VAD SKA VI HA HISTORIA TILL? -Om gymnasielärares intentioner med sin undervisning kring kunskapsområdet mellankrigstiden

The purpose of this study is to examine what intentions teachers in history have with their teaching about the Interwar period, approximately the years from 1920 to 1939. This was done with five interviews. With the question; “what can we learn from history?” the study tries to see how historical consciousness is expressed in the teachers intentions. The result shows that the teachers are mostly on the same page of what they think is important to teach. It’s about Germany, and it’s not only about Germany. The teachers intention is to show that not all of the Germans where supporters of the Nazi-party, but also most importantly; that the Nazi-party was given power thru a democratic election. This can be seen as how the teachers want the pupils to cherish the democracy we have today, and not to take it for granted. In the other hand the teachers want to explore the structures and the context where the Nazi-party arose. For example the teachers speak of the development of racial biology that spread all over Europe, and not only in Germany. The given broad perspective can help pupils to understand Germany and what kind of mindset Europe had that made the fascistic movements grow. The conclusion is that historical consciousness is widely represented in the teachers intentions of their teaching of the Interwar-period. If this actually develop historical consciousness or not is another study to make. But the results shows reason to believe that it can be done, and that the Interwar-period is a historical period that can help pupils to understand the meaning of living in a democracy, and to give them a meaningful education to guide them today, and in the future