Academic literature on the topic 'Sfi-teachers'

Summary In Sweden, the state-sponsored language education, Swedish for immigrants (Sfi), provides language and cultural knowledge for the integration of newly arrived adult migrants in Swedish society. Sfi’s educational quality has sustained severe criticism. Through qualitative investigation of Sfi teacher work, this study aims to find out what pedagogical priorities guide the teachers’ classroom practices with linguistically and culturally diverse students. Furthermore, it aims to compare the contributions to Sfi learning environments of ethnically diverse teachers whose language experiences are different. Research into second language acquisition and native and non-native second language teachers contextualize the research aims. Bakhtin’s (1986) conception of human understanding as the meeting of two consciousnesses and García’s ideas about translanguaging in language education for adult migrants provide theoretical perspectives. Classroom observation alongside teacher focus groups generated data. Content analysis condensed the data into five essential support strategies that foreground students’ existential needs, their home languages as a learning resource, integration, learning challenge and instructional partnership between ethnically diverse teachers. Findings do not support the view that non-native language teachers are better equipped to teach second language students than their native counterparts but illuminate the unequivocal advantage of harnessing the pedagogical strengths of both teacher groups cooperatively.

Abstract Background Children are vulnerable to the effects of second-hand smoke exposure. Creating smoke-free homes is an effective strategy to limit exposure. We developed a smoke-free intervention (SFI) using children as a catalyst for change and teaching skills to negotiate a smoke-free home. In this paper, we present the process evaluation conducted within a pilot trial. Methods This was a mixed-methods study comprising qualitative interviews and quantitative fidelity assessment of SFI delivery. Interviews in the six intervention schools were conducted with six headteachers and 12 teachers. These explored experiences of delivering the SFI, perceived impact, barriers and facilitators to success, and ideas for improvement and for scaling up. The data were analysed using framework analysis. Delivery of the SFI was observed and fidelity scores calculated. Results The SFI was acceptable to headteachers and teachers. Fidelity scores ranged from 27/40 to 37/40. Didactic components were more fully implemented than interactive components. Time to complete the sessions, timing in the school day and school calendar were key challenges. Embedding the SFI into the curriculum was a potential solution. Conclusions These findings provide useful information to finalise the content and delivery and inform the scale-up of the SFI for our definitive trial, which is now underway. Trial registration ISRCTN68690577

The fact that people tend to alternate between languages for various communicative purposes seems to increasingly interest researchers all over the world. Thus, the linguistic phenomenon of codeswitching has been given more academic attention in recent years than ever before. This particular topic has also been infused by new research because of an ongoing pedagogic debate about whether languages other than the target language should be used in foreign languages classroom or not. The debate consists of two major opinions. On one side, adherents claim that use of non-target languages limits natural target language-input and therefore damages the learning process. On the other, it is argued that non-target languages may even be beneficial for the learning process since they carry many pedagogic opportunities with them otherwise gone lost. This paper aims to find out how, and to what extent, foreign language teachers at a Swedish for Immigrants-school codeswitch into English in class. Moreover, it is also of interest to investigate how they think about their own codeswitching and how their reasoning may reflect their codeswitching self-awareness. In search for answers to these questions, three teachers have been observed in class. Later, the teachers have been interviewed to reflect upon their own codeswitching. The study revealed clear differences in the teachers’ codeswitching and codeswitching-reasoning, However, similarities were also found, and that all three teachers shared the main objective to develop their students’ communicative competence. Moreover, they also proved to have a rather realistic picture their own codeswitching. Not only were they able to roughly estimate how, and how much, they each codeswitched. Their individual results also went in line with their reasoning to a high extent, suggesting that they all have a high degree of codeswitching self-awareness.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka sfi-lärares erfarenheter av distansundervisning under våren 2020. Studiens fokus ligger på att undersöka hur digitala verktyg anpassades till elevernas olikheter, hur kommunikationen med eleverna etablerades och vilka arbetssätt och metoder som kännetecknade sfi-lärares distansundervisning.  Genom att beskriva omställningen till distansundervisning orsakade av pandemier som SARS och Covid-19, redogörs för de utmaningar och möjligheter som lärare ställs inför i den digitala klassrumsmiljön. Därefter lyfts teoretiska aspekter kring kommunikation och lärarrollen i att skapa relationer med eleverna i den digitala lärmiljön. För att förstå fenomenet med distansutbildningen i sin helhet redovisas vidare utgångspunkter som bör tas hänsyn till när en sådan utbildning utformas och designas. Detta är en empirisk studie där metodtriangulering har använts med både kvantitativa och kvalitativa undersökningar. Totalt deltog 126 respondenter i webbenkät och sex respondenter i semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet pekar på att lärarnas förhållningssätt till distansundervisning under pandemin och ojämlikhet i elevers digitala kompetens och elevernas bristfälliga tillgång till digitala teknik i samband med omställningen, var avgörande för hur nya arbetssätt och undervisningsstrategier formades. Sfi-lärarna använde sig av de digitala verktyg och digitala resurser som redan var inarbetade i klassrumsundervisningen. Både synkron och asynkron kommunikation tillämpades i stor utsträckning, där synkron kommunikation värdesattes tack vare dess likhet med det fysiska klassrummets upplägg och asynkron kommunikation ökade tillgänglighet till undervisningsmaterial. Sfi-lärarnas utmaningar bestod av svårigheter att vara tillgängliga för de elever som behövde stöd och att följa upp elevernas lärandeprocesser på distans.
The purpose of this study is to investigate sfi-teachers’ experiences of distance education in the spring of 2020. The study focuses on examining how digital tools were adapted to students’ differences, how communication with students was established and what teaching methods characterized sfi teachers’ distance education. By describing the transition to distance education caused by pandemics such as SARS and Covid-19, the challenges and opportunities that teachers face in the digital classroom environment are described. Thereafter, theoretical aspects of communication and the teacher’s role in creating relationships with students in the digital learning environment are highlighted. In order to understand the phenomenon of distance education in its entirety, further points of departure are presented that should be taken into account when such education is designed. This is an empirical study where method triangulation with both quantitative and qualitative studies. A total of 126 respondents responded to the online survey and six respondents participated in semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that the teachers’ approach to distance education during the pandemic, and the inequality in students’ digital competence and the students’ inadequate access to digital technology in connection with the transition, were decisive for how new teaching methods and teaching strategies were formed. Sfi teachers used the digital tools and digital resources that were already incorporated in the classroom education. Both synchronous and asynchronous communication were applied to a large extent, where synchronous communication was valued thanks to its similarity to the physical classroom layout and asynchronous communication because of the increased accessibility to teaching materials. The sfi teachers’ teaching challenges consisted of difficulties in being available to the students who needed support and in following up the students’ learning processes at a distance.

This essay deals with teachers’ guides on teaching about sexuality and personal relationships, in particular guides focusing on introductory programmes in languages in upper secondary school and teaching adult immigrants Swedish. The aim is to investigate how the teachers’ guides function as further training for teachers. In Sweden 2016, the number of pupils enrolled in language introductory programmes was rapidly increasing. The number of participants in Swedish language for immigrants was also growing quickly. Teachers are in need of further training in sex and sexuality education and instruction in general, and particularly in this teaching context. It is hard to find teachers with sufficient competence in the field, due to the current general lack of skilled teachers in Sweden. Research on teachers’ guides in Sweden is underdeveloped and previous research on the topic of this essay is virtually non-existent, which makes this a pilot study of sorts. The study focuses on text-analysis, function and normativity. The results show that teachers’ guides respond to teachers’ needs and demands. These specific teachers’ guides affect each other through intertextuality. The norms imbedded in the language used in the teachers’ guides have an influence on teachers reading them.