Formeringen av en ämneskanon? : Exemplet: Skolämnet sociologi

Sammanfattning: The purpose of the present essay is to clarify whether or not there is a core/canon in the subject of sociology and how the formation of this canon in such cases becomes a reality? Furthermore the intention is to elucidate which premises that control the subject selection at different levels of curriculum interpretation – textbook authors and sociology teachers – and how these actors legitimize their respectively selection. The theoretical basis is in large extent inspired by Michel Foucault’s view of discourses which is combined with John I. Goodlad’s concepts formal and operational curriculum. To fulfill the abovementioned purpose and answer the questions of this essay I have interviewed two authors who each individually have written a textbook in sociology and five teachers of sociology.The results indicate that the formal curriculum combined with the discourses of the sociological discipline in the form of educational content and design contributes to form what is considered to be an adequate textbook content in the subject of sociology and this selection then forms the primary basis for the sociology teachers’ operational curriculum.