The effect of different learning backgrounds on learning an unknown skill

Masteroppgave i kroppsøving - Nord universitet, 201

Using texts to teach about and promote intercultural competence in the English subject: Teachers’ perspectives and experiences from Norwegian lower secondary schools

I denne masteroppgaven er interkulturell kompetanse forstått som kombinasjonen av kunnskap, ferdigheter og holdninger som er essensielle komponenter innenfor interkulturell kompetanse og nødvendige for elever å utvikle for å kunne lykkes med passende og respektfulle interkulturelle interaksjoner (Byram, 2021; Deardorff, 2006; Sercu 2005). Denne oppgaven utforsker engelsklærere i Norsk ungdomsskoles oppfatninger av å bruke ulike typer tekster til å undervise om og utvikle deres elevers interkulturelle kompetanse. Metoden brukt til å samle data i oppgaven var semi-strukturert intervju, og funnene er diskutert i forhold til relevant teori (f.eks., Byram, 2021; Lund, 2020; Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013), tidligere forskning (f.eks., Lyngstad, 2019, Cornei & Dina, 2014; Heggernes, 2021) og Læreplan I Engelsk (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2020). Resultatene i oppgaven indikerer at lærernes forståelse av begrepet interculturell kompetanse er i trå med det som er skrevet i Læreplan i Engelsk (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2020). Lærerne uttrykte at de vurderer ulike egenskaper, slik som toleranse og forståelse av andre, som viktige for interkulturell kompetanse. De fremhevet også evnen til å kritisk evaluere egen kultur og viljen til å endre sitt eget perspektiv som essensielt. Likevel, antyder funnene at lærerne underviser kunnskap eksplisitt, mens de underviser ferdigheter og holdninger implisitt. Funnene tyder på at lærerne bruker en rekke ulike typer tekster i sin interkulturelle undervisning, inkludert lærebøker og autentiske tekster, som romaner, filmer og bildebøker. Funnene viser videre at lærerne anser den autentiske teksten som et nyttig verktøy til å forsøke å utvikle ulike komponenter av elevenes interkulturelle kompetanse.In this master’s thesis intercultural competence is understood as the combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are essential components of intercultural competence and necessary for pupils to develop to be able to succeed with appropriate and respectful intercultural interactions (Byram, 2021; Deardorff, 2006; Sercu 2005). This thesis explores teachers of English in Norwegian lower secondary schools’ perceptions on using different types of texts to teach about and promote their pupils’ intercultural competence. The method used to gather data for this thesis was the semi-structured interview, and the findings are discussed in relation to relevant theory (e.g., Byram, 2021; Lund, 2020; Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013), previous research (e.g., Lyngstad, 2019, Cornei & Dina, 2014; Heggernes, 2021) and the English subject curriculum (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2020). The results in this thesis imply that the teachers understanding of the term intercultural competence is in accordance with what is written in the English subject curriculum (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2020). The teachers express that they consider different aspect, such as tolerance and understanding of others to be important to intercultural competence. They also emphasize the ability to critically evaluate one’s own culture and the willingness to change one’s perspective as essential. Even so, the data imply that the teachers work with the component of knowledge explicitly, while teaching skills and attitudes implicitly. The data suggest that the teachers use a variety of different types of texts in their intercultural teaching, including textbooks and authentic texts, such as novels, films and picture books. The data show further that the teachers consider the authentic text to be a useful tool, when trying to develop different components of their pupils’ intercultural competence

The Economics of Technology Stock Prices An empirical study of the relationship between macroeconomic variables and the Norwegian technology index

Many of today's largest and most influential companies are in the technology sector. In recent years, these firms have experienced enormous growth in their stock price. For investors, this has been an excellent opportunity to make abnormal returns by investing in technology stocks. In the same period as the technology stock prices increased, there also were major changes in the economic environment. This suggests that the macroeconomic development has an impact of the prices of technology stocks. The purpose of our thesis is therefore to examine the relationship between chosen economic variables and the performance of the Oslo Stock Exchange technology index by answering the following research question: How do macroeconomic determinants affect the development of the Norwegian technology index? To answer the research question, we use quarterly time series data over a period spanning from 2000-2021. Based on earlier research and economic theory, seven macroeconomic variables are included. These are the 3-month NIBOR rate, inflation, the oil price, NOK/USD exchange rate, gross domestic product per capita, gross fixed capital formation and credit to the private sector. Previous literature has to a large extent examined the relationship between macroeconomic factors and the market as a whole. Our research differs from previous literature by focusing on the development of one specific sector. This can contribute to explain how the economics of technology stock prices differ from the overall stock market and how investors can exploit these differences to decide how and when to invest in the technology sector. The results of our analysis confirm that there exists a relationship between the macroeconomic factors and the Norwegian technology index. Several different relationships are found in our models. However, both models suggested a significant relationship from the 3-month NIBOR rate, inflation, the oil price and exchange rate to the value of the technology index, making those relationships robust. Investors should therefore be aware of the development of these factors when investing in the Norwegian technology stock market. Further, our analysis found no relationships from the technology index to any of the macroeconomic variables, implying that the index is a bad indicator for predicting the development of the macroeconomic variables.nhhma

«Med rom for alle» Kvalitetssikring av spesialundervisning i Lillehammerskolen.

Artikkelen er opprinnelig utgitt i tidsskriftet "Spesialpedagogikk". Forlagets sider finnes her: https://www.utdanningsnytt.no/spesialpedagogikk/Denne artikkelen omhandler et FOU-arbeid som er blitt gjennomført i tidsrommet 2011–2015 i Lillehammer kommune. Vinteren 2011/12 foretok Senter for praksisrettet utdanningsforskning ved Høgskolen i Hedmark en evaluering av i hvilken grad skolene oppfyller kravet om å drive tilpasset opplæring, ved å undersøke forholdet mellom ordinær opplæring og spesialundervisning i Lillehammerskolene. Resultatene fra dette arbeidet danner grunnlag for et utviklingsarbeid som fortsatt pågår i kommunen

Under What Conditions Do Rural Schools Learn From their Partners? Exploring the Dynamics of Educational Infrastructure and Absorptive Capacity in Inter-Organisational Learning Leadership

This journal is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits any use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.This case study was designed to explore the strategies and actions that high performing schools with sus-tainable results employ at the district level in arural part of Norway. The district subjected to the study is characterisedby small municipalities and a scattered population, with a few small school administrative units, which might be a challenging context for sustainability and improvement. In response, the districts developed collaborative structures to increase collective learning capacity. The research design involved a collective case study, and it draws on data from interviews with school leaders at the municipal level and local school policy documents. The findings suggest that Norwegian school district actorscan facilitate school improvement by shaping collaborating cultures, inter-organisationallearning processes and educa-tional infrastructures. Furthermore, the findings highlight the schools’ ability to recogniseand value new knowledge from external sources, such as academic institutions and partner schools, assimilate novelties across boundaries and,eventually,utilise thesefor strategic or operational endstoenhance an organisation’s absorptive capacity. Finally, the findings indicate that superintendents can play important roles through boundary-spanning and gatekeeping activities.publishedVersio

Jordundersøkelse i barnehager i Åsane bydel - Bergen kommune

Bergen kommun

Organisatoriske kjennetegn ved kommuner i rurale regioner med gode skoleresultater over tid

Tematikken i avhandlingen er knyttet til de kontekstuelle utfordringene som påvirker skolesektoren i rurale regioner og den beskjedne oppmerksomheten som er gitt skoleledelse i denne konteksten. Avhandlingens fokus har i empirisk forstand vært rettet mot tre små nabokommuner, som på tross av utfordringer knyttet til det å være lokalisert i en rural region, kan vise til gode skoleresultater over tid. Studiens underliggende antakelse er at de tre nabokommunene over tid har utviklet distinkte organisatoriske kjennetegn. Den overordnede problemstillingen for avhandlingen er: Hvilke organisatoriske kjennetegn har kommuner i rurale regioner med gode skoleresultater over tid? Studien har et pragmatisk mixed methods design med bruk av intervjuer, dokumenter og spørreundersøkelse. Den overordnede problemstillingen blir undersøkt gjennom ulike forskningsspørsmål, behandlet separat i tre artikler. Med fokus rettet mot kapasitetsbygging i rurale regioner handler den første artikkelen om strukturer, strategier og handlinger utført på kommunalt skoleeiernivå. Den andre artikkelen setter søkelys på samarbeid og samhandling mellom ledere på skoleeiernivå og skoleledere i de tre rurale nabokommunene, mens artikkel tre tar utgangspunkt i begrepet skolelederes kjernepraksiser og analyserer relasjonen mellom skoleleders kjernepraksiser og organisatorisk skoleklima i høytpresterende og lavtpresterende rurale skoler i et sammenlignende perspektiv. Diskusjoner i avhandlingen er reist på grunnlag av funn presentert i de tre artiklene og er rammet inn gjennom ulike organisasjonsteoretiske tilnærminger og perspektiver. Et hovedfunn i avhandlingen, og et tydelig organisatorisk kjennetegn, er at de tre små høytpresterende nabokommunene har søkt sammen, og etablert et lite organisasjonsfelt. I tillegg viser analysene et utstrakt engasjement i profesjonelle nettverk både innenfor det avgrensede organisasjonsfeltet og i den rurale regionen som helhet. Et tredje hovedfunn belyser hvordan strategisk ledelse fra skoleeiernivået utspilles i dette organisasjonsfeltet. Et fjerde funn viser at to kjernepraksiser for skoleledere fremstår som sentrale i dette organisasjonsfeltet.Abstract: The theme of the dissertation is related to the contextual challenges that affect the school sector in rural areas, and the modest attention paid to school leadership in this context. The empirical focus of the dissertation has been on three small neighbouring municipalities, which,despite challenges associated with being located in a rural region, can point to high performing school results over time. The underlying assumption of the study is that the three neighbouring municipalities have developed distinct organizational characteristics over time. The issue at the heart of the dissertation is: What are the organizational characteristics of municipalities in rural regions which show high-performing school results over time? The study has a pragmatic, mixed methods design, which uses interviews, documents and questionnaires. The overall issue is examined through various research questions, and dealt with in three separate articles. Focusing on building capacity in rural regions, the first article is about the structures, strategies and actions implemented at the municipal school owner level. The second article focuses on the cooperation and interaction between leaders at the school owner level, and school leaders in the three rural neighbouring municipalities. Article three is based on the concept of school leaders’ core practices, and analyses the relationship between the school leader's core practices and the organizational school climate in high-performing and low-performing rural schools from a comparative perspective. The dissertation raises discussions on the basis of findings presented in the three articles, which are framed through various theoretical, organizational approaches and perspectives. One main finding in the dissertation, and a clear organizational characteristic, is that the three small, high-performing neighbouring municipalities have applied together, and established a small organizational field. The analyses also show extensive involvement in professional networks, both within the limited organizational field and in the rural region as a whole. A third main finding sheds light on how strategic leadership at the school owner level is played out in this organizational field. A fourth finding shows that two core practices for school leaders appear to be central in this field of organizationpublishedVersio

Jordundersøkelse i barnehager i Årstad bydel - Bergen kommune

Bergen kommun

Jordundersøkelse i barnehager i Fana bydel - Bergen kommune

Bergen kommun