Samhällskunskapens ämneskod: kampen om innehåll och legitimitet

Education in Swedish upper secondary school appears to be divided between different economic, political and social imperatives. The content and purpose of education also seemingly changes in accordance with the historical context. However, from 1918/1919, the Swedish curriculum is characterized as civic in its composition because of a recognition of interdependence between citizens. A hundred years on, the following study examines whether or not this is the case, specifically for the subject of civic education. The aim of this study can therefore be described as dependent on the completion of two separate objectives. Firstly, on an empirical survey that seeks to investigate what presently constitute the different aspects of the content and purpose of civic education within Swedish upper secondary school. This is done by using a curriculum theoretical textual analysis of the so called extended curriculum, involving different texts that represent the meaning of civic education. Secondly, on developing a new theoretical concept in the form of a subject code for civic education, which involves the content and purpose of the subject, as represented in the examined extended curriculum. The concept can be used as a curriculum theoretical tool for understanding civic education in the present. The results show that civic education can be described as containing several different characteristics regarding its content and purpose. However, a considerable emphasis seems to be placed on the scientific aspects of the subject and more specifically on the individual development of said aspects. The results also show that certain values bear influence on the content and purpose of civic education. These values however, tend to mainly emphasize individual rights instead of collective equivalents. In summary, this means that the current subject code does not recognize the interdependence between citizens, and therefore cannot be described as civic