This thesis offers critical perspectives on a history syllabus for vocational education and training (VET) tracks in Swedish upper secondary schools and adds to our knowledge and understanding of the educative function of history education for the individual and for society. The overall aim of this thesis is to critically investigate discourses that are voiced in different fields about the construction and reproduction of the history curriculum in VET tracks. A general question addressed is how vertical (critical and theoretical) and horizontal knowledge is articulated by the discourses in terms of the meaning of history in a VET context. The following four research questions were the focus of the four different studies in this thesis: How were non-vocational subjects discussed on a policy level during the post-war period, and what meanings were ascribed to history education? What aspects of history as a field of knowledge are recontextualised into a pedagogic discourse for the VET curriculum? How do teachers perceive the history syllabus? What do the students express concerning the history syllabus and history education? The results of these studies are reported in separate papers, and the aggregated results are analysed in this thesis. The data consisted of government bills and committee reports, material from the National Agency of Education archives, and interview data gathered through interviews with 5 teachers and 46 students. The major theoretical inspiration comes from Basil Bernstein whose theories of classification and framing, pedagogic discourse, pedagogic code, and vertical and horizontal discourses are used in the analysis. With the aid of these concepts, the content and meaning of history education for VET are connected to macro levels of education, and the way in which education reproduces social order when certain forms of knowledge are distributed to different groups in society is discussed. Three major conclusions are drawn. First, history as a pedagogic discourse comes forward as versatile and contradictory when the results from the studies are aggregated. There is, however, a shared understanding that the meaning of history in VET is to educate the students to become democratic and active citizens. Secondly, the investigated discourses ascribe history education with the potential to distribute critical and powerful knowledge. The students see a value for history education in their future as citizens and for giving them access the public conversation of society. A final conclusion is that the pedagogic code, embedded in the history curriculum, can be interpreted in two different ways. The emphasis on competencies and the focus on the last two hundred years can be interpreted as (A) an expression of a wish for immediate utility and thus an instrumental view of education or (B) the recontextualisation of scientific theories, concepts, and practices into a pedagogic discourse as a means to give students access to disciplinary (powerful) knowledge.

The general view among researchers is that a well-functioning democracy rests in the handsof the political behaviour of citizens. In this behaviour, political interest is one of thecornerstones. Thus, there are reasons to regard it as a threat to democracy when young peopletend to have ever-lower levels of political interest. Therefore, to know how interest couldincrease, there is a need to know where it comes from and why it differs. There is yetuncertainty regarding this, notably since political interest as a concept rarely is used as adependent variable. Consequently, this thesis was aimed to explain why political interestdiffers among upper-secondary school students in Sweden. The focus was on the two types ofnational programmes, political socialization and socio-economic background. The findings of survey data (N=398) suggest that the average youth has low levels of politicalinterest. As hypothesized, there are, on average, higher levels of political interest amongstudents in preparatory academic programmes compared to vocational programmes. Alonethough, this pattern cannot explain variations of interest. Instead, agents of politicalsocialization have strong explanatory power, in particular friends and media. Also, family dohave a direct effect on political interest. However, this relationship appears to be dependent onsocio-economic background. The school as a political socialization agent cannot explaindifferences in political interest.

Detta arbete undersöker hur lärare kan uppmuntra läslust för skönlitteratur hos gymnasieelever. Mer specifikt är målet med detta arbete att undersöka vad forskningen säger om hur lärare kan främja läslust för skönlitteratur hos gymnasieelever, men också hur lärare kan forma och leda undervisningen för att främja elevernas läslust. Metoden som används är en systematisk litteraturstudie av befintlig forskning. Resultaten visar att det finns många sätt som en lärare kan uppmuntra lusten att läsa. Genom att använda en lämplig ledarstil, delta i litterära samtal, välja litteratur efter elevernas intressen och läsförmåga, utveckla elevernas självbild och vara en litterär förebild, en lärare kan uppmuntra önskan att läsa i gymnasieelever. / This essay examines how teachers can encourage the desire to read fiction in high school students. More specifically, the goal of this essay is to examine what research says about how teachers can encourage the desire to read fiction, but also how teachers can shape and lead education to encourage the desire to read fiction. The method used is a systematic literature study of existing research. The results show that there are many ways that a teacher can encourage the desire to read. By using a suitable leadership style, participating in literary conversations, choosing literature according to students’ interests and reading abilities, developing students’ self-image and being a literary role model, a teacher can encourage the desire to read in high school students.

Students ‘motivation for religious studies at upper secondary school decrease on a yearly basis. The reasons for this lack of motivation are, among other things, the rising secularization in the Swedish society as well as the methods used for teaching religious studies.  The aim of this pedagogic study is to elucidate the challenges connected to the motivation of the students ‘regarding the motivation for religious studies that teachers encounter, as well as to understand how teachers undertake these challenges in their teaching practices. The method used for this study was semi structured interviews with active teachers conducted on the telephone or in person. The interviews were recorded and then transcribed. From this data a number of key factors were selected through thematized content analysis.  The result of the study confirms that the motivation of religious studies dwindles in Swedish Upper Secondary Schools. Teachers encounter vast challenges when trying to explain why students should take religious studies, especially vocational students find religious studies superfluous. The teachers who reached the highest degree of attainment reported that they teach in close connection to the students. Furthermore, they aim at using a broad variety of methods adjusted for the different students. Future research ought to study the reception of the subject by the students ‘ and how they perceived their own motivation for religious studies. By interviewing students, you might also collect data representing the experiences and perception of the students.

Symboler har alltid varit en viktig del av matematik, därför är det inte konstigt att kunskaperom symbolspråket behövs för att uppnå en full förståelse av ämnet. Den här studiensyftar därför på att utreda användningen av det symboliska språket i den svenska gymnasialaundervisningen ur ett språkvetenskapligt perspektiv. Empirin till det här arbetetbestår av 52 elevlösningar till ett test i matematik samt transkribering av en parintervju.Det insamlade materialet har analyserats utifrån teorier om den metalingvistiska medvetenhetensamt symbolernas semiotiska och epistemologiska funktioner. Det matematiskasymbolspråkets roll i styrdokumenten har också belysts i det här arbetet. Från elevernasfel i testet var det möjligt att åskådliggöra vikten av den metalingvistiska medvetenhetenoch den semiotiska medlingen i algebrainlärningen. Slutligen blev det även tydligt att detmatematiska symbolspråket behöver en mer explicit roll i den svenska matematikundervisningen. / Symbols have always been an important part of mathematics, which is why learning thesymbolic language is necessary in order to acquire a full understanding of the subject.This study aims to investigate the use of the symbolic language in the Swedish uppersecondary school from a linguistic perspective. The data for this study consists of samplesfrom 52 student solutions from a mathematical test, together with one transcribed groupinterview, where two students participated. The analysis is based on theories about themetalinguistic awareness and symbols’ semiotic and epistemological functions. The roleof the mathematical symbolic language described in the steering documents has also beenconsidered in the study. From the mistakes made in the test, it was possible to visualisethe importance of the metalinguistic awareness and the semiotic mediation in algebralearning. In the end, it also became clear that the mathematical symbolic language needsa more explicit role in the Swedish mathematics education.

The aim of this study is to compare the subject syllabuses for history education in uppersecondary school of Finland, Norway and Sweden. Three syllabuses from Norway, two from Finland and one from Sweden for courses that are compulsory for higher education preparatory programmes in the three countries have been analysed and compared. Qualitative content analysis has been used to find similarities and differences for what the countries find important with and in the history subject. A deductive analysis has been used for the part of the syllabus where the aim and the goals are written. An inductive analysis has been used for the part of the course content. By using a deductive content analysis with a coding scheme based on common historical didactic terms, the result of this study shows that every country finds that historical consciousness, narration, historical empathy, historical method and the uses of history are important parts of the history subject and education. However, the countries differ when it comes to if they see these parts as the aim or as a goal with the subject or the education. The inductive content analysis shows that all countries find sources and work with sources, uses of history, time periods, global historical events and processes and development of state and societies as important parts of the education. A difference between the countries is that Finland and Norway have more specific national history content in the syllabuses than Sweden has. Therewith does this result show that both Norway and Sweden find it important to problematize the time periods and to have different historical questions, aspects and explanations in the content of history education.

Intercultural learning is an aspect in all matters of teaching, including civics. Although it is not specified “how” intercultural learning should be included or defined in civics. In the curriculum LGR 11 for the elementary school the concept of intercultural learning is explicitly included but in GY 11 for the upper secondary school its excluded, at least explicitly. Furthermore, there is ambiguities about the definition of intercultural teaching. Although tolerance, equality, and social justice are aspects that intercultural teaching strives to develop. In relation to the report ICCS 2016 attributes such as tolerance, values and understanding norms in other cultures indicated to be somewhat lacking in students, attributes that intercultural learning is supposed to develop. The purpose of this master thesis is to interview upper secondary school teachers in civics about their perception of intercultural learning, in what ways intercultural learning occurs in teaching and how the teachers perceive support for intercultural learning in GY 11. To study this, I have used semi-structured interviews. Their answers were later analysed through three theoretical aspects based on Lahdenperäs (2004) definition of intercultural learning. These are student-active and experience-based teaching, culture contrastive perspective and emotionally process one’s own ethnocentrism. The result show that intercultural learning is unusual when the interviewed teachers reflect upon their teaching planning. The teachers did not or only barely understood the concept of intercultural learning. After the interviews were analysed, it showed a mixed result about how teachers reflect and understand intercultural learning and how they include it in their teaching. Sometimes the teachers mentioned aspects that indicate the use of intercultural learning and at other times responses indicated otherwise, even aspects that intercultural learning is supposed to oppose. Perceived support about intercultural teaching in the curriculum GY 11 deemed to be somewhat lacking and could be improved upon. Although the teachers mentioned that it might be difficult to include more aspects in the curriculum due to the overload in work it might cause. The results also showed that intercultural teaching might be an area to study further upon because of the interesting reflections by the teachers, that might aid the understanding of how intercultural teaching could be included in teaching. / Interkulturellt lärande är en aspekt som ska ingå i all undervisning, däribland i samhällskunskapsdidaktiken men hur det ska inkluderas och definieras är inte tydligt. I läroplanen LGR 11 finns interkulturellt lärande explicit inkluderat, dock i GY 11 saknas begreppet trots att det är ett ämne som ska inkluderas i all undervisning. Interkulturellt lärande är ett otydligt, brett begrepp som det råder osäkerheter kring i forskning. Interkulturellt lärande ska dock inkludera moment som utvecklar kunskaper kring tolerans, social rättvisa, jämlikhet med elevers olika erfarenheter och utbytet av perspektiv. I relation med egenskaperna interkulturellt lärande ska utveckla så kan betydelsen av interkulturellt lärande ställas mot ICCS 2016 som visade brister hos elevers kunskaper inom områden berörande tolerans, värderingar och normer. Examensarbetets syfte är att ta reda på aktiva samhällskunskapslärares uppfattningar om interkulturellt lärande, hur lärarna inkluderar det i sin undervisning och vilket uppfattat stöd i GY 11 erbjuder, genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Svaren analyseras med hjälp av tre teoretiska aspekter skapade genom Lahdenperäs (2004) definition av begreppet interkulturellt lärande. Dessa utgångspunkter är: Studentaktiv och erfarenhetsbaserad undervisning, kulturkontrastivt perspektiv och känslomässig bearbetning av sin egen etnocentrism. Resultatet visar att interkulturellt lärande är ett ovanligt begrepp att ta hänsyn till i samhällskunskapsundervisningen. Endast en av lärarna kände till begreppet ”interkultur” och kunde ge en generell förklaring av dess definition, dock inte ”interkulturellt lärande”. Analysen visar ett blandat resultat över huruvida lärare reflekterar kring interkulturellt lärande i undervisning. Samtliga lärare gav respons som indikerar på att de emellanåt hade aspekter som berör interkulturellt lärande dock samtidigt gavs aspekter som interkulturellt lärande ska motverka såsom bearbetningen av etnocentrism. Upplevt stöd från läroplanen om interkulturellt lärande kan utvecklas, då det ansågs som ett viktigt ämne men att det finns annan problematik, såsom tidsbrist för ytterligare tillägg i undervisningen. Dock utifrån analysen kunde en slutsats dra att det är ett område som är av värde att studeras vidare inom då intressanta uppfattningar av lärarna visade på faktorer som kan vara användbart i reflektioner om interkulturellt lärande i undervisning.

Digitaliseringen är allmänt utbredd i vårt samhälle vilket innebär att dagens unga människor växer upp i en miljö där tekniska lösningar, såsom webbplatser, är en central del i ungas vardag, vilket ibland även kan påverka livsbeslut. Det svenska skolsystemet styrs idag av marknadsprinciper som innebär att konkurrensen om att rekrytera elever har blivit avgörande för skolornas överlevnad. Därför finns det incitament för att skapa differentierade och åtråvärda skolvarumärken via skolans webbplatser. Dessa webbplatser bör således utformas så att de lever upp till ungas behov och krav för att skolorna skall vara konkurrenskraftiga på marknaden. Därför är syftet med denna studie att undersöka hur ett gymnasieförbunds webbplats kan påverka potentiella elevers val av gymnasieskola. För detta genomfördes en kvalitativ forskning, där data samlades in genom individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta ändamålsenligt utvalda deltagare från elever i årskurs nio. Den insamlade datan analyserades tematiskt och diskuterades vidare med hjälp av det teoretiska ramverket och huvudsakliga litteraturbegrepp, såsom interaktionsdesign, användarupplevelse, generation Z, skolvarumärke och webbdesign, inklusive Self-determination theory. Forskningsresultatet visar på att en gymnasieförbunds hemsida kan ha en viss påverkan på elevernas val av gymnasieskola när det gäller tillgång till information om de tillhörande skolorna. Förbundets hemsida ansågs inte vara avgörande för om en elev väljer att ansöka till en viss skola eller inte, men den ansågs ha betydelse för hur en elev uppfattar skolorna innan de har haft en chans att uppleva skolan på andra sätt. Ett flertal deltagare ansåg att hemsidan kunde vara avgörande om de potentiella eleverna inte fått tillräcklig information från annat håll, såsom samtal med studieoch yrkesvägledare, gymnasiemässan eller kontakter på skolan de var intresserade av. Resultatet visar på att valet av gymnasieskola huvudsakligen baserades på andras erfarenheter och uppfattningar om skolan såsom familj och vänner till den potentiella eleven eller genom nuvarande elever på skolorna. Majoriteten av deltagarna tog upp bilderna på webbplatserna varav ett antal påpekade att de potentiellt skulle kunna vara positivt förstärka och ifrågasatte således innehållets trovärdighet, därför var det viktigt att skolorna porträtterades sanningsenligt och att webbplatserna speglade den fysiska skolan. Ett antal deltagare påpekade att gymnasieförbundets webbplats borde vara neutral och inte lyfta fram vissa skolor för att påverka potentiella elever att välja en skola framför en andra.Således bidrar denna kandidatuppsats till en förståelse för hur en grupp svenska niondeklassare gått till väga för att utforska valet av gymnasieskola med fokus på hur användarupplevelsen av ett gymnasieförbunds webbplats kan påverka valet av gymnasieskola. / Digitalisation is prevalent in our society and, therefore, today’s young people grow up in an environment where technological solutions, such as websites, are present in every part of their life, affecting sometimes their life decisions. The Swedish school system nowadays is ruled by marketing principles and the competition of recruiting students has become critical for schools survival. Hence, there are incentives to create desirable school brands through the school’s websites. These websites should be designed in a way to live up to young people’s needs and requirements and, at the same time, for schools to remain competitive in the market. Therefore, the purpose of this bachelor’s thesis research is to explore how a high school association's website can influence the potential students' choice of high school. For this, a qualitative research was conducted, where data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews with eight purposively selected participants-students of the ninth grade. The collected data was analysed thematically and was later discussed with the help of the theoretical framework and main literature concepts, such as interaction design, user experience, generation Z, school branding, and website design, including the Self-determination theory.The research findings show that a high school association's website can have a certain impact on students' choice of high school in terms of access to information about the associated schools. The association’s website was not considered crucial to whether a student chooses to apply for a certain school or not, however, it was considered to have an effect on how a student perceives the schools before the they have had a chance to experience the school in other ways. A number of participants considered that the website could be crucial if the potential students had not received sufficient information from elsewhere, such as conversations with studies and career counselors, the high school fair or contacts at the school. The results show that the choice of high school was mainly based on others' experiences and perceptions of the school such as current students of the schools and family and friends of the potential student. A majority of the participants brought up the imagery on the websites and pointed out that it could potentially be positively reinforced, questioning the authenticity of the content, hence it was important that the schools were portrayed truthfully and that the websites reflected the physical school. A number of participants pointed out that the high school foundation’s website should be neutral and not highlight a certain school to influence potential students to choose one over the other. Thus, this bachelor’s thesis research contributes to an understanding of a group of Swedish ninth grade students’ way of exploring the choice of high school with emphasis on the user experience of a high school association's website’s influence on the choice.