Solving global environmental problems requires a major change of values. As relates to environmental education, worldview, ethics and spiritual issues are important elements. But how are environmental issues included in such school subjects that especially discuss values and ethics? In this article I examine 24 Finnish religious education and ethics textbooks to analyze, to what extent environmental issues are integrated and discussed in them. I conclude that there is confusion about what environmental education can be in societal school subjects. The environmental texts in textbooks do not always draw on the specific content of the societal subject in question but repeat content from the natural sciences. Therefore, I suggest contexts and perspectives for discussing environmental issues that would comport with these subjects and supplement existing environmental education at school.

Enligt FN:s mål om hållbar utveckling (Agenda 2030) betonas bland annat främjandet av en kultur av fred och icke-våld. Utvecklingen i finländska styrdokument för förskolan visar däremot att temat fred har nedtonats. Denna studie vill genom ämnesdidaktisk samverkan mellan bildkonst och religion synliggöra 6-åringars förståelse av fred, deras sätt att samtala om och i teckningar gestalta ett liv i fred med varandra. Den kvalitativa temaanalysen visade att barn i denna pilotstudie förstår fred som tillstånd, fred som relationer, fred som förhandlingar och fred som möte och handling. Samtal kring barnens teckningar och de visuella konkretiseringarna stöder tolkningen. Pilotstudien har genom pedagogiska och ämnesdidaktiska perspektiv på lärande för fred uppmärksammat vikten av att barns lärandeprocesser om fred, icke-våld och globalt medborgaskap behöver beakta kravet på tid, rum, språk och struktur för interaktion, tolkning, fördjupning och handling.

This qualitative study is done with the purpose of creating understanding for the theoretical democratic content in educational materials for Civic Education courses 1a1 and 1b during GY-11, so teachers create an intentional approach when using educational materials in their democratic education. This was motivated as important considering the reduction in obligatory Civic Education for the vocational programs. The study was conducted using a hermeneutic qualitative reading method where the educational materials, more specifically two series with one book for each course, was read with purpose of creating understanding for the democratic content according to ideal democratic models: deliberative democracy, participatory democracy and electoral democracy. A text voice analysis was also conducted using Bakhtins theory of dialogic and monologue text that contributed to the general result concerning the democratic content. The results show that the electoral democracy ideal is dominant in all educational materials, there is hence no striking difference between the democratic content in 1a1 and 1b educational materials. Though the study shows intention in the 1a1 educational materials towards a more participatory democracy ideal, the electoral ideal are still clearly dominant.

Reflective learning diaries can help students develop self-regulated learning (SRL), a critical skill for success. Forteachers such learning diaries can be a valuable tool for formative evaluation of SRL. However, there is limitedresearch on the use of reflective diaries in software engineering and information systems education. To address thisgap, we conducted a case study in which reflective learning diaries were used in a course. The goal of this research isto investigate the potential of using reflective diaries to formatively evaluate three key features of SRL: conceptions ofknowledge, conceptions of learning, and strategies for monitoring and regulating learning. Our findings suggest thatreflective diaries is a valuable tool for formative evaluation of SRL in software engineering education. Reflection onlearning experiences helps students develop self-awareness of their SRL skills and identify areas for improvement.Instructors can use this information to provide students with targeted feedback and support. By using reflective diariesto promote dialogic feedback, instructors can help students to develop a deeper understanding of their own learningand to become more effective self-regulated learners. The study conclude with lesson learned that provide practicalrecommendations for educators who are swiftly moving towards online teaching.

School access and staying in school is one the most important issue for the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan particularly for girls. According to the Ministry of Education (MoE), nearly seven million children have access to school in Afghanistan, 37 per cent of whom are girls.

Students drop out of schools before completing their education cycle, to know who drops out and to what extent; this study describes some of factors that influence students to drop out of school in grade 4 and grade 6.

To find out some factors that may influence girls and boys to drop out of schools in grade 4 and 6 six, structured interviews were conducted in 10 schools – 5 in rural area and 5 in urban area of Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan. Data was collected by random sample from 32 girls and 48 boys who left schools. 20 teachers and 20 parents were also interviewed to know what their opinions are on drop out of students.

After data collection, several factors were found to cause students drop out of schools; some of the most prominent causes were Poverty, lack of security, long distance to school and socio- culture factors.

By looking to the current educational situation of the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan, there is a need of research almost in all areas particularly in the area of girls’ education.

Pursuing Post-Conflict Reconciliation in a History Classroom. Theoretical and Practical Considerations

In a post-conflict society, history education may prolong the conflict on a symbolical level by fostering biased narratives of guilt and victimhood. To avoid this it is necessary to open and maintain a reconciling dialogue in history classrooms. The theory of deliberative communication, launched by Jürgen Habermas, has been applied to pedagogy by Tomas Englund. Deliberative pedagogical discourse implies an equal distribution of power in classroom interaction. Predetermined standpoints are avoided and majority decisions not pursued. Participants are expected to listen to each other instead of rushing to express their individual opinion. Deliberative discussion is founded on the ethos of social inclusion. Three concrete cases illustrate the chances of dialogical history education in post-conflict societies: Finland after the civil war of 1918, South Africa after the end of apartheid, and Bosnia-Hercegovina after the war of 1992–1995. South Africa provides the only example of a prompt post-conflict introduction of dialogical history education. The Afrikaner narrative of heroism and victimhood was after 1994 reserved a place in the new post-colonial history curriculum at the side of the narratives of apartheid and the Black resistance. The viability of dialogical history education has been monitored by attitude surveys. South African surveys reveal that dialogue does not inevitably rule out an identification with the traditional identity narratives. In Bosnia-Herzegovina only little has been achieved in introducing a dialogue in history education but there are signs of students, parents and teachers aspiring to inclusive lessons. The reconciliatory potential imbedded in the multiperspectival nature of the historical knowledge is available in history education.

A post-conflict society tends to get locked in a history war. As the practice of history in its broad sense is a moral craft, representations of guilt and victimhood prevail in social memory. The representations are often bolstered by mythical references, wherefore deconstruction of myths is expected from history education for the purposes of post-conflict reconciliation. This article deals with the post-conflict uses of history in Finland, South Africa and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The three cases constitute examples of a class war, a race conflict and an ethno-religious armed clash. The memory politics and history curricula differ between the cases. Their comparison indicates, how far an imposition of one ´truth´, a dialogue of two ´truths´ and segregation of different memory communities are feasible strategies of post-conflict history education. The article suggests that history lessons can be an asset instead of a liability in the pursuit of reconciliation.

This essay is a study that aims to increase knowledge about how social studies teachers work with special education. Where the research questions concern which extra adaptations and special pedagogical measures the teachers apply in their teaching. If teachers believe that multimodal tools as a tool in this context generate positive results. In addition to the teaching itself, the teachers also describe where they acquired their knowledge of special education and what their relationship looks like with their local special educators.

The theory used is called the KASAM-theory and it has been necessary to understand why teachers constantly returned to the relational. Teachers believe that students mental well-beingis a factor just as autism, ADHD and dyslexia are. But that the relational is not only about mental illness but it permeates the whole profession. The relational is incorporated in all parts where teachers and students meet, for example for the student to use and adopt special education, a relational aspect is needed.

The method the essay has used to generate data is a qualitative semi-structured interview in which six social studies teachers have participated. In the interviews, the teachers share their experiences and knowledge of special education and the use of multimodal tools. In addition,it is investigated how and when collaboration and communication with the special educator occurs, where the teachers pick up the techniques and methods used to help and compensate the students for their difficulties or differences. The teachers are briefly presented in the method chapter in order to then one by one answer the research questions on which the thesis is based.

The results and the analysis have shown that the data the interviews have generated show an openness and broadness of tools and methods the teachers use to ensure that the students, regardless of whether they have diagnoses or not, have access to a good and educational teaching. However, the use of special education is so common in the informant’s classrooms that it can be difficult for them to distinguish concrete results when another special education instrument is applied. The teachers who participated in the study unanimously describe that the main source of special education comes from other teachers and then most often from teachers with the same subject. The special educators are often regarded as a resource that takes care of individual students where they can sit and work with a special educator individually or in a small group. Another common occasion when teachers contact the special educator is when the matter concerns individual students. In the issue of multimodality, this is primarily linked to the digital, where teachers generally have a positive and sometimes a very positive view of the multimodal. Students with dyslexia are considered to be the group of students who have the greatest advantage of the digital, even if all students are perceived to benefit from the multimodal. The digital is described as having an opportunity to work with several semiotic impressions, something that teachers believe should particularly benefit students with ADHD, concentration difficulties and autism.

The first lines in the Swedish curriculum for the compulsory school system (Lgr 11) state "the national school system is based on democratic foundations". The school has a democracy mission that includes nourishing students democratic abilities and providing them with the knowledge needed to participate actively in a democratic society. Previous research has shown that teachers have difficulties in succeeding with implementing the mission of democratic education. The wording in the curriculum is diffuse and there are no suitable teaching methods. Democracy is, among other things, about cooperation and respect for the opinion of others. This study examines whether the successful cooperative learning method can be used in education of democracy, within the framework of the subject of civic edu- cation, and what impact it has on pupils' learning. The systematic review has been used and the analysis is inspired by a couple of different analytical models. Empiri- cal studies consist of 8L international studies of a quasi-experimental nature – most conducted on pupils in grades 8 through O. The results show that cooperative learn- ing is a useful method when teaching students about democracy. The method itself can be considered democratic and thus trains students’ civic abilities while convey- ing democratic values and processing knowledge about democracy in theory. Coop- erative learning can thus serve as the bridge between the mission of democracy and the mission of knowledge.

 This study aims at investigating and comparing state attitudes towards confession in policies regarding meetings with religious elements at schools. Two state policies have been examined through a text analysis inspired by Critical Hermeneutics – the 2012 guidelines, currently in use, and a historic guideline from 1967. Results show that two different stands are emerging regarding confessional elements. In the 1967 policy, pupils are encouraged to meet and tolerate different religious perspectives including non-religious attitudes in order to develop a democratic consciousness. Half a century later, the 2012 policy consider confession as problematic and something from which pupils ought to be protected. The study ends with a discussion of how recent regulations align with the ambition of training pupils in the encounter with religious others in the multicultural society Sweden and Europe presently are part of. Perhaps, something could be learned from previous state regulations – that encountering otherness does not necessary lead students to question their own beliefs, rather it may expand their horizon of cultural competence.

This study aims at investigating how the image of the religion of Christianity is constructed in Swedish textbooks for the Upper Secondary School (gymnasieskolan), with a specific focus on the perspective from which the text considers the religion and how this perspective creates possibilities for and limitations of pupils’ identification. Introductions of Christianity through text and images were selected from six current textbooks; five printed and one digital. The method used for analysis was ideological text criticism with a combination of Linguistic and Theological perspectives. Three aspects were highlighted in the analysis: interest making strategies, demands of previous knowledge, and subject perspectives. The study showed that the examined texts did not express Christianity as the cultural norm as considered in previous research. Instead there seemed to be an ambivalence in the perspective from which the textbooks considered the religion. Demands of previous knowledge as well as subject positions varied highly both within and between textbooks.

This study explores the concept of historical empathy in the context of field trips for young pupils to a prehistoric heritage site in Sweden. The example discussed is a field trip to Vitlycke, a heritage and rock carving site with an associated reconstructed Bronze Age farm, where pupils had the opportunity to experience prehistory with all their senses. The study is based on the idea that historical empathy is a process that involves both cognitive and affective dimensions and that both dimensions are important for progress. The pupils were interviewed after the trip and their responses are related to the concepts of perspective recognition and care. The study shows how the cognitive and affective dimensions were interwoven in the pupils' reasoning and how the field trip contributed to an emotional and personal connection necessary for the development of historical empathy. This engagement led to a broadening and deepening of the pupils' cognitive understanding of Bronze Age life and living conditions, while the cognitive understanding of the historical context contributed to a framework in which they could use their imagination. The results also show the importance of giving pupils time to follow up on their experiences after visiting a heritage site.

This qualitative study aims to expand knowledge about how primary school teachers can use read-aloud to stimulate the language development of students with Swedish as a second language by investigating how eight primary school teachers include a second language perspective in read-aloud activities. Data for this study was gathered using semi-structured personal interviews. The results revealed that teachers employ read-aloud practices in various ways and to varying degrees, but all of them incorporate it at some point. The majority of teachers consider visual support and explaining words and sentences to be important. Furthermore, they also emphasized the significance of discussions about the language and the content of the reading material. They highlighted that the choice of read-aloud books plays a pivotal role and both the content and the linguistic level of the book should be considered. It is also beneficial for the chosen book to be culturally relevant and resonate with the students' backgrounds. 

This article presents a study of how the purpose of school in general and the civic education in particular has been told at the formal curricula. The used material are governmental documents about the compulsory school. The method used emanates from the concept of historical consciousness. It is however the concept´s narrative and temporal content that is the starting point, when David Carr´s theory of lived stories is used to understand temporal perceptions behind the formal curricula. Two time periods with different purposes for the school and the civic education, emanating from different temporal orientations, have been found, namely 1969-1980 and 1994-2011. During the first time period the temporal orientation was rather short in time, and the future vision clear. The purpose of school and civic education were told to prepare the citizens to cooperate in labour intensive workingplaces. Cooperation and willingness to defer to the collective, were the most important abilities. During the second time period the temporal orientation becomes more prolonged, a distant past was used to meet an uncertain future. The purpose of school and civic education were now told to foster a western moral cultural heritage together with a new creative entrepreneurial spirit.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka historielärares förståelse för begreppet historiebruk och hur de undervisar om historiebruk i kursen Historia 1b i gymnasieskolan. Historiebruk infördes i kurs- och ämnesplanen i gymnasiereformen 2011 och blev då en av tre övergripande mål som historieämnet bygger på, tillsammans med kunskap om historiskt innehåll och förmågan att tänka historiskt genom historisk metod. Denna uppsats undersöker det nya övergripande målet, historiebruk, ur ett lärarperspektiv.

För att undersöka detta genomfördes en kvalitativ intervjustudie där fyra historielärare intervjuades. Resultatet analyserades framförallt genom en typologi av Klas-Göran Karlsson. Analysen synliggjorde att lärare har olika förståelse om vad historiebruk är och det kan behövas kompetensutveckling så historielärare förstår hur de kan uppfylla kursplanens mål. Resultaten visade även att undervisning om historiebruk, eller undervisning som inkluderar ett historiebruksperspektiv, sker på många olika sätt. Synliggörandet av undervisningsexempel kan ses som inspiration till lärare för de många ingångar som undervisning om historiebruk kan ha.

Religion is a vast phenomenon, consequently the core elements in formal religious education are equally difficult to limit. Even though a national curriculum narrows down the scope of content to a certain extent, it is apparent how RE incorporates a whole range of methods and approaches. This article departs from another perspective, namely the fact that school is not exclusively responsible for religious education and formation. It raises the question of whether and how formal teaching from the perspective of teachers in school and vicars in church contributes to the specific pedagogical task of competence and authoritativeness (Bildung). One of the results of an action research project: ‘Educating (Bildung) towards religious competence’ is a fourfold model for developing analytical approaches to RE didactics based on the concept of competence/authoritativeness. With this model it is possible to connect knowledge of RE with general pedagogical and didactic reflection in the context of both school and church.  In the article, we offer reflections on possible ways to strengthen the connection between RE research and teaching. The aim is to connect practical teaching experience with theoretical reflection, both knowledge of didactics and religious content knowledge. In recent times the ideal of formation for RE has understandably focused on competences for diversity and inter-religious understanding. The four-fold model for religious competence is our attempt to widen the scope and perspective of formation in schools. 

This essay discusses how three textbooks in literature are dealing with the core content of the syllabi for Svenska 1 and Svenska 2 as well as how the textbooks relate to principles about good learning material formulated by textbook researcher Tom Wikman. I have formulated two main areas of research based on his principles. The essay looks at how the textbook enable to activate students and secondly how the textbooks relates to students different prior knowledge. I have chosen secondary school textbooks that are issued after 2011 as they will be able to relate to the new curriculum GY11. The textbooks Hej litteraturen! (2013), Svenska impulser 2 (2012) and Svenska timmar litteraturen (2012) has been analyzed. In my analysis many similarities and differences between the textbooks has been made visible. The textbooks focus on the reader and the entertainment factor. The personal, and often direct, speech to the reader permeates the three textbooks. All textbooks is about the entertaining aspect of the paratext, Svenska impulser 2 are visual with pictures and illustrations, Svenska timmar litteraturen have an author's voice and Hej litteraturen! have a storytelling presentation. Svenska timmar litteraturen and Svenska impulser 2 have advanced sections and tasks of different levels of difficulty, making it available to students with different previous knowledge. This level difference is not, however, in Hej litteraturen! Students' knowledge is still taken into account by all textbooks by relating historical facts to everyday facts that students probably are aware of. All textbooks provide a chronological presentation of the history of literature and mainly contain the core content (centralt innehåll) of Swedish courses. However, there is no section on contemporary writings and authors in Svenska timmar litteratur and Hej litteraturen! Danish and Norwegian literature in the original language is also absent; however Svenska impulser 2 and Svenska timmar litteraturen have extra content in the form of anthologies that contain texts of that kind. In essence, it is the Western culture that is the focus, with some exeptions.

The study aimed to develop and test the method of inquiry-based teaching (FDU in Swedish) within thedomain of sexuality, consent, and relationships within the subject of history. The two main objectiveswere to examine students' attitudes and understanding of the subjects of history, sexuality, consent, andrelationships through surveys, and to analyze how students' express historical consciousness based on JörnRüsen's theory though qualitative text analysis.The results indicated that students generally had a positive view of history, but they did not perceivehistorical knowledge as important for their everyday lives or future careers. The results also revealedvarying levels of all four types of historical consciousness. Inquiry-based teaching was identified as asuccessful method to engage students and promote their learning. However, challenges and opportunitiesin teaching indicated the need to develop students' critical and genetic historical consciousness.The study contributes to the broader discussion on sexual education and how best to educate young peopleabout sexuality, consent, and relationships, while it emphasizes the importance of social justice education,inclusive teaching, and the development of students' historical consciousness. The study also emphasizesthe importance of creating connections between history and students' everyday lives, the importance ofcommunicating course content, and stimulating interest in social issues to promote engagement andunderstanding the present and the future.

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I gymnasieskolans kursplaner för ämnet fysik framhålls det undersökande arbetssättet genom att betona att eleverna ska ges förutsättningar att utveckla förmågan att söka svar på frågor, planera, genomföra, tolka och redovisa experiment. Eleverna ska dessutom ges möjligheter att använda sina kunskaper i fysik för att kommunicera, argumentera och presentera slutsatser. Utgångspunkten i den här avhandlingen är att laborationsmomentet skapar en speciell diskurs där eleverna blir aktörer och läraren iträder rollen som observatör. I en sådan miljö skapas förutsättningar för att eleverna på ett naturligt sätt får möjlighet att prata och diskutera fysik, utifrån sina egna förutsättningar. Syftet med denna avhandling är att genom praktikbaserade studier tydliggöra hur fysiklaborationens utformning påverkar elevernas kommunikation och vidare hur eleverna använder språket vid laborationstillfället för att skapa förståelse. Detta bidrar till debatten om fysiklaborationens effektivitet, sett både ur ett undervisnings- och inlärningsperspektiv. Resultaten visar att olika laborationsformer är uppbyggda av liknande aktiviteter, men varierar i tid som ägnas åt de olika aktiviteterna. Aktiviteterna i sin tur skapar samtal av olika karaktär. Olika samtalsformer används för skilda syften. Ett analytiskt ramverk har skapats för att ingående kunna studera hur och vad eleverna talar om både på en lingvistisk och kognitiv nivå.

The present paper reports on a case study that examined the effectiveness of a practical activity in physics, at a Swedish upper secondary school. A teacher and 19 students participated in the study. The students were observed while working with the topic motion, in a computer based laboratory environment (CBL). This case study is part of an ongoing longitudinal study, about the role of laboratory work with different degrees of freedom. The analysis of interviews, written reports and posttest, shows that the practical work was effective based on Millar’s model. Even so, the students had difficulties expressing what they learned from the activity. This study emphasizes the complexity of planning and conducting laboratory work that is effective, from several different aspects. 

In this case study, we explore students’ communication during practical work in physics at an upper secondary school in Sweden from a sociocultural perspective. We investigate the relation between the interaction and content of students’ communication and outcomes of their actions, with the purpose of finding new knowledge for informing teachers in their choice of instruction. We make discourse analysis of how students interact but also of what students are discussing in terms of underlying content at a linguistic and cognitive level. Twenty students divided into five groups were video recorded while performing four practical tasks at different stations during laboratory work about motion. An analytical framework was developed and applied for one group to three parts of the transcripts in which three different talk-types occurred. Discursive, content, action and purposive moves in the process were identified for each talk-type at both linguistic and cognitive levels. These moves represent information concerning what the teacher actually assigns students to do, and how students make meaning of the activities. Through these different communicative moves, students experience how laboratory work can enhance their competence to collaborate in a scientific environment with complex practical and theoretical questions to solve quickly. Implications of the findings are discussed. 

Vid Karlstads universitet har vi sedan hösten 2017 infört energiteater som en aktivitet i fysikkurser på samtliga grund- och ämneslärarutbildningar. Energiteater kan betraktas som en kompletterande undervisnings- och inlärningsform, där studenter förväntas att i mindre grupper tillsammans diskutera och sedan gestalta förekommande energiformer och energiomvandlingar i olika vardagsscenarier. I den här studien har videoinspelningar av en grupps gestaltningar kring två skilda scenarier analyserats i syfte att klargöra på vilket sätt energiteater stimulerar studenternas kommunikation och interaktion. Scenarierna involverarde energiomvandlingar som sker då en studsboll studsar mot marken, respektive de energiomvandlingar som sker i ett snurrande änglaspel. Resultatet visar att energiteater i stor utsträckning stimulerar utforskande samtal mellan studenterna, vilket kan betraktas somen meningsskapande dialog. Aktivitetens karaktär bidrar till att alla deltagare blir aktiva och förtrogna med förekommande energiformer och energiomvandlingar. Planerandet och genomförandet av gestaltningen skapar spontana kvalitativa diskussioner kring flödet av energi mellan olika system, som på ett naturligt sätt motiverar studenterna att vidareutveckla själva gestaltningen. Vi menar att energiteater kan stärka lärarstudenternas egen förståelse av energi, men att den även kan erbjuda en möjlig alternativ undervisningsansats för lärarstudenterna i sin blivande roll som lärare i skolan.

In the present study, a teaching sequence concerning electromagnetic induction was introduced to 24 primary teacher students divided into six groups, in order to provide the students with deeper knowledge about how kinetic energy can be transformed into electricity. The aim of this study was to investigate to what extent these teacher students, developed an understanding of electromagnetic induction, without using a mathematical language. The teaching sequence consisted of a group discussion, a practical exercise, computer simulations and a final didactical group reflection. We used a context rich problem, where students were asked to describe how a wind power plant works. During these discussions, the students realised that some kind of generator was needed, but they did not understand its function and concluded that they as teachers only needed to know that it gives rise to an energy transformation. The practical exercise contributed to a deeper understanding of the observed phenomenon, even though students’ ability to structure their inquiry varied a lot. The computer simulations turned out to be a valuable complement to the practical exercise. The practical experiment, together with the simulation, helped the students to understand how electrical current is produced. Based on our analysis, we can see how the different parts of the teaching activity, together but in different ways, help the students to develop their understanding and view of electromagnetic induction. The students’ final group reflections show how important it is to have good physics content knowledge to be able to value and take advantage of the children’s curiosity.

Abstract 

The aim of this study was to find whether teachers at intermediate level work with enforcing students’ trust in their own ability. The study is based on the Swedish curriculum Lgr22 and the theoretical model ‘the didactic triangle’. The research questions were built based on the triangle and the curriculum. 

The method used is a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. Eight well-experienced teachers participated from three F-6 schools in the middle of Sweden. The data were transcribed and then analysed according to a qualitative thematic method. 

The results show that the teacher student relationship is very important and the starting point for strengthening the students’ trust in their own abilities. Other important factors that have an impact in the student’s confidence are: to adjust the teaching and the content; to give feedback and response; affirmation and to give students further motivation to practise their skills and abilities. In the discussion, the conclusion is conveyed in the form of four practical tips based on the results of the study. Hopefully, this study will help future teachers in their profession.

The study aims to investigate how textbooks prepare young people for the societal challenges that exist. Here, societal challenges are meant by increased amount of information and information flow that exists in society. It should be investigated by studying how textbooks in civics, directed at pupils in upper secondary school, present critical thinking. The research that already exists is limited and the existing one shows that there are differences in the textbooks, but not how the differences are expressed in practice. This essay will therefore examine critical thinking in textbooks based on filling that knowledge gap. To do this, three research questions have been formulated and answered.

To answer the formulated research questions, a qualitative content analysis has been chosen as the method. That analysis will be made on four textbooks, selected according to a goal-oriented sample. The analysis of the books will be done by first coding the material into small codes. The codes will then be put together into different themes that answer the research questions.

The results of the analysis show that the textbooks present critical thinking as hidden learning. This means that the textbooks do not present critical thinking explicitly, but that it takes place as a consequence of other parts of the textbooks. Another result is that the content that the textbooks offer students is knowledge in critical thinking. That is, students are given opportunities to practice comparing, reviewing and evaluating, even if it is not explicitly critical thinking. Knowledge of critical thinking is a second type of content that emerges as students learn about the need to critically review sources and why it is needed in today's society. A third type of content is practical tasks, the pupils are given the opportunity to continuously practice this in practical tasks. Practical elements that occur are debates, tasks and discussions, all of which contain elements that develop critical thinking. The last result that emerged in the analysis was about the differences between study preparation and vocational preparation programs regarding critical thinking. The analysis showed that study preparation is more in- depth in the tasks. The textbooks call for more analytical questions and discussions, while the books for vocational students were more basic requesting questions asking for what and who instead of analytical questions.

Developing students' critical thinking is an important task for Swedish schools. Especially in the social studies subjects, where issues of democracy and human rights always are present. In both national and international educational science research there are however some uncertainties concerning how critical thinking manifests among students. The article sheds light on a specific component of critical thinking, namely the ability to alternate points of view. Initially, classical theoretical literature on critical thinking is used to discuss this component. The main part of the article uses students' own descriptions of societal challenges to show more precisely how alternating points of view are manifested in student answers. To our help, we have a unique empirical material in the form of data from the Swedish national test in civics for year 9. 600 student responses from one question are analyzed with the ambition of finding students' ability to see, and discuss, social issues from different points of view.

Solving environmental issues is not only a matter of good knowledge but also of ethics, since there is no absolute right or wrong in man’s way of handling nature. To be able to design a science education that meets governmental requirements and enables the students to participate in future environmental discussions it is important to be aware of their own ethic reflections. The over all aim of this study is to describe and survey the environmental ethics of students in the age of 16-19 years.

Six students at the age of 16-19 was interviewed concerning their opinion on man’s relationship to nature. The result shows that the environmental ethics of these students is mostly anthropocentric with a certain amount of animal rights biocentrism and that they consider care to be a moral reason.

The result is discussed in relation to the two different perspectives and the author makes connections to social debate, media and cartoons. The conclusion is that the perspective of care should receive more attention in science education. Care is today an unused resource of involvement to environmental issues. Finally the author pinpoints the fact that also good knowledge is absolutely necessary when making sensible decisions.

The purpose of this thesis was to try to investigate how f-3 teachers view younger children's ability to understand history and how they teach to develop students' historical knowledge and subject understanding. This by using semi-structured interviews to ask two teachers about how they choose to plan and teach the subject in order to create conditions for the students to develop a historical consciousness. However, this approach makes the result impossible to generalize. The result can be interpreted as the two teachers striving to meet the central content in order for the students to achieve the goals within the subject and get as good a chronological overview as possible. But that much of the developmental psychology idea about how younger children can acquire history education seems to remain.

This study examines how primary school teachers address controversial issues related to variousreligious positions and how they handle situations when students' controversial opinionsconflict with the school's values. The purpose is to contribute to the scientific discussion onhow primary school teachers perceive working with controversial issues.

The source material collected is qualitative. Seven semi-structured interviews conducted withpracticing teachers from five schools. Their responses were linked to various strategies teachersuse to teach or avoid these questions, to compile how teachers address the controversial issues.

Previous research shows that teachers often choose to avoid controversial issues, especially ifthey are religious. It also shows that much of this uncertainty may be due to teachers' lackof basic formal education on how to handle these questions, which is also reflected in thisstudy's results.

In the results and discussion, the respondents' answers are presented and discussed withprevious research and the thesis' theory on teaching or avoiding controversial issues related toreligion.

The result of the essay shows that primary school teachers emphasize the importance of studentsencountering controversial issues. While also claiming that the students they teach are tooyoung to face these issues. The teachers also present various didactic approaches to createconstructive conversations, the difficulties they experience and how they handle situationswhere students' opinions contradict the school's values.

Although the theory of the work and previous research is based on studies with studentsprimarily in high school, it can be inferred that there are clear similarities in how teachers inhigh school and primary school work with controversial issues and the difficulties experienced.

The aim of this study is to investigate what role the aesthetic learning processes in historical workshops can play in developing students' historical consciousness and historical empathy. This has been investigated by interviewing six teachers who have been at Stavgard iron age camp school with their classes. The survey found that historical workshops are appreciated among teachers and students and that it is a priority in the teaching, even though this means a great financial effort for the school. The aesthetic learning processes are represented at Stavgard through practical work, stories and to some extent drama. The stay at Stavgard creates a common frame of reference for teachers and class, based on which historical consciousness is built during future history teaching. At the camp school, the pupils practice iron age life for two days, and the study shows that the pupils themselves by experiencing the hardship of the Iron Age people develop historical empathy. In addition to this, it is also described how the pre- and post-work in connection with the stay at Stavgard is designed by the different teachers.

This study investigates upper secondary school students’ opinions on working with a computer simulation in microbiology. During one lesson, the students got to work with the simulation and answer questions about what was happening in the simulation. Collection of data was made through observation, surveys and interviews. The result shows an overall positive attitude among the students towards working with simulations in biology class. Despite this, using simulations as a learning tool can not be recommended without reservation. It is of importance that the simulation to be used is carefully selected according to learning goals and that students are supported in their interpretation of the simulation. The most important support is the teacher explaining what the simulation is showing.  

The purpose of this article is to investigate learning goals, content, working methods and examinations in the vocational didactic sections of the vocational teacher education programme. In a case study, a total of forty study guides from one vocational teacher education programme have been analysed in order to answer what central content is highlighted, how the goals are examined, and what course literature is used in vocational subject didactics in a selected vocational teacher education programme at a Swedish university. The aim of the analysis, based on Hiim’s (2010) model, is to find both clearly expressed and more latent elements. The results answer questions on what the subject didactics contain in three different courses. Vocational teacher educators plan their teaching with regard to the goals of vocational subject didactics, but the interpretation of goals varies among different educators and within different vocational subjects. The result also gives some indications of what could be general differences and similarities within and between different didactics teacher groups and/or vocational subjects. The analysis of the study guides also shows that educational background and the form of employment of educators seem to be of importance.

Ämneslärarens arbete didaktiska perspektiv är en grundbok som i första hand riktar sig till blivande ämneslärare, men kan med fördel även läsas av verksamma lärare. Boken behandlar den utbildningsvetenskapliga kärnans alla delar. 

The purpose of this study is to exemplify how the didactic model organized purposes can be used as support for professional experimentation to develop teaching with the working methods of natural science as a content in the primary school. We have done a didactic modeling with the exemplification phase as a research approach. Inspiration has been taken from action research in the research design. With this approach, we have exemplified how the didactic model organized purposes can be used as support in the planning, implementation and evaluation of teaching. To exemplify how organizing purposes provided support in didactic analysis and design of teaching, we completed two complete and started third teaching cycle. In each full cycle, we did an instructional design and then analyzed the outcome using organized objectives. We started the third cycle by making a design proposal. The teaching design was carried out in two different classes in year three at two different schools. Twelve students participated in the first cycle and fourteen students in the second. The content of the scientific method we wanted to teach was the need for control of variables to make fair tests. Implementation was recorded using film recording which was then analyzed using the conceptual apparatus for organizing purposes; overall purpose, proximate purpose, goal-in-sight and continuity. The exemplification shows that organizing purposes provided support for students and for us to teach goal oriented. In the analysis, the conceptual apparatus was a support for seeing parts that can be improved and developed in the teaching design.

Our conclusion is that the didactic model organizing purposes can be seen as a successful tool and as a support for teachers to develop their teaching with a science approach as a content in the primary school curriculum.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how a teacher guide can provide tips and support for teachers to develop their students subject specific language. The method used in the study is a mixture of qualitative- and quantitative content analysis. We have analyzed one chapter from a teacher guide for Year 1, and one chapter from a teacher guide for Year 3. Only the part including tips about activities have been analyzed and a total of 50 activities have been analyzed. The perspective that permeates the study is the socio-cultural perspective on learning, since the socio-cultural perspective is about communication, and so is the student´s language development. The results of this study conclude that teachers receive limited support from the activities in the guide regarding how to teach students to analyze mathematical texts. However, it appears that the teacher receives many tips on multimodal forms of expression. The results also show that there are differences in the content between the teacher´s guides in year 1 and year 3.