Medborgarbildning eller högskoleutbildning. En intervjustudie om lärares kunskapssyn på Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet.

Abstract

The curriculum of 2011 for the upper-secondary school decreed that education should be based on scientific research and tried-and-tested experience. It would also be required that upper secondary school students pass an independently scientifically devised diploma project. As the demand for scientific competence thus rises, it is important to explore how teachers view knowledge in science.

The purpose of this study was to study how teachers on the Social Science Programme viewed knowledge in science and reason regarding science teaching and demands upon students to be scientific in the diploma project. The method employed was interviews conducted with six upper secondary school teachers. The analysis was guided by the theoretical concept nested epistemologies to uncover how teachers’ views of science as knowledge may be related to their teaching methods and their views of student learning.

The results were that social science teachers viewed knowledge in science as a civic competence and personal quality, which they teach by role modelling and practicing scientific methods, and which students learn by emotional experience, dialogue, and development of science vernacular. Teachers held a constructivist view of knowledge in science. The results also suggest difficulties in perceiving students’ scientific abilities, and a differentiated ability for students to pass the diploma project due to assessment of scholarly form.