Förmågor för ett aktivt medborgarskap

Sammanfattning: This study examines how skills and abilities regarding active citizenship are forwarded through the Swedish upper-secondary level curriculum in general and the syllabus for “samhällskunskap” in particular. For the latter, focus is primarily on the course “samhällskunskap 1b” – an introductory course, usually a year long and mandatory for all pupils on programmes aimed towards further university studies.Through a theoretical lens of German sociologist Jürgen Habermas’ ideas of communicative action, American progressive educational reformer John Dewey’s ideas of skill-focused teaching and the results of present-day political scientists Tiina Ekman, Erik Amnå and Joakim Ekman, educational philosopher Gert Biesta and educational researcher Sten Båth, we assemble a definition of what abilities an active citizen should obtain in a Swedish educational context.The curriculum and syllabus are scrutinized and examined through the aforementioned definition and theories. Previous research is accounted for in length and compared to our findings. The content and outcome of the syllabus is then tested and compared to our definition through a digital survey sent out and answered by 96 Swedish upper-secondary pupils in the Malmö-Lund area. Our findings suggest that a definition of active citizenship abilities and skills is possible to make within the framework as stated in the purpose of curriculum and syllabus, but difficult to put into teaching practice in samhällskunskap 1b, given the nature of the knowledge demands that are to be graded in the said course. The survey indicates pupils with a generally high political and societal self-esteem, a moderate will for civic engagement and a high degree of knowledge, but having to a lesser degree acquired abilities for how to use their knowledge as a foundation for problem-solving in everyday life situations.