This study provides the first in-depth investigation of how perfectionism is experienced in high-level dance. Seventy-seven students (M age = 15.52, SD = 2.30) completed a perfectionism questionnaire. Next, dancers with the highest and lowest levels of perfectionistic strivings (PS) and perfectionistic concerns (PC) were recruited for interview…

Historically, the Swedish school system has been designed to level out differences between pupils. There has also been scepticism about assessing pupils. However, new school reforms in Sweden centre on performance and tests. This article focuses on pupils (year 6) in Swedish elite schools and their perceptions of assessment. The pupils are in an…

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctoral students' research productivity is examined with a special focus on gender, parenthood, and the personality trait conscientiousness. Data consist of 614 doctoral students active in medicine, technology, the natural sciences in Sweden. Results indicate that the overall research productivity of…

Due to the changing landscapes of higher education, a large body of research has studied how scholars make sense of academic identities and careers. Yet, little is known about how academics actually 'work' on their identities to navigate normative demands and complex career structures. This paper explores how scholars negotiate career scripts…

Research has identified characteristics of professional development programmes (PDPs) that are important for accomplishing change in teachers' practice and student achievement. However, these characteristics do not predict and guarantee the outcomes of a specific PDP. In the present study the authors investigated whether the expectancy-value…

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…

Formative assessment has been shown to have the potential to significantly enhance student achievement, but a strong research base about how to support teachers to implement such a practice is lacking. This is particularly so for a conceptualisation of formative assessment as a unity of integrated formative assessment strategies. The aim of this…

Background: In Sweden, the introduction of new national curricula for primary and secondary schools has implied, for example, that programming has become a compulsory part of mathematics education since August 2018. We study Swedish fifth and sixth graders and the distributions of their motivational values related to studying mathematics with…

Statistics are often used to reveal significant differences between online and campus-based education. The existence of online courses with low completion rates is often used to justify the inherent inferiority of online education compared to traditional classroom teaching. Our study revealed that this type of conclusion has little substance. We…

In 2007, Swedish authorities introduced open publication of comparisons of students' results at the end of compulsory school. In this study, we investigated a municipality that had succeeded in breaking a negative trend from a bottom position in the ranking in 2007 to a top position in 2010, apparently through inclusive practices. The purpose of…

The Swedish schools have been under pressure for change for several decades. How leaders behave can be of vital importance in times of change. The principal is responsible for both the educational program and for the school budget. Two hundred Swedish principals (male and female) responded to questionnaires concerning their leadership style,…

Using the expectancy-value model of achievement motivation as a basis, this study's purpose is to develop, apply, and validate scores from a self-report instrument measuring student test-taking motivation. Sampled evidence of construct validity for the present sample indicates that a number of the items in the instrument could be used as an…

Investigates the extents to which adolescents' achievement strategies are associated with the parenting styles they experience in their families. Respondents (N=354) identified four types of families: those with Authoritative; Authoritarian; Permissive; and Neglectful parenting styles. Results further reveal that adolescents from authoritative…

Young unemployed persons are a prioritised group in active labour market programmes. Such programmes can be regarded as "integrative", facilitating integration into the labour market for young people in accordance with their own preferences. However, such programmes can also be regarded as "defensive", discouraging young…