A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Meanings of Authentic Learning Scenarios:: A Study of the Interplay Between Higher Education and Employability of Higher Education Graduates

  2023. Kajsa Falkner, Eva Edman Stålbrandt. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 35 (2), 171-182

  Article

  The study is a part of the Erasmus+ project Skill-UP: Matching graduates’ skills and labour world demands through authentic learning scenarios. Higher education provides many different opportunities for students’ learning, though there are limited possibilities for them to learn through collaboration in authentic learning experiences. The article reports on a study which investigates meanings of authentic learning scenarios in higher education in relation to the employability of higher education graduates in a course within the bachelor’s programme in study and career guidance at Stockholm University, Sweden. Pre- and post-questionnaires on the employability skills of new graduates were completed by final year students. In a focus-group interview, higher education teachers discussed how they achieve authenticity in these learning scenarios. The course helped the students improve their employability skills such as creative thinking, teamwork, subject-specific skills, communication and interpersonal skills, and analytical thinking. The teachers’ conclusion was to keep the authentic learning scenario in the course and further develop the teaching instructions. We consider that authentic learning scenarios are of considerable benefit to higher education in relation to the employability of graduates. The conclusions drawn from the study are that the intervention with authentic learning experiences supports students to improve several employability skills. The teachers’ deduction is to keep the authentic learning scenarios in their teaching at university and further develop the teaching instructions which shows that the authentic learning scenarios can support university teachers to improve their course design in higher education by incorporating the model of authentic learning.

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• Att hantera ett brett och diversifierat utbildningsuppdrag - fyra utmaningar

  2022. Eva Edman-Stålbrandt (et al.). The Department of Education at Stockholm University, 26-47

  Chapter

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• Teachers’ work in the Swedish School Inspectorate’s quality audits in a time of accountability

  2020. Patric Sahlén, Eva Edman Stålbrandt, Eva Svärdemo Åberg. Teaching and Teacher Education 96

  Article

  This article explores how the teacher is positioned and legitimised in the Swedish Schools Inspectorate’squality audit reports. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, two main subject positions are identified:activity-based subject positions where the teacher is constructed as an active actor, and competence- and responsibility-based subject positions where the teacher is constructed both as important for the students’results, and as an individual in need of guidance. The teacher is positioned as a professional with limited competence. The reports show ambivalence regarding teachers’position, which could be considered as delegitimising the teaching profession.

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• Exploring descriptions of mentoring as support in Swedish preschools

  2020. Ylva Ståhle, Eva Edman-Stålbrandt. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education

  Article

  This article contributes to knowledge about mentoring in preschool, which is important as research on mentoring of preschool teachers is limited. The study examines how in-service preschool teachers perceive their assignment as a mentor. The aim is to develop the understanding of mentoring as support among pre-school teacher mentors in Swedish preschools (children’s age 1–5). The data consists of 75 in-service preschool teachers’ self-reflective texts from a university mentoring course. A phenomenographic approach was adopted and three qualitatively different categories were identified. Mentoring as support was experienced as: mentoring as personal, professional and team support. Apart from the finding that the mentor’s role is complex, the preschool settings present other challenges and place different demands on the mentor because they comprise a team including preschool teachers, childcare attendants and parents, when compared to their counterparts in compulsory school settings. The paper has implications for how to reflect on and problematize concepts of mentoring, and it could also have an impact on mentoring in school, on mentoring education, and on induction programmes internationally. Mentor support for professional practices directed at team building should influence early childhood teacher preparation for pre-and in-service teachers.

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• Enhancing graduates’ employability skills through authentic learning approaches

  2018. Adriana Ornellas, Kajsa Falkner, Eva Edman Stålbrandt. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning

  Article

  Purpose

  The purpose of this paper is to introduce a theoretical framework based on authentic learning approaches that can be taken into consideration in higher education (HE) contexts to design activities that enable students to develop employability skills.

  Design/methodology/approach

  Three methods were used to develop the framework: desk research on current demand and supply of new graduate’s employability skills; interviews in four European HE institutions to identify authentic learning scenarios; and asynchronous online focus group to validate the framework.

  Findings

  The paper takes a competence-centred approach to the concept of employability skills and sets out a taxonomy of skills required to enhance new graduates’ employability. It also gives criteria and examples of authentic learning scenarios in HE settings that promote the acquisition of these skills.

  Research limitations/implications

  The framework developed remains theoretical. In a second phase, the framework will be applied to implement authentic activities in different programmes and subjects of five HE institutions, and the results will be reported in future publications.

  Practical implications

  The framework gives directions to create real and practical ways to enhance new graduates’ employability skills by improving the connection between HE curricula and the demands of the real world.

  Originality/value

  The added value of the paper lies in adopting a learner-centred, genuine and effective learning approach, such as authentic learning as a catalyst for bringing work experience to formal learning in HE institutions, in order to better develop graduates’ employability skills.

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Show all publications by Eva Edman Stålbrandt at Stockholm University