The purpose of this paper is to examine how teachers for the younger ages perceive the conceptof social issues and what subject-specific didactic considerations they make regarding them intheir social studies teaching. The research questions that the paper aimed to answer are whatsubject-specific didactic considerations teachers for the younger ages make in their teaching ofsocial issues, and what role does the teacher believe they take or should take in social studiesteaching. Previous research regarding teaching social issues has examined the teaching of olderstudents. This, together with the few descriptions in the policy documents regarding socialissues for younger students, is the basis for the interest to fulfill this study.The method is based on a phenomenographic research approach and empirics were collectedthrough qualitative semi-structured interviews. A total of six teachers were interviewed, withformal qualifications in the subject of social studies. Their answers were then analyzed basedon the theory within the phenomenographic research approach and Vygotsky's socioculturalperspective.The result consists of three qualitatively different categories that describe the teacher'sperception of the concept of social issues and teaching of the content including the purpose andmethod. The results show that teachers work with social issues from a democratic perspective,a values-based perspective and based on current events.

The purpose of this master thesis has been to investigate how private economics is taught in social studies teaching for grades 4-6 through teachers' descriptions of personal finance as part of the social studies subject's civic education assignment. The purpose has also been to investigate how and in what way teachers use teaching materials in their teaching of personal finance. The selected research and literature for the degree project deal with the subject social studies and the civic education assignment, the curriculum and syllabus, social science didactic research and teaching of economics in general and personal finance in particular. Furthermore, research and literature on teachers' difficulties with the subject of personal finance and the use of teaching aids in the subject of social studies are also presented. Little research can be found regarding the teaching of personal finance, especially for younger ages such as grades 4–6, which strengthens the relevance of investigating the purpose of this master thesis.  The theoretical perspectives used as a starting point for analyzing the empirical work of the master thesis are Dewey's pragmatic perspective and Vygotsky's socio-cultural perspective. The survey was conducted using qualitative semi-structured interviews as a method. The survey involved six respondents, all of whom are active social studies teachers in grades 4-6. The results show that the respondents see a clear and important purpose of the teaching to enable the students to become responsible adult citizens who can make wise financial decisions. Furthermore, it appears from the results that teaching materials are common in the teaching of personal finance. The respondents mainly link the concept of personal finance with household or an individual's financial planning.  A conclusion that can be drawn from the results of this master thesis and the previous research is that even though personal finance teaching is a relatively new social science didactic research area, its relevance increases when research emphasizes the importance of teaching being a part of schools’ mission to succeed in their civic education. In step with this, personal finance is given more space in the syllabus for social studies, which is an important factor in the work with a school where students are given the right conditions for adult life.

Syftet med undersökningen är att finna olika arbetsmetoder som lågstadiepedagoger i årskurserna 1–3 använder i sin samhällskunskapsundervisning om nyheter. Undersökningen reflekterar även om vilka möjligheter och hinder som lågstadiepedagoger möter i sina arbetsmetoder när det kommer till nyhetsundervisning. Arbetsmetoderna skulle därmed kunna bidra till kunskap- och lärandetillfällen som man själv kan använda i sin egen undervisning. Forskning har visat att det finns ett begränsat antal undersökningar utförda på lågstadiet med yngre elever inom samhällskunskapsämnet. Forskningen som finns har bland annat belyst hur lågstadielärare arbetar med samhällskunskapsämnet i bredare omfång. En större mängd forskning finns för de äldre årskurserna då forskare bland annat undersökt hur elever förstod information i tidningsartiklar, nyheter kopplat till bilder samt hur elever i olika åldrar uppfattade sanna och falska nyheter. För denna undersökning har metoderna observation och kvalitativ intervju använts där fyra observationstillfällen och sju intervjuer med lågstadiepedagoger som undervisar i årskurserna 1 – 3 blivit utförda. Teorin som använts i denna undersökning var det sociokulturella perspektivet. Analyser och diskussioner har sedan blivit utförda med stöd av teorin och den tidigare forskningen där resultatet grundat sig i lågstadielärarnas utsagor.Undersökningens resultat visar hur lågstadielärare inkluderar nyhetsprogrammet Lilla aktuellt som en del av sin samhällskunskapsundervisning om nyheter. Lilla aktuellt har ett stort fokus i klassrummen och lärarnas arbetsmetoder relaterat till nyhetsprogrammet skiljer sig beroende på vilken skola de arbetar på samt vilken elevgrupp som klassen består av. I samband med nyhetsundervisning har samtliga lärare prioriterat muntlig kommunikation som tillvägagångsätt då man antingen tillsammans i helklass eller i mindre grupper samtalat om nyhetsinnehåll. En del lärare lägger större tyngd på att diskutera nyhetsinnehåll på ytan medan andra vill att eleverna ska gräva djupare för att förstå nyhetens bakgrund, händelse och lösning. / The purpose of this paper was to find different teaching methods that is used by primary school teachers in grades 1 – 3 in their social studies instruction regarding news. This paper would also inform the possibilities and the obstacles that the primary school teachers face with their own teaching methods when it comes to news education. The teaching methods would thereby contribute to knowledge- and learning opportunities that other teachers can use in their own classrooms. Research has shown that there are limited number of surveys done in social studies education for lower grades with younger children. The research that can be found has shown with a wider range how primary school teachers educate the students in social studies. A bigger amount of research can be found for older students in news teaching and some of this research show how students understood the information in articles, the connection between news and pictures and also what students in different ages could understand with true and fake news. The methods that have been used for this paper are observation and qualitative interview and the total of four observations and seven interviews with primary school teachers that teach in the grades 1 – 3 have been collected. The theory that has been included in this paper is the sociocultural perspective regarding teaching methods. With the support from the theory and previous research has statements from the primary school teachers been analyzed and discussed.The result of this paper has shown that primary school teachers include the news program Lilla aktuellt as a part of the social studies when it comes to teaching about news. The news program Lilla aktuellt has a big focus in classrooms but the teachers’ teaching methods related to this varied based on the school and the groups of students. The most common teaching methods when it comes to news education has shown to be oral communication either in smaller groups or with all the students together. Some teachers put energy in the basic information regarding news, for example the event, while others think it is important for the students to learn the whole picture like the news background, event and the solution.

Denna samhällskunskapsdidaktiska studies syfte är att undersöka vad samhällskunskapslärare själva upplever som de viktigaste påverkansfaktorerna för transformeringen av samhällskunskap som skolämne till samhällskunskap som undervisning utifrån didaktiska frågor som Vad?, Hur? och Varför?, samt hur detta upplevs förändrats över en tidsperiod om cirka tjugo år eller mer. Studien bygger på hermeneutisk-fenomenologisk livsvärldsansats där fenomenologisk beskrivning och hermeneutisk tolkning är centralt. Empirin utgörs av intervjuer med tio samhällskunskapslärare med lång yrkeserfarenhet från högstadium, gymnasium eller vuxenutbildning. Resultatet tematiseras utifrån inspiration från ramfaktorteoretiska utgångspunkteri fyra dimensioner av påverkansfaktorer, vilka är Den personliga dimensionen, Den didaktiska dimensionen, Den styrande dimensionen och Den samhälleliga dimensionen. Var och en av dessa dimensioner delas upp i ett antal variationer. Dimensionerna är konstruerade utifrån principen om det personligt nära till det samhälleligt distanserade. Utöver dessa dimensioner har en aspekt på dessa lagts till. Det är Den elevnära aspekten vars innehåll utgörs av eleverna som påverkansfaktor för hur undervisningen blir. Lärarna i studien pratar aldrig om eleverna som påverkansfaktor utan att koppla detta till någon av de fyra dimensionerna. Slutsatser som dras i studien är att de tio lärarna alla har mycket olika berättelserom vad de uppfattar som viktigaste påverkansfaktorer. Några lägger mest fokus på sin personliga bakgrund eller personliga intressen. Andra fokuserar mer på didaktiska idéer, på styrdokument eller på organisatoriska ramar. Studien visar också att lärarna alla har en eller ett par dominerande dimensioner som dels syns mest i berättelsen, dels också påverkar hur de pratar om de andra dimensionerna. Lärarnas berättelser visar även att de upplever att undervisningen och vad som påverkar denna påtagligt förändras över tid. Studiens viktigaste bidrag är kanske att den exemplifierar teoretiska perspektiv. Inte minst genom att belysa att vad som påverkar undervisningen i ett ämne är så komplext att den ramfaktorteoretiska byggnadsställningen måste anpassas efter den specifika undersökningen med dess frågeställningar och undersökningsmaterial. / The purpose of this research in social studies didactics is to examine what teachers in social studies perceive as the most important influencing factors for the transformation from social studies as school subject to social studies as classroom teaching, based on didactic questions as; What?, How? and Why?, and how this is perceived has changed over a period of about twenty years or more. The study is based on the hermeneutic-phenomenological life-world approach, where phenomenological description and hermeneutic interpretation are central. The empirical data consist of interviews with ten teachers in social studies with extensive professional experience in lower secondary school, upper secondary school or adult education. The result is thematically based on inspiration from frame factor theory in four dimensions of influencing factors, which are; The personal dimension, The didactic dimension, The governing dimension and The societal dimension. Each of these dimensions is divided into a number of variations. The dimensions are designed on the principle of the personally close to the societal distanced. In addition to these dimensions, an aspect of these is added. It is The pupil aspect, whose content pupils as influencing factor. The teachers in the study never talk about pupils and their influence on the teaching without connection to any of the four dimensions. Conclusions drawn in the study is that the ten teachers all have very different stories about what they perceive as the most important influencing factors. Some places the greatest emphasis on their personal background or personal interests. Others focus more on didactic ideas, on policy documents or on the economical and organizational framework. The study also shows that all the teachers have one or two dominant dimensions as most visible, that also affects the way they talk about the other dimensions. The teachers’ stories also show that they perceive that the teaching and what impact this change appreciably over time. The study’s most important contribution is perhaps that it exemplifies theoretical perspectives, for an example highlighting that the frame factor theoretical scaffolding must be adapted to the specific study and its issues and research materials.

There is a constant struggle for teachers to find new methods that generate learning. Every student learns differently and not everyone benefits from the traditional learning methods that teachers have used for centuries. Therefore, teachers must now variate their teaching methods so that every student gets the same opportunity to learn. This study aims to explore the possibility to use song lyrics as a didactic tool to bring in a practical element in the subject of social studies. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to see how the students experience this kind of practical element in a theoretical school subject. At last, this study is interested in finding out if this kind of didactic tool and teaching method is an effective way to generate learning. To answer these questions the study uses three qualitative methods - a lesson study, group interviews and a survey. Earlier research has found that is it positive to connect the teaching materials to something that the students can relate to since this can create interest and motivation. The use of song lyrics in this study hopes to use something familiar to the students and connect this to social studies. By analysing collected data using two scientific theories, we can conclude three things. First of all, song lyrics can be used to provide a clear and realistic connection to society. Secondly, the participating students overall seemed to enjoy using song lyrics as a didactic tool. Finally, the study can conclude that song lyrics can generate learning since it creates interest among the students.

This essay, conducted through semi-structured interviews with five upper secondary school students, aim to analyze and understand if and how their perceived motivation to social studies changed due to distance teaching during the covid-19 pandemic as well if and how their motivation has changed since returning to school post-pandemic. The theory of self-determination works as the cornerstone which is complemented by two relational theories in relational pedagogy as well as the zone of proximal development in addition to the concept of self-regulation. The result shows that the students’ perceived motivation was affected negatively by studying and attending lectures away from the ordinary school environment, caused by a loss of interest for the subject which in turn is a result of less varied teaching as well as a loss of peer-pressure which works as a motivational factor for many of the students. However, the study also shows that their perceived motivation increased once returned during their final year of school, which in turn is a result of an increased interest in the subject caused by relational aspects such as being able to engage verbally during lectures as well as to a larger degree being able to use the teacher as well as each other as a resource to enhance their learning. These are aspects which were hindered by distance learning, which also stresses the importance of relations for enhanced learning.

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.

Syftet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka vilken betydelse närområdesstudier ochutomhuspedagogisk undervisning knuten till lokalsamhället har för lärare i samhällskunskap,att skapa variation i undervisningen och om samt hur lärare använder närområdet i sinundervisning i årskurs 4–6. Det finns tidigare forskning kring främst natur- och äventyrsinriktadutomhuspedagogik som fokuserar på yngre elever, men mindre kring närområdesstudier,studiebesök och besök från samhället, för ämnet samhällskunskap.De teoretiska utgångspunkterna var Vygotskijs sociokulturella perspektiv och pragmatismenenligt Dewey, som användes för att analysera empirin. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälpav kvalitativ metod och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Sex respondenter från fem skolor deltogi undersökningen. I analysen av resultatet framkommer att lärarna ger många exempel påmöjligheter till undervisning utomhus och i närområdet men att det finns hinder att övervinnainnan man kommer ut ur klassrummet.En slutsats som kan dras utifrån undersökningens engagerade lärare och tidigare forskning äratt vi kan drista oss till att konstatera, att utomhuspedagogiken och närområdesstudierna görstor nytta för de flesta elever. Det som återstår att göra är, att ”kavla upp ärmarna”, utmanahindren och ta med eleverna på deras livsresa både i klassrum och utomhus, för att ge demminnen och kunskaper för livet. / The purpose of this master thesis has been to examine which meaning neighborhood studiesand outdoor education attached to local society has to teachers in the subject of civics, to createvariation in teaching and if and how teachers use the local area in their teaching in classes 4–6.There is earlier research mainly around nature and adventure oriented outdoor educationfocusing on younger pupils, but with less focus on neighborhood studies, study visits and visitsfrom society, in the subject of civics.The theoretical starting points was Vygotskijs sociocultural perspective and pragmatismaccording to Dewey, that was used to analyze the empirics. The survey was conducted by usingqualitative method and semi-structured interviews. Six respondents from five schoolsparticipated in the survey. In the analysis of the result, it emerges that the teachers give manyexamples of outdoor and neighborhood teaching, but there are obstacles to overcome beforegetting out of the classroom.A conclusion, that can be drawn based on dedicated teachers of this survey and former researchis, that we dare to note, that outdoor teaching and neighborhood studies do great good to mostpupils. What remains to be done, is to “roll up the sleeves”, challenge the hindrances and bringthe pupils on their journey of a lifetime in both classrooms and outdoors, to give them memoriesand knowledge for life.

The study explores the meaning of knowing how to reason about justice in civics in upper secondary school. This is examined through the analysis of students’ conceptions of justice, and of their conceptions of civic reasoning about justice. It is also examined through the analysis of civic education practise. In the study, teaching was designed using Variation Theory and the theory of intersubjectivity in Activity Theory, and examined and evaluated in three Learning Studies. The empirical material consists of filmed and transcribed research lessons and interviews, as well as of written pre- and post-tests. The material was first analysed using phenomenography, and then analysed using content-oriented conversation analysis. Students’ conceptions of justice were found to move between the conception of justice as (A) a universal value, (B) a personal value or (C) a value of principle. Students’ conceptions of civic reasoning about justice were found to move between three conceptions: (a) reporting about justice, (b) analysing causes of different perspectives on justice or (c) critical reasoning about principles of justice. The critical aspects of knowing how to reason about justice in civics that students needed to discern were the relativity of justice, the basis for arguments for principles of justice and the analysing as well as the criticizing aspects of reasoning. The subject-knowledge that the teachers expressed in their teaching was one condition of the practise of civics that was found to be of importance for the students’ learning. Others were the assumed purpose of the practise of civics and a genuine need for the intended knowledge in the practice. Communicative actions that seem to facilitate these conditions are real learning tasks and a subject-specific language and variation of critical aspects as mediating tools. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of justice in political science and to the practise of civics education.

Tim Randberg and Filip Lindahl carried out this study under the institution for pedagogy, didactics and educational studies at Uppsala University. In relation to the lack of research regarding students’ perspectives regarding the legitimizing aspects of the school subject of social science(samhällskunskap), and in contrast to the existence of such research regarding teachers’ perspectives, this study is an attempt at contributing to the lack of previous research and note the importance of working towards a reality in which students’ and teachers’ attitudes, regarding the importance and the purpose of social studies, aligns.  This didactic study, which analyzes which attitudes are connected to a small group of students (age 18), as well as a small group of social science teachers, regarding what legitimizes studying social science, along with the key differences between these two groups, is an interview study in which a didactic theory formed by Gert Biesta was applied in relation to the results of the interview. Biesta’s theoretical framework, which is central for this study, categorized the legitimizing aspects of education into three categories: qualification, socialization and subjectification, in which every relevant analytical finding was categorized into each of Biesta’s three categories. This study concludes that both teachers and students found the internalization of democratic values as well as citizenship development to be the central legitimizing aspects of civic studies. The results regarding the teachers’ comments aligned with most previous research, except for the aspect of power, which in contrast to previous research was absent in the results for this study. Regarding the three theoretical categories, no significant differences were to be found but rather smaller differences that could be considered noteworthy. Teachers discussed the legitimizing aspects of civic studies from a qualification-related point of view more than the students did. In contrast, the students made comments that were connected to the concepts of socialization as well as subjectification in a greater sense compared to the teachers. Regarding the concept of qualification, both teachers and students related the purpose of civic studies to skills and knowledge necessary to engage politically in society, or to prosper in society. Connected to the concept of socialization, students found that it was important that people internalized democratic values and norms related to democracy, which aligns with the teachers’ responses, only that the latter as a group further discussed the legitimizing aspect of civic studies as it being a means to prevent extremism, racism as well as other anti-democratic aspects that a few students were described as gravitating towards. In relation to the concept of subjectification, students, unlike the teachers, noted the importance of becoming global citizens. Both groups argued for the importance of developing a culturally adaptive mindset as well as forming an individual political opinion. Most teachers discussed the importance of students, along with the civic studies, becoming less self-centered and more focused on their role in relation to a social, collective context. In contrast, several students made individualistic claims; that a legitimizing aspect of civic studies, regarding certain skills and abilities that comes with the subject and that was regarded as a key element in a modern, democratic social context, is that they develop a sense of what others think of them and how successfully they present themselves to other people, groups and institutions. One conclusion is that there is a reason for the didactic research-field to investigate whether there needs to be a function in Swedish education which investigates whether students and teachers share the same idea of why they are studying a subject or various content related to a subject,