LGBT representation in the English foreign language classroom

This project addresses teacher’s attitudes and pupils’ access to LGBT representation in the English foreign language (EFL) subject in six Norwegian schools by examining what is available in their school libraries, what kind of representation is found in their EFL textbooks, and by conducting a voluntary and anonymous teacher survey at the selected schools. In order to develop critical awareness of LGBT representation, pupils need to be introduced to accurate and authentic representation of LGBT identifying people; meaning texts with explicit LGBT characters, that avoid problematic stereotypes, and that can act as mirrors and windows where the reader can see themselves and others reflected (Bishop, 1990). Previous studies also show that schools can have a positive impact on pupils if teachers are good role models and create environments where LGBT issues are addressed, for example through the use of LGBT-inclusive literature. The results from this study show that there is very little LGBT representation in the school libraries and the English textbooks in the selected schools. The textbook representations of LGBT identities are problematic, and when included there is only one representation throughout the entire work. LGBT representations from the school libraries provide more authentic portrayals, but the majority of schools that participated in this study had a very tiny collection that largely included representation of homosexual men. Very few teachers were aware of which LGBT resources they had at their school, and a majority of them had never included LGBT topics in their English teaching. The study suggests that teachers should become more aware of the LGBT resources available to them and where to find additional resources. School libraries should aim at having larger collections of LGBT literature with a wider variety of LGBT identities. And lastly, the textbook producers need to incorporate more authentic and varied representations of LGBT identities

Refusing to Tolerate Ongoing Prejudicial Behaviour toward Immigrants: Together We Can Object to Prejudicial Flag Displays

Over recent years, immigrants have been met with unjust prejudiced behaviour instead of warm welcome. However, not all citizens of a nation endorse such behaviour, instead they try to oppose it through social mobilisation. In the context of an ongoing situation where the national flag is used as a prejudiced means to exclude immigrants, individuals who felt attached with all members of the nation felt significantly more shame for the unjust than individuals who glorify their nation. Consequently, attached identifiers expressed a significantly greater motivation than glorified identifiers to start thinking about social mobilisation to reclaim the meaning of the flag as a symbol of inclusion, not exclusion. The current study contributes to the growing debate on how immigrants are received, and it helps explain how national identification and feelings such as shame motivate individuals to start thinking about objecting to prejudicial flag displays.publishedVersio

Incorporating smell into children's museums : Insights from a case study in Norway

We report on how we integrated smell into the classic children's story ‘The Three Little Pigs’ to enhance a public children's museum exhibition. The study employed Wenger's (1998) social theory of learning as its conceptual framework. It aimed to enhance children's sensory experience in a local Norwegian museum through a collaboration between academia and the industry. We used five abstract smells that were included in five wooden boxes and strategically placed around an adventure trail inside the museum (science factory). In this article, we reflect on the exhibition choices and findings, and recommendations for future children's exhibitions combining odors and narrative.publishedVersio

Optimal ship speed and routing when considering ECA regulations

Abstract Annex VI of the MARPOL convention under the International Maritime Organization considers air pollution from ships and defines four Emission Control Areas (ECAs) with more stringent control of sulphur emissions. In 2015, the restrictions will tighten resulting in a sulphur limit of 0.1% within ECAs, whereas it is 3.5% outside ECAs. This thesis evaluates how the imposed regulations affect ship operations concerning speed and routing, and the associated consequences for the global environment. In order to comply with ECA regulations, ships are assumed to apply fuel switching, where marine gas oil (MGO) with 0.1% sulphur content is consumed within ECAs and heavy fuel oil (HFO) is used elsewhere. MGO is more expensive than HFO, and the price differential induces the potential change in ship operations. Future fuel prices are uncertain, and the differential might increase due to higher demand for MGO when the ECA regulations tighten. A standard scenario is defined representing the current market situation, with MGO and HFO prices of USD 920 and 590 per tonne, respectively. General optimisation models are developed for speed and routing decisions from a shipping company s point of view. The objective function minimises fuel costs, given as the product of fuel consumption and price for each of the fuels. Fuel consumption depends largely on speed, and it is often approximated as a cubic relation. Linear models are implemented using real data with discrete speed alternatives for which the fuel consumption for a given ship is known. Four different sub problems are studied, and speed is an important decision variable in all the corresponding models. The most emphasised problem includes alternative sailing leg options, where different legs are proposed between two ports so as to avoid stretches within ECA where the fuel is more expensive. Findings show that ships would benefit from reducing speed within ECAs and compensate for the longer sailing time by speeding up on stretches outside ECAs. This leads to increased total fuel consumption compared to sailing at constant speed throughout the route, but the consumption of MGO is reduced from this strategy and so are total fuel costs. For the problem with fixed routes and sequences, the total fuel consumption is found to increase by 0.1-1% when ECAs are enforced. A greater increase appears for the variable leg problems, as total sailing distances increase in order to avoid ECA stretches. Speed consequently also increases to meet the generated time constraints. For this type of problem, the total fuel consumption is increased by around 3-7% for all the implemented cases. The ECA regulations are intended to reduce sulphur emissions within the defined areas and protect coastal life from these harmful substances. Sulphur oxides (SOX) emissions are calculated for all the problems in this thesis, and a great reduction is expected to follow the tighter sulphur limits, both in total and especially within ECAs. CO2 emissions on the other hand are proportional to the total fuel consumption, and as such increase by the same relative amount of 0.1-1% for the fixed leg cases and 3-7% with variable legs. This increase is significant, and constitutes the downside of the predicted ECA implications. CO2 is an important greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Costs of the different emissions are not estimated or compared, but the general findings are of great importance for the evaluation of ECA impacts on the global environment

Kunnskapsoverføring ved prosessautomatisering

Temaet for denne masteroppgaven er kunnskapsoverføring. Med kunnskapsoverføring menes prosessen for å overføre og gjenskape en «beste praksis» fra en del av organisasjonen til en annen (Szulanski, 1996). Mer spesifikt har jeg sett på prosessen der kunnskap overføres som følge av prosessautomatisering i SpareBank 1 SR-Bank. I denne sammenheng er dermed «beste praksis» den automatiserte prosessen. Denne studien er en kvalitativ casestudie som har til hensikt å besvare følgende problemstilling: Hvordan skjer kunnskapsoverføring ved prosessautomatisering og hva kan hemme denne prosessen? Formålet er å belyse det menneskelige aspektet ved automatisering. Den skal konkretisere hvordan kunnskapsoverføring skjer når man automatiserer en prosess, og bidra til å klargjøre hva som kan være avgjørende for en effektiv og vellykket overføring. Det teoretiske fundamentet i studien bygger på Szulanski (1996) sitt prosessbaserte syn på kunnskapsoverføring. Hovedfunnene viser at kunnskapsoverføringsprosessen til Szulanski (1996) kan benyttes for å forklare hvordan kunnskapsoverføring skjer ved prosessautomatisering. Initieringsfasen starter med et behov om en automatisert prosess og avsluttes når det er besluttet at prosessen skal automatiseres. Beslutning om automatisering starter implementeringsfasen, som varer frem til den automatiserte prosessen settes i produksjon. Innkjøringsfasen startes dermed når den automatiserte prosessen produksjonsettes og varer til nye rutiner er etablert og tatt i bruk i mottakende avdeling, som er startpunktet for integreringsfasen. Funnene viser at flere av fasene er sammenfallende med arbeidsprosessen til SpareBank 1 SR-Bank og er dermed lette å identifisere. Det er imidlertid vanskelig å skille mellom innkjørings- og integreringsfasen. Funn knyttet til hemmere for kunnskapsoverføring peker på manglende formelle rutiner, standardisering og oppfølging som de største barrierene. I tillegg viser funnene at tidsbruk i implementeringsfasen også kan være en hemmer for kunnskapsoverføring

Revisiting the “The Breakfast Club”: Testing Different Theoretical Models of Belongingness and Acceptance (and Social Self-Representation)

The current work tests different theoretical models of belongingness and acceptance as fundamental needs for human motivation. In the current study, 372 participants were presented with 52 different items measuring five different theoretical models of belongingness (with a total of 32 items) and three different theoretical models of acceptance (with a total of 20 items). In a first step, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) failed to provide support for these eight theoretical models. In a second step, we therefore applied Exploratory Factor Analysis yielding three factors, which we interpreted as communicating: (1) Belongingness, (2) Emotion-Acceptance, and (3) Social Self-Representation. In a third step, these three factors were corroborated by a CFA. We discuss how these two factors of “belongingness,” “emotion-acceptance” respond to the literature on the need to belong and be accepted, and we reflect on how ‘social self-representation’ seems to be an alternative motivation for how we present ourselves to our social relations to fulfill our needs.publishedVersio

Exploring Responses to Body Weight Criticism:Defensive Avoidance When Weight Is Seen as Controllable

In Western society, weight moralization is reflected in the belief that weight is controllable across the weight spectrum. However, the effect of holding such beliefs is unclear. We therefore propose that these beliefs affect people differently depending on their BMI. When confronted with negative, self-related feedback, people’s coping strategies are often reflected in the ways they relate to their self. We examine three such self-to-self relations (i.e., reassured, inadequate, and hated self). Extending prior research, we predict that weight controllability beliefs are related to positive self-to-self relations for adults with a low, and to negative self-to-self relations for adults with a high BMI. Accordingly, we expected that weight controllability beliefs would be associated with defensive avoidance among people with a high, but not with a low BMI. We tested our hypotheses in a sample of 348 adults who participated in an online survey. Weight controllability beliefs were associated with increased defensive avoidance in people with high BMI, and with decreased defensive avoidance in adults with a low BMI. Forms of self-to-self relating fully mediated this association, demonstrating positive effects on adults with a low, and negative effects on adults with a high BMI. Additionally, in an open ending section, we found seven social settings that deprive people from satisfying their need to belong and to be accepted due to their weight. We discuss our findings against a call for a less moralized public discourse about overweight and obesity that is particularly relevant in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic.publishedVersio

Destruktiv ledelse - En litteraturstudie av den destruktive lederen

Hensikt: Formålet med oppgaven er å kunne fordype oss i en tematikk som vi synes er interessant og gjerne ønsket å lære mer om. I en verden hvor fokuset omhandler gode ledere, valgte vi å se på det motsatte i håp om å selv få bedre kunnskap, i tillegg til å kunne belyse et viktig tema som destruktiv ledelse og hvilke følger det kan få. Hensikten er dertil at komme frem til ulike effekter, påvirkninger og konsekvenser ved destruktiv ledelse og eventuelle forebyggelser. Problemstilling: Hvorfor oppstår destruktiv ledelse og hvor stor påvirkningskraft har det? Metode: Dette studie er en litteraturstudie som sammentrekk av allerede foretatt forskningsartikler. Det er benyttet syv forskningsartikler som tar for seg destruktiv ledelse på ulike måter. Forskningsartiklene er hentet fra databasene Google Scholar og Oria. Sentrale resultater: Destruktiv ledelse viser gjennomgående vanskelige konkrete resultater og oppstår i all sin helhet når både underordnet og miljø tillater det. Uten dette er det svært vanskelig for destruktiv ledelse å oppstå. Samtidig oppstår det gjennom ulike faktorer som hertil situasjonsfaktorer, høy selv-interesse og individets personlige jeg. Påvirkningskraften av destruktiv ledelse er veldig ulik fra hvert enkelt individ, men vises å ha stor negativ effekt på både individet, organisasjonen og det generelle arbeidsmiljøet. Det ses at dette oftest omhandler jobbtilfredshet og peker mot konsekvenser for den enkeltes mentale helse, og går derfor dypere enn bare jobbsammenhenger.Purpose: The purpose of this task is to delve into a topic that we find interesting and would like to learn more about. In a world where the focus is on good leadership, we chose to look at the opposite in the hope of gaining better knowledge, as well as shedding light on an important topic such as destructive leadership and its potential consequences. The purpose is also to identify different effects, influences, and consequences of destructive leadership, as well as possible prevention measures. Research question: Why does destructive leadership occur, and how significant is its impact? Method: This study is a literature review that summarizes previously conducted research articles. Seven research articles were used to examine destructive leadership in various ways. The research articles were obtained from the Google Scholar and Oria databases. Key findings: Destructive leadership consistently produces difficult, concrete results and occurs entirely when both subordinates and the environment permit it. Without this, destructive leadership is very difficult to emerge. At the same time, it arises through various factors, including situational factors, high self-interest, and the individual's personal ego. The impact of destructive leadership varies greatly from each individual, but it appears to have a significant negative effect on both the individual, the organization, and the overall work environment. This is primarily related to job satisfaction and indicates consequences for the individual's mental health, which goes deeper than just work-related matters

Exploring Responses to Body Weight Criticism: Defensive Avoidance When Weight Is Seen as Controllable

In Western society, weight moralization is reflected in the belief that weight is controllable across the weight spectrum. However, the effect of holding such beliefs is unclear. We therefore propose that these beliefs affect people differently depending on their BMI. When confronted with negative, self-related feedback, people’s coping strategies are often reflected in the ways they relate to their self. We examine three such self-to-self relations (i.e., reassured, inadequate, and hated self). Extending prior research, we predict that weight controllability beliefs are related to positive self-to-self relations for adults with a low, and to negative self-to-self relations for adults with a high BMI. Accordingly, we expected that weight controllability beliefs would be associated with defensive avoidance among people with a high, but not with a low BMI. We tested our hypotheses in a sample of 348 adults who participated in an online survey. Weight controllability beliefs were associated with increased defensive avoidance in people with high BMI, and with decreased defensive avoidance in adults with a low BMI. Forms of self-to-self relating fully mediated this association, demonstrating positive effects on adults with a low, and negative effects on adults with a high BMI. Additionally, in an open ending section, we found seven social settings that deprive people from satisfying their need to belong and to be accepted due to their weight. We discuss our findings against a call for a less moralized public discourse about overweight and obesity that is particularly relevant in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic

Resolving the paradox of shame: differentiating among specific appraisal-feeling combinations explains pro-social and self-defensive motivation

Research has shown that people can respond both self-defensively and pro-socially when they experience shame. We address this paradox by differentiating among specific appraisals (of specific self-defect and concern for condemnation) and feelings (of shame, inferiority, and rejection) often reported as part of shame. In two Experiments (Study 1: N = 85; Study 2: N = 112), manipulations that put participants’ social-image at risk increased their appraisal of concern for condemnation. In Study 2, a manipulation of moral failure increased participants’ appraisal that they suffered a specific self-defect. In both studies, mediation analyses showed that effects of the social-image at risk manipulation on self-defensive motivation were explained by appraisal of concern for condemnation and felt rejection. In contrast, the effect of the moral failure manipulation on pro-social motivation in Study 2 was explained by appraisal of a specific self-defect and felt shame. Thus, distinguishing among the appraisals and feelings tied to shame enabled clearer prediction of pro-social and self-defensive responses to moral failure with and without risk to social-image