Between Democratic Ideals and Local Conditions: Elementary School Teachers’ Narratives of Progressive Teaching in Sweden in the 1940s

Abstract

Teachers' implementation of and attitudes to school reforms and overriding pedagogical ideals have long been a topic of debate and research. In this article, we centre on teachers' descriptions of how progressive teaching was conducted as well as on the teachers' reasons for implementing such teaching in the 1940s. This study is based on written material consisting of 360 elementary school teachers' accounts of their teaching collected in 1946. The material was collected by a government investigation of how progressive teaching was conducted in Sweden. The accounts offer detailed descriptions of how pupils were activated and how elementary teachers at the time could use the community as a teaching resource. The article is inspired by a prosopography approach, in which the basic assumption is that it is possible to extend knowledge of social processes and societal development by studying the group profile of members of various institutions such as political or professional organisations. The analysis is based on John Dewey's and Larry Cuban's perspectives on progressivism. We found that, according to teaching the theme of pupils participation was frequently reported in 59% of the accounts, while student interaction (35%) and extended classroom (16%) were less reported. The teachers motivated their teaching on the basis of general ideals, as democracy. Also important were practical circumstances such as available teaching resources as well as physiological aspects as student's interest and development.

Teaching through objects and collections: The case of Strängnäs Secondary Grammar School and school museum 1830-1960

“…Our approach may broaden our understanding of how a modern school system emerged and how schools used and developed various teaching and learning strategies – including the use of objects and collections in class. By focusing on how teaching was conducted historically, it also contributes to opening up “the black box of schooling” (Samuelsson et al, 2022; Braster et al, 2011) by exploring how educational ideas, curricula, and syllabi were transformed into action.…”

Undervisningspraktiker i rörelse

“…När den historiska utvecklingen av den svenska skolan beskrivs brukar en tydlig brytpunkt framhållas -tiden för skolutredningarna på 1940-talet och de stora skolreformernas implementering under 1950-och 1960-talen (se exempelvis Marklund 1980-1990, Englund 1986, Richardsson 1983, 2004, Hartman, Lundgren & Hartman 2004, Karlsson 1998, Edgren 2019. Betoningen på grundskolans införande som en av de viktigaste vändpunkterna under 1900-talet tenderar emellertid att lägga förståelsen för de lite längre utvecklingslinjerna i skugga samtidigt som utvecklingen i hög grad kan framstå som ett resultat av statliga direktiv och inflytanden från enskilda reformpedagoger (Karlsson 1998, Westberg 2017, s 11f, Samuelsson 2021, Samuelsson et al 2022, Melin 2022.…”

“…Lärarna i vår undersökning gav på flera olika sätt uttryck för uppfattningar som kan beskrivas som progressiva, i vart fall om man i detta begrepp innefattar ett intresse för elevaktiva arbetssätt och en vilja att låta eleverna göra upptäckter på egen hand. Ett annat inslag som kan etiketteras som progressivt är lärarnas intresse för individualisering (Samuelsson et al 2021, Samuelsson 2021, Samuelsson et al 2022, jfr Melin 2022. Samtidigt är det tydligt att detta intresse, i vart fall inte i redogörelserna till Skolkommissionen, knöts till någon av de aktivitetspedagogiska pionjärerna -exempelvis Elsa Köhler -eller till någon annan teoretiskt informerad litteratur som fanns tillgänglig i tiden.…”