The aim of this study is to investigate history teachers’ various approaches towards the wars in former Yugoslavia during the 90s, in their history teaching in upper secondary school. Furthermore, another aspect to the study is to investigate how the history teachers approach potential students that might have roots from the former Yugoslavia. Since the Swedish society is multicultural with immigrants from former Yugoslavia, the topic could be viewed as sensitive. However, previous studies show that students with a multicultural background such as former Yugoslavia want to take part of their history in the history classroom. This leads to the next question, whether teachers fulfill their students’ needs when it comes to history. Furthermore, another aim of the study is to also investigate what possibilities and difficulties the teachers might experience with teaching about the wars in former Yugoslavia. Five history teachers with experience from history teaching in upper secondary school were interviewed. The result is thenceforth analyzed with the following theoretical framework: Kitson’s and McCully’s (2005) model of sensitive topics in the history classroom, multicultural classroom, and historical empathy. The findings of the study are that only two out of five history teachers included the wars in former Yugoslavia continuously in their history teaching. The third teacher included the topic if the students were interested, and the fourth teacher taught the students about some events occasionally in relation to other topics, such as use of history. The last teacher did not include the wars in former Yugoslavia at all. Four out of five teachers wanted the students to contribute with their own history culture and family history. The possibilities and the difficulties were intertwined, according to the teachers. The students could contribute and thusly offer perspective on the topic. However, it could also mean that the teachers had to be careful with their words since they could not fully know what experiences the students have. The teachers’ answers were analyzed in accordance with Kitsons and McCullys model, together with the concepts ‘multicultural classroom’ and historical empathy. The conclusion of the research is that the majority of the history teachers used historical empathy in connection with the wars in former Yugoslavia. The teachers tried doing so by bringing the teaching to life with the help from, for instance, life stories and interviews. The teachers’ attitudes towards a multicultural classroom, which is enriched by students with different history cultures, were mostly positive.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hj-58466 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Smajli, Trendelina |
| Publisher | Jönköping University, Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation |
| 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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