Framställningen av demokrati i ämnet samhällskunskap : En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av fyra läroböcker

Sammanfattning: Textbooks are one of the main resources often used in Swedish primary schools. The aim of this study is to analyse how democracy is presented in four textbooks in the subject civics. In addition, the research project aims to analyse how the content of the textbooks align with thecurriculum content for primary schools in the subject civics for grades 4-6. This study is governed by two research questions which are: In what way is democracy presented in four civics textbooks used in grades 4-6? And To what extent is the content of the textbooks aligned with the curriculum content that concerns democracy in the subject civics for grades 4-6? These questions are explored through a theoretical framework which presents democracy in two perspectives, namely them aximal and the minimalist perspective. To understand how democracy is portrayed in four civics textbooks, a qualitative content analysis model has been used. By using a content analysis, an insight is gained into how democracy aligns with the curriculum content of the subject civics and which democracy perspective is highlighted in each textbook. The first result of this study show that three out of four textbooks present democracy only in accordance with the minimalist approach. However, one textbook not only promotes aspects of democracy linked to the maximalist perspective, but also those connected to the minimalist perspective.The second resultof this study indicates that the analysed textbooks present democracy as outlined in the relevant section of the curriculum for the subject civics.