Between reality and propaganda- A critical review of objectivity in learning materials for social studies

Objectivity is highly valued in the Swedish education system. This can in part be seen inSkolverkets own words written in the curriculum: “The education should be objective andbalanced. When values are disclosed, it should always be clear who stands for them”(Skolverket, 2022). Due to the controversial nature of social studies it stands to reason that it isa subject where the importance of objectivity should be emphasized. One factor that has shownto play a large role in the formation of the education is the textbook (Bachmann, Kari, & m.fl.2005; Englund B. , 2006; Heikka, 2015). This means that the objectivity in these textbooks iscrucial for an education system that creates self-thinking individuals.The aim for this thesis is therefore to map the political objectivity of commonly usedsocial studies textbooks in relation to the political ideologies liberalism, conservatism, andsocialism. This was done by using a critical content analysis in the form of frame-analyzing.This frame analysis was the combine whit Jörgen Westersåhls (1972) definition of objectivityto systematically analyze the chosen textbooks.The results showed that the studied textbooks were not objective. The main problem tothe objectivity was that the different contents of the textbooks were not neutrally presented,which is an integral part of the objectivity. There was a slight overrepresentation of socialisticframes regarding content such as the states involvement and tax rates and a slightoverrepresentation of liberal frames when contests like the market and trade was discussed.These are mainly social democratic values, and they may be reproduced because the textbooksare written in Sweden, which has a long history of social democratic norms