This study examines teachers' approach to controversial topics, within the subject of civics and social sciences in Swedish upper secondary school. The aim of the study is to describe and problematize the approaches chosen by teachers when controversial topics are brought up in the classroom. To achieve this, the study will examine the following questions: What do teachers consider as controversial topics? How do teachers handle situations where controversial topics arise in the classroom? Why do teachers believe controversial topics are important in education? To answer these questions, several qualitative interviews were executed. The results show that there are several topics in civics and social sciences that may strike one as being controversial. Examples of such topics are questions regarding immigration, minorities, feminism, gender, and ethnicity. In summary, the results show that teachers aspire to let controversial issues be a part of their subject, and that they see benefits with this. However, the teachers' attitudes toward their mission differ, which can also be said about their perspective on what could be the definition of “controversial topics”. The reasonings presented by teachers in this study, as to why they find these topics important, can be divided into two sections. Firstly, such topics matter to students and are engaging. Secondly, it is relevant to the subject of civics and social studies, as well as the curriculum and it’s mission to foster democracy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kau-90509 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Wikholm, Elsa |
| Publisher | Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för pedagogiska studier (from 2013) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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