Powerful knowledge, transformations and the need for empirical studies across school subjects'. London Review of Education, 16 (3): 428-444. AbstractIn this article, we explore the concept of 'powerful knowledge' which, from a curriculum studies perspective, refers to the aspects of content knowledge towards which teaching should be oriented. We then consider how the concept of 'powerful knowledge' can be developed and operationalized as a research framework within studies in subject-specific didactics across the curriculum by relating it to the analytical concept of 'transformation'. Transformation is perceived in this case as an integrative process in which content knowledge is transformed into knowledge that is taught and learned through various transformation processes both outside and within the educational system. We argue that powerful knowledge cannot be identified based on the discipline alone, but needs to consider transformation processes and be empirically explored. A variety of theories and frameworks developed within the European research tradition of didactics are described as ways to study transformation processes related to powerful knowledge at different institutional levels as well as between different subjects and disciplines. A comparative research framework related to subject-specific education is proposed around three research questions.Powerful knowledge, transformations and the need for empirical studies across school subjects 429London Review of Education 16 (3) 2018
The aim of this article is to analyse adolescents' views of Swedish history. A small number of adults were also included in the study. The analysis shows that, regardless of the age of the informants, Sweden is portrayed as an exception from the world through its legacy of a long peace (in spite of a war-torn distant history) and through its enjoyment of progress, democracy and prosperity. We interpret this as a result of a history culture in which schools as well as other institutions produce a common, conflict-free history, which may be challenged in an emerging neonationalist era.
I denna artikel undersöks historieundervisning för yngre barn, årskurserna 4-6, i den svenska grundskolan. Vad är det för historieämne som framträder och hur kan relationen mellan delarna i en historisk praktik förstås? Historie-undervisningen för dessa delar av grundskolan har i mindre utsträckning uppmärksammats av den nordiska historiedidaktiska forskningen. Det huvud-sakliga empiriska underlaget utgörs här av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem lärare. Utgångspunkten för analysen blir således lärarnas tal om under-visningen. Analysen genomförs med hjälp av en disciplinärt förankrad historie¬didaktisk analysram. Den består av tre delar: 1. Historiska narrativ, 2. Strukturerande idéer och begrepp samt 3. Strategiska praktiker. Under-sökningen visar att undervisningen i stor utsträckning orienterar kring ett nationellt inriktat historiskt narrativ. Mindre fokus hamnar på de två övriga delarna, strukturerande idéer och begrepp samt strategiska praktiker. Och när väl dessa delar behandlas görs det inte i relation till det historiska narrativet. Tidigare forskning har visat att historieundervisningens tyngdpunkt i de nordiska länderna, men också internationellt, tenderar att ligga på historiska narrativ. Under senare år har också framkommit att det historiska narrativet för till exempel den svenska gymnasieskolan innehåller framträdande inter-nationella perspektiv. Så är alltså inte fallet för årskurserna 4-6, där narrativet fortfarande har nationens födelse och utveckling som en central tematik. Antyder det att man kan tala om två lite olika historieämnen i ungdomsskolan?
Previous subject-specific education research has shown that education in social studies subjects is dominated by strong subject traditions, while current social issues are seldom addressed and the connection to academic disciplines is weak. Putting this result into context, we discuss how the debate initiated by Michael Young about 'powerful knowledge' as a curriculum principle for the selection of school knowledge gives important theoretical insights. However, we argue that these insights can be developed further by linking them to continental Didaktik theory, in particular to Wolfgang Klafki's models of 'categorical Bildung ' and 'critical-constructive didactics' and Ingrid Carlgren's perspective on teaching as different knowledge practices. These ideas make clear the link between the selection of knowledge at curriculum level and the selection and transformation of knowledge at classroom level. Based on this theoretical argument, we discuss how researchers and teachers can collaborate around the selection and transformation of knowledge in a school setting, thereby contributing to a knowledge reservoir for the teaching profession. We conclude with a discussion of an ongoing case study taking place in an upper primary school in Sweden, which exemplifies our theoretical argumentation, showing how a 'time-geographical' perspective can inform teaching about migration as a phenomenon and current social issue.
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