The aim of the thesis is to contribute to knowledge about experience and perceptions of reading that students at a school of education have, from early reading experiences in childhood, to the encounter with reading in context of their teacher training. The following overarching questions were asked: What aspects of narratives appear to be significant in the students’ reading trajectories? Which aspects of the narratives appear to be significant in the encounter with reading during the students’ teacher training? To place the present investigation in a wider context a social-cultural perspective on reading is used as a means to shed light on the empirical data of the thesis. The choice of methodology is based on an epistemology where life stories are viewed as something which can provide knowledge about people’s experience and perceptions. As an overarching result, the students’ stories show that reading is a relational process, which occurs with significant others. Significant others invite and confirm the individual to read in various contexts. The metaphor literary breast-feeding shows how interest is transmitted in a close relationship. It makes the child, pupil or student feel that he/she is a participant in different societies of readers. Artefacts are crucial to raise interest in texts. Such artefacts are used as tools to shape play, motivation and imagination. The student’s reading trajectories also clearly indicate that challenges and gaps exist between different contexts, and that these gaps challenge the individual and need to be bridged.

The present work is an in-depth study of four pre-service teachers own experience of reading in different contexts and for different reasons. The aim is to analyze what the students express as significant on reading in a life history perspective by the use of narratives. The following questions were asked: • What aspects are expressed as significant in the students’ narratives in a life perspective, from early reading to the encounter with reading in teacher education? • What aspects are expressed as significant in the narratives of the students’ reading during their reading in teacher education? Initial pre-service students’ narratives are analyzed in this study. A social-cultural perspective on reading is used in the narrative analysis. The analysis resulted in a description of the students’ reading trajectories. As an over- arching result, the students’ narratives revealed that reading is a relational process regardless of context and stage of life. In every context in a life perspective reading occurs with significant others. Significant others seems important in every literacy context from new readers in primary school to pre-service teachers’ reading in teacher education.

The aim of this study is to capture and analyse perspectives on higher education from the views of five students through in-depth interviews. The students' statements are analyzed in order to gain an understanding of their experiences of developing academic literacies in their university studies. They are regularly visiting the university study workshop for help with their exam assignments. The following questions have been formulated to fulfil the aim of the study: (a) what aspects of studies in higher education do the students express as important, favorable, or unfavorable, for their development of academic literacies? and (b) in what way do the students value the study workshops as an educational tool? The analysis reveals three themes: the importance of explicit support structures, the importance of teachers’ feedback, and the importance of using the students’ pedagogical capital. The results also show that the students highly value the study workshop when they reflect upon the one-to-one feedback, but the support seems to be insufficient both in supporting them to be more independent in their studies and in developing academic literacies from a critical and epistemological point of view.

Studenters möte med en akademisk språkvärld Syftet med denna studie är att genom fem högskolestudenters berättelser beskriva och analysera upplevelser och erfarenheter av deras studier relaterat till det stöd de söker i högskolans stödverksamhet. Studiens empiri baseras på de fem studenternas berättelser om tidigare erfarenheter och aktuella upplevelser av skriftspråkliga aktiviteter främst från högskoleutbildning. Studenterna besöker frekvent högskolans studieverkstad för att ta del av det läs- och skrivstöd som erbjuds som en extraresurs i studierna. Metoden har en narrativ ansats som utgår från att det som berättas kan beskrivas och analyseras och det berättade innehållet kan på så sätt bidra med kunskap om erfarenheter och upplevelser av att möta högskolans språk-och skriftspråkspraktik. Studenternas berättelser har rekonstruerats utifrån att valda delar ur det insamlade materialet har sammanställts för analys. Tidigare forskning är hämtad dels från svensk högskolepedagogisk forskning (.t.ex. Ask, 2005, 2007; Blåsjö, 2004), dels från internationell forskning med utgångspunkt i New literacies studies (Lea & Street, 1998, 2006) samt högskolepedagogisk forskning från Nya Zeeland (Zepke & Leach. 2006, 2007). De teoretiska perspektiven som använts som utgångspunkt är främst sociokulturella och utgår från Vygotskijs (1999) och Wertchs (1998) syn på språket som medierande redskap i situerade praktiker. Wood, Bruner och Ross (1976) begrepp scaffolding kan eventuellt också användas för analys av berättelserna. Under konferensen hoppas jag få möjlighet att samtala om hur berättelserna skulle kunna analyseras och vad som skulle kunna vara användbara teoretiska perspektiv/tidigare forskning.

Students' narratives from experiences in academic studies Anna-Karin Svensson Department of Learning and society Malmö University Sweden anna-karin.svensson@mau.se Summary The study's empiric is based on five students' narratives about earlier experiences of school and current experiences in university educations. The narratives are described and analyzed related to the education support they are offered in university. The students visit frequently the university’s study workshop to take part of the written language aid that is offered. Three themes have been crystallized in the analysis: the students' need for clear support structures, teachers’ feedback and the use of the students’ educational capital. The result shows that the support is not perceived to be sufficient to carry out the studies independently. Keywords: academic literacy, narratives, study workshop, support structures, university students Background, objectives and aim The present study is based on five students’ narratives experienced from frequent visits at the university study workshops. Students who opted to participate in the study are mainly from pre-school teacher education and teacher education as well as from other university programs. The interest for students' learning can be related to an earlier study about pre-service teachers reading (Svensson, 2011). Here is studied pre-service teachers reading on the basis of a socio-cultural perspective. The pre-service students’ narratives make visible perceptions and experiences of what has been important aspects for reading in a life-long perspective. A number of aspects proved important as invitation, participation and challenge from significant others in order to develop new ways of reading, i.e. significant others supports reading processes for different reasons and in diverse contexts. Within earlier research in Sweden elucidates for example Ask (2005, 2007) and Blåsjö (2004) those problems students experience at stage transitions from upper secondary school to college. Bergman (2014, 2016) elucidates similar issues on the basis of teachers in higher educations’ work with supporting students' development in literacy in higher education. Today almost every university and colleges in Sweden offered support for their students in study workshops. The aim of the study workshops is to facilitate for the students to conquer academic literacy skills. The study is based on five students' narratives from earlier school experiences and current experiences in university education with focus on student’s visits at university’s study workshop, taking part of the written language aid that is offered. Students' narratives are used in order to achieve knowledge about their experiences of university studies related to the aid the students apply for in the study workshop. This knowledge can along with earlier research and theoretical perspectives contribute to development of didactics in higher education. Existing study tries to answer the question: • What in the students’ narratives stands out as important, favorable or unfavorable for the students' development of academic literacy in the university education? The theoretical starting point in existing study is based on a sociocultural perspective with focus on learning through social and creative processes of making meaning. A socio-cultural perspective assumes that learning is performed in conjunction with others in situated practices, comparable to what Lave and Wenger (1991) call legitimized peripheral participation. Learning takes place in interaction, where the student progressively moves between different positions through participation in the learning practice. Initially, the student leaves from a peripheral position, ‘novis’, to the center of practice, ‘expert’, when knowledge has been internalized. Lave and Wenger use the term Communities of Practice (CoP), which has been developed in practical professional communities, including tailors, midwives and butchers. Wenger's definition (1998) of CoP as a mutual commitment to a joint enterprise with a shared repertoire can therefore be discussed if it is transmissible in a knowledge environment, in which individuals develop and learn for different purposes and goals in a theoretical context, such as Arthur (2016) who problematizes in his research on CoP in the university environment. Researchers such as Gee, (2008) Lemke, (1990) and Street (1995) use the concept of literacy for writing-language activities and embrace an ideological approach where literacy is regarded as a complex social phenomenon related to social and political processes. In this context literacy means the ability to use different kinds of texts in different contexts and to a critical review, that is, to question the context and purposes for which texts are written and intended to be used. The term also means that students independently can manage, communicate and use the languages required in different contexts. The study also relates to previous research on student learning in an academic context, e.g., Evans (2015), Lea and Street (1998, 2006), Wingate and Tribbles (2012) Zepke and Leach (2005, 2006). Method The choice of a narrative method, which uses stories as a source of knowledge, is based on narratives as a tool that can contribute to knowledge of people's experiences, but also about the culture and society in which the narrator lives. The individual story can, when it is contextualized, provide knowledge about the social and cultural environment. Mishler (1995) distinguishes the story and the narrative. In the narrative there is a correlation between language and reality, but where the relationship should be problematized. The story instead focuses on how story telling is performed. Presenting examples of people's ways of perceiving their background, their current situation and their perception of the future is based on the belief that stories generate knowledge of importance (Goodson & Sikes, 2001). Study of students’ narratives of their own reading and writing in a university context, is a research tool helping in the development of the university's educational/didactic work. Goodson and Sikes (ibid.) also argue that the narrative method is empowering for the narrator, and that the story creates understanding and meaning from past experiences, related to a historical and social context. Stories are constructions and in the narrative, the narrator designs herself along with the listener (Bamberg, 2004). In this study, narratives from five students are analyzed and interpreted. The reflexive component is important for both informant and researcher. For the researcher, reflexivity means being aware of the co-operative role in the design of the story. During this process the knowledge is deepened on how stories are derived from social life, but also creating and influencing social life (Brockmeier & Carbaugh, 2001; Bruner, 1987). The five students who were interested in participating in the study were women between 20 and 40 years old. These were selected for interview, a so-called availability check. Interviewers were informed that the study was only used for research purposes and that they could interrupt their participation whenever they wanted, and that their stories were anonymized with code names. The five stories were presented for the researcher, recorded and transcribed. The narratives were transcribed with focus on the content of the narratives, that is what the students tell, not how they tell. Each student’s story was transcribed in its entirety for analysis and interpretation. A content analysis of the narratives has been done by coding based on meaning content, where different themes are highlighted (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). Conclusion The results of this study point out that support and feedback are desirable at several levels of education, which means that teachers need to be aware of their own subject discipline literacy practice, in order to support students' learning processes. Based on student narratives, the support in the study workshop is not sufficient for the students to enable them to study independently and in-depth. Finally, it can be said that the results indicate that qualitative education and student involvement in the studies can be strengthened through cooperation at program/course level. This can be achieved by collegial cooperation between teachers and between teacher and student, as well as between student and student. Collaboration should be clearly stated in the syllabi and practiced as working methods in the courses. Such forms of work can stimulate relationships between teachers and students and between students for creative learning communities, both in academic and social groups, which are important for the sense of belonging. The study is based on narratives from five students who regularly visit the study workshop. The empirical material should be seen as examples of experiences from higher education, and the results should therefore not be generalized. Through transparency in the presentation of study purpose, selection of participants, data processing and analysis, the reader will be acquainted with the researcher's procedures throughout the study. Graneheim and Lundman (2004) use credibility, reliability and transferability as functional concepts in qualitative research. The study can be considered credible because it explores what has been the intention, i.e., some students' narratives from experiences in higher education. Critical issues in the data processing are the way data is processed and what is reduced in the process of condensed meaning and themes. Intent of publications: This presentation will be submitted to Problems of Education in the 21st Century to during autumn 2018 References Arthur, L. (2016). Communities of practice in higher education: professional learning in an academic career. International Journal for Academic Development, 1-12. Bamberg, M. (2004). Talk, small stories, and adolescent identities. Human development, 47(6), 366-369. Brockmeier, J., & Carbaugh, D. A. (Eds.). (2001). Narrative and identity: Studies in autobiography, self and culture (Vol. 1). John Benjamins Publishing. Bruner, J. (1987). Life as narrative. Social research, 11-32. Evans, C. (2013). Making sense of assessment feedback in higher education. Review of educational research, 83(1), 70-120. Gee, J. P. (2008). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. Goodson, I. F., & Sikes, P. J. (2001). Life history research in educational settings: Learning from lives. Open University Press. Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse education today, 24(2), 105-112. Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lea, M. R. & Street, B. V. (1998). Student writing in higher education: An academic literacies approach. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157–172. Lea, M. R. & Street, B. V. (2006). The “academic literacies” model: Theory and applications. Theory into Practice, 45(4), 368–377. Leach, L., & Zepke, N. (2011). Engaging students in learning: A review of a conceptual organiser. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(2), 193-204. Leach, L. (2016). Enhancing student engagement in one institution. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 40(1), 23-47. Lemke, J. L. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning, and values. Norwood: Ablex. Mishler, E. G. (1995). Models of narrative analysis: A typology. Journal of Narrative and Life Story, 5(2) 87–123. Street, B. V. (1995). Social literacies: Critical approaches to literacy development, ethnography, and education. London: Longman. Wingate, U., & Tribble, C. (2012). The best of both worlds? Towards an English for Academic Purposes/Academic Literacies writing pedagogy. Studies in Higher Education, 37(4), 481-495. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge university press. Zepke, N. & Leach, L. (2006). Improving learner outcomes in lifelong education: Formal pedagogies in non-formal learning contexts? Journal of Lifelong Education, 25(5), 507–518. Zepke, N. & Leach, L. (2007). Improving student outcomes in higher education: New Zealand teachers’ views on teaching students from diverse backgrounds. Teaching in Higher Education, 12(5–6), 655–668. Statistiska centralbyrån SCB, 2016 www. uhr.se Kan excellens nås i homogena studentgrupper. Universitet och högskolerådet (2014)

The current research is an in-depth study of four pre-service teachers' own experience of reading in various contexts and for different reasons. The aim is to analyse what has been significant regarding reading in a life history perspective by the use of narratives. A socio-cultural perspective on reading is used as analysis tool. The over-arching result from analysing pre-service teachers' narratives is that reading is a relational process regardless of the context reading takes place in. The emerging themes allow a deeper understanding on critical aspects for developing reading in various contexts and at different levels. Significant others seem important in every reading practice, from new readers in primary school to pre-service teachers' reading at university level. The narratives reveal a need for bridging the gaps that arise between the reading practices in the various contexts that students meet in school and university.

I uppdraget för högre utbildningen ingår att bredda rekrytering av studenter och att ge alla lika möjligheter att fullfölja sin utbildning (Prop. 2001/02:15 s. 18). En central del i det arbetet är att också erbjuda stöd till studenter i studie/skriv/verkstäder (eller annan benämning). Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning om studieverkstäder eller motsvarande, nationell såväl som internationell. Under vt-18 inleddes föreliggande studie genom möten med personal och ledning vid två studieverkstäder i södra Sverige varvid studien presenterades. De etiska principerna och villkoren för intervjuerna klargjordes och ett godkännande erhölls till fortsatta möten med aktiva lärare. Inledningsvis togs kontakt med intervjupersonerna via mail inför ett personligt möte. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka hur lärare, verksamma vid två studieverkstäder i högre utbildning, erfar de organisatoriska ramarna och de pedagogiska/didaktiska villkoren. Frågeställningar: •Hur/på vilka grunder har lärarna rekryteras till studieverkstaden? •Vari ligger enligt lärarnas uppfattning studenternas behov av stöd och hur upplever de att de kan möta dessa behov? •Hur bedrivs det pedagogiskt stödjande arbetet? Möjligheter och begränsningar? Metoden innebär semistrukturerade intervjuer där lärares erfarenheter och upplevelser är i fokus. Det insamlade materialet transkriberas, bearbetas och analyseras med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet förväntas ge kunskap om studieverkstädernas funktion för att stödja och utveckla studenters möjligheter att stanna kvar och lyckas i sin utbildning.