History teaching is often seen as essential to the project of nation-building and construction of national identity. Despite the rise of disciplinary approach, national master narratives and nationalist history teaching remain predominant in many countries. While most of the extant research were done on large nation-states, this study is focused…

The aim of this paper is to investigate how small-group and whole-class discussions during whole-class teaching contribute to students' learning. The study includes 33 video-recorded small-group discussions in four mathematics lessons on enlarging and reducing two-dimensional geometric figures in Grade 8. The results show that different objects of…

The aim of this study was to explore whether the classroom implementation of the International Child Development Programme (ICDP) for secondary school students (grade 9) was linked to better school achievement. The goal of the ICDP is to increase school achievement by promoting positive teacher-student relationships. The study, performed in…

In 2010, Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce a legal requirement that education should be research-based, placing huge demands on schools. The study's aim is to explore how, through sensemaking, teachers and principals enact this policy in schools. In total, 272 teachers and 23 principals from pre-schools, leisure-time centers,…

This study examined the role of learning difficulties in academic emotions and achievement across the transition to lower secondary school among 848 Finnish adolescents. Reading difficulties (RD) and math difficulties (MD) were identified based on test scores in Grade 6 and 7. Students with difficulties were identified as having resolving,…

In this article, we focus on smartphone use initiated by students during lessons, with the aim of deepening the knowledge of when and why this use happens. Our methodological approach is video-ethnographic. The empirical data consists of 20 focus students in 9 upper secondary school classes, comprising 70 h of video material. The results show that…

This paper reports on a case study of a student's rationales for learning mathematics. We operationalize Stieg Mellin-Olsen's educational concept of rationales for learning and apply the concept on data consisting of three semi-structured interviews with a student in the Swedish prison education program. Our analysis shows that the student's…

This study reports on an investigation of the differences in results between students with special educational needs assigned to special classes or regular classes in lower secondary education. Cognitive competencies were measured using curricular Finnish and mathematics tasks, school achievement using grade point average (GPA), and learning…

This study investigated the experience of and effect created by a team sport and coaching intervention upon the self-concept of male school students (age: 12-16; n = 129) from diverse backgrounds. A convergent parallel mixed-method design was used to compare and relate a questionnaire study and an interview study in a quasi-experimental design,…

Personality results from the complex interactions among multiple learning and memory systems. There is a need to examine the personality-learning association using a personality model that captures this complexity: Cloninger's psychobiological model. The study addresses this need using a person-centered approach. In total, 686 adolescents…

Research on social aspects of academic motivation is scarce. Based on two nationally representative cohorts within the Swedish longitudinal ETF-project, the study examined (a) relationships between academic mastery/performance, social and future achievement goal orientations in the Swedish grade 9 compulsory school (2008/2014); (b) their…

Previous research has shown that there is a link between usage of strengths and various positive outcomes, such as finding meaning and happiness in life. In our present study, we aimed to find out how usage of strengths is connected to general happiness with school-related factors as mediating variables. 418 Finnish students aged 10-16 filled a…

Teachers' support concerning learners' metacognitive awareness (MA) is crucial in learning. Previous research has focused mainly on students' MA. Therefore, this study describes how subject teachers and special teachers (N = 1,045) perceive how they support learners' MA in general education and in vocational education and training. The main…

Stress and stress-related complaints such as fatigue and depressed mood are common among teachers. Yet, knowledge about the links between the overall level of teacher stress within a school and individual student outcomes is scarce. This study investigates if the levels of teacher-reported stress, fatigue and depressed mood within a school are…

Despite great attention and numerous efforts across countries to reduce school dropout, it remains a persistent challenge. One such initiative, named New Possibilities, launched by the Norwegian Ministry in 2010, was a nationwide, flexible program aimed at providing intensive training to poor achievers during the last months of 10th grade, before…