Vidgade kunskapsklyftor? Fiktionernas funktioner i läromedel efter gymnasiereformen 2011

In this article teaching aids for vocational and college preparatory programs produced after the (2011) Swedish school reform are studied. The purpose is to examine how fictions are used in six different new textbooks, how students are expected to work with fictions and how knowledge about fictions is designed and organised. The analyses use Basil Bernstein’s theories relating to horizontal and vertical forms of knowledge. The study shows that fictions such as literature, drama, film and other media, in the selected textbooks, are few and receive little space, where summaries and short extracts are common. The study also shows that students attending vocational programs have access to a different knowledge of fictions than those attending pre-university programs, despite knowledge objectives being the same in Svenska 1. In textbooks for vocational programs, common sense knowledge is focused, where the students are expected to compare the fictions with their own life and situation. Knowledge about style, form and historical context are marginalised in these textbooks. Knowledge about fictions in teaching aids for college preparatory programs, on the other hand, is organised in a vertical discourse, where style, form and historical context are in focus and the students are expected to work with fictions in a critical and analytical way. This is remarkable, since the learning objectives are the same. This means that central values of equal education are eliminated after the reform, and the knowledge gap between different groups of students likely is to increase.Utbildning och lärande. Tidskrift