Development of School Achievement in the Nordic Countries During Half a Century

The aim is to describe the development of achievement in compulsory school in the Nordic countries from the 1960s. The study relies on published results concerning literacy and numeracy from the international large-scale assessments between 1964 and 2012. Among others, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) for most countries, a small but consistent increase in the level of achievement was observed from the mid-1970s to around 1990 for both literacy and numeracy; (2) Finland improved literacy performance dramatically between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s, which is hypothesized to be associated with the introduction of part-time special education; (3) for all countries performance declined from the late-1990s/early-2000s, which is hypothesized to be due to different factors in different countries.     

Highly committed teachers: what makes them tick? A study of sustained commitment

This article focuses on teacher commitment, and particularly on teachers displaying sustained high levels of commitment throughout their teaching careers (over 15 years). Graduates from one Teacher Education programme responded to an open-ended questionnaire conducted on 10 occasions concerning their work as teachers, from graduation in 1993 to 2013. Out of the 72 who responded on all nine occasions, eight teachers stating high levels of commitment throughout their careers were selected for additional interviews. A framework containing four commitment factors was used as the point of departure. Content analyses of the interview and selected questionnaire data then resulted in a revised framework of five factors: personal, teaching, school context, system context and professional development. Accounts from eight teachers with sustained high commitment illustrate the framework. The article offers an extended framework for understanding and categorising the factors that contribute to teacher commitment.     

‘The funeral’: a study of children's shared meaning‐making and its developmental significance

This article argues the need to examine communication in joint play situations rather than individual assessments in solitary play situations when children's development is focused. Informed by Bakhtin's dialogical and Moscovici's interactionist perspectives, observations were made of the interaction between two girls, aged 3½ and 4, playing at holding a funeral ceremony, in the setting of a Swedish pre‐school. The analysis shows that new knowledge occurred through negotiations of appropriate actions in play. The children's interactions resulted in shared meaning‐making of the funeral as a ritual of revival.     

What church examination records can tell us about the inheritance of reading disability

Long before the establishment of a general school system in Sweden (1842), a vast majority of the adult population had reached some reasonable level of reading literacy. The level of reading skill among the members of a household was assessed by the parish priest at annual catechetical examinations, and the results of these examinations were recorded in church registers. Eventually (in the 18th century) a 5-point grading scale was developed. In the present investigation, these unique records were used to study the transmission of low reading marks over successive generations in 17 families. For comparison, a set of 17 family trees originating from good readers was traced. The average scores of the descendants of poor readers were significantly lower than corresponding scores for descendants of good readers. However, the transmission patterns in the family trees of poor readers did not indicate any simple genetic mechanism. In another study, two dyslexic cases living today were traced backward to ancestors born around 1750. In one of the cases, a massive familial pattern of reading disability down to the eighth generation was observed, while most ancestors of the other case had average or above average reading skill as judged by the priests. The reasons for the absence of a simple hereditary pattern were critically discussed. This research was supported by a grant from the Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. Birgitta Esberg served as research assistant.     

Specificity of Reading Self-Efficacy Among Primary School Children

We investigated the specificity of reading self-efficacy among second- to fifth-grade children in Finland (N?=?1,327). Bandura (1997 Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: Freeman. [Google Scholar]) theorized that efficacy beliefs can be assessed at different levels of specificity; however, empirical support for this view is scarce among young children. Efficacy beliefs targeting reading-related activities were assessed at three specificity levels (general, intermediate, and specific). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that these specificity levels are separable, but correlated, and the structure was invariant across gender and grade level. Self-efficacy factors were positively associated with reading fluency, but the strength of these associations varied according to specificity level. Findings suggest that reading self-efficacy in primary grades can and should be assessed at different specificity levels according to research aims.     

Students as Producers of Interactive Data Visualizations—Digitally Skilled to Make Their Voices Heard

The study explores students’ production of interactive visualized stories with visual analytics (VA). The aim is to understand emerging interactions in classrooms of grades 7–9 students when visual storytelling methods are playing a part in producing social science content. The dual aspects of visual literacy, information retrievement paired with the creation of interactive visualized stories, are crucial. Video captures of students working in groups and of what happens on their screens are conducted. The results show that students can handle the technical aspects of a VA application, but interpretation of visualized statistics is challenging. The study suggests that VA has potential to strengthen students’ ability to handle huge amounts of data and increase the possibilities for young people to take part in society.(Keywords: digital technology, digital skills, democracy, civic knowledge, social science education, visual analytics, visual storytelling, visual literacy, digital literacy)     

Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement

This study applies a model of school organisation developed by one of the authors to investigate school improvement processes leading to a whole school approach in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) literature. The model is operationalized to a survey instrument and distributed to Swedish upper secondary teachers. The instrument provides empirical indications of teachers’ perceptions of their schools in terms of four major dimensions of an ESD whole school approach, the importance assigned to a holistic vision, routines and structures, professional knowledge creation, and practical pedagogical work. The aims of the study are to compare the teachers’ perception of their school organisation. We compare perceptions of teachers working in schools actively implementing ESD and teachers in comparable reference schools. Comparisons are also made between teachers from schools applying different strategies and quality approaches in implementing ESD. The results indicate that, relative to teachers in ordinary schools, those in ESD schools perceive their school organisations to have higher quality and coherence, with greater potential to support teaching and pedagogical work in practice. However, there is substantial variation in perceptions of teachers from different ESD schools. The model’s robustness is validated by coherence of earlier results in the same schools.     

Prevalence of shoulder pain in Swedish flatwater kayakers and its relation to range of motion and scapula stability of the shoulder joint

Few studies have investigated the incidence of injuries in kayakers. The aim was to study the prevalence of shoulder pain in competitive flatwater kayakers and to evaluate any differences in range of motion or scapula stability of the shoulder joint among kayakers with or without the history of shoulder pain. Thirty-one kayakers were participated in the study, and a questionnaire including background data was used. Shoulder range of motion was measured with a goniometer, and the participants were observed for scapula dyskinesis in flexion and abduction. Of the participating kayakers, 54.8% (n = 17) had experienced shoulder pain. Kayakers who had experienced shoulder pain showed a significantly lower degree of internal rotational range of motion versus kayakers with no reported shoulder pain, with a mean degree of internal rotation in the right shoulder 49.3 vs 60.0 (P = 0.017) and the left shoulder 51.9 vs 66.0 (P = 0.000). Kayakers who had experienced shoulder pain were also observed with a scapular dyskinesis (n = 15 of 17 kayakers) to a significantly higher degree (P = 0.001) than kayakers with no reported shoulder pain. Findings suggest that screening for scapular dyskinesis and testing for rotational range of motion in the shoulder joint is essential in order to treat and maybe prevent shoulder pain in kayakers.