This study examines how skills and abilities regarding active citizenship are forwarded through the Swedish upper-secondary level curriculum in general and the syllabus for “samhällskunskap” in particular. For the latter, focus is primarily on the course “samhällskunskap 1b” – an introductory course, usually a year long and mandatory for all pupils on programmes aimed towards further university studies.Through a theoretical lens of German sociologist Jürgen Habermas’ ideas of communicative action, American progressive educational reformer John Dewey’s ideas of skill-focused teaching and the results of present-day political scientists Tiina Ekman, Erik Amnå and Joakim Ekman, educational philosopher Gert Biesta and educational researcher Sten Båth, we assemble a definition of what abilities an active citizen should obtain in a Swedish educational context.The curriculum and syllabus are scrutinized and examined through the aforementioned definition and theories. Previous research is accounted for in length and compared to our findings. The content and outcome of the syllabus is then tested and compared to our definition through a digital survey sent out and answered by 96 Swedish upper-secondary pupils in the Malmö-Lund area. Our findings suggest that a definition of active citizenship abilities and skills is possible to make within the framework as stated in the purpose of curriculum and syllabus, but difficult to put into teaching practice in samhällskunskap 1b, given the nature of the knowledge demands that are to be graded in the said course. The survey indicates pupils with a generally high political and societal self-esteem, a moderate will for civic engagement and a high degree of knowledge, but having to a lesser degree acquired abilities for how to use their knowledge as a foundation for problem-solving in everyday life situations.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att utveckla kunskaper om vilka idéer om det europeiska medborgarskapet som förmedlas i undervisning om Europeiska unionen. Detta görs genom att studera svenska läroböcker för gymnasieskolans samhällskunskapsundervisning. Särskilt fokus för analysen ligger vid hur texterna ger uttryck för idéer om medborgares deltagande i EU samt om de beskriver en europeisk tillhörighet och identitet. Detta görs med utgångspunkt i teorin om aktivt medborgarskap. Analysen visar att läroböckerna beskriver det europeiska medborgarskapet både som en status med tillhörande rättigheter och som olika typer av deltagande. Dock beskrivs deltagande främst som en medborgerlig rättighet bland andra och inte i termer av skyldigheter. Analysen visar även att läroböckerna uppmanar eleven att kritiskt reflektera och ta ställning i frågor rörande EU. Detta resultat står i kontrast mot tidigare forskningsresultat som uppvisat att objektiva och okritiska redogörelser av EU dominerar i läromedlen. Slutligen visar analysens hur majoriteten av läroböckerna inte för några direkta resonemang om en europeisk identitet men att flera läroböcker beskriver en gemensam europeisk historia och delade grundläggande värden som fred, frihet, demokrati och mänskliga rättigheter.

Socialt kapital är ojämnt fördelat i samhället och manifesterar sig som rumslig klassegregation. Det sociala kapitalet är av vikt för aktivt medborgarskap, som exempelvis avfallssortering. Betydelsen av social klass, socialt kapital och etnisk fragmentering för boendes avfallssorteringsgrad kan problematiseras. Syftet är att utifrån kopplingen mellan social klass och socialt kapital undersöka benägenhet hos de boende i Årby att avfallssortera, det vill säga bedriva aktivt medborgarskap. Första delen av metoden är ett teoretiskt resonemang kring relevanta teorier. Andra empiriska delen består av 30 enkätintervjuundersökningar med Årbybor i lokalområdet. Korstabulering har använts som statistisk analysmetod. Resultatet visar att Årbybor avfallssorterar i hög grad (70,0%) och avfallsorteringsgraden ökar med högt socialt kapital, hög social klass, bostadsrätt som boendeform framför hyresrätt samt trygga sociala miljöer. Slutsatsen innebär att gemenskap, samarbete och trygghet i den sociala miljön kan aktivera det sociala kapitalet och medborgarskapet i bostadsområden som karaktäriseras av etnisk fragmentering och underklass.

The aim of this bachelor thesis Digital Inclusion – An Interview Study with Public and School Librarians on Work to Reduce the Digital Divide is to examine how the democratic task takes shape in public and school librarians’ work to strengthen citizens’ digital inclusion. The research questions are: How do public and school librarians work to support citizens’ digital inclusion? What challenges do public and school librarians experience in this work? How do public and school librarians describe the digital divide? Three themes are in focus: An Active Citizenship, Working for Digital Inclusion and The Digital Divide. Within library and information science this bachelor thesis mainly relates to information practices where media and information literacy (MIL) is studied but also to cultural policy when the democratic role of public and school libraries is examined. A sociocultural perspective is used as a theoretical approach and a few of its concepts – social practices, tools and appropriation – are used as analytical tools. Van Dijk’s cumulative and recursive model of successive kinds of access to digital technologies is used as a structure. The method used is semi-structured interviews with six librarians, whereof three public librarians and three school librarians. The results show that digital tools are significant to public and school librarians’ work strengthening digital inclusion in its users. While school librarians mainly focus on instruction to increase student’s skills concerning digital competence, public librarians focus more on developing skills concerning user’s digital everyday life although MIL goals are also in effect. Activities for learning show that public and school librarians use different approaches but all stress the importance to connect activities to student needs and realities. The professional role is prominent when working for digital inclusion. Relinquishing the role of the expert means that shared learning opportunities can occur which is beneficial for both librarians and users. Regulatory documents such as the curriculum are considered important tools by most of the librarians. Some mutual challenges for the librarians are lack of interest or competence in the digital aspects of the job, lack of time, fear and insecurities related to digital technologies and tools causing users to feel ashamed. While school librarians are challenged by teachers who are inaccessible and students who are overly confident about their competencies, public librarians are challenged by marketing and limitations in what they can and cannot help users with. The librarians observe how the digital divide manifests itself: all users have shortcomings with digital competencies that prevent them from becoming active citizens in society. School librarians claim that students in general are considered more knowledgeable about technical tools such as computers and smartphones but in fact they lack competencies outside their frame of reference. Public librarians claim users are unable to perform daily tasks and that many lack access to technical tools.