looking at pedagogic links and direct benefits arising from the interaction of both activities. The paper takes a comparative approach, looking at the relationship between teaching and research in four universities from two different countries. This paper argues that contextual factors are vital in shaping the nature of the relationship and also identifies differences between disciplines in how these contextual factors may be understood. In particular, the contrasting structural and political contexts provided by two different national settings are seen to have a crucial role in shaping institutional activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stumbling-block in voice therapy is the patient's generalization of the new voice behavior in everyday life. Traditionally voice therapy is based on demonstration, i.e. during the therapy session the speech therapist uses her own voice and body to demonstrate for the patient how to produce voice in different training tasks. During the last decade a new voice therapy strategy, the Verbal Instruction Model (VIM), has been developed by the author. In VIM the speech therapist uses verbal instructions instead of demonstration when conveying the training tasks to the patient. Our clinical experience has shown that VIM seems to help getting over the stumbling-block of generalization. However, evidence for VIM voice therapy outcome remains to be scientifically studied and confirmed. The purpose of this paper is to describe VIM voice therapy and to discuss therapy strategies in the light of motor learning principles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper describes a reflective framework that aims to support physiotherapy students participating in new cultural contexts to develop their personal and professional learning, and their reflective skills. The framework was used by eight Swedish physiotherapy students who did international clinical placements in Thailand and Mexico. This was done as part of their bachelor's thesis projects. The data generated from the reflective process was analysed by the students using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The outcome demonstrated that this structured approach to reflection facilitated the students' reflective processes and led to perceived personal and professional insight, increased cultural appreciation and a greater appreciation for reflection. This framework can be a useful tool to support students' reflection processes in new cultural contexts. It is presented for further testing and development, such as in intercultural contexts in the home country, and by physiotherapy teachers and clinical supervisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses recent experiences at the School of Social Work, Lund University, the first in Sweden to use an innovative pedagogical approach for integrating social service users with social work students in the classroom (an EU-funded project). The concept of gift exchange was used to make sense of the approach. Gift exchange is based on the norm of reciprocity and the principles of gift economy—to give, to receive and to return. As one of the most significant integrative relations, this exchange of gifts and courtesies serves the purpose of keeping balance in the system. The focus in this project was on the relationship between two groups of students: service user students—that is, social service users in the role of students on the course—and social work students. The experience of undertaking this project raised many questions, such as what promotes and what hinders mutual learning between two parties in the classroom. Findings show the relevance of such concepts as the gift economy and the importance of reciprocity in teaching contexts. They played an important role in the process of creating a positive learning climate and understanding the integration of social relations between the two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a comparative analysis of municipal and banking organisations, this paper examines how dialogs, inspired by the World Cafe approach, can contribute to developing reflective and organisational learning. Participatory and appreciative action and reflection (PAAR) helps people to understand their circumstances with a view to changing them for the better. This creates opportunities to develop employee communication and shared understanding. Continuous support for a dialogic process of this sort needs tolerance. The world cafe can have a long-term and sustainable effect. The basis for the comparative analysis was dialog seminars and an analysis of cafe dialogs. It is important to gain full support for cafe dialogs from an organisation's senior management before expanding them to the whole organisation. Reflective learning is a more complex phenomenon than formerly assumed because the conscious or unconscious participation of senior management can significantly influence reflective learning processes. If increased integrity and mutual respect are attained through dialog it is worth asking how this can also be further developed in different organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the ways in which top administrators and planners have framed sustainable development in western Sweden and explores the impact of this framing on formal planning processes and decision making at a regional level. Three main conceptualizations of sustainable development are identified, which are here termed the 'pro-market', the 'win-win' and the 'interdependent' framings. While the 'interdependent' framing was most influential in the region studied, the multi-level, multi-sector nature of the network ensured that it was not unchallenged. Instead, an open arena for learning and dialogue about long-term and holistic approaches to planning was established. This allowed a core definition of sustainable development that integrated environmental limits with basic human needs (long term and global) to have a real and practical impact on decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it is observed that an orientation towards the library user is occurring within the field of library history. As reading is an important aspect of library use, it is suggested that library history would benefit from using approaches and perspectives developed by historians of reading. These approaches could be used to support the growing interest in the library user. A concept of 'reading rules' is applied to a source material consisting of retrospective interviews containing information on children's reading practices within the context of the family in early twentieth-century Sweden. It is thereby demonstrated that parents applied different rules to their children's reading, and that these rules conditioned the children's reading and library practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and analyses a community of disabled people in Sweden that use an online forum to discuss personal assistance issues. The forum is a community of practice (CoP) that has its roots in everyday living with personal assistance. The contributions to the forum were studied over a 4½ year period, including a total of 2755 postings from 146 persons. The levels of the CoP learning system were analysed using the FACE tool, which examines function based on attitude, control and enabling. The results indicate that a learning system was established within the CoP that made it possible for disabled people to complement, confront and counterbalance the influences of existing learning systems, theories and methods of professionals in the area of personal assistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops work carried out under the aegis of a European Commission-funded university continuing education (UCE) network. It compares the ways in which UCE has developed in three countries within Northern Europe. The authors firstly review the developments of university education in general in Finland, the UK and Sweden, paying particular attention to the factors that historically have influenced UCE. They then focus on developments and policy imperatives of the last decade. A number of convergences and divergences in policy and practice in the three countries are pointed to. In both Finland and the UK, UCE is well defined by state or quasi-state agencies and is an activity that has been located within well-defined structural units in most institutions. Universities in these two countries have a diverse mission based on a national lifelong learning agenda. By contrast, in Sweden, whilst there is a longstanding international tradition of adult education rooted within democratic movements and a recognition of the importance of equality of access, the provision is to a large extent embedded in universities and not manifest as UCE. What provision that does exist as UCE is patchily distributed across the university sector and nonuniform in character. UCE provision within Finland and UK to varying degrees in becoming more diverse in its make-up. The presence of new providers in a 'CE market', an emphasis on UCE as an economic instrument, moves towards the accreditation of provision and the loss of a particular identity for UCE are amongst factors creating increasing heterogeneity of provision in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a collaboration between three authors; two mathematicians in a Swedish university and a UK-based mathematics educator. The focus of the enquiry was the evaluation of the experience of Swedish first-year undergraduate engineers required, in their mathematics class, to learn to use the programming language Matlab . Students were interviewed and their responses compared with the intentions and expectations of lecturers. Students discerned a lack of clarity in course planning but also had many very sensible suggestions to make, the implementation of which would, they claimed, facilitate their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriately timed Focus on Form can help in raising the learners' language awareness. In this paper we argue that the learner's own text composition progression can indicate when a learner is ready to notice a particular language form. Stimulated recall induced discussion was used to provoke explicit writer comments relating to noticing and language awareness. Two female Swedish 13-year-olds wrote descriptive texts in English using the computer key-stroke logging program, JEdit. This program registers each key-stroke and its time of occurrence. JEdit includes a replay facility. Half of the writing sessions were directly followed by a stimulated recall session in which the writers used the software to comment upon a text's composition progression. A teacher took part in the discussion and gave Focus on Form elaboration when required. Later, the students were invited back to revise their texts. In the analysis we have coupled the comments from the first writing occasion with the changes made. We have also analysed the number of words written and revisions undertaken in each text's composition progression. The results show that the stimulated recall sessions were awareness raising and that they induced the writers to revise more, as an influence of the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]