Women are for friendships, men are for fucking : En studie av homosocialitet och kvinnlig vänskap i Sex and the city

I denna uppsats studeras den kvinnliga vänskapen i tv-serien Sex and the city utifrån homosocialitetsteorier och framställningen av den kvinnliga vänskapen. Tidigare studier om serien har gjorts men där fann jag en lucka då kvinnornas vänskap inte studerats på ett liknande sätt tidigare. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur den kvinnliga vänskapen gestaltas mellan kvinnorna i serien. För att studera detta Lipman-Blumens homosocialitetsteori använts som definierar homosocialitet som att uppskatta, söka sig till eller föredra umgänge med människor av samma kön. Gothlins teori om vänskap och hur denna porträttreras har använts i studien för att kunna identifiera kvinnors vänskap. Heterosociaiitetsteori tas också upp för att visa på motsatsen till homosocialitetsteorin. Undersökningen av studien är uppdelad i två delar, en kvantitativ del där relevanta inslag klockats för att se hur lång tid ett visst innehåll fått i serien. Samt en kvalitativ analys av innehållet i serien där typiska scener valts ut och analyserats för att förstå innehållet och för att kunna analysera kvinnornas vänskap till varandra. Den genomförda analysen behandlar deras vänskap och visar på att kvinnornas homosociala band och deras vänskap till varandra är betydligt starkare än vad tidigare forskning och teorier benämt. Denna studie visar på att vänskapen i serien tagits till en ny nivå där vännerna inte vara är vänner utan själsfränder och kärlekar utan sexuell dragningskraft till varandra. Där vänskapen är vad som värderas högst och att kvinnorna inte är i behov av en man. 

Lärares ledarskap som möjliggörande och begränsande i mötet med ’alla’ barn : En deltagarorienterad studie

The aim of this thesis is to, based on teachers’ experiences, describe and analyse meanings of teachers’ leadership in general, and in relation to children in need of special support in particular. The study was carried out within the tradition of participatory-oriented research, a research circle. The dialogues in the circle were based on the participants’ questions, experiences, interests, and knowledge. The circle included a researcher and nine teachers from the following types of schools: preschool, preschool class, compulsory school, and compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities. The study is based on an understanding of leadership as a relational practice. Leadership is practised in the interaction between teacher and child. Both parties exert influence over the practice of leadership. A central assumption in the study is that knowledge can develop through and in interactions between people, that knowledge and power are connected, and that knowledge and actions are intertwined. Another central assumption is that learning is a complex phenomenon. In the analysis of the research circle’s dialogues, the following meanings of teachers’ leadership emerge: to facilitate learning and discipline, and to promote different interests. The practice of leadership involves teachers handling complex situations in their interactions with ‘all’ children, i.e. children in need of special support and children without such needs. Leadership is practised between teachers and children, and the teachers have to consider the group of children as a collective in relation to the individual children. At the same time, the teachers have to consider their intentions versus what happens during the interactions. In addition, the teachers have to pay heed to the fact that their own actions and the children’s actions influence one another. Finally, the teachers have to consider the individual child’s ‘best interest’ in relation to the requirements of the policy documents. Furthermore, the results indicate that the practice of leadership is perceived as both unpredictable and, to some extent, predictable at the same time, which adds to the complexity of leadership. The teachers cannot know for sure what the children understand or if the children’s actions facilitate learning. However, the teachers can make certain assumptions about how to practice leadership in order to facilitate learning and discipline in children with different needs. The meanings of leadership were expressed in different ways in the circle’s dialogues; both as enabling and limiting in interactions with children in need of special support. One of the study’s conclusions is that leadership seems to be particularly complex in interactions with children in need of special support. The research circle’s dialogues served to promote a democratic knowledge process. The dialogues were characterised by respect for the participants’ different opinions; however, this does not mean that they were free from power structures.