Technology has only been a mandatory school subject in Sweden since the 1980s, and it has no tradition on its own as to didactics and content. This makes it hard for teachers to practice equivalent teaching in agreement with the curriculum. In 2018, The Swedish National Agency for Education revised the curriculum and allocated specific hours to strengthen the position of the Subject of Technology. Our purpose with this systematic research overview is to see what has been written about the possibilities or challenges for technology teachers to work according to the curriculum. We have searched for peer-reviewed articles in two databases, SwePub and ERIC, to cover both national and international research. This resulted in many articles about the internal factors such as teachers’ perceptions about the subject and its content, but not that many articles about the more practical circumstances surrounding the teaching situation. Our conclusion is that the already engaged teachers with interests and confidence in Technology will focus on the subject in their teaching, and at the same time they can play a big part in helping more insecure colleagues. The external factors such as economy, allocated hours, and the school facilities are still invisible in the research area but would be interesting to look at more thoroughly.

Education for sustainable development is one of the more important tasks that the school has according to the National Agency for Education. Education for sustainable development is included in several subjects syllabi, including the subject technology. As previous research has shown, many young people feel a strong concern for the future due to climate change and the consequences this has for their future. This study examines how the theme of sustainable development is presented in today's technology teaching materials. The study also seeks answers to the question of whether the content of teaching materials regarding sustainability issues is designed in a way that provides the tools to develop active citizenship in these issues. The results show that there are clear differences in how different teaching materials deal with the theme and how much space it gets. It also shows that the greatest focus is on the ecological aspects such as resource management, greenhouse effect and climate impact, something that is in line with the general discussion in today's media. The design of text sections and assignments to large extent encourages the active participation of students in the form of research, discussions and forming opinions. It can be considered as a way to provide young people with the necessary tools to be able to respond to and take a stand on sustainability issues when faced with them in the future. / Undervisning för hållbar utveckling är ett av de viktigare uppdragen som skolan har enligt Skolverket. Den ingår i flera ämnens kursplaner, inklusive den för ämnet teknik. Eftersom tidigare forskning har visat att många ungdomar känner en stark oro inför framtiden på grund av klimatförändringarna och vilka konsekvenser de har för deras framtid genomfördes denna studie som undersöker hur tema hållbar utveckling framställs i dagens läromedel för ämnet teknik. Studien söker dessutom efter svar på frågan om läromedlens innehåll angående hållbarhetsfrågor är utformade så att eleverna får verktygen till att utveckla ett aktivt förhållningssätt i dessa frågor. Resultatet visar att det finns tydliga skillnader i hur olika läromedel behandlar temat och hur stort utrymme det får. Det visar också att störst fokus ligger på de ekologiska aspekterna som resursförvaltning, växthuseffekt och klimatpåverkan, något som ligger i linje med den allmänna diskussionen i dagens media. Utformningen av textavsnitt och övningsuppgifter uppmanar i stor utsträckning till ett aktivt deltagande av eleverna i form av forskning, diskussioner och ställningstagande. Det kan anses vara en väg till att ge ungdomar de nödvändiga verktygen för att kunna bemöta och ta ställning till hållbarhetsfrågor när de ställs inför dem i framtiden.

According to The Swedish Schools Inspectorate’s (2014) quality review, technology subject is all too often characterized by practical work that does not illustrate the theory. In this study, the theory is used to describe the practical work in technology teaching. The purpose of this study is to increase the knowledge of how practical problem solving together with oral interaction affects students’ understanding of the theory behind the water tower as a technical system. Previous research shows how oral interaction strengthens students’ learning through the zone of proximal development (ZPD). When Students work in groups they can use each other’s knowledge and together support each other to reach a new development zone. Through group collaboration, they also increase their skills in practical problem solving through oral interaction and exchange of knowledge.  The methods in the study are design study, observation with observation schedule and observation with video analysis. The teaching approach in the design study is based on the students’ understanding of the theory behind the water tower as a technical system with the help of practical work in groups. The design of the design study is based on students in year six having to understand the theory behind the water tower by constructing a water tower themselves. The results of the study shows that students in year six through our approach to technology teaching are given the opportunity for a gradual increase of knowledge acquisition. The gradually increasing of understanding is based on the students developing from initially lacking knowledge of the water tower as a technical system in level one and in level four the students understanding how the different technical systems work together. The results shows that this way of working is a good addition to the existing technology teaching, with a focus on the theoretical knowledge in the technology subject.