Lidköping is a city with a long tradition of education. One of the educational institutions that has been part of the city's educational history is Lidköping Elementary School for Girls, which existed in the city between 1876–1936. The aim of this study is to investigate how the education staged societal norms about women as good mothers and housewives. This has been done by analyzing the school's annual reports from the academic years 1877–1878, 1901–1902, 1920–1921 och 1930–1931 for which the school subject’s needlework, home economics, mathematics and natural sciences were selected. For each academic year, each subject has been analyzed to find out the teaching content, as well as to gain an understanding of the amount of time allocated to each subject. In addition, the school's other activities and events has been analyzed, primarily from the last two school years in which gender-coded activities were discovered. A timetable from the 1906 Board of Supervisors for Secondary Schools has been used to contextualize the girls' school's instruction in mathematics and natural sciences. The material, which primarily consists of annual reports from the school, has been analyzed using Yvonne Hirdman's gender theory. The method employed in processing the material is primarily qualitative text analysis with elements of quantitative comparative method. Through analysis and interpretation of the material, various gender-related elements have emerged, making it clear that the girls were educated to work within the four walls of the home, or possibly for typical female occupations.

Diss. Göteborg : University, 2002.