Lärares dilemman

Sammanfattning: The topic of the present dissertation is teachers’ everyday dilemmas and the use of language to deal with these dilemmas. The concept of dilemma is compared to the concept of risk and the concept of paradox. The theoretical background consists of sociological systems theory and linguistic pragmatic theory. The empirical data consist of observations of teachers in everyday situations. The theoretical and empirical approaches are used to illuminate each other. Teachers’ ways of dealing with dilemmas are described as use of linguistic resources. Results show that dilemmas are complex social phenomenon that include global system media, trust and language use. Teachers face dilemmas as unpredicted clashes of conflicting expectations. The conflicting expectations come into view as global system media and local trust. The resources required in the constructing of trust and rationality shows how teachers are dealing with dilemmas. Teachers’ ways of dealing with dilemmas come into view as use of linguistic resources for logic and modality.