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Powerful knowledge, transformations and the need for empirical studies across school subjects'. London Review of Education, 16 (3): 428-444. AbstractIn this article, we explore the concept of 'powerful knowledge' which, from a curriculum studies perspective, refers to the aspects of content knowledge towards which teaching should be oriented. We then consider how the concept of 'powerful knowledge' can be developed and operationalized as a research framework within studies in subject-specific didactics across the curriculum by relating it to the analytical concept of 'transformation'. Transformation is perceived in this case as an integrative process in which content knowledge is transformed into knowledge that is taught and learned through various transformation processes both outside and within the educational system. We argue that powerful knowledge cannot be identified based on the discipline alone, but needs to consider transformation processes and be empirically explored. A variety of theories and frameworks developed within the European research tradition of didactics are described as ways to study transformation processes related to powerful knowledge at different institutional levels as well as between different subjects and disciplines. A comparative research framework related to subject-specific education is proposed around three research questions.Powerful knowledge, transformations and the need for empirical studies across school subjects 429London Review of Education 16 (3) 2018

This paper takes an interest in how schools and teachers dealt with new demands when teaching rapidly went online during school closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, in what we see as an example of emergency remote teaching. The aim is to make visible how schools and teachers dealt with the demands that they were confronted with while under hard pressure during emergency remote teaching, and what discursive frames are used in upper secondary teachers’ pedagogical considerations. Fifteen teachers of history, mathematics and Swedish (five from each subject) are followed in recurring interviews between April 2020 and September 2020, resulting in a total of 41 interviews. A narrative approach is used in the analysis and results show how teachers made large efforts to maintain teaching in what can be described as a crisis organization. Three main discourses are identified: (a) a strong assessment discourse; (b) a relational discourse; and (c) a compensatory discourse. The findings are discussed in the light of educational policy based on the so-called Nordic model and the idea of one-school-for all, and in relation to what becomes possible to teach as well as what is not possible to do in times of crisis.

In the present paper, we report findings from a study of performance appraisal interviews between middle managers and employees. The study is based on analysis of video uptake of authentic performance appraisal interviews, and through detailed examination of participant conduct and orientation, we point to structural mechanisms and institutional norms which limit the possibilities for employees to raise topics connected to negative experiences of stress in performance appraisal talk. It is argued that norms concerning ideal employeeship are shaped by a partly hidden curriculum in the organization which in turn is talked into being in the performance appraisal interviews. The study concludes that empirical attention to the social interplay in performance appraisal interactions reveal how participant conduct aligns or disaligns with institutional and social underpinnings of workplace ideals. KEy wOrdSPerformance appraisal interview / ideal worker / staff development / conversation analysis / hidden curriculum.

As teachers' informal professional development is visible in social media, this study probes teachers' participation in self-organized Facebook groups in mathematics or Swedish-language education. In total, 553 posts from six Facebook groups were categorized using Shulman's knowledge-base framework, and analysed using systemic functional grammar. Teachers use "questions" and "offers" most frequently (88%). Within these speech functions, pedagogical content knowledge dominates (63%), indicating that these groups constitute professional learning communities that teachers use as a professional development resource, focusing the interaction on pedagogical content knowledge. This study finds a largely similar practice in Facebook groups across the two subjects.

Abstract:In this study, teachers and workplace supervisors in two vocational programmes at a Swedish upper secondary school were interviewed about their experiences of what is important to teach and learn during vocational education. The interviews were analysed thematically by the qualitative method analysis of narratives concerning what the informants talked about concerning the educational content. The told experiences of educational content concern five themes: basic knowledge, assessment, different educations, interest and integration of theory and practice. These themes relates to different levels of knowledge, from basic knowledge to learning to learn.

This study investigates what discourses dominate teachers' beliefs about writing education and how these discourses are negotiated among teachers in social media. The empirical material is based on a stratified random sample of interactions, so-called threads, between teachers in three large open Facebook groups for teachers of Swedish (2,500-10,000 members). Taking Ivanič's 7 discourses of writing and learning to write as a framework, the study analyses discourses about writing visible in the interactions as well as blogs linked to, and school books and apps recommended. The two last steps are data-driven, emanating from previous steps. The result shows that 40% of the interactions concern writing. These interactions are dominated by a skills discourse. Further, a genre discourse challenges a former prominent discourse, the process discourse. Also, discourses in a social context are rare. The results indicate a narrow view of writing education in policy and practice, which, due to Ivanič (2004), can be interpreted as a consequence of a wider societal context where the educational system is questioned and explicit standards for writing are foregrounded. What conditions that would facilitate a wider range of discourses of writing in a school under pressure merits further investigations.

The present article explores challenges facing EFL classrooms in Sweden due to new informal out-of-school language learning settings created by the current media landscape. A recent Swedish national evaluation identifies that a problematic situation in secondary school EFL classrooms has emerged. EFL teachers find it difficult to bridge the gap (cf. Olsson 2011) between the English used in school and the English used outside of school, extramural English (Sundqvist 2009). As a consequence, the pupils (aged 13-16) become discouraged and demotivated. Based on experiences from language teaching methodology in-service training programs and a small-scale survey, the article discusses the problem with demotivation, the empowerment of EFL teachers, and the development of teaching practices in order to meet the new challenges. The article argues that the challenges that Swedish EFL teachers currently meet can be viewed as an early indication that similar challenges are likely to emerge also in EFL classrooms elsewhere. An Awakening Call About English as a Foreign LanguageThe present article explores challenges facing English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms in Sweden due to informal out-of-school learning settings created by the current media landscape. In particular, focus is on EFL teachers' perceived ability to bridge the gap between the English used in school (school English) and the English used outside of school (extramural English, Sundqvist 2009) in activities such as watching TV or films, chatting, blogging, playing digital games, listening to music, etc. Young people generally engage in extramural English (EE) activities on a voluntary basis, and because they have a genuine interest in something (a specific TV show/singer/digital game, etc.); that is, they do not generally get involved for the purpose of language learning (Sundqvist 2009: 25, see also Olsson 2011. Thus, some main characteristics of EE are when learners are exposed to it (spare time), where (most often in informal contexts), and what register of English it represents (generally informal and/or specialized language).A recent national evaluation in Sweden identifies a difficult situation in 6th-9th grade EFL classrooms (pupils aged 13-16) (The Swedish Schools Inspectorate 2011). Despite what seems to be a golden opportunity for English language learning and teaching, the teachers show few signs of making positive use of their learners' EE (cf. Olsson 2011). As a consequence, the pupils become discouraged and demotivated. Apparently, they experience what Henry (2013) refers to as an authenticity gap; that is, in comparison to the English the learners meet in school, the English they meet outside is considered authentic. Taking as the point of departure our experiences from in-service training programs for teachers and a small-scale survey, we discuss motivation, demotivation, empowerment of EFL teachers, and the development of teaching practices in order to meet these new challenges.Clearly, the current media landscape is heavily infl...