ATT RYMMAS INOM SITT FRIUTRYMME : Om samhällskunskapslärares tolkning, anpassning och undervisning

The aim of this study is to explore and analyze experienced teachers understanding, as well as transformation, of the school subject civics. The study has focused on the content, methods, and evaluation of the education taking place in the class room as described by the teachers themselves. Teachers’ autonomy, within the education setting, and their knowledge base is the point of departure when assessing teachers understanding and transformation of the subject. A further aim of the study has also been to make visible, where possible, the role of a personal knowledge base in this transformation process. The findings of this study are based on interviews with teachers teaching civics at upper secondary level in various parts of Sweden. These findings show that it is possible to discern that teachers’ general dictum about content, methods, and evaluation are very much alike. The findings further show that when teachers describe their daily transformation of civics the most visible knowledge is their pedagogical content knowledge, knowledge of learner and their characteristics and knowledge of educational context. One conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that when autonomy and knowledge base is combined, then it is here one find that teachers’ general comprehension about the school subject civics seems to be very similar. However, when it comes to daily transformation within the classroom, then the subject transformation is modified to fit the learners, the school context, and sometimes to the teachers’ well-being. From this one can draw the conclusion that comprehension and transformation need not always go hand-in-hand