Through space, place, time and relations : A historical comparison of perspective changes in geography textbooks of the 1890s and the 2010s

This essay examines how textbooks in primary geography offer readers to make changes in perspective. As the title suggests, spatial/temporal awareness and understanding of social relations are seen as interconnected aspects of what changes in perspective is about. Two contemporary textbooks used in Swedish primary school are analyzed, as well as one written in 1893 by the Swedish reform educator Anna Whitlock. The analysis is made with tools from multimodal social semiotics and critical linguistics. Understanding didactics on a basis of curriculum theory, distinguishing varied offers of meaning is seen as an important basis for making decisions in didactic practice. The essay offers arguments to support that view. A historical perspective is used to illustrate constructions of school geography in our time. Attention is paid to how the text from the 1890s introduces spatiality by letting the reader relate to the physical world, while spatiality in the texts from the 2010s is framed by social relations. When differences between the contemporary textbooks are described, some specific design choices offering varied reader interactions are suggested being crucial for inclusions/exclusions of experiences and worldviews