This study focuses on students in upper secondary school and their experiences of citizenship related to the school subject of social science. Education is a central part when describing adolescents’ citizenship because the school has a democratic commitment to form democratic citizens. The subject of social science has for various reasons become the subject where civic knowledge is mediated. The purpose of the study is to describe students experiences as citizens and to provide further understanding of how they relate to citizenship. The study also aims to examine their perceptions of the content in social science as part of the development of their citizenship. The empirical data consists of semi-structured interviews with seven upper secondary students between the ages of 17-19. The theoretical outset is based on a feminist approach to adolescents’ citizenship but is mainly focused on Lister’s four building blocks. Biesta’s three functions for good education is used to analyse the students’ perceptions of the subject social science. The results of this study indicate that social science is a superficial and broad subject. The subject contributes with knowledge and skills that can be related to what the students think is appropriate for a citizen to know. The knowledge and skills mentioned are to understand the structure of society, to discuss and be able to form an opinion and to be critical of what sources are being used. A citizenship, according to the students, is based on belonging, respect and solidarity, skills and to obey the laws. The results also show that their own experiences as citizens vary depending on situations that appear within their school. Their role as citizens is degraded because of their age and they are met with a lack of respect from older citizens. One of my conclusions is that the citizenship of upper secondary students can seem ambivalent because they are sometimes seen as adults and sometimes, they are seen as children. Another conclusion is that social science contributes to different civic skills which is also considered important for their interpretation of citizenship.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-96472 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Gunnarsson, Elin |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för samhällsstudier (SS) |
| 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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