Approximately 36,000 Swedish children seek medical care annually because of injuries during school time. The purpose of this field study is to investigate risky outdoor play at the school yard and to describe teachers' perceptions of risk and safety in relation to learning and development. The study includes observations of children (6-12 years old) during outdoor activities as part of the school's activities and includes focus-group interviews with teachers and children. Children were seen climbing high in play facilities, speeding down slides, or competing with sticks in the woods. Different views of risk and safety among the participants influence outdoor play activities. Teachers' knowledge of risk seems to be derived from common sense and personal experiences rather than from a professional perspective. A joint approach of educational and medicine disciplines is desirable when it comes to children's health and development.
This article presents a subjective experience of attending a pedagogical training course for higher education teaching staff at Umea University, in Sweden. A participant observation was carried out based on an inductive approach. Data were collected through reports done in form of narratives at the end of each session. The analysis was done by critical reflection and the narratives were selected and thematically grouped according to the activities carried out during the course. Further, the analysis was supported by relevant literature related to educational theories that sustain student's accountability in learning and interactive classes. The results of the study conclude that the role of the teacher is crucial to make students active, motivated and self-regulated. However, students' active learning also depends on other factors such as contextual, social and psychological aspects. In addition, the communication involved in the process of teaching and learning develops confidence, empathy and achievement of good academic results.
The aim of the chapter is to problematize the concept of learning and common views on transformed conditions for learning; have contemporary digital media reformed the processes of learning and if so, how can the educational system benefit from and exploit this? The chapter highlights changes and reflects on contemporary and future aspects of learning. What is seen as meaningful learning? Is learning more demanding today or does the open and abundant access to information simplify it?
The authors suspect that the young perspective has been left out when online risk and safety are discussed in contemporary research. The aim of this chapter is to give a critical approach to this matter and question fear as a driving force for protecting young people online. Interviews with children about their views of internet use (Dunkels, 2007) and a study of safe use guides from European countries conducted in 2008 (Lüders et al, 2009) form the empirical base. The discussion in the chapter is underpinned by ideas of childhood as a social construction, emerging ideas of power relations pertaining to age and theories of technology reception. The authors also introduce a metaphor, the layer cake, to better understand how the same action can be viewed from different vantage points.
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