Sammen kan vi klare det! : i hvilken grad får minoritetsspråklige foreldre muligheter til å bli myndiggjort i møtet med skolen gjennom et gitt opplegg for lese – og skriveopplæring, sett i lys av teori om anerkjennelse, makt og sosialisering

Mastergradsoppgave i tilpasset opplæring, Avdeling for lærerutdanning og naturvitenskap, Høgskolen i Hedmark, 2010Norsk: Dette er en masteroppgave i tilpasset opplæring ved Høgskolen i Hedmark. Oppgaven er en empirisk undersøkelse om hvordan foreldre til elever fra språklige minoriteter får mulighet til å bli myndiggjorte i forhold til egne barns opplæring gjennom et undervisningsopplegg for den første lese – og skriveopplæringen. Bakgrunnen for undersøkelsen er tidligere forskning som viser at gapet mellom minoritet - og majoritetselever øker i norsk skole. Den viser også at foreldres involvering i barns skolegang er viktig for elevenes resultater i skolen. Forskning omkring tospråklighet vektlegger betydningen av opplæring med støtte i elevens morsmål. Det empiriske materialet i denne oppgaven bygger på intervju med 4 foreldrepar og tre lærere, samt lekseobservasjon i tre familier. Undersøkelsen ser på hvilke erfaringer foreldre til elever fra språklige minoriteter har med samarbeidet rundt et konkret undervisningsopplegg som ønsker å benytte foreldrenes språklige og kulturelle kompetanse og i hvilken grad foreldrene opplever at de har betydning i barnas opplæring gjennom opplegget. Undersøkelsen tar også for seg lærernes syn på morsmålsstøttet begynneropplæring og deres erfaringer omkring samarbeidet med foreldre til elever fra språklige minoriteter. Det empiriske materialet blir analysert og tolket i lys av Honneths anerkjennelsesteori og Cummins teori om språk, makt og myndiggjøring. I tillegg benyttes Hoëms sosialiseringsteori knyttet sammen med Bourdieus begreper om språklige og kulturell kapital. Analysene er samlet under tre kategorier: kommunikasjon mellom hjem og skole, foreldres kompetanse og ressurser og utnyttelse av foreldrenes språk og kultur. De blir presentert med utgangspunkt i sitater fra foreldre og lærere. Funnene viser at skolen har en vilkårlig måte å kartlegge foreldres kompetanse på og hvilke behov de har for hjelp og støtte. For noen foreldre resulterer det i krenkelser i både den rettslige og den sosiale sfære. Det viser at foreldre må anerkjennes på individnivå. Funnene indikerer også at mange av foreldrene til elever fra språklige minoriteter har høye forventninger til sine barn og at de ønsker å delta i sine barns opplæring, men at de selv trenger kunnskap og hjelp til hvordan de best kan bidra. Informantforeldrene setter pris på ulike opplæringstiltak i regi av skolen og ønsker seg hyppigere samarbeid med skolen. Også lærere ser stor nytteverdi i det ukentlige undervisningsopplegget, men fremhever at samarbeidet kan være tidkrevende. Når hjem og skole samarbeid systematisk gjennom et morsmålstøttet undervisningsopplegg, ser det ut til at foreldre kan erfare å bli anerkjent og på den måten få muligheter til å bli myndiggjorte i forhold til sine barns opplæring.English: This is a Master’s degree thesis in Adapted Education at Hedmark University College. The thesis is based on an empirical study on how parents of pupils from linguistic minorities are given opportunities to become empowered in their children’s education through a certain teaching method in the first read – and write training. The background for the study is former research which concludes that the gap between minority and majority students is increasing in Norwegian schools. It also indicates that parental involvement in their children’s school program is important for the student’s results in school. Research on biliteracy education emphasizes the importance of educational support by using the student’s mother tongue. The empirical material in this thesis is based on interviews with 4 couples of minority parents and three teachers, in addition to homework observations in three families. This survey focuses on what experiences the minority parents have when participating in a certain teaching method which intends to use the parent’s linguistic and cultural competences, and to what extent the parents feel that they become important for their children’s schooling through this method. The survey also deals with the teacher’s view on the first read – and write training based on mother tongue support and their experiences from the cooperation with minority parents. The empirical material is analyzed and interpreted in the light of Honneth’s theory of recognition and Cummins theory of language, power and empowerment, as well as Hoëms socialization theory linked with Bourdieus’ concepts on linguistic and cultural capital. The analysis is gathered in three main categories: communication between school and home, the parent’s competences and resources and use of parent’s language and culture. The findings show that the school has an arbitrary way of identifying the parents’ competences and what needs they have for help and support. For some parents the result is violation in both the legal and the solidarity sphere. This shows that parents must be recognized on an individual basis. The findings also indicate that minority parents do have high expectations for their children’s education and that they want to participate in the children’s learning process, but they need knowledge and guidance about how to support effectively. The minority parents appreciate different training programs that the school offers and they want the cooperation to be more frequent. Also teachers see a great value in the weekly training program, but emphasize that the cooperation is time-consuming. When school and parents work together systematically through a mother tongue supported learning method, it appears that the parents can experience recognition and thus get the opportunity of being empowered in relation to their children’s learning

Extreme reproduction and survival of a true cliffhanger : the endangered plant Borderea chouardii (Dioscoreaceae)

Cliff sides are extreme habitats, often sheltering a rich and unique flora. One example is the dioecious herb Borderea chouardii (Dioscoreaceae), which is a Tertiary, tropical relict, occurring only on two adjacent vertical cliffs in the world. We studied its reproductive biology, which in some aspects is extreme, especially the unusual double mutualistic role of ants as both pollinators and dispersers. We made a 2-year pollination census and four years of seed-dispersal experiments, recording flower visitors and dispersal rates. Fruit and seed set, self-sowing of seeds, seedling recruitment, and fate of seedlings from seeds sowed by different agents were scored over a period of 17 years. The ants Lasius grandis and L. cinereus were the main pollinators, whereas another ant Pheidole pallidula dispersed seeds. Thus ants functioned as double mutualists. Two thirds of all new seedlings came from self-sown seeds, and 1/3 was dispersed by ants, which gathered the seeds with their oil-rich elaiosome. Gravity played a minor role to dispersal. Both ant dispersal and self-sowing resulted in the same survival rate of seedlings. A double mutualism is a risky reproductive strategy, but B. chouardii buffers that by an unusual long-term demographic stability (some individuals exceed 300 years in lifespan) and its presence in a climatically very stable habitat, inaccessible to large herbivores. Such a combination of traits and habitat properties may explain the persistence of this relict species

Development of the CNPP Prices Database

Data are available at: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodPlansCostofFood.htmfood prices, USDA Food Plans, NHANES, CNPP Prices Database, Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Translation, data quality, reliability, validity and responsiveness of the Norwegian version of the Effective Musculoskeletal Consumer Scale (EC-17)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Effective Musculoskeletal Consumer Scale (EC-17) is a self-administered questionnaire for evaluating self-management interventions that empower and educate people with rheumatic conditions. The aim of the study was to translate and evaluate the Norwegian version of EC-17 against the necessary criteria for a patient-reported outcome measure, including responsiveness to change.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data quality, reliability, validity and responsiveness were assessed in two groups. One group comprising 103 patients received a questionnaire before and at the end of a self-management programme. The second group comprising 96 patients' received the questionnaire two weeks before and on arrival of the program. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed. Construct validity was assessed through comparisons with the Brief Approach/Avoidance Coping Questionnaire, (BACQ), the Emotional Approach Coping Scale (EAC) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-20). Responsiveness was assessed with the Standardised Response Mean (SRM).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Respondents included 66 (64%) and 52 (54%) patients from the first and second groups respectively. Levels of missing data were low for all items. There was good evidence for unidimensionality, item-total correlations ranged from 0.59 to 0.82 and Cronbach's Alpha and test-retest correlations were over 0.90. As hypothesised EC-17 scores had statistically significant low to moderate correlations with the BACQ, EAC and GHQ-20 in the range 0.26 to 0.42. Following the self-management program, EC-17 scores showed a significant improvement with an SRM of 0.48.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Norwegian version of the EC-17 has evidence for data quality, internal consistency and test-retest reliability, construct validity and responsiveness to change. The EC-17 seems promising as an outcome measure for evaluating self-management interventions for people with rheumatic conditions, but further studies are needed.</p

Fra tradisjonell forvaltningsvirksomhet til profesjonell servicebedrift : hva kjennetegner virksomheter som lykkes og hva har de gjort for å bli fremragende?

Tema for vår studie har vært å se hva som kjennetegner virksomheter som lykkes, og hva de har gjort for å bli fremragende og utgangspunktet har vært følgende problemstilling: "Hvordan endre en statlig forvaltningsvirksomhet til en profesjonell servicebedrift"