Although textbooks are scientifically proven that they are important and central to the school curriculum one should think critically about the content in textbooks - is it really compatible with the curriculum of following the textbook tradition? As a teacher there are different ways to reflect on which textbook to choose. It is important to compare several textbooks with each other and be aware that a textbook should follow the curriculum. A teacher examines many sections/topics in the textbooks, but in this paper only one section will be reviewed among four different textbooks. The section to be compared, in the paper, is the interwar period. The reason for this choice is that the topic is required according to the current curriculum Lgr11. The essay will show an investigation about a few selected textbook authors. The main question is if the authors write as the textbook tradition or according to the curriculum. Four different textbooks will be compared in this paper where two of these books have the same publisher, the same author but two different curriculums (Lpo94 and Lgr11). The essay is based on a qualitative research in which a text analysis is done – to analyze if the textbooks follows the required topics of the curriculum or following the textbook tradition. Even an quantitative study has been done as an analysis of textbooks whereas the amount of pages and headlines are in focus. This was made to compare how much the authors have written about the interwar period and if similar headlines was used. A comparison of different curriculums has also been done, between the Lpo94 and Lgr11. This was made to see if there was a change in content or how authors wrote about the same historical event. This may provide an explanation for why the textbook authors have written different in both textbooks written by the same author and printed by the same publisher but in line with two different curricula. Author: Hobel Josefsson. Mentor: Örjan Simonson The spring 2013 Keywors: history, interwar period, textbooks, textbook author, textbook tradition, curricula – syllabus, comparative Nyckelord: historia, mellankrigstiden, läroböcker, läroboksförfattare, lärobokstradition, läroplaner – kursplan, jämförelser

The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate why history textbooks are used the way they are and to identify possible reasons for the contradictions and dilemmas regarding the role of the textbook in history education. This thesis describes a case study of the history teaching at an upper secondary school class and investigates the attitudes of the pupils, teachers and textbook authors towards history, the teaching of history, textbooks and the use of textbooks. The study also investigates the textbook used in the history class and the attitudes that the authors expose in the textbook. The analyses are based on interviews with the pupils and teacher, the pupils’ responses in a questionnaire, lesson observations, parts of the textbook, and some other teaching materials used in the lessons. In addition to constituting research on attitudes, this study is also linked to cognitive dissonance theory since it highlights dissonance among the attitudes of the teachers, pupils and textbook authors. The study shows that one main dilemma is the fact that the textbook is frequently being used in the classroom, but many pupils find it dull and uninteresting. Other dilemmas are basically explanations for this and are discussed as such. The study also shows that the pupils prefer history lessons that follow certain strategies and that these strategies are only reflected in the textbook to a limited extent. However, these strategies are used to a large extent in the teaching and when other teaching materials are used instead of the textbook. Sometimes the language used in the textbook seems to prevent the pupils from being able to take in the content but they are not given any help to cope with this difficulty. However, the pupils are exposed to other teaching resources, such as films and lectures, which helps them to understand the subject matter and they appreciate such resources more than the textbook. Moreover, the use of this type of learning resources is combined with methodology that is popular among the pupils and they get help from each other and from the teacher when interpreting and working with these resources. The textbook is used primarily individually and some of the pupils find it difficult to understand. In addition, the textbook is used with teaching methodology that the pupils find dull. This could explain why films and lectures are the main focus of the history lessons while the textbook is used primarily as a supplementary factual resource. This may also be a reason why the pupils have a negative attitude towards the textbook.