Syftet med framförliggande uppsats är att bidra till ökad kunskap om gymnasielärares förståelse av ämnet samhällskunskap genom en beskrivning och analys av lärares målsättning och syfte med undervisningen med avseende på mål, innehåll och selektionsavvägningar. Den övergripande forskningsfrågan för detta arbete är: Vilken förståelse har gymnasielärare av innehållet och undervisningen i skolämnet samhällskunskap? Utifrån syftet och forskningsfrågan är målsättningen att ge svar på de didaktiska frågorna vad och varför. För att uppnå studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod anammats och fem semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med gymnasielärare som undervisar i ämnet samhällskunskap. Lärarna i studien definierar ämnet i innehållsliga termer samt i termer av blocktillhörighet. Studien visar att undervisningen i samhällskunskap bör bidra samt syfta till förståelse av samhällets struktur och funktion, men även ge eleverna kompetenser och färdigheter för att fungera som medborgare i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Vidare visar studien att målsättning är att eleverna ska utvecklas till goda, självständiga, kritiska och handlingskraftiga demokratiska medborgare med ett samhällsintresse, där de förvärvade kunskaperna kommer till användning genom att sättas in i ett sammanhang. Resultatet ger indikationer på att kunskapsområdena politik och ekonomi, kopplat till begreppet demokrati, utgör basen för ämnet. Ämnets mest centrala begrepp är demokrati och de flesta begreppen hämtas från områdena politik och ekonomi. Studien visar också att samhällskunskapsämnet är ett "aktualitetsämne" och därför prioriteras aktuella händelser i undervisningen. Vidare påvisas att det finns ett flertal faktorer som påverkar lärarnas val av ämnesinnehåll bl.a. läroboken, lärarens intressen och preferenser, elevers och kollegors inflytande, lokala planeringsinstrument m.m. En skillnad som framträder mellan lärarna på de teoretiskt respektive pratiskt inriktade programmen är användningen av läroboken, men det råder även delade meningar bland lärarna om de lokala planeringsinstrumentens behov och betydelse för undervisningen. Resultatet visar att lärarna är tillfredsställda med samhällskunskapsämnets utformning och de tror inte att någon större framtida förändring kommer att ske med avseende på ämnesinnehållet. Men några av lärarna tror emellertid att vissa kunskapsområden och samhällsfrågor som exempelvis massmedia, livskunskap, globala frågor och miljöfrågor kommer att få större utrymme. / The purpose of this essay is to contribute to increased knowledge of high school teachers' understanding of the subject social science through a description and an analysis of teachers' aims and purpose of their instruction, regarding goals, contents and selection of subject contents. The overall research question for this work is: What understanding does high school teachers have of the contents and the teaching of the subject social science? Based on this purpose and this research question, the aim is to answer the didactic questions of what and why. To accomplish the purpose of the study, a qualitative method has been used, and five semi-structured interviews have been conducted with high school teachers who are teaching social science. The teachers in this study define the subject in terms of contents as well as in terms of blocs belonging. The study shows that the instruction in social science should contribute to, and aim for an understanding of society's structure and function, in addition to giving the students competence and skills regarding their function as citizens of a democratic society. Furthermore, the study shows that the aim is for the students to develop into good, independent, critical and resolute democratic citizens, with an interest in society, where the obtained knowledge can be put into a context. The result indicates that the fields of politics and economics, connected to the concept of democracy, constitute the base of the subject. The most central concept of the subject is democracy and most of the concepts are drawn from the fields of politics and economics. The study also shows that social science is a subject which is sensitive to current issues, and for that reason on-going events are given priority. Furthermore, it is shown that there are several factors that influence the teachers' choice of contents: for example the course books, the teacher’s own interests and preferences, as well as that of students' and colleagues', the local instrument used for planning etc. A difference, which appears between the teachers on the theoretical and practical programs, respectively, is the use of the course book, but there is no unity amongst the teachers concerning the need for and importance of the local planning instruments, regarding the instruction. Results show that the teachers are satisfied with the form of the subject social science, and that they believe that no extensive future change will occur, regarding the contents of the subjects. However, the teachers believe that certain fields, such as mass media, "life science", global issues as well as environmental issues will be given more space.

Swedish as a school subject has long been debated in Sweden, and ideas concerning its content, role and function in school and society have varied greatly throughout the years. In 1994, there was an upper secondary school reform which resulted in a partial revision of the Swedish subject, including its introduction within a new course and grading system. The Swedish A and B courses became obligatory for all upper secondary students. Other courses in Swedish became largely optional. This study consists of two levels – a rhetorical and practical level. The rhetorical level deals with understandings and ideas of the Swedish subject and instruction as they are expressed in curricula and course syllabi, as well as with the understandings and ideas expressed by the four teachers in the study. In addition, the external and internal frame factors which underlie this rhetoric are considered. The practical level concerns the four teachers’ concrete Swedish instruction, i.e. the aims and goals, content and working methods which underlie their teaching, as well as the factors which influence, limit and facilitate it. The aim of the study is to attempt to describe, analyse and understand the role and function of the Swedish subject after the upper secondary school reform of 1994. What ideas do the four teachers express regarding the role and function of the Swedish subject in upper secondary school and society after 1994, and how should these ideas and reasons be interpreted and understood from a more comprehensive, general perspective? How do the teachers represent the Swedish subject in their teaching, i.e. how is their knowledge of subject didactics expressed? These are two central questions in the study. A third central question concerns notions of society and the good citizen implied in the chosen views of the Swedish subject. The study has two theoretical starting points: subject didactics and curriculum theory. Shulman’s concepts of pedagogical content knowledge and transformation are central to the subject didactics drawn upon here, while frame factor theory and Bernstein’s concepts of “classification” and “framing” are central to the curriculum-theoretical perspective. The perspective of subject didactics deals with the relation between teacher and content, while the curriculum-theoretical perspective deals with the relation between content, individual and society. This study shows that the teachers’ knowledge of subject didactics is vague.The teachers’ transformation of content in teaching resides to a high degree in an adaptation to the students; the focus is thus not on a transformation and content analysis of the Swedish subject. Further, the teachers have an instrumental approach to the steering documents. A common characteristic among the four teachers, and in Swedish instruction generally, is that a large degree of responsibility is placed on the individual student for their literary and language development. Collective meetings were very infrequent in the teaching of the four teachers in the study. This study discerns four teacher codes which reflect understandings and ideas of school and education, formed by previous and current material and sociocultural conditions and which the individual teacher has encountered, adopted and reshaped into his/her own. These four teacher codes can be described as closeness and hierarchy, tradition and renewal, vision and reality and the individual and the collective. The teacher codes reveal that the four teachers have relatively similar teaching strategies, whereas their teaching aims, goals and content diverge significantly. Viewed from the perspective of curriculum theory, it is evident that the teachers emphasise the individual student over the collective. It is a matter of developing one’s thought and personality and of fostering the students to be individual, active members of society. However, this active member of society does not appear to be aware and critically active, but rather a loyal and obedient member of society.

Abstract - A business to change the world - An analysis of norms Textbooks for International Economics, in Upper-secondary Schools, Sweden 1994-2008   In this paper textbooks, for International Economics in Upper Secondary Schools in Sweden1994-2008, are analyzed with regard to norms related to taking moral responsibility for environment and society. A method for making discourse analysis, previously illustrated by Östman (2008), is used to deconstruct the knowledge content regarding norms about taking responsibility in relation to different social roles.   The first question is: what different norms about taking responsibility can be found, in relation to different social roles? Different social roles that can be found in the studied material are: business-people, consumers, politicians/civil servants and citizens. Norms of taking responsibility in relation to the environment and society are studied in this paper in relation to these different roles.   The second question is whether a discursive change in the material can be found. One case of discursive change can be found which is related to the role of a business. This discursive change implies that the scope of taking responsibility is slightly moved towards a norm that opens for a possibility of taking moral responsibility.   Thirdly, the different norms are discussed in relation to different functions of education (Biesta 2008 & Säfström 2005) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). An argument is that a subjectifying function of education is vital for en education that wants to make change, which is assumed as a central component of ESD.   One argument, as a result of this study, is that a “window of opportunity” can be found when using this method of discourse analysis to discover the scope of different norms for different roles to take responsibility for environment and society.

Preschool is a central part of Swedish family life. The manner in which the state regulates preschool through laws, ordinances, and various kinds of written objectives has an impact on many people in the Swedish society. The thesis examines the development of preschool state regulation from the 1940s until 2008. The starting point of the study is a draft for a new Education Act, put forward in 2003, which proposed that preschool should be integrated into the school system as a new form of school. The purpose of the study is to generate knowledge about the state regulation of Swedish preschool, and how it has contributed to the shaping of preschool as a societal institution. Questions considered in the analysis are how regulation delimits preschool as a social category, what role this regulation assigns preschool in relation to other actors and societal institutions involved in early childhood education and care, and what principles this regulation is based on. The study has evolved within the research tradition of curriculum theory as developed in studies in educational politics. The analysis is carried out as a text analysis, where the concepts of boundary work, official classification and activity system serve as important analytical tools. Texts produced within the formal chain of decision and legislation: directives for committees, government white papers, ministerial task forces, bills, legislative texts etc., form the empirical foundation for the study. The analysis shows that economic as well as legal and ideological governing instruments are used in the shaping of the framework of preschool. These frameworks are indicated in the form of different boundary markers that delimit preschool as a specific category and arrange it in relation to other categories. The boundaries indicated by these boundary markers have been subject to extensive discussion during the formulation process. Through this boundary work, preschool has been constructed as a full time preschool, commissioned to provide both education and care. The boundaries of this commission are in some respects indistinct and contain several overlapping elements with regards to family, social services and school. At the same time, preschool holds a fixed core with more distinct boundaries, in the form of a part time public preschool delimited by time and age and regulated by far-reaching legislation regarding the rights of children to attend. Owing to this construction, preschool may balance several different and partly contradictory demands placed on it by other institutions and by different interest groups, while at the same time maintaining a core of identity of its own. In that sense, preschool may be described as a boundary object. Thus, when it is suggested that preschool should constitute a form of school and be placed in the more formal regulation structures of the school system, the balance of this construction is challenged.

This thesis examines the activities within the Swedish steering system concerning upper secondary school. Sweden has a long history of shared responsibility between the state level of government and the municipalities, dating back to federal decisions concerning the establishment of a compulsory school system. By the early 1990s two parallel changes were taking place within the Swedish educational sector, one concerning the steering system which evolved towards deregulation and decentralization, and the other an extension of the compulsory school. A consequence of the latter change was that in practice upper secondary education became mandatory. The political aim was to realize the vision of “one school for all”. In this study the political vision and the larger question of how to turn it into reality (the differentiation question) is used to show how activities at national as well as the local level of the steering system are formed. / <p>Se även under Uppsala i DiVAportalen.</p>

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka på vilket sätt behöriga idrottslärare bedömer och betygsätter elever i idrott och hälsa gällande dans men även hur de arbetar med detta moment. För att undersöka detta avser studien besvara följande frågeställningar: ●      Hur arbetar idrottslärare med momentet dans i sin undervisning? ●     Hur bedömer idrottslärare eleverna formativt respektive summativt gällande dans? Totalt har sex kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med behöriga idrottslärare på både grund- och gymnasieskolor i Skåne. Intervjuerna spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades med utgångspunkt i läroplansteori och Bourdieus begrepp habitus, fält, kapital och dispositioner. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av idrottslärarna planerar sin dansundervisning på ett likartat sätt och genomför den i block av lektioner under ett par veckor där elever lär sig förutbestämda steg som anpassas efter den valda musikens rytm och takt. Den formativa bedömningen, i form av feedback kring vad eleven kan förbättra, sker inför den summativa bedömningen, som oftast genomförs i form av en danspresentation i grupp. Presentationen filmas av de flesta lärare för att underlätta bedömningsprocessen. Resultatet visar också att flera idrottslärare upplever en svårighet att kunna uttrycka i ord vad de olika kunskapskraven representerar i dans. Vi menar att detta kan äventyra idrottslärares möjligheter att kunna förtydliga vad de kräver av sina elever gällande olika betygssteg inom dans. Detta riskerar att minska transparensen av bedömningsprocessen. / The purpose of this study is to investigate the way in which qualified teachers of physical education assess and grade students in physical education regarding dance, but also how they work with this part. To investigate this, the study intends to answer the following questions: ●      How do physical education teachers work with the element of dance in their teaching? ●      How do teachers of physical education assess students in a formative and summative manner regarding dance? A total of six qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with qualified teachers of physical education at both primary and upper secondary schools in Skåne. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed by using curriculum theory and Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field, capital and dispositions. The results show that a majority of the teachers plan their teaching of dance in a similar way. They execute it in blocks of lessons during a couple of weeks where students are taught predetermined steps that are adjusted to the rhythm and pace of a chosen song. The formative assessment, feedback regarding what the student can improve, takes place before the summative assessment which is often executed as a dance presentation in groups. The presentation is video recorded by the teacher to facilitate the assessment process. The results also show that multiple teachers experience difficulty in expressing in words what the knowledge requirements represent in dance. We believe that this can jeopardize the teachers opportunities to be able to clarify what they require of their students regarding different grade levels in dance. This risks reducing the transparency of the assessment process.

Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med studien är att synliggöra hur komplexa rörelser förstås, implementeras och framställs i högstadielärares planering och undervisning i ämnet idrott och hälsa. 1. Hur tolkar högstadielärare begreppet komplexa rörelser i idrott och hälsa? 2. Hur realiserar högstadielärare det centrala innehållet och kunskapskravet komplexa rörelser i sin undervisning? Teori och metod Studien har utförts av kvalitativ karaktär. Datainsamling har skett genom fem digitala intervjuer för att besvara syfte och frågeställningar. Utifrån bekvämlighetsurval är samtliga handplockade respondenter utbildade till ämneslärare i idrott och hälsa samt verksamma på högstadiet med fyra månader till drygt två års yrkeserfarenhet. Analysarbetet grundar sig i den hermeneutiska spiralen i relation till vald läroplansteori innefattande transformerings- samt realiseringsarenan. Arenorna syftar till att förstå hur lärare tolkar och realiserar komplexa rörelser i sin undervisning. Resultat Respondenterna transformerar komplexa rörelser till ett brett begrepp och vägen dit ter sig olika. Komplexa rörelser ses som “ett paraply” för all praktisk idrottsundervisning, var på dess innehåll och kunskapskrav också behandlas annorlunda i ämnet. Kollegor och samplanering, med utgångspunkt i styrdokument, är stöttande i planeringsarbetet av komplexa rörelser. Kommunikation till elever av begreppet utförs på olika sätt. Lärarens idrottsliga bakgrund påverkar undervisningsinnehåll och bedömning. Slutsats Begreppet komplexa rörelser uppfattas, trots bearbetning, på transformeringsarenan som brett och ges störst utrymme i undervisningen. Samplanering med kollegor är av stor vikt vid transformeringsarbete av komplexa rörelser samtidigt som dialoger kollegor emellan riskerar begreppets giltighet. Detta i relation till att även lärares idrottsliga bakgrund påverkar undervisning och bedömning. Sammantagna faktorer som tas upp ovan kan spela en allt för stor roll när det kommer till en likvärdig undervisning av innehållet komplexa rörelser i ämnet idrott och hälsa. / Aim and questions The purpose of the study is to show how complex movements are understood, implemented and presented in high school teachers' planning and teaching in the subject of physical education (P.E.). 1. How do high school teachers interpret the concept of complex movements in P.E.?2. How do high school teachers realize the central content and knowledge requirement of complex movements in their teaching? Theory and method The study was conducted of a qualitative nature. Data collection has taken place through five digital interviews to answer the aim. Based on convenience selection, are all hand-picked respondents educated as subject teachers in P.E. and are active in high school with four months to just over two years of professional experience. The analysis work is based on the hermeneutic spiral in relation to the chosen curriculum theory, including the arenas of transformation and realization. The arenas aim to understand how teachers interpret and realize complex movements in their teaching. Results The respondents transform complex movements in various ways into a broad concept. Complex movements are treated differently and seen as “an umbrella concept” for all practical teaching in the subject. Colleagues and co-planning, based on curriculum, are supportive in the planning work of complex movements. Communication to students of the concept is performed in different strategies. The teacher's sports background affects the teaching content and assessment. Conclusions The concept of complex movements is perceived, despite processing, in the transformation arena as broad and given the greatest space in teaching. Co-planning with colleagues is of great importance in the transformation work of complex movements, at the same time as dialogues between colleagues risk the validity of the concept. This in relation to the fact that teachers' sports background affects teaching and assessment. Taken together, the factors above can play an important role when it comes to an equivalent teaching of complex movements in the subject of P.E.

Som följd av tidigare erfarenheter och brister i den tidigare forskning som sökts fram kring ämnet valdes studiens syfte som blev att skapa en djupare förståelse samt lyfta fram svårigheter och utmaningar som förskollärare har stött på i sitt arbete med barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Syftet är även att synliggöra de förändringar som anses skulle behövas. De frågor som ställdes var vilka brister och utmaningar finns det enligt deltagarna samt vilka förändringar skulle behöva göras. För undersökningen användes ett läroplansteoretiskt perspektiv med ramfaktorer som utgångspunkt. Tidigare forskning visar på att det finns olika nyckelfaktorer eller så kallade ramfaktorer som kan påverka utbildning och lärande inom förskolan. Dessa faktorer kan påverka på ett positivt sätt om de fungerar eller på ett negativt sätt om det finns brister inom verksamheterna. Den valda metoden för denna undersökning var en kvantitativ enkätstudie med kvalitativa inslag genom flervalsfrågor samt öppna frågor. Enligt resultatet från undersökningen fanns det brister inom flera områden. De tydligaste bristerna var tidsbrist, för stora barngrupper i relation till mängden personal, bristande utbildning. De förändringar som önskas kan kopplas ihop med de brister deltagarna lyft fram, exempelvis mindre barngrupper samt mer utbildad personal.

The aim of the essay is to investigate how the historical societal context is presented in curricula and textbooks. The studied material consists of the curricula Lpf 94 and Gy 11, and four textbooks on literature intended for teaching the subject of Swedish in upper secondary school. The literary eras that are studied are the Enlightenment and the Romantic period. The study of the textbooks proceeds from the analytical schema of the historian Niklas Ammert. Theories of literary and social conceptual worlds are applied to analyse the textbooks and a curriculum-theory perspective is used to analyse the steering documents.     The analysis shows that there is a greater focus on the relationship between literature and societal development in Gy 11 and that there are stricter learning requirements. One difference between the textbooks is the approach they have chosen to get at the historical societal context. Den levande litteraturen and Texter och tankar från antiken till 1900 do this chiefly through a type of presentation that uses explanations and sometimes simple statements of fact. Svenska impulser 2 establishes connections with the present day in a reflective way. Människans texter – litteraturen gives the biggest allround picture based on different societal contexts. This textbook is also the one that most clearly corresponds to the current subject plans for teaching Swedish.

This dissertation takes its point of departure in a relational perspective on education, which means that the relationship between teacher and student is seen as fundamental for students’ knowledge- and personal development. The aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the teacher-student relationship in teacher education at national and local levels and the different meanings of closeness in this context.       The theoretical basis of the study is curriculum theory-based didactics, where questions about knowledge content and teaching as offering meaning are central. The thesis consists of three separate studies. The first investigates closeness in the teacher-student relationship by means of a thematic conceptual analysis of the field of research in educational science on teacher-student relationships. Four different dimensions of closeness were identified: closeness as presence, closeness as care, closeness as feeling and closeness as responsibility. The results show a nuanced way of understanding closeness in the teacher-student relationship and that closeness is challenging for teachers in that it makes their relational work more complex.      The central question in curriculum theory - ‘What opportunities do students have to learn about the teacher-student relationship in teacher education?’ - is used as the point of departure in the analysis of educational policy documents at national and local levels. The second study investigates content knowledge at the national level and shows a limited and simplified view of the relationship between teacher and student. By using the dimensions of closeness as analytical tools, a multifaceted teacher-student relationship is constructed as an alternative meaning offering. In the third study, eleven Swedish universities participated in the study of curriculum documents at the local level. The analysis showed three types of knowledge content: relational theory, relational work and relational quality. In this study, the local documents together provided a broad range of knowledge content, but individually a reduced and simplified knowledge content. The study also confirmed the differences between universities in their teacher education programmes and that there are often discrepancies in the knowledge content that is offered.      The thesis as a whole contributes to a nuanced understanding of closeness in the teacher-student relationship and provides a set of theoretical tools that can be used in an analysis of different types of research studies. It also indicates that the policy documents relating to teacher education at the national and local levels contain simplified and limited notions about the teacher-student relationship and teachers’ relational work as knowledge content. This restricted knowledge content could limit student teachers’ abilities to create, build and maintain good and close teacher-student relationships and to address the relational challenges in their complex relational work.