The COVID-19 pandemic has elicited a shift from campus classrooms to distance education in higher education worldwide, shaping not only students’ experiences, but also those of teachers, especially those who never have taught online. In addition, the pandemic created a meta-context that has positioned distance education as something different from previous efforts. This study aimed to investigate higher education teachers’ experiences during the transition from classroom to online teaching by using a collective auto-ethnography method based on 13 personal stories from Swedish faculty. For the abductive approach in the analysis, a framework that combines lifelong learning theory with the context collapse concept has been applied. The disjuncture that the pandemic has elicited created a situation in which teachers had to make sense of the fact that their previous experiences did not completely fit the new situation. Context collapse, a term used to describe encounters with many audiences in social media, has been introduced to highlight the clash between professional and private contexts in online educational platforms. Based on lifelong learning theories, we suggest that context collapse should be examined in terms of how it can help improve higher education, as it holds the potential to include the entire person – body and mind – in education.

The current study – guided by the overarching research question What aspects of successful teaching unfold in students’ descriptions of the teachers that they perceive as being really good teachers? – is situated within a larger research project aimed at extending knowledge about successful teaching and teachers. It builds on 20 focus-group interviews with 102 students aged 16–18 in ten Swedish municipalities. Based on inductive qualitative content analysis carried out on manifest data level, eight aspects unfold that – from a student perspective – characterise excellent teachers and teaching. These are subsequently problematised from an opportunity-to-learn (OTL) perspective, and in relation to various theoretical understandings of what successful teaching encompasses. It is concluded that such teaching that students perceive as leading to knowledge-development and well-being is characterised by aspects that can be understood – in various ways – as relational, i.e. as unfolding through participative communication in the interplay and interaction that constitute the space between teacher and students. Throughout students’ descriptions it is also obvious that the teachers they perceive as the best are scaffolders and shepherds who manage to balance between simultaneously scaffolding and challenging students cognitively while paying attention to affective dimensions in order to safeguard their social development, self-confidence and self-esteem. 

The current study reported here is one within a research project aimed at the identification of enabling and constraining factors in a two-year school-development project at a large secondary school in Sweden, where all teaching staff were involved in improving the quality of instruction through collaborative analyses. In this project a development group, consisting of one principal and eight lead teachers/middle leaders, played a vital role. Based on activity theory and an understanding of leadership as practice involving individuals, organization and artefacts, this study sets out to deepen the knowledge of leadership practices in locally situated, teacher-driven, school-development work. Organizational changes occurring when the development group sought to achieve a model for systematic collaborative learning are analysed, with a specific focus on the role of middle leaders. Data were collected through observations and interviews during the project’s planning phase and through subsequent interviews and continuously written self-reflections during its operational phase. Several contradictions on various levels in the activity system are identified, and it is suggested that the school’s way of organizing teacher-driven school-development work – by transforming the rules, division of labor and mediating artifacts of the activity system – enabled collaborative learning and analyses of instruction that involved all teachers at the school.

The study answers the following question: What teaching practices do skilled teachers report as being key to enabling successful teaching with respect to inclusion and knowledge development? The participants in this study where 20 teachers, from 10 Swedish municipalities, who taught 16 to 18 year-old students. The study is based on interviews with (recognised) skilled teachers who possess the ability to include all of their students in everyday teaching practices in such a way that students are motivated to engage in knowledge development, based on their unique abilities. All of the participating teachers are in agreement that good knowledge of the subject being taught is foundational to such teaching, but other abilities are needed if teaching is to be successful. Based on phenomenological theory, this study identifies six themes which complement ‘good knowledge of the subject’. The themes relevant to teaching success are: (i) the active and systematic creation of relationships; (ii) demonstration that the teacher wants to be with the student, here and now; (iii) a continual striving to become a better teacher and demonstration of the same; (iv) a sharing of responsibility for learning with the students; (v) the creation of learning opportunities; (vi) the establishment of trust and a sense of security.

Boken belyser olika aspekter av ett framgångsrikt skolutvecklingsprojekt på en lokal skola i Jönköpings kommun. Huvudtemat är en beskrivning av hur rektor tillsammans med mellanledare och övriga lärare på skolan gjort för att organisera och genomföra professionsdriven skolutveckling med undervisningen i fokus. I flera av bokens kapitel beskrivs planeringen och genomförandet av projektet och vilka framgångsfaktorer och hinder som upptäckts under processen. Dessutom presenteras studier som gjorts av lärare i verksamheten för verksamheten, följeforskning av mellanledarnas roll samt kollegiets erfarenheter av projektet. Därtill innehåller ett kapitel elevtexter som beskriver deras erfarenheter. Det är mångfalden av perspektiv och det faktum att innehållet är hämtat direkt från praktiken som gör denna bok unik.Projektet som redovisas i boken visar på en betydelsefull motvikt till dagen skoldebatt, som många gånger handlar om sviktande elevresultat, tidsbrist i läraryrket och tidsbrist för att kunna genomföra utvecklingsarbete i verksamheten. Resultatet visar att det går att genomföra framgångsrik skolutveckling med förändringar i såväl undervisningen som skolkulturen i sin helhet, vilket bland annat har lett till högre meritvärden hos elever.

We  examine  how  Swedish  directors  of  education  describe the conditions under which they lead research-based education.  The  empirical  data  was  collected  via  questionnaires  that  were  distributed  via  e-mail  to  all  Swedish  directors  of education in charge of primary and secondary schools. Our results are based on a ‘frame factor’ theoretical perspective.Directors  of  education  judge  themselves  as  being  well-prepared  for  the  task  of  ensuring  that  research-based  education  is provided  to  the  students.  They  envision  their  role as  one  where  they  read  research  reports,  but  they  do  not  disseminate  this scientific  knowledge  throughout  schools.  The  directors  assess  teachers  as  having  the  least  responsibility  for  ensuring  that research-based education in primary- and secondary schools is provided to the students. From a cultural frame perspective, the results of the study reveal that school director considerably overestimate their ability to manage a scientific based education.

In 2010, the Swedish Parliament enacted a new education act that, among other aspects, stipulated education in primary and secondary schools must be based on research and proven experience. Such a legal requirement that would apply to both school levels is quite innovative not only in Sweden but internationally. Over the years principals and teachers have developed new pedagogies designed to improve teaching and learning. Could another means toward such improvements lie in a law stipulating that education in primary and secondary school must be based on research and proven experience? What conditions are required for such a law to affect the work of the school faculty and staff? The analytic methods used in this investigation are Lundgren’s frame factor theory and Goffman’s frame analysis. The focus is on the relationship between parliamentary control via legislation and the possibilities of principals and teachers to fulfil the intentions of the law. Our analysis reveals that the law experienced difficulties due to it not being properly implemented and not providing clear instructions on how it should be used in teaching practice.

This article presents the results of a longitudinal study at an elementary school where teachers and students used the Flipped Classroom teaching methodology. Longitudinal studies of how the Flipped Classroom can support student learning are of importance because this methodology has become quite popular of late. Notwithstanding this, there is currently lack of broad and deep knowledge of its effects at the elementary school level. The research object is therefore important to study and longitudinal studies can provide us with important results, which can be used in teaching practices. Data was continually collected via observations and interviews with teachers and students over a period of three terms. The theoretical framework used in the study is ‘life-world phenomenology’, which entails that the point of departure for the study is the students and teachers’ living experiences of how the Flipped Classroom shows itself in the context of their school-life. A central issue with respect to the data collection was that the researchers were as unobtrusive as possible during their observations, so as to not affect normal school activities. This was done so as to understand the abilities that the students developed and how their way of working at school changed. The results show that the Flipped Classroom had a positive influence on the majority of students since they developed a sense of agency in their learning which was demonstrated by their taking the initiative as they progressed with their learning. Furthermore, they developed problem-solving skills and came to believe in their own potential for success. However, this teaching methodology did not suit every student, because it entailed change that was difficult for some of them to deal with. This was the case with students who needed a traditional structure to their teaching and who were more comfortable when the teacher was the central figure in the teaching process.

Den här forskningsstudien handlar om Flippad undervisning och resultatet bygger på datainsamling under tre terminer med tre lärare och 22 elever som gick i skolår 6 och första terminen i skolår 7 under projekttiden. Syftet var att ur ett elev-och lärarperspektiv bilda kunskap om undervisningsformen Flippad undervisning med fokus riktat mot vilken typ av lärande som framträder och vad som krävs för att nå framgång med undervisningen i denna form. I den här forskningsstudien behandlas forskningsfrågorna:

• Vad framträder i lärarnas undervisning genom Flippad undervisning?
• Vad framträder i elevernas lärande genom Flippad undervisning?
• Vilka framgångsfaktorer har visat sig vara viktiga för att lyckas med undervisningsformen Flippad undervisning?

Empiri har samlats in genom observationer, naturliga samtal samt intervjuer under 18 månader från höstterminen 2014 till och med höstterminen 2015. Forskningsstudiens teoretiska utgångspunkt är livsvärldsfenomenologin med en metodologisk ansats i etnografin. Det centrala i studien har varit följsamhetmed den verksamhet där datainsamlingen skett, därav valet av den teoretiska och den metodologiska utgångspunkten.

Flippad undervisning är en relativt ny undervisningsformmen den har snabbt spridits både nationellt och internationellt och det är många lärare som uttrycker att de arbetarmed Flippad undervisning. Även om det inte finns någon enhetlig beskrivning eller definition på vad undervisningsformen konkret innebär,finns gemensamma drag i den pedagogiskagrundtanken som innebär att den skolförlagda undervisningstiden i klassrummet ska användas till kvalitativt elevcentrerat arbete istället för att merparten av tiden läggs på lärarledda genomgångar. Genomgångarna förläggs istället till tider innan själva lektionerna, vanligtvis i hemmet som en läxa, genom att eleverna tar del av kortare undervisningsfilmer där ämnesstoffet presenteras.

Resultatet visar att lärarnas egen yrkesroll synliggjorts genom undervisningsformen och att de utvecklade en helhetssyn iundervisningen genom att ”flippa mellan ämnena”. Detta bidrog till ett tydligt ämnesintegrerat arbetssätt. Ur ett elevperspektiv visade resultatet att de flesta eleverna utvecklade en god problemlösningsförmåga samtatt de tog ansvar för sitt eget lärande; detta har vi benämnt som att varaagenter för sitt lärande,och utvecklade en tro på sin egen förmåga att lösa problem och klara av uppgifter. Resultatet visade även att undervisningsformen inte passade alla elever eftersom arbetet i undervisningen byggde på att eleverna fick mycket frihet och att de skulle ta egna initiativ i sitt lärande. De elever som behövde tydliga strukturer och riktlinjer i sitt lärande blev i bland osäkra och hade svårt att anpassa sig till det fria arbetssättet. När det gäller vilka framgångsfaktorer som är viktiga för att lycka med undervisningsformen visar resultatet i denna forskningsstudie att det är viktigt med kontinuitet och att det bör finnas en bred förankring där många lärare är inblandade så att undervisningsformeninteupphör, stannar av,om det blir förändringar i lärarsammansättningen.