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The indigenous Riddu Riddu Festival, organized yearly in the village of Olmáivággi/ Manndalen (Sápmi/Norway), presents the cultures of Sámi people and indigenous peoples across the world. A study of the activities offered at Riddu Riddu over an eleven-year period (2009-2019) carried out. Through fieldwork (forty-six in-depth interviews, participant observations and document analysis), I contemplated how sports, physical and outdoor activities included in the festival create indigenous people's identities and cultural understanding. Sámi sports and other indigenous sports and outdoor life are crucial parts of the festival, especially at the Children's Festival: Mánáidfestivála. The activities represent different ethnicities and seem to create sustained ties between persons, networks and organizations and to build identities and bridges between participants. Taking part in festival activities claimed to be crucial symbolic capital, or poly cultural capital, in expressing indigeneity or in the creation of 'indigenous hearts' by participants, staff and volunteers at the festival.

The characteristics of friendships among children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are not well understood. Research on friendships among children without disabilities has identified similarity to each other as a key characteristic among friends. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the friendships between students using AAC and fellow students in Norwegian mainstream public schools. Participants were students using AAC in first to fourth class, fellow students, parents, and staff. Data were analysed using a constructive grounded theory approach. The participants provided diverse reports about the friendships, although all students using AAC reported having friendships at school. The friendships were described by parents and staff as superficial and students using AAC were seldom perceived as playmates by fellow students. The results indicated that friendships between students using AAC and fellow students were often unilateral. The results are discussed along with the implications for future research.

In this paper, we explore how a Norwegian teacher education institution promotes education for sustainable development (ESD) through a residential field course. The residential field course was located in a mountain area and data were collected through participant observation. The data included--together with instructional artefacts--evaluation schemes and assignments written by the student teachers, and the analysis was based on categories for science ESD. Through exemplary teaching experiences in an outdoor environment and pupil-active teaching methods, such as inquiry learning and phenomenon-based teaching, the student teachers gained experience in outdoor education and of stepping into the unknown in a safe learning environment. This was further connected to ESD pedagogy.

The article compares how the UN-initiated education for sustainable development (ESD) has fared in three seemingly dissimilar countries: Norway, a wealthy, 'post-materialist' liberal democracy, Ghana, a developing democratic country, and China, a fast catching-up, centrally-steered economy. The study--based on an analysis of national ESD programmes, schoolbooks and qualitative interviews with teachers and students--discusses some of the pivotal reasons for the decline in ESD schooling in all three countries. It also explores surprising 'archipelagos of pedagogical innovation', as shown by one of the high schools in Ghana. Our conclusions are that, apart from specific, cultural and political contexts which influence ESD, students' socio-environmental literacy in the examined countries has been affected by an ever more pervasive competitive and neoliberal mindset. Further, in all three cases, the agenda of 'sustainable development' suffers from a 'narrative and mythical deficit': a lack of a mobilizing story, the absence of which reduces the attractiveness of sustainability ideals and inhibits their empowering potential.

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the relationship between the contemporary forms of manufacturing rationalization and the reproduction of communities of practice (CoPs) centred on tasks and craft. Building on critical literature highlighting the tensions between CoPs and rationalization, this paper aims to develop a nuanced account of how CoPs are reproduced in the context of rationalization. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative case study of a CoP involved in the production of automotive components was conducted. Following a change in ownership, the company was instructed to rationalize production according to the principles of lean production. Data were collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Findings: The CoP of the case study reinterpreted, resisted and redefined the lean production practices according to the established norms and values. In collusion with local management, workers protected the integrity of the community by engaging in hypocritical reporting. While lower-level managers buffered the rationalization pressures, workers would "get the work done" without further interference. Research limitations/implications: The critical research approach may be applied to a wide range of cases in which informal or professional work organization collides with change programmes driven by management. Future research is encouraged to investigate more closely how CoPs gain access to formal and informal power by enrolling lower-level managers in their joint enterprise and world view. Practical implications: Managers should be aware that attempts to rationalize community-based work forms may lead to dysfunctional patterns of organizational decoupling. Originality/value: This study is one of the first to empirically examine the relationship between CoPs and manufacturing rationalization.

In recent decades, the teaching and learning of composition has become an important topic for research in music education. Composition is established as one of the three main areas in the Norwegian curriculum "Laereplanverket for Kunnskapsløftet" (LK06, 2006), and the importance of creative competencies is being increasingly recognized worldwide, inside and outside formal music education institutions. A central research topic within the field of music education addresses the issue of how to facilitate and lead creative musicking projects. This article examines a composition workshop in which pupils from several Norwegian municipal schools of music and performing arts participate. The aim of the workshop was to create a new piece of music that would be performed at the end of the project period. An experienced composition workshop leader led the project, and four professional musicians took part. The empirical data for this study consisted of interviews, participant observation and video-recordings. Analyzed from a sociocultural perspective, the findings led to a deeper understanding of the facilitation role, revealing that it consists of multiple modes, such as scaffolding, co-participation and collaboration, as well as management and distribution of cultural tools. These findings are discussed in terms of understanding the complex knowledge and skills needed to facilitate creative musicking practices.

This article explores unaccompanied young refugees' participation in various learning contexts beyond school. Drawing from a qualitative study based on interviews with unaccompanied young refugees, educators and social workers in Norway, the findings emphasise the need for a holistic approach to refugee education in and across contexts of learning. The refugees originate from countries where access to formal schooling was difficult or disrupted. Many of them have been exposed to traumatic events prior to arrival. As the educational and psychosocial needs of resettled refugees are diverse and complex, it is unlikely that schools are able to meet them all. Participation in diverse settings, activities and practices beyond school may expand young refugees' opportunities for meaningful learning as well as promote their social inclusion. Facilitating access to adequate learning contexts, along with supporting their own commitment to succeed, is decisive for young refugees' educational achievement, psychosocial adjustment and inclusion in society. The paper emphasises the need for reconceptualising refugee education as inclusive of diverse learning contexts in and outside of school. Enhanced collaboration between schools, local community organisations and wider society will facilitate and support resettling young refugees' opportunities to achieve their fullest potential.

The development of an inclusive pedagogy takes on new urgency in Norwegian schools as the student body has become increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse. Traditionally, the Norwegian school has been dominated by homogenising and assimilating discourses, whereas alternative voices have been situated at the margins. In response to this tendency, we present two transcultural students' autoethnographic stories produced in alternative spaces to the Norwegian mainstream, that is, in a transition class for newly arrived students and on Facebook. Both spaces are perceived as contact zones in the sense that they are culturally and linguistically complex. This article illustrates how the students perform cultural and linguistic resistance towards dominant homogenising discourses as the transition class and Facebook seem to offer opportunities for constructing alternative stories. Moreover, we contend that these alternative stories offer important knowledge for conventional education contexts since they represent stories of competence in contrast to the assumed limitations of these students.

The perplexing numbers of Somali children withdrawn from schools in Norway and sent to Somalia is the concern of this study. These students are often brought back and re-enroll later as adolescents with concomitant educational challenges. The findings are critically analyzed employing John Ogbu's cultural ecology of minorities and a CHAT-based inquiry that approaches the Somali community and Norwegian schooling as interconnected activities that share commonalities and yet evince several contradictions. The findings reveal the need to engage with Somali symbolic cultural artifacts (e.g. deen (religion), dhaqan (culture), gaal (the infidel or "Other"), and hisho (female modesty) and arrive at interpretations/understandings that are more amenable to educational success. It is argued that given the gravity and scale of the conundrum, both sides will have to think creatively if the aim is to safeguard the educational integrity of Somali children.

This article examines which bodily performances indicate the significance of gender in the skills training of physiotherapy students. It is based on a qualitative study of first-year students' skills training in a Norwegian physiotherapy education programme. The study draws inspiration from Paechter's theory of the communities of masculinities and femininities, which argues that the material body is significant in gender construction. These findings indicate how, both historically and contemporarily, gender norms are strongly interwoven into students' bodily performances during their professional training. This bodily performance conforms to heteronormativity. Based on these findings, we argue that within critical educational studies of gender there is a need for theoretical frameworks that include a focus on the material body as a site of gender performance.

This article examines how the self-determination of pupils with intellectual disabilities is practised in secondary school in Norway and discusses possible challenges connected to this practice. The argumentation builds on the fieldwork of qualitative interviews (N?=?55) and participant observations in schools in Norway (pupils 13-16?years old). The pupils attend a variety of educational settings, including ordinary classes at mainstream schools, the department of special education at mainstream schools and special education schools. The study reveals considerable variations in the pupils' opportunities to practise self-determination. While the self-determination of pupils with intellectual disabilities is rather extensive when it comes to their influence over informal and minor decisions in everyday life at school, it is very limited when it comes to formal and major decisions. Furthermore, the implementation of the pupils' self-determination is primarily spontaneous and seldom anchored in the pupils' Individual Education Plans. Such an implementation practice limits the pupils' opportunities to participate in democratic processes, learning and social interaction.

The aim of this article is to explore how male students learn to practice nursing and the role of technology in their training process. The study is inspired by Bruno Latour's understanding of social interaction as an interplay between humans and technology. The students' use of the washcloth and the stethoscope, two significant nursing tools, is examined. Data were gathered using participant observation and informal conversation with a group of male Norwegian nursing students and their male teacher in a skills laboratory at University College. The article contributes a renewed understanding of gender and nursing education as well as a deepened understanding of how men adjust to a historically female profession such as nursing.

This article argues that participative approaches, such as those found in enterprise or entrepreneurship education, allow several factors to influence learning activity. The "Mini-enterprise" (Young Enterprise) approach is one where students set up and run their own business during a school year. This article is based on the analysis of interactional processes in four mini-enterprises in post-16 education. Given the emphasis on progressive ideas in entrepreneurship education in general, it is important to understand how students themselves form the learning activity. The analysis shows how ideas about friendship, school and business all contribute to students' interaction and to forming the learning process. In order to explore how students' agency is informed by different sets of ideas, the article applies Joas' theory of creative action. This allows a discussion of how students' personal and professional interests interact in productive and less productive ways in the learning activity.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to reveal and analyse dominant learning processes in emergency response work from the fire-fighters' point of view, and how fire-fighters develop their competence. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted an explorative approach using participant observation. The objective of this open-minded approach was to discover how, when and where learning took place. Findings: There are several areas for learning that contribute to fire-fighters' development of competence: training, exercises, responses to incidents, storytelling, discussions, lectures, courses, introduction of new technology/knowledge and reading of articles/literature. However, learning to act appropriately in emergency situations is mainly a result of the embodiment of skills and knowledge (getting the feel of it, or "getting it in the finger" as the Norwegian idiom puts it), personal experience and interpersonal sharing of stories. Research limitations/implications: The study concludes that learning amongst fire-fighters follows a process of legitimate peripheral participation, as well as learning being a personal development for the individual fire-fighter. A combination of a socio-cultural approach to learning and an individual cognitive approach is thus needed to fully understand learning processes. Practical implications: Learning can be improved by actors becoming more reflexive practitioners, where responses are critically evaluated and established knowledge and practice are questioned. Efforts to improve learning amongst fire-fighters should accordingly include systematic sharing of experiences and development of more challenging exercises which will help to enhance bodily experience of new knowledge. Originality/value: This study extends current understanding of learning and competence development in emergency work. It presents essential learning activities, in addition to the dominant learning mechanism in personal development. The study clarifies the potential for learning through planned learning processes as opposed to the contribution from informal, ad hoc, socio-cultural means of learning. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.

This paper reports on an ethnographic study conducted with two Year 1 classes in two different Norwegian schools. In total, 35 five- and six-year-old children were involved in the study and were observed over a two-month period as they engaged in learning activities that involved drawing. Building on Kress and Van Leeuwen's (1996) theory of a visual "grammar", this study draws attention to the ways that visual features in drawings made by the children in their first year in school can be found to carry ideational, interpersonal and textual meaning. This paper discusses the similarities and variations in the types of meaning the children make and the interests that seem to have motivated the children. It argues that a focus on drawing can help practitioners support and promote children's visual literacy, and suggests pedagogical implications in light of the study. To begin, the research topic is related to a definition of literacy that encompasses multiple semiotic systems. (Contains 11 figures.)

Scandinavia has long been admired by American liberals and sex education advocates who cite comparable rates of adolescent sexuality, yet lower rates of teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion in Scandinavia. The United States has, however, two variables with which Scandinavia in general, and Norway in particular, has not historically had to contend (i.e. socioeconomic disadvantage and a multicultural society). In part due to these financially stable, homogeneous societies, the Scandinavian countries have established national sex education curricula with relatively little controversy. Recent immigrants to Scandinavia, however, particularly sexually conservative Muslims, throw new challenges into Scandinavia's health and sex education system. For this paper, I will focus on Norway, specifically Sogn Videregaende, the country's largest high school, and use participant observation and interview research conducted there during the summer of 2003 to discuss the multiculturalization of Norway and how this has changed, or left unchanged, the sex education system. (Contains 5 figures and 2 notes.)

The questions raised in this article have to do with how to take due care of the subjectivity of the persons involved in a research project. My main point is that a researcher's self-reflection on ethical problems is inextricably a part of doing research in early childhood settings, if we want to create knowledge which is valid and takes care of the subjectivity of the persons taking part. Questions concerning ethics and validity thus are intertwined. The article draws from the experiences of being a participant observer and cooperating with preschool teacher-carers in Norwegian preschool day-care centres or nursery schools. The purpose of the article is to draw attention to troubling questions which may arise in all phases of a research project involving practitioners in early childhood settings. The focus is on how reflecting on such questions may challenge the powerful role of the researcher and empower the position of the teacher.

Background: Home-based care workers mainly work alone in the patient's home. They encounter a diverse patient population with complex health issues. This inevitably leads to several ethical challenges. Aim: The aim is to gain insight into ethical challenges related to patient autonomy in home-based care and how home-based care staff handle such challenges. Research design: The study is based on a 9-month fieldwork, including participant observation and interviews in home-based care. Data were analysed with a thematic analysis approach. Participants and research context: The study took place within home-based care in three municipalities in Eastern Norway, with six staff members as key informants. Ethical considerations: The Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research evaluated the study. All participants were competent to consent and signed an informed consent form. Findings: A main challenge was that staff found it difficult to respect the patient's autonomy while at the same time practicing appropriate care. We found two main themes: Autonomy and risk in tension; and strategies to balance autonomy and risk. These were explicated in four sub-themes: Refusing and resisting care; when choosing to live at home becomes risky; sweet-talking and coaxing; and building trust over time. Staff's threshold for considering the use of coercion appeared to be high. Conclusions: Arguably, home-based care staff need improved knowledge of coercion and the legislation regulating it. There is also a need for arenas for ethics reflection and building of competence in balancing ethical values in recurrent ethical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research on participatory inequalities in organized leisure has mainly focused on individual resources and contextual factors, studies linking the individual, organizational and contextual levels are lacking. This study remedies this by investigating the degree to which contextual, organizational and individual factors enhance or inhibit participation in membership-based voluntary leisure organizations among children and adolescents in Norway. We studied the individual, organizational and contextual factors by examining how these factors affect participation across municipalities. Our analyses based on individual, organizational, and municipal data investigate, using a mixed-effects approach, the extent to which organizational resources, organizational inclusiveness, and local public policy are associated with increased participation in leisure activities. Our findings show that contextual factors have little direct explanatory power but moderate individual and organizational characteristics while public policies addressing the supply of leisure activities are at best ineffective and should be aimed to a greater extent at reducing socio-economic inequalities at the individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe different patterns of communication aimed at preventing, identifying and managing symptoms between mechanically ventilated patients and clinicians in the intensive care unit. Design: We conducted a fieldwork study with triangulation of participant observation and individual interviews. Methods: Participant observation of nine patients and 50 clinicians: nurses, physiotherapists and physicians. Subsequent individual face‐to‐face interviews with nine of the clinicians, and six of the patients after they had regained their ability to speak and breathe spontaneously, were fully alert and felt well enough to sit through the interview. Findings: Symptom communication was found to be an integral part of patient care. We identified three communication patterns: (1) proactive symptom communication, (2) reactive symptom communication and (3) lack of symptom communication. The three patterns co‐existed in the cases and the first two complemented each other. The third pattern represents inadequate management of symptom distress. Conclusion: Recognition of symptoms in non‐speaking intensive care patients is an important skill for clinicians. Our study uncovered three patterns of symptom communication, two of which promoted symptom management. The third pattern suggested that clinicians did not always acknowledge the symptom distress. Implications for Patient Care: Proactive and reactive symptom assessment of non‐speaking patients require patient verification when possible. Improved symptom prevention, identification and management require a combination of sound clinical judgement and attentiveness towards symptoms, implementation and use of relevant assessment tools, and implementation and skill building in augmentative and alternative communication. Impact: This study addressed the challenges of symptom communication between mechanically ventilated patients and clinicians in the intensive care unit. Our findings may have an impact on patients and clinicians concerned with symptom management in intensive care units. Reporting Method: We used the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research. Patient Contribution: A user representative was involved in the design of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of advance care planning (ACP) is to enable patients to define and discuss their values and preferences to ensure that the care they receive is consistent with their needs and wishes. Most studies of ACP with older adults focus on conversations conducted in institutions. This study aimed to explore how ACP with older patients is carried out and experienced by healthcare professionals when the conversations occur in their private homes. Methods: The data were obtained from participant observations of ACP conversations in the homes of eight older patients with advanced cancer, which also involved relatives and healthcare professionals. Additionally, ethnographic interviews were conducted with the healthcare professionals. We undertook a narrative analysis of what was said, and how the individuals acted and interacted. Results: The home influenced both the substance and form of the ACP conversations. The patients and relatives welcomed the healthcare professionals as guests and were encouraged to share their perceptions of their current situation, joys and worries. Their values were often implicit in their stories about past experiences. The planning mainly focused on life-prolonging treatment and the preferred future place of care. Several patients were not ready to discuss one or more ACP issues. The palliative-care-team physician addressed the patients' readiness for ACP by asking for permission to move on to a different topic, shifting between serious and lighter topics, and using elements from the home as 'door openers' to continue conversations. ACP conversations were an essential basis for future palliative care and cooperation, giving important additional information about the patient and their relatives. Conclusion: Conducting the ACP conversations in the patients' homes ensured a homely atmosphere that facilitated a caring approach when sensitive issues were discussed, and in turn supported the identification of important personal values. The healthcare professionals expressed that the ACP conversations represented an essential common reference point and provided a shared awareness of the expected disease trajectory and the values, preferences and needs of the patient. These findings are particularly important given that many older patients struggle to verbalize or form an opinion on issues affecting their future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Residents of nursing homes are increasingly frail and dependent. At the same time, there are increased demands for quality of care and social life for individual residents. In this article, we explore how care workers contribute to quality of care and social life in shared living rooms in nursing homes.Methods: An ethnographically inspired design was applied, and a purposive sample of six units for long-term care in three nursing homes in Norway was included in the study. Data were collected by participant observation, including informal conversations with the staff and residents, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: The analysis identified three main themes: working within the given context, creating care practices and organizing activities. The empirical findings demonstrate that care work focuses on meeting both the residents' physical and social needs and aiming for high-quality care and social life for the residents in nursing homes.Conclusion: The results of this study illustrate that nursing home practices are focused on residents as a group. However, care workers take advantage of personal skills and resources to work towards person-centred care within the given context. The quality of care is recognized in terms of how care workers meet individual residents' needs. The quality of care seems highly related to the capability and skills of individual care workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, the Norwegian Regional Health Authorities introduced the possibility for people with psychotic disorders to choose medication-free services, with music therapy as a treatment option. This study aimed to explore the health care workers' perspectives on challenges and possibilities of music therapy within these services. This is a qualitative study by an interdisciplinary research team, including experts by experience. Ethnographic notes provide data from participant observation with one patient using music therapy, describing what music therapy can be "a case of". Focus group discussions (FGDs) with health care workers, including music therapists, explore their experiences with music therapy and medication-free treatment. These were transcribed and analyzed using systematic text condensation in a stepwise, iterative process involving co-authors to ensure reflexivity. The summary from the participant observation provides the reader with background information on how music therapy can unfold in mental health care. The informants from the FGDs described music therapy as having a high degree of treatment flexibility providing a continuous process of choices. The collaborative choices both among staff members as well as between patient and staff were experienced as important for treatment outcome. Patients worsening or stagnating increased the significance of contingent choices. The strengths of music therapy, such as its acceptability and flexibility, also represent challenges, including dilemmas of prioritization, challenges when ending therapy, and the need for close collaboration when assessing a patient's worsening. There is a potential for improving the implementation of music therapy into the existing health care teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore how interprofessional family care by ICU teams was reflected in their daily work. Data were collected from four ICUs in Norway. Fieldwork and focus groups with ICU nurses and physicians were conducted in addition to dyadic and individual interviews of surgeons and internists. In line with a constructivist grounded theory approach, the core category "solitary teamworking" was constructed. Together with three sub-categories, proximity and distance, silent interprofessional work and a connecting link, this core category conceptualizes interprofessional family care as a form of contradictory cooperation where physicians and nurses alternate between working alone and as a team. The sub-categories reveal three notable characteristics of interprofessional family care: (1) it is emotionally challenging, affected by proximity and distance to the families and between the clinicians, (2) it is silent, at a strategic and organizational level, and (3) nurses and family members have an essential role as a connecting link in the ICU team. Interprofessional family care needs strong involvement by an organization that supports and prioritizes family care, includes family members as an active part of the ICU team and emphasizes interprofessional dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people with intellectual disabilities in Norway attend municipal day centers where they engage in activities and work-tasks with support from staff. The purpose of day centers is to offer meaningful activities for individuals who are not included in ordinary work. Little research has been done on day centers, and we have limited knowledge of which social and cultural norms apply in such a sheltered context. This article focuses on how employees facilitated the participation of workers with intellectual disabilities through social support and in interaction. This study has a qualitative ethnographic design. Data were collected through participatory observation and interviews and analyzed thematically. We found that the participants alternated between roles and frames of interaction: a work frame and a care frame. Each frame had different norms for interaction and role performance. This study adds to our knowledge about day centers for people with intellectual disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Day centres are increasingly being established, as many older persons are isolated and in need of meaningful activities and social interaction with others. Previous research has shown that day centres are still an important arena for older attendees to socialise and engage in meaningful activities, although day centres are increasingly introducing activities as part of rehabilitation programmes to enhance physical and mental enablement. However, little is known about what attendees and staff regard as meaningful activities. Based on a multi‐site ethnographic investigation at four day centres in Denmark and Norway in 2018 and 2019, this article examines how staff and attendees alike 'utilise' day care centres to pursue meaningful activities and what is considered meaningful for those attending and working there. Furthermore, this article discusses the potential for person‐centred care in communities like day centres. Our study shows that activities are first and foremost perceived as meaningful if they enhance an enjoyable social dimension with 'a touch of fresh news'. Hence, day centres function as a social space where elderly attendees can share stories and news based on personal experiences from the past and present. Consequently, person‐centred care in day care centres preferably facilitates communities to give attendees something new and refreshing to bring back home with them—and not only facilitate personal histories, preferences and wishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ICU patients' family members are in a new, uncertain, and vulnerable situation due to the patient's critical illness and complete dependence on the ICU nurses and physicians. Family members' feeling of being cared for is closely linked to clinicians' attitudes and behavior. Aim: To explore ICU nurses' and physicians' bedside interaction with critically ill ICU patients´ families and discuss this in light of the ethics of care. Research design: A qualitative study using participant observation, focus groups, and thematic narrative analysis. Participants and research context: Data were gathered from July 2017 to August 2019, in four ICUs in Norway through 270 h of fieldwork and seven focus groups with ICU nurses and physicians. Ethical considerations: The Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics and the Norwegian Centre for Research Data approved the study. Findings: Quality of ICU family care depends on nurses' and physicians' attitudes, behavior, and personality traits. Three main themes were identified: being attentive, an active approach, and degree of tolerance. Discussion: The findings are discussed in light of the ethics of care and empirical research from the intensive care environment. Conclusions: This study shows that attentive, active, and tolerant clinicians represent a culture of ethical care that gives families greater freedom of action and active participation in patient care. Clinicians must not bear sole responsibility for this culture; it must have a firm basis in the hospital and ICU and be established through training, interprofessional reflection, and support of clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to define the active ingredients of a participation-focused physical activity intervention for children and youth with disabilities. An ethnographic approach was employed, triangulating participant observation, interviews and focus groups. Participant recruitment occurred through purposive sampling of staff employed at Beitostolen Healthsports Centre (BHC), and paediatric service providers visiting the centre. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded together with observation data. Secondary coding linked data to corresponding categories of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Child and Youth version. Thirteen staff from BHC and 7 paediatric service providers participated in the study. Fourteen active ingredients were identified and were characterised at the level of the intervention (k = 8), the organisation (k = 4), and the individual (k = 2). Within the ingredients, 53 unique ICF-CY categories were identified. Twenty-six categories belonged to the ICF-CY component of "environment," and 26 categories to "activities and participation." No categories related to "body functions" or "body structures." The role of the environment, and specifically support and relationships, may be an essential consideration for enabling physical activity participation. Outcomes may guide program design and implementation to promote and sustain physical activity behaviours for children and youth with disabilities. The active ingredients identified in this study may guide the design and implementation of programs to promote and sustain physical activity behaviours of children and youth with disabilities. Leadership qualities and strength-based attitudes may be key characteristics of organisational practice that optimise outcomes for children and families. A "relationship-centred" approach, i.e., a network of children, families, health professionals, peers, mentors, and services in the community, may support children and young people with disabilities to achieve their physical activity participation goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By exploring immigrant families' experiences of participating in a three-week rehabilitation program focused on adapted physical activity in Norway, this study investigated how beneficial, culturally adapted, and accessible the services were from the families' perspectives. A hermeneutic design with semi-structured interviews supplemented by participant observation was applied. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted. Three themes were identified: "learning through participating," "sharing the same experience," and "gaps in service delivery." By participating in physical activities together with their children, parents became aware of their children's capabilities and interests, as well as the available resources. Parents also socialized and exchanged experiences and information with each other. Children learned new skills, became aware of their preferences and capabilities, built friendships, and improved their social skills. However, a lack of cultural adaptation, such as insufficient information, as well as the location of the rehabilitation center, language barriers, and exclusion of siblings affected accessibility of the services to immigrant families. Although the beneficial aspects of the services were demonstrated, the cultural adaptation and accessibility of the services were limited. Providing flexible and culturally adapted services that meet immigrant families' needs may improve the accessibility of rehabilitation services to immigrant families. Making information available to immigrant families, mapping their resources and needs well before the intervention may improve the accessibility of the services for these families. Rehabilitation professionals need to consider families' perceptions of their own role through the goal-setting process when engaging with families from cultural backgrounds different from their own. When planning the intervention, grounding physical activities in the diverse cultural background of participants may increase immigrant families' sense of belonging and inclusion, and thereby facilitate interaction between families regardless of cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on participatory research with teachers and young learners', this article explores students' perceptions of learning about sexual and gender-based harassment in upper secondary school in Norway. Drawing upon theoretical considerations on recognition, intersectionality and legal literacy as educational capital, this article discusses approaches to teaching and learning that could ensure young learners' rights to active participation and voice, which is an essential element for protection and prevention of harassment. The empirical material indicates that learners would like to learn more about these sensitive issues, although this applies to a greater extent for girls rather than boys. Their wish to learn more about harassment and abuse could be interpreted as a struggle for recognition, motivated by experiences of disrespect. However, defending one's rights, and having someone defending one's rights, in school requires both students' and teachers' legal literacy, which according to the empirical material is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To explore registered nurses' mentorship practices of first‐year nursing students in nursing home placements. Background: Enabling nursing students to develop professional competence through clinical placements relies heavily on registered nurses' mentorship practices. Despite renewed interest in nursing homes as an important clinical placement setting, studies are scarce on registered nurses' mentorship practices in this context. Design: An exploratory, qualitative mixed‐methods design. Methods: The data consisted of 126 h' observation of two registered nurse mentor–student dyads, supplemented by in‐depth interviews (n = 12) with registered nurse mentors. The data were collected in three Norwegian nursing homes and analysed using content analysis. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist were used to report the findings. Results: The registered nurses' mentorship practices of first‐year nursing students in nursing home clinical placement were characterised by (1) variability and uncertainty in pedagogical supervisory approaches, (2) lack of management support and engagement of staff members in supervision, (3) lack of supervisory continuity and (4) a peripheral role in formal assessment discussions. Conclusions: A marginal nursing home context, alongside a mismatch between registered nurses' roles and first‐year students' learning objectives, introduces considerable vulnerability that impedes effective mentorship practices. Targeted efforts to enhance mentorship practices in nursing homes are warranted to promote full use of the learning potential in this context. Developing and testing educational interventions is necessary to effectively enhance registered nurses' pedagogical competence, alongside engagement and support from nurse managers and nurse educators. Relevance to clinical practice: This study provides insight into barriers to effective mentorship practices of first‐year nursing students in nursing home placements. These barriers warrant attention from nursing home managers and nurse education institutions towards improvements that enhance effective mentorship practices vital for students' learning, professional growth and future recruitment to care for older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the neonatal intensive care unit, immigrant parents may experience even greater anxiety than other parents, particularly if they and the nurses do not share a common language. Aim: To explore the complex issues of trust and the nurse–mother relationship in neonatal intensive care units when they do not share a common language. Design and methods: This study has a qualitative design. Individual semi-structured in-depth interviews and two focus group interviews were conducted with eight immigrant mothers and eight neonatal intensive care unit nurses, respectively. Data analysis was based on Braun and Clarke's thematic analytic method. Ethical considerations: Approval was obtained from the hospital's Scientific Committee and the Data Protection Officer. Interviewees were informed in their native language about confidentiality and they signed an informed consent form. Results: Trust was a focus for mothers and nurses alike. The mothers held that they were satisfied that their infants received the very best care. They seemed to find the nurses' care and compassion unexpected and said they felt empowered by learning how to care for their infant. The nurses discussed the mother's vulnerability, dependency on their actions, attitudes and behaviour. Discussion: Lack of a common language created a challenge. Both parties depended on non-verbal communication and eye contact. The nurses found that being compassionate, competent and knowledgeable were important trust-building factors. The mothers were relieved to find that they were welcome, could feel safe and their infants were well cared for. Conclusion: The parents of an infant admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit have no choice but to trust the treatment and care their infant receives. Maternal vulnerability challenges the nurse's awareness of the asymmetric distribution of power and ability to establish a trusting relationship with the mother. This is particularly important when mother and nurse do not share a verbal language. The nurses worked purposefully to gain trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to compare the basic firearms training delivered by the police (university) colleges in New Zealand and Norway, and how this training reflects experience from real-life armed confrontations. Data stem from document studies and participant observation on all basic firearms courses. Findings show similarities regarding the safety, firearms handling and marksman skills that recruits/students need to have to pass their qualification tests, and the absence of policies for basic firearms training. Distinct differences are the way instructors can access and make use of documented experiences of real-life firearms incidents, and the shooting targets used. For both countries, a key finding is that the firearms training context reflects, to a limited extent, performance environments of real-life armed confrontations. Thus, findings of this study indicate a need for the firearms training itself to be improved, or additional training added, to enhance safe and effective handling of real-life firearms confrontations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores everyday hospitality and politics through inclusive forms of integration initiatives in everyday life and urban communities in Denmark and Norway. It investigates how local initiatives and creative social strategies by local actors can empower and include refugees and immigrants in local communities. This article is based on participant observations of urban communities in Denmark and Norway working to welcome refugees and create new cross-cultural meeting places. We argue that people mobilize and take action when faced with emergency, and that the many welcome initiatives organized around theatre, food, dance and music can rework difference. The cases relate to the discussion of hospitality, the production of meaningful meeting places in a local context and the embodied encounters promoted by these activities. This article discusses everyday hospitality and politics in light of the transition in the Nordic welfare states, which has made the debate around inclusion of refugees and immigrants in local communities and the welfare state centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased immigration into Scandinavia warrants the need for knowledge about differential uses of urban spaces by populations with various cultural backgrounds and the conditions that support cross-cultural interactions in these spaces. Immigrants and native Norwegians in Tromsø and Bodø were encouraged to log information about locations where they spend time on online participatory maps, along with their basic demographic information. We ask (1) if the city spaces people use tend to differ based on region of origin, age and gender and (2) in which places cross-cultural interactions occur most. Main findings showed immigrants logged fewer locations related to sports and the outdoors than Norwegians, and immigrants logged more private business locations than Norwegians. Males, young participants, immigrants and participants from Tromsø indicated they engaged in cross-cultural interactions at logged locations more than females, older participants, Norwegians, and participants from Bodø. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This thematic issue addresses one of the most important social and political challenges worldwide: The social inclusion of poor children and youth. In addressing it in this commentary I will have Europe as the regional context and Norway as the national one, although the methodological perspectives I bring forth have relevance beyond Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper builds on ethnographic, qualitative research that explores the 'No Kids in the Middle' program for high‐conflict divorce families, as practiced in the Agder region of South Norway. Parent education programs targeting parents in divorce are generally found to be 'effective' in the sense that parents learn about the pitfalls of conflict and become socialised into less negative patterns of co‐parenting. However, a narrow understanding of the potential of such programs as vehicles for the transfer of knowledge fails to attend to the relational sides of both education and therapy, and the existential sides of parenthood. Drawing on Gert Biesta's articulation of education as a process working along three dimensions of purpose, the paper approaches the 'No Kids in the Middle' program as an educational practice. It aims to explore whether the educational ambitions of the 'No Kids in the Middle' program should be understood primarily in the general terms of qualification (i.e., parents acquiring knowledge and skills) and socialisation (i.e., parents gaining a specific orientation toward a set of norms and values), or if there were practices or elements that seemed directed at subjectification or bringing the 'I' of each parent into play. Analysing field notes from participant observation in a 'No Kids in the Middle' multi‐family group and interviews with parents, therapists, judges, and child welfare caseworkers, the paper concludes that programs like 'No Kids in the Middle' provide a broad spectrum of educational opportunities. While some of these might be intended to instruct along pre‐defined normative paths toward understanding and behaviour, such practices can also be seen as addressing parents in a different, more existential, way. In the particular local practice studied, the dimension of subjectification was perhaps most clearly in play in the informal settings surrounding the program itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine the participation and interactions of migrant women and experts who attended health parties. Based on data from participation observations and semi-structured interviews from participants of health parties, we examine how health parties may be considered an innovative bottom-up community program that could influence how migrant women focus, learn, and discuss health issues as well as interact with health care. Through a qualitative analysis, the article demonstrates two ways of organizing health parties and different approaches to the health expert role, and how this impacts the social setting and interactions of a health party. In the Norwegian setting, migrant women are considered by health authorities to be the most difficult group to reach due to cultural and language barriers. Health parties may represent an alternative for bridging these barriers and may create a useful context for active participation and learning about health for migrant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an initial research project to explore what characterizes knowledge production in craft practice situated in an informal/neutral learning arena outside the education institution. The research project is carried out by craft and design researchers from Norway and Denmark. The project participants include students, academics, older generation volunteers with craft experience, freelance designers, and arts and craft persons, as well as researchers. The overall methodology is a case study approach and has references to practice-led research, participatory design research and A/R/Tography. In this paper we present the research design of the project. Along a theoretical framework consisting of research perspectives of each of our institutional traditions, we lastly discuss the challenges in engaging a neutral learning arena, throughout and as preparation for our research project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Guided by narrative theory and by use of a narrative-in-action approach, the aim of this study was to explore how mental health recovery unfolds through individuals' engagement in everyday activities. Method: Data were created through participant observations with four individuals while doing everyday activities, and analysed through a narrative, interpretive approach. Findings: The findings show how mental health recovery involves unique and open-ended processes of narrative meaning-making, which unfold through an interplay between everyday activities, places and persons. Discussion: Based on these findings, we discuss how we may understand and support mental health recovery as collective processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To explore how information concerning ICU patients´ families is included in the ICU clinicians' daily handover. Background: Handover refers to the transfer of information and care responsibility between clinicians. An effective and precise handover are of great importance to ensure quality of care. Although improvements in handovers have received increasing attention in recent decades, little is known about how information about ICU patients' family members is included in handovers. Design: A qualitative study using Charmaz' constructivist grounded theory approach. Methods: Data were gathered through participant observation, focus groups, dyadic and individual interviews of physicians and nurses from four ICUs in different Norwegian hospitals. The data consist of 270 observation hours, seven focus groups, three dyadic interviews and two individual interviews. Field notes and transcribed interview data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory approach. COREQ checklist was applied as reporting guideline for this study. Findings: "A game of whispers" emerged as the core category, representing missing information about the patient's family during the handover. Together with three subcategories: "documentation dilemmas," "being updated" and "talking together," the core category explains how transfer of family‐related information between clinicians is continually processed and resolved. Conclusions: This study indicates challenges related to appropriate and high‐quality handover concerning ICU patients´ families. Oral handovers are essential in terms of clinicians' need to elaborate on written information and update each other. However, oral transmission involves a high risk of information loss during the handover. Written documentation about the family seems to be inadequate and poorly structured. Relevance to clinical practice: The study findings suggest a need for increased awareness in practice and research of the importance of transferring appropriate and reliable information about patients' families between ICU clinicians. User‐friendly handover tools and patient records that include information on patients' family members should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: To explore how nurses use standardised care plans as a new recording tool in municipal health care, and to identify their thoughts and opinions. Background: In spite of being an important information source for nurses, care plans have repeatedly been found unsatisfactory. Structuring and coding information through standardised care plans is expected to raise the quality of recorded information, improve overviews, support evidence‐based practice and facilitate data aggregation. Previous research on this topic has mostly focused on the hospital setting. There is a lack of knowledge on how standardised care plans are used as a recording tool in the municipal healthcare setting. Design: An exploratory design with a qualitative approach using three qualitative methods of data collection. The study complied with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research. Methods: Empirical data were collected in three Norwegian municipalities through participant observation and individual interviews with 17 registered nurses. In addition, we collected nursing records from 20 electronic patient records. Results: Use of standardised care plans was influenced by the nurses' consideration of their benefits. Partial implementation created an opportunity for nonuse. There was no consensus regarding how much information to include, and the standardised care plans could become both short and generic, and long and comprehensive. The themes "balancing between the old and the new care planning system," "considering the usefulness of standardised care plans as a source of information" and "balancing between overview and detail" reflect these findings. Conclusions: Nurses' use of standardised care plans was influenced by the plans' partial implementation, their views on usefulness and their personal views on the detail required in a care plan. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The structuring of nursing records is a fast‐growing trend in health care. This study gives valuable information for those attempting to implement such structures in municipal health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify and critically discuss how healthcare middle managers' (HMMs) development of the capacity and capability for leadership are experienced to influence quality improvement (QI) in nursing homes. Design/methodology/approach: This study had a critical hermeneutic perspective with data gathered using focus groups, one individual interview and participative observations. Analysis was guided by a qualitative interpretive approach. Findings: The results show how HMMs' development of the capacity and capability for leadership are experienced to influence QI in nursing homes through grasping complexity in a conflicting practice. This involves continuous knowledge development and compensating contrasted by resource shortages, role conflicts and the lack of trust and cooperation. Originality/value: HMMs have a key role in implementing QIs in healthcare. There are few studies on how HMMs develop the capacity and capability for leadership and it is unclear how clinical contexts are influenced by HMMs' development. This study provides new knowledge supporting a change facilitating HMMs' developmental processes targeting practical influence; it emphasizes continuity, coherence, presence and trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Immigrant women show a higher risk of mental health problems and report higher levels of musculoskeletal disorders. Norwegian psychomotor physiotherapy (NPMP) is a body awareness treatment that has been used to alleviate musculoskeletal disorders and mental distress. The purpose of this study is to explore immigrant women's participation in a low threshold training group and identify what motivates and affects their attendance and well-being. Design/methodology/approach: The study is informed by a phenomenological approach. The data collection methods consisted of participatory observation and interviews. Observations and interviews were carried out between December 2016 and March 2017. Findings: The findings show that the content and context of the movement group, being able to participate in exercises wearing own clothes and relying on previous body experiences motivate the women to attend and continue in the training program. NPMP inspired group training takes into account women's cultural preferences and values. The culture-sensitive approach to physical exercise seems to motivate attendance and contribute to social and mental well-being. Low threshold physical programs should, therefore, be considered to provide immigrant women with the opportunity to experience well-being and social participation. Originality/value: This study contributes to the better understanding and promotion of the physical and mental health of immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To explore nurse educators' perceptions about teaching fundamental care to undergraduate nursing students in a simulated learning environment. Background: Recent research has demonstrated that fundamental care is overlooked in nursing education, resulting in little empirical research on how to teach fundamental care within a simulated learning environment. Design: The study has a qualitative, explorative design. The principles of consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) were applied for reporting the methods and findings. Methods: Data were collected through participant observations and focus group interviews with nursing students, clinical nurses and nurse educators. The data were analysed using the qualitative content analysis method. Results: The core category "A privilege but also a challenge" represents the overall perception of nurse educators' perceptions about teaching fundamental care in a simulated learning environment. The core category is supported by two subcategories: "Fundamental care is important to nursing education" and "To set a good example," which represent the attributes and the role nurse educators have in helping students achieve their fundamental care learning outcomes. Conclusions: Fundamental care can be taught to students by engaging them in an interplay between lectures and learning activities that are designed to enhance their skills during simulations in simulated learning environments. Relevance to clinical practice: Nursing education should prepare students to develop the skills they will be applying when providing fundamental care in real life; thus, the students should learn how to deliver high‐quality fundamental care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have demonstrated how teachers can draw on students' multilingual resources in teaching English writing, even in monolingually oriented policy settings. However, limited research has been conducted outside of countries where English is the majority language or in classes where few students share a language background. This article reports on a linguistic ethnography of English writing instruction in two introductory classes for newly arrived students in Norway (Grades 8–10, N = 22), where students and teachers negotiated the role of students' diverse language backgrounds and emerging Norwegian. Data reflect 3 months of participant observation, including classroom video recording, recording of students' computer screens, text collection, and creation of language portraits, followed by stimulated recall interviews. The teachers and students drew on multilingual resources in various ways during writing instruction, most extensively in receptive and oral uses. However, Norwegian assumed a privileged position among the language resources of the class while students sidelined their less formal or prestigious literacy resources. The study demonstrates teachers' and students' ability to reshape English writing instruction as a multilingual space but also concludes that multilingual literacy must be promoted as more than an instrumental resource in the service of English writing development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration (routinizing and sustaining) of evidence‐based practice (EBP) into hospital management is a key element for improving patient safety and ensuring better patient outcomes. Hospital managers and clinical leaders play crucial roles in this integration. Interactions between leaders and integration context influence the improvement's quality, but leader‐based actions that are effective for improving nursing practice remain unclear. The relationship between leaders could also either hinder or enable this implementation process. The aim of this study was to generate a theory about patterns of leader behavior that leaders are engaged in when attempting to integrate EBP in a clinical setting. We used a classic grounded theory methodology to generate a substantive EBP theory. In this study, through participant observation, we observed 63 nurses (15 specialist, 39 registered, and 9 assistant nurses). From these, five ward leaders (two head nurses, one assistant head nurse, and two teaching nurses) participated in individual interviews, and 18 clinical nurses participated in four focus groups. "Creating room for EBP" emerged as a theory for explaining the way in which the leaders attempted to resolve their main concern: How to achieve EBP treatment and care with tight resources and without overextending the nurses. Creating room for EBP encompasses a process of interactions, including positioning for, executing, and interpreting responses to EBP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the phenomenon of popularity and its implications for gender construction, social inclusion, and gender equality among girls in two ethnically diverse contexts in Norway. At one field site, girls of immigrant origin were a majority, at the other they were a minority. Based on detailed ethnographic methodology and participant observation over time, this study shows that the crucial dimensions of popularity overlap with “economies of dignity” and vary according to whether the ethnic Norwegians are in a minority or majority position. The dimensions of popularity, which include the importance of attracting the male gaze, are connected to consumption. My results suggest that consumption influences girls’ construction of gender, and may have negative consequences for the inclusion of immigrant girls when in a minority, because they often live in low-income families. The article concludes that the overlap between the dimensions of popularity and the tokens of value of the economies of dignity underlines the importance of how power, through popularity, works among children. One implication of this power is that neither ethnic Norwegian girls nor girls of immigrant origin appear to live in a climate of gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National civil protection systems have been developed and implemented each time a crisis has unfolded, with different degrees of success in responding to and solving the crisis. However, crises are increasingly not confined by national borders and challenge states' capacities to adequately respond, thus calling for crisis management governance that goes beyond the nation-state. In this respect, the European Union (EU) has developed its civil protection policy and, through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, established forms of cooperation among the participating states of the Mechanism. In this article, through the lens of Europeanisation, we aim to uncover the influences the Mechanism exercises on the Norwegian and Italian civil protection systems and, at the same time, we seek to point out the kind of influences these states have on the Mechanism's development. Europeanisation has been widely used as an analytical framework to mainly explain how national contexts are shaped by EU developments, but it is also equally important to understand how national context shapes changes within the EU. Our data stem from document analysis, semi-structured interviews with civil protection officers at national and EU levels and participant observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]