Theme work – good for who and why? : A qualitative study about the importance of theme works in learning

Pupils learn in different ways. It’s up to the teachers´ to give pupils the knowledge they need to live and work in society. The teacher should be aware of the ways of children learn in the classroom and should teach accordingly. Pupils work individually but should even be offered some kind of group work regularly. In this study I chose to put focus on theme work as awork method. The questions I would like to find answers to are: How important is theme work for students´ education according to the teachers inthis study? Why do teachers in this study choose theme work as a method? The result to this study are based on observations and interviews. The observations were made on two occasions of a school class there teachers worked with the theme, moss and lichen. I observed their teaching methods to get the teacher’s opinion about theme work as a teaching method. I chose to interview three teachers at the school. All three practised theme work as a method of teaching. The result of my study shows that the most important thing for the pupils is not theme work, but practicing how to communicate, integrate and discuss. They should be able to connect what they learn at school with their everyday activities and experiences. How a teacher works or what methods are used are not important. The important thing is that the pupils should be able to put all that they learn into practice on a daily basis