Rom byggdes inte på en dag : En studie av historieämnets förändring och utveckling med fokus på Antiken

Sammanfattning: This essay will investigate how the History subject has changed and developped in Sweden. For those who study the way subjects and the school itself change over time it becomes quite clear that they have gone through an enormous change. However this essay will focus on how the History subject, and mainly the teaching of the Antique, in particular, has changed. In order to find out how it has changed several things will be taken into account. First of all there will be interviews and conversaisions with several teacher and try to find out how it has changed, according to their experiences and belives. One other important thing to investigate is how the curricula have changed during the second have of the 20:th century. Another thing of great importance is to try to find out how the textbooks have changed. Have there been any signigant changes in the way the curricula and textbooks emphasize the Antique and old history in general? What this research discovered was that most teachers belived that there is more foucs today on modern history than before. They believe that the Antique has been downplayed in modern curricula and that that is a shame, since an understanding of the Antique is necessary for the students. However that is not in line with what the curricula emphasize. This study shows that there has always been more focus on the modern history than on old history. One reason for the teachers’ misconception about the change is perhaps that. the textbooks have always been writing quite a bit about the Antique, in comparison to other old cultures, such as the Mesopotamian or the Egyptian. That proves that the Antique is more relevant to historians, researchers and teachers than it is for those who design the curricula and the politicians in charge. What has actually been downplayed is the Eurocentric approach to history and that change occurred in the 1970’s. That change took place because of a political shift that also reflected in the school and the subjects. It became more relevant to be critical of the nation state and the European heritage. Since the Antique is a major part of the Western heritage it became more important to approach the Antique, and history in general, with a critical approach.