This research has as its primary goal find out through the teachers’ point of view how subject and digital competence can be achieved in social science classes in the Swedish upper secondary school. This research raises thereby two separate competences. The first of these is the improved digital competence among students which can be achieved when the teacher with the awareness and practical use of applied technological pedagogical content knowledge works with the students’ learning objectives in mind. The second competence in focus is the subject knowledge that is in the center of the teaching.This research is a qualitative study where two separate groups of teachers from different schools in the Swedish western hemisphere talks about questions regarding work with digital tools in school to improve both digital and subject competences among students. The research includes a variety of subject teachers with the purpose to be able to acknowledge didactic experiences and learn from their experiences and thereby make it possible to apply it to the didactic work in social science and civics.To achieve both digital and subject competence among students it is essential for teachers themselves to achieve well established technological pedagogical content knowledge which is applicable in the daily didactic work. The result of the research claims to show that social science and civics, as well as other subjects and courses, can use digital resources to improve competence among students. Through these didactic strategies in teaching the students’ digital skills can be improved as a side effect of the subject taught by teachers with digital didactic resources. Through this design of teaching both digital and subjective competence can be achieved in the didactic work of teachers. / Denna studie har haft som syfte att undersöka lärares uppfattningar om hur ämnesmässig och digital kompetens kan främjas hos elever i samhällskunskap på gymnasiet. Studien lyfter därmed två separata kompetenser. Den första av dessa är en ökad digital kompetens hos eleven som kan främjas då läraren medvetet med hjälp av tillämpad teknisk allmändidaktisk kompetens arbetar för att främja elevens lärande i ämnet. Den andra kompetensen som ligger i fokus är de ämneskunskaper som ligger till grund för undervisningen.Detta är en kvalitativ studie där två separata grupper av lärare från olika skolor i västra Sverige samtalar kring frågor rörande digitalt arbete i skolan för att främja lärande inom både digital kompetens och ämnesmässiga kunskaper. Studien inkluderar ett flertal ämneskompetenser för att därigenom kunna dra allmändidaktiska lärdomar ur lärarnas olika ämnesdidaktiska erfarenheter som kan vara möjliga att applicera i det samhällskunskapsdidaktiska arbetet.För att främja både ämnesmässig och digital kompetens hos eleverna är det av vikt att läraren tillägnar sig själv en god teknisk allmändidaktisk kompetens som är tillämpbar i det ämnesdidaktiska arbetet. Resultatet visar på att det är möjligt att i samhällskunskapsämnet, liksom inom flertalet andra ämnen, använda sig av digitala resurser för elevers lärande. Därigenom blir det möjligt att elevens digitala kompetens främjas som en sidoeffekt av undervisningen som med hjälp av digitala resurser ämnar främja ämnesmässiga kunskaper. På så vis främjas elevers digitala och ämnesmässiga kunskaper parallellt i det didaktiska arbetet.

<p>I have in this study examined, through qualitative interviews, how adults with foreign background that are pupils in adult education in Sweden, understand the concepts democracy and dictatorship. Their expressed understandings have been compared with their former life experiences as well as with the aim of the social studies to create a qualitative understanding of essential social concepts. My starting point is theories about the adult in leaning processes. It has been assumed that the adult interprets the world much through former life experiences. I have also relied on the idea that having a qualitative, more scientific, understanding of essential subjects is important for the adult as a member of society and participator in the on-going political debate. It should therefore be a central aim for educators in the social subjects within adult education to support a development of more qualified concept understandings among their pupils. In this study I have used the criterions of dr Roland Severin to define a qualified understanding of concepts. Such an understanding includes richness in meaning, structure, general description of cause and relation as well as the capacity to relate to different levels of abstraction. My conclusion is that the pupils in my study have very individual understandings of the concepts, especially the understandings of democracy. Their expressed understandings of dictatorship are in general less rich in meaning. I have found that their understandings are clearly influenced by former life experiences. In comparison to a qualitative understanding of concepts the pupils’ understandings both have strengths and weaknesses. The main strengths in their understandings lies in that they have structure and focus important meanings of the concepts. The pupils can also express their understandings in a concrete manner. The main weaknesses lay in that they lack sufficient meanings of the concepts to give them a exhaustive description. The pupils also tend to give more of concrete and less of general descriptions of the concepts. I have concluded that to support adult pupils in the development of more qualitative, and therefore more useful, social concepts educators should make use of the pupils’ collective experiences. By doing so more meanings of the essential concepts can be revealed and individual experiences can be connected to those of others to create generality in the pupils understandings.</p>

Sammanfattning Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med studien har varit att ur ett genusperspektiv undersöka synen på bedömningsgrunder i betygssättningen inom ämnet idrott och hälsa i relation till svenska, samhällskunskap och matematik bland flickor och pojkar på Natur- och samhällsprogrammet(NS). Detta har undersökts utifrån följande frågeställningar: • På vilket sätt upplever gymnasieelever på NS-programmet att de bedöms i idrott och hälsa i relation till de ämnen som syftet anger? • Vilka förutsättningar upplever eleverna finns för att nå de olika betygsstegen i skolämnena idrott och hälsa, samhällskunskap, matematik och svenska? • Hur tror eleverna att en jämställd betygsbedömning ser ut i de utvalda skolämnena? Utifrån detta kommer vi att diskutera hur eleverna bryter eller återskapar genusordningen i sina resonemang kring betygsbedömningen. Metod Den metod som använts i studien är av kvalitativ karaktär som i det här fallet varit fyra fokusgruppsintervjuer i en årskurs tvåa på NS-programmet. Vi använde oss av ett strategiskt urval för den utvalda målgruppen. För att förstå och tolka elevernas resonemang i vårt resultat har vi använt oss av Yvonne Hirdmans och Raewyn Connells genusteorier. Resultat I relationen mellan idrott och hälsa, matematik, svenska och samhällskunskap finns, enligt vårt resultat, en indikation på att kunskaperna laddas och värderas på olika sätt och får därmed olika dignitet. Idrott och hälsa som det lägsta i hierarkin och matematik som det högsta, däremellan befinner sig samhällskunskap och svenska. En del av bedömningen, enligt eleverna, är intresse och deras beteende och inställning under lektionerna. Beteenden, egenskaper och intressen genusifieras av eleverna. Intresset för idrott och hälsa tillskrivs pojkarna vilket i sin tur leder till att båda könen tillåter pojkarna att dominera idrottsundervisningen. Slutsats Eleverna i vår studie förhandlar sällan, eller aldrig om sina genusidentiter framförallt inte inom intresseområden. Detta menar vi begränsar både flickorna och pojkarna. Alla aktörer i skolan medverkar till att skapa och upprätthålla genussystemet, att diskutera betyg och bedömning är ett sätt att konkretisera detta. Då idrott och hälsa, enligt eleverna, saknar tydliga mål genererar det också att ett högt betyg i idrott och hälsa inte får samma legitimitet som de övriga ämnena vi undersökt. Resonemanget att det är lätt att uppnå ett betyg i idrott och hälsa i jämförelse med matematik, svenska och samhällskunskap medför en förstärkning av detta. Däremot verkar det, enligt vårt resultat och tidigare forskning, som att höga betyg i idrott och hälsa verkar statushöjande för framförallt pojkar. Nyckelord Genus, idrott och hälsa, samhällskunskap, svenska, matematik, genusidentitet, genuskontrakt, ideal, maskulinitet, feminitet, genusregim, betyg, bedömning. / Abstract Aim The aim of this study has been to examine the perception of assessment criteria in the grading of Physical education in relation to Swedish, Social studies and Mathematics among girls and boys in Nature and Society programme (NS) from a gender perspective. This has been examined through using the following questions: • How do high school students at the NS programme experience the assessment in Physical education in relation to other subjects in school? • Which specific terms do the students experience they have to achieve in the various grades in Physical education, Social studies, Mathematics and Swedish? • How do the students perceive that an equal assessment is made in the chosen subjects? From this, we will interpret how students challenge or reproduce the gender order in their discussion of assessment. Method This study has had an qualitative approach and four focus group interviews have been carriedout with second year students at the NS programme. We used a strategic selection for the selected target group. To understand and interpret students' reasoning in our results, we have used the gender theory of Yvonne Hirdman and Raewyn Connell. Results The main result obtained in our study indicates that the students value the relations betweenthe chosen subjects differentially. Physical education as the lowest in the hierarchy and Mathematics as the highest. In between are Social studies, and Swedish. With this setting it is also difficult for the students to define what they should learn in Physical education. This is not seen as a problem in Mathematics. Part of the assessment, according to students, is based on their level of interest and behavior. Behaviors, characteristics and interests of the students are gendered which also becomes a part of the assessment. Interest in Physical education is attributed to the boys, which leads to both sexes allowing them to dominate Physical education. Conclusion The students in this study rarely negotiate their gender identities, especially in areas of interest. This, according to us, limits both girls and boys. All actors at the school in this study helps to create and maintain the gender system. Discussing the grading and assessment are ways of concretizing it. According to the students is there a lack of aim in Physical educationin contrast to Social studies, Mathematics and Swedish. The consequence of these arguments is according to us that the legitimacy of Physical education is minor then the other subjects in our study. However due to our result and previous science do high grades in Physical education bring higher status above all to the boys. Keywords Gender, Physical education, Social studies, Swedish, Mathematics, gender identity, gender contract, ideals, masculinity, femininity, gender regime, grading. assessment.

I have in this study examined, through qualitative interviews, how adults with foreign background that are pupils in adult education in Sweden, understand the concepts democracy and dictatorship. Their expressed understandings have been compared with their former life experiences as well as with the aim of the social studies to create a qualitative understanding of essential social concepts. My starting point is theories about the adult in leaning processes. It has been assumed that the adult interprets the world much through former life experiences. I have also relied on the idea that having a qualitative, more scientific, understanding of essential subjects is important for the adult as a member of society and participator in the on-going political debate. It should therefore be a central aim for educators in the social subjects within adult education to support a development of more qualified concept understandings among their pupils. In this study I have used the criterions of dr Roland Severin to define a qualified understanding of concepts. Such an understanding includes richness in meaning, structure, general description of cause and relation as well as the capacity to relate to different levels of abstraction. My conclusion is that the pupils in my study have very individual understandings of the concepts, especially the understandings of democracy. Their expressed understandings of dictatorship are in general less rich in meaning. I have found that their understandings are clearly influenced by former life experiences. In comparison to a qualitative understanding of concepts the pupils’ understandings both have strengths and weaknesses. The main strengths in their understandings lies in that they have structure and focus important meanings of the concepts. The pupils can also express their understandings in a concrete manner. The main weaknesses lay in that they lack sufficient meanings of the concepts to give them a exhaustive description. The pupils also tend to give more of concrete and less of general descriptions of the concepts. I have concluded that to support adult pupils in the development of more qualitative, and therefore more useful, social concepts educators should make use of the pupils’ collective experiences. By doing so more meanings of the essential concepts can be revealed and individual experiences can be connected to those of others to create generality in the pupils understandings.

The aim of this dissertation is to study learning through deliberative dialogue, the social climate of the classroom, and certain aspects of student participation in civic education in upper secondary schools, as well as aspects of deliberative didactics. It takes its theoretical point of departure in John Dewey’s texts on democracy and education. An additional perspective on the social and moral aspects of democratic life is provided by Axel Honneth’s studies on disrespect and a morality of recognition. An empirical study is presented in which students and teachers were interviewed in focus groups about their opinions and experiences, on the basis of the aim of the dissertation and the research questions addressed. The analysis reveals a potential to learn civics thorough dialogue and discussion. A dialogue with deliberative qualities is characterized as one with a clearly defined purpose and relevant knowledge content. In the course of such a dialogue, the participants apply and develop certain abilities, some of which are identified in the study. Regarding the social climate in the classroom, especially during learning through dialogue and discussion, several difficulties and problematic situations were mentioned in the focus group interviews. These were problems related to “disturbing silence” and “troubling speech”. Honneth’s theory of moral recognition is in such situations seen as a basis for teachers’ professional reflections and for deliberative dialogues involving teacher and students. Concerning student participation and the civic education classroom as a form of democratic community and a public sphere, both students and teachers interviewed spoke of a balancing act between many different interests, some of which are discussed with a focus on the formation of interests. Other aspects studied are how a sense of community can be created and how the private and individualistic meet the public and common in civic education. It is concluded that the civic education classroom, considered as a public sphere, can be an arena for deliberation and thus develop a sense of community and a deliberative competence for use in a wider citizenship perspective. In the final chapter it is concluded that deliberative didactics can be seen as a didactic dimension of reflexive cooperation. It is characterized as a reflexive approach whereby the teacher invites the students to deliberate on issues of subject content, ways of working, the social climate of the classroom, and different aspects of participation and common interests. It is also argued that the practical cooperation – the actions and their consequences – following from intersubjective speech are as important as the dialogue itself.

This master thesis’ purpose is to examine how high school students comprehends of news. This will be done by conducting group interviews. By using theories regarding “first and second order concepts”, that originates from history teaching didactics, but using them in a social science context to separate substantive concepts from compound concepts. Furthermore, the study provides insight on how twelve high school students comprehension of three specific news items. Finally, the thesis examines what makes the students’ motivated to follow the news. The results show that the level of comprehension varies depending on which of the three news items the students discuss during the interviews. This might depend on the level of relevance the news has towards the students’ own interests, background or where the news originates from. In summary, this thesis gives a snapshot image of students comprehension and reactions to the news items and what motivates them to stay updated with the news. This result can be useful for any teacher using news as an instrument for achieving the knowledge requirements in the syllabus for social sciences in Swedish high-schools. / Denna studie ska undersöka hur gymnasielever förstår nyheter. Undersökningen kommer utföras genom fokusgruppsintervjuer. Vidare används teorier rörande första och andra gradens kunskaper ”first and second order concepts” hämtade från historiedidaktiken men applicerade i en samhällskunskapskontext, undersöka vilka kunskapsuttryck som eleverna visar i genom sina uttalanden. Vidare har även elevernas motivation till att följa nyheter undersökts. Resultatet visar att elevernas förståelse skilt sig beroende på vilka nyheter som har diskuterats. Med detta har även tecknen på första ordningens såväl andra ordningens kunskaper varierat. Detta kan bero på nyheternas relevans och närhet till eleverna. Avslutningsvis ger denna studie en ögonblicks bild av hur elever förstår sig på och talar om nyheter. Detta kan vara användbart för samhällskunskapslärare som i sin lärargärning vill använda nyheter som ett instrument för att uppnå målen i samhällskunskap.

Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur elever i årskurs 1 på gymnasiet uppfattar att de, inom ramen för kursen Samhällskunskap 1b, kan använda en samhällsvetenskaplig analysmodell för att analysera ett samhällsproblem. Studien utgår från två forskningsfrågor: Hur uppfattar elever på gymnasiets högskoleförberedande program att de ska använda analysmodellen? Vilka olika kvaliteter kan skilja mellan en utvecklad och en mindre utvecklad uppfattning av hur analysmodellen ska användas? Undersökningen tar sin utgångspunkt i en yrkeserfarenhet av att elever ofta undrar hur de ska bli bättre på att analysera. Metoden som använts är att 50 elever besvarat en analysuppgift som syftade till att analysera varför ungdomar inte engagerar sig i det formella, demokratiska arbetet. Till hjälp att utreda frågan hade elevgruppen tillgång till analysmodell och källmaterial från den senaste demokratiutredningen, Låt fler forma framtiden! De svar som samlades in analyserades med en fenomenografisk metod, som syftar till att kategorisera olika uppfattningar som undersökningsgruppen har kring hur analysmodellen ska användas. Resultatet, utfallsrummet, är 6 beskrivningskategorier som skiljer sig avseende hur analysmodellen behandlas, strukturell aspekt, och i vad som behandlas i svaret, referentiell aspekt. Den mest avancerade hanteringen av analysmodellen ser dess delar som en helhet och som en struktur, samt väver in material från källor som stöd för sin argumentation. Den minst avancerade hanteringen behandlar, utan koppling till källor, endast en enstaka del av analysmodellen. I analysarbetet kartläggs också de kritiska aspekter som undervisning behöver fokusera på för att hjälpa eleven från en mindre avancerad uppfattning till en mer avancerad uppfattning, det vill säga för att lära sig att analysera med mer kvalité. Den mest centrala kritiska aspekten visar sig vara att se hur källmaterial är bas för en mer vetenskaplig analys. / It is the writer’s professional experience that upper secondary students often wonder how to improve their skills in analytic reasoning. The aim of this study is to examine conceptions of Swedish upper secondary school-students when it comes to use a model for analytical reasoning in the course Social studies 1b. The research questions are: How do upper secondary student perceive the usage of a model for analytic reasoning? Which qualitative differences can there be between a less complex and a complex conception of the model for analytic reasoning? The research method has been to give an analytic task to 50 upper secondary students aiming to analyze the problem with the diminishing engagement among Swedish youth in the formal democracy process. The participantswere asked to analyze this problem by using the analytic model and a number of sources originating from the Commission on Democracy Report (2014). The student´s answers where analyzed by a Phenomenographic method aiming to find categories of student´s conceptions of the skill of analyzing according to the model. The result, called the learning outcome, was 6 hierarchically structured categories of conceptions, differing from one another in how the analytic model was perceived, the structural aspect, and of how the content of the analysis was handled, the referential aspect. The most complex conception of the analytic model was to perceive it parts as a whole and also use its disposition as a model for the structure of their answers. The least complex conception only handle singular parts of the analytic model and does not use the source material as a factual base for their reasoning. The most central critical aspect to consider when designing teaching for improving the student´s analytic skills is to make them discern the need for source based reasoning if the aim is to develop a more scientific approach.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in how Swedish newspaper have written about school segregation in Sweden.  The newspapers that have been studied in the study are Aftonbladet (social democratic), Dagens Nyheter (liberal) and Svenska Dagbladet (conservative). The differences between the newspapers were examined based in the framing theory and  dimension individualism and collectivism.   The result showed that Aftonbladet framed school segregation as a social problem when it was thought to be caused by the private schools, the free school choice and Fredrik Reinfeldts government (2006-2014). Dagens Nyheter framed school segregation mostly as a social problem but initially defended the free school choice becuase they considered housing segregation as the main cause of the problem. Svenska Dagbladet framed school segregation as both a social problem and an individual problem. They highlighted that society must support the resource-poor pupils who do not use the free school choice. But they also wrote that school segregation was an excessive problem.

This study focuses on tests and assessment in social science in the upper secondary school in Sweden. Testing has an effect on how students learn and on the information and knowledge they retain. Different forms of examination encourage different styles of learning and the type of test used also influence the perception students have on a subject. From a didactical perspective, based on a curriculum theory, the aim of this study is to examine teacher constructed tests and to analyze the construction and different reflections on the school subject social science. The tests analyzed are compared with the content of the formal curriculum. The findings indicate that the tests contain only a few of the goals in the formal curriculum. The curriculum does not seem to have a major influence on the setting of the test and its content. It is rather some kind of subject tradition that appears in the examinations. The dominant subject fields are political science and economics. Three subject profiles were found in the tests. The students are expected to orientate themselves with the subject and learn some basic facts. However, there are also questions which give the students opportunities to analyze different phenomenon and discuss several issues. The tests vary, for example in theoretical programs the content requires students to use the factual knowledge rather than rote learning. The questions are more theoretical and advanced compared with the tests that have been used within vocational programs.

Denna forskningsöversikt syftade till att undersöka vad som kan utgöra kognitiva hinder i lärandeprocessen under samhällskunskapsundervisning, med målet att finna implikationer för undervisning och examinationsformer som kan nå och engagera fler elever. Arbetet utgick ifrån ett teoretiskt ramverk för universellt utformade lärandesituationer, för att bidra till proaktiv och preventiv planering utifrån elevers funktionsvariation. Målet var att om möjligt reducera behovet av speciallösningar i efterhand, samt stödja samhällskunskapslärare i att möta eleverna såväl kollektivt som individuellt. Översikten inkluderar 48 peer-review-granskade artiklar publicerade i utvalda vetenskapliga tidskrifter, vilka bygger på antingen metaanalyser eller primärforskning som har utförts i skolmiljö med elever i årskurs 4 upp till och med gymnasiet. Särskild uppmärksamhet riktas mot de kognitiva krav som ställs när elever i takt med ökad ålder självständigt förväntas kunna bearbeta och skapa mening av samhällskunskapligt innehåll. Utifrån en kombinatorisk analys rekommenderar jag sammantaget mer explicit undervisning – i synnerhet litteracitetsutvecklande sådan sett till betydelsen av läs- och skrivförmåga för att lyckas inom samhällskunskapsämnet – samt mer kognitiv vägledning och modellering från samhällskunskapsläraren, dels för att utveckla elevens samhälleliga och akademiska litteracitet, dels för att på sikt möjliggöra självständig tillämpning av samhällskunskapliga tankeredskap. Vidare rekommenderas mer kognitiv validering av examinationer, för att synliggöra vilka kognitiva krav som bör ställas, vilka som faktiskt ställs och huruvida eleven använder sig av de förväntade kognitiva processerna. I ämnesdidaktisk forskning som hittills har genomförts i skandinavisk kontext framstår elevernas funktionsvariation som anmärkningsvärt osynliggjord, sett till den centrala roll som eleven spelar i många didaktiska modeller. När samhällkunskapsdidaktiken fokuserar på relationen mellan elev och innehåll är det utifrån en relativt homogen syn på gruppen nybörjare. Specialpedagogisk och språkvetenskaplig forskning däremot uppmärksammar i högre utsträckning “startsträckan” som elever har innan de når ämnesinnehållet och kan börja öva på ämnesspecifika förmågor.