Medborgarbildning i gymnasiet. Ämneskunnande och medborgarbildning i gymnasieskolans samhälls- och historieundervisning

Publicerad:2015-02-20

Uppdaterad:2015-05-05

Johan Sandahl diskuterar i sin avhandling vad vi kan förvänta oss av skolan i termer av medborgarbildning, och hur uppdraget att bidra till elevernas medborgarbildning kan utvecklas.
– Att kunna ett ämne är betydligt mer än att bara kunna rabbla fakta. Det finns ett starkt förhållande mellan att ha faktakunskaper och samtidigt kunna använda dem för att analysera, reflektera, tolka och kritiskt granska samhälleliga frågor. Tankebegreppen kan hjälpa lärare och elever att anlägga olika perspektiv för att synliggöra vad man gör i undervisningen, konstaterar Johan Sandahl.

Författare

Johan Sandahl

Handledare

Geir Skeie, Stockholms universitet.

Opponent

Tom Gullberg, Åbo Akademi. Svein Lorentzen, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU)

Disputerat vid

Stockholms universitet

Disputationsdag

2015-03-13

Titel (se)

Medborgarbildning i gymnasiet. Ämneskunnande och medborgarbildning i gymnasieskolans samhälls- och historieundervisning

Titel (eng)

Citizenship Education in Upper Secondary School : Subject Knowledge and Citizenship Education in History and Social Science Education

Institution

Institutionen för etnologi, religionshistoria och genusvetenskap

Citizenship Education in Upper Secondary School : Subject Knowledge and Citizenship Education in History and Social Science Education

The school subjects of history and social science are expected to contribute with historical and social scientific knowledge, skills and abilities: that is, subject knowledge. The subject knowledge that students achieve during their schooling is not only meant for future studies, but is also expected to inform a life as democratic citizens. However, the curriculum and syllabus have not always been explicit about this aim, and the relationship between subject knowledge and citizenship education is only vaguely explained. This thesis investigates this relationship within the context of history and social science education in Swedish upper secondary school. The educational dimensions of Biesta – socialisation, qualification and subjectification – are used as an approach to this investigation.

The aim of the study is to explore, analyse and discuss the role of history and social science teaching for students’ citizenship education. This is done by investigating curricula, teaching and educational discourses and by using both empirical methods and content analysis. The thesis is a compilation of five articles, all exploring subject knowledge and its connection to students’ citizenship education. The first two articles investigate possible second-order concepts in social science education, which are described and discussed using theories and concepts from history didactics. The findings in these articles work as a basis for further study in following articles, where the subject knowledge and its connections to citizenship education are explored in more depth. Taken together, the articles present a rich picture of the complex reality of teaching and provide a basis for understanding better how teachers, students and curricula express subject knowledge and how this is related, or not, to citizen education.

The contribution of the thesis is a more developed theoretical and conceptual understanding of history and social science education, especially through concepts that can be used in practical teaching in order to strengthen and develop citizenship education.