Diskurser och dilemman i gymnasieskolans samhällskunskapsundervisning

Discourses and dilemmas in upper secondary school teaching in civics

The aim of this thesis is to explore, from a critical interpretive perspective, how discourses and ideological dilemmas emerge in upper secondary school teaching in civics in relation to the upper secondary school curriculum Lgy11. The theoretical perspectives and concepts are developed within the frameworks of curriculum theory and discursive psychology. While curriculum theory directs attention toward what counts as knowledge in the subject of civics, discursive psychology focuses more specifically on the social construction of discourses and dilemmas that emerge from teachers’ and students’ understanding of the teaching of the subject. The data of the study consist of interviews with 22 teachers, 98 students, and nine principals in Swedish upper secondary schools. Subject matter curricula in civics have also been analysed. The first empirical chapter deals with discourses that can be linked to the understanding of the nature of civics as a subject in upper secondary school. The second empirical chapter highlights discourses of teaching in civics. In the third empirical chapter, civics as a democracy subject is discussed, with a starting point in the typology of “the good citizen” by Westheimer and Kahne. The empirical findings and analyses indicate several different discourses. Within discourses of the subject of civics, the subject is constructed as a subject of democracy, as a subject of economy, as a subject of analysis, and as a functional subject. Regarding teaching in the subject of civics, the emerging teaching discourses in the subject are as arenas for individual positioning, socialization, student-active learning, and teacher-led teaching. For the students in university preparatory programs, analytical skills are emphasized in the teaching of civics. In vocational programs, the teaching has an emphasis on personal responsibility. However, students in both vocational and university preparatory programs are not expected to engage in society as adults to any great extent. Civics is taught with an emphasis on citizenship education as a matter of shaping personally responsible citizens.