Previous research suggests that connecting organizational levels of biological systems is challenging for pupils. In the present study we investigated 122 pupils’ written responses to a question in a national bio-logy test concerning how nutrient molecules are adsorbed by the small intestine and transported to the brain. We aimed to investigate what awareness the pupils have of the connection between the digestive and circulatory systems. We mapped the pupil’s expressed knowledge by using content analysis which was performed in five steps including connection between the systems, organizational levels and scientific explanations. We found that the most correct descriptions contained the highest number of connections between the digestive and the circulatory systems and linking of the different organizational levels. The most correct descriptions included the highest proportion of the meso level. Therefore, knowledge at the meso level seems to be essential for grasping connections between macro- and submicro-level processes, and connections of digestion and circulation systems.

This paper presents a study of children’s ideas of the body’s internal structure. Children between four and 13 years (N = 170) individually produced drawings. During each drawing session the children explained their drawings to a facilitator and added written labels either by them- selves or, if they were too young to write, with the facilitator’s help. The results provide an updated comprehensive picture of children in differ- ent age groups and their views on the internal structure of the body. The type and numbers of organs drawn are similar to those documented in previous studies. However, in comparison to recent studies, the children drew more organs, the brain was indicated almost as often as the heart, and the Valentine heart was frequently used as a symbol. In contrast with previous research, children drew connections between organs. This result calls for caution regarding conclusions made from decontextua- lized questions. The importance of providing children with the opportu- nity to clarify their drawings is emphasised since it otherwise becomes a question of the researcher’s interpretation. The connections they draw, and explanations they give to their drawings, have interesting implica- tions for understanding children’s ideas, and hence both for teaching and learning and for science education research.

Huvudsyftet med det här kapitlet är att belysa kommunikationen som etableras i ett kemiklassrum. Genom att följa de kommunikativa mönstren ges exempel på positioner och deltagande som möjliggörs och förhandlas av lärare och elever.

This chapter reports on findings from classroom communication in secondary chemistry teaching and learning. The data was analyzed qualitatively regarding the use of metaphors and analogies in relation to atoms and ion formation, with an intention to shed light on students’ scientific understanding as well as on their enculturation into the disciplinary discourse. Theoretically we draw on social semiotics, which allows analyses of language use in its widest sense, comprised of verbal language, images, action, gestures, and more. In our data, we identified common disciplinary metaphors in science, as well as metaphors connected to everyday life. Through the analyses based on systemic functional linguistics (SFL), we also identified anthropomorphic metaphors, with particles, atoms, and ions being humanized with intentions and feelings. Linguistic choices signaling metaphoric language were mainly noted in relation to quite obvious metaphors whereas no such signals or explanations were noted in connection to anthropomorphic metaphors. The study has implications for the design of classroom practices, including the use of discussions to enhance a more reflective use and understanding of the gains and losses around metaphors.

I det här kapitlet kommer vi att återberätta en berättelse som de tre eleverna Björn, Erik och Cissi1 berättade för oss våren efter att de hade fått sina första betyg. Denna vår år 2014 var också den första på många år som svenska elever i årskurs 6 fick betyg över huvud taget. Berättelsen handlar om just dessa elevers erfarenheter av att få betyg, men den kan också förstås som ett bidrag till en större berättelse om betydelsen av att forma framgångsrika och konkurrenskraftiga elever. Den berättelsen berättas idag av många olika aktörer både i och utanför skolan. Såväl elever, lärare och rektorer på enskilda skolor som nationella och globala aktörer är idag upptagna av att mäta och visa upp framgångsrika resultat (Lingard, 2011; Lingard, Martino & Rezai-Rashti, 2013). Vår ambition med kapitlet är att försöka illustrera hur man genom att lyssna väldigt noga på enskilda människors berättelser och sedan kontextualisera dem – det vill säga sätta dem i ett sammanhang som framstår som relevant för såväl oss som forskare som för dem som berättar – kan bidra med nya nyanser till stora eller dominerande berättelser om vad skola och utbildning är till för. Därmed ansluter vi oss till en forskningstradition som ”är ute efter människornas berättelser om vad de gör när de lever sina sociala omständigheter, och de erfarenheter som detta innebär för deras liv och för det samhälle de lever i” (Pérez Prieto, 2007, s. 289; se även Plummer, 2001; Freeman, 2010).

This article revolves around the educational policy introduced in Swedish schools that has extended national testing to younger pupils. The policy is intended to support equal assessment and grading. With the exception of short-term preparations for the tests focused on here, the testing routines are regulated by the state. The paper aims to examine how the policy of national testing in grade six is enacted in different school contexts from a pupil’s point of view, and how this affects equivalence in school. A narrative analysis was conducted of pupils’ (n = 150) stories about preparing for national tests in 11 schools. Three forms of enactments were distinguished according to how responsibility for test preparations was allocated in each school. In some schools, teachers invited the pupils systematically to the translation process. In other schools, pupils were given most of the responsibility for preparation and were left alone as actors vis-a-vis the policy. Finally, in schools that applied ad hoc preparations, the pupils’ position as actors became less secure and more multifaceted. This variety regarding the pupils’ test preparations in school stress that the different enactments of this policy of national testing have implications for the interpretation of equivalence in school.

This paper draws on data collected in a wider study of national testing and grading policies for school year six that were introduced in Sweden 2012. The research project focuses specifically on elementar y students’ experiences of receiving grades and taking the national tests. In this paper we direct the interest towards the positions given to parents in the student’s stories about talking about grades with their parents. The purpose of the paper is to ex plore how ‘territories of agency’ take shape in student’s stories in relation to discursive narratives of performative pressure within global and national education systems. The now stronger focus on grades in Sweden is considered a part of the delivery chain -stressing learning outcomes as the main issue for everyone involved in education – reaching from global actors such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to the individual students (Ball, et al. 2012). The performativ e pressure on schools, teachers, and students aiming to improve results and schools’ ranking positions affects the local actor’s actions and identities. As subjects to policy their agency is limited but in their stories student’s make claims of having some degree of freedom to act. These ‘claims of territories of agency’ are understood as expressed through narrative performances of individual and collective identities in student’s stories about experiences of talking about grades with parents. This narrativ e approach lets us focus on the links between how students position themselves relation to their parents and vis - a - vis discourses of performativity (Ball, 1997) in their stories and through their storytelling (Bamberg, 1997). Students from eleven differen t schools in five different municipalities were interviewed with the purpose of obtaining a great variety of student experiences. In total we have conducted 80 interviews with 195 students and some of them have been interviewed twice. Students were intervi ewed in groups (n= 2 - 5). The analysis in this paper is based on what students told us about their experiences of talking to parents about grades. In a thematic analysis we found three different themes regarding how the students described their parent’s att itudes towards grades and the student’s efforts related to grades. The first theme is about parents that do not talk about grades with their children. The second is about parents that put pressure on their children to get good grades often without engagin g -or knowing how to engage -in how this is done. The third theme is about parents that focus on their children’s wellbeing by putting the grades in different perspectives – e.g. by downplay the importance of grades or emphasize the importance of having one’s own agenda. In this paper we further investigate how the positions are given to parents in the “story - world” (Bamberg, 1997) and how the students position themselves as students when telling the stories. Preliminary results suggest that students ‘cla im territories of agency’ for themselves by positioning their parents in different ways in the story - worlds.

De senaste åren har fritidshemmen präglats av en ”reformträngsel”. Hur påverkar det den dagliga verksamheten? Genom att ta del av lärares och rektorers egna berättelser om fritidshem har vi undersökt hur reformerna förändrar fritidshemmens verksamhet idag och hur det påverkar det systematiska kvalitetsarbetet.

This paper investigates students ́experiences of getting grades and explores the identities as students that take shape in their stories. Recently, grades from school - year 6 instead of year 8 were introduced in Swedish schools. However, granting their importance in students´ life, little is known abo ut the personal meaning of grades to students, especially the feelings and understandings that students hold about grades both in a present tense as well as in a future tense. One main function of grades is to select students into higher levels in the educ ational system but they are also expected to motivate students to learn more and provide information about learning outcomes. Previous studies have shown that grades in early years contribute to stable perceptions of student selves over time and to pessimi sm in terms of possible change (Kasanen & Räty, 2002; Kärkkäinen, 2008). Often, issues of “high stake” deal with questions of tests and grades as objective gatekeepers for students ́ future possibilities to education. However, in this paper, we consider “hi gh stake” as a subjective matter linked to students ́ feelings and future dreams. The overall aim of the paper is to problematize “high stake” as a matter of objectivity by stressing students ́ subjective feelings in their stories about grades and grading. O ur research questions are: How do the students talk about the possibilities to influence their grades now and in future? What feelings take shape in the students’ stories about their experiences of grades? Students from eleven different schools in five di fferent municipalities were interviewed with the purpose of obtaining a great variety of student experiences. In total we have conducted 80 interviews with 195 students. The students were interviewed in a group of students (n=2 - 5) and asked to refer to the ir experiences and feelings of grades. We listened to the interviews and read the transcripts and conducted a narrative analysis of the students’ stories. Some students express feelings of pressure and say that the grades are deemed important for their po ssibilities to get a job in the future. This we regard as an expression of grades as “high stake”. Other students express more relaxed feelings and talk about a limited value of grades in school - year 6 for their future plans. To them the grades do not stan d out as “high stake”. Several studies indicate that younger students seem to see grades as labels that are hard to change. From this perspective all grades are “high stake” in a kind of objective sense. However, this study indicates that the grades are no t “high stake” to all students when considering their feelings and future dreams. Many of the students in this study talk about future in terms of possibilities to change their grades or find grades and grading not an important issue yet. To them the grade s might be “high stake” later on – or not.