Medborgarkunskap i fokus : Samhällskunskapsundervisning för nyanlända

Sammanfattning: This thesis focusses on the concept of citizenship in teaching civics to newly arrived immigrant pupils. The aim is to investigate how citizenship is expressed in the subject of civics. My empirical contribution is to show how different dimensions of citizenship appear, but also to aid understanding of the teaching on the basis of the existing contextual situation. Using analytical tools from the field of teaching, the thesis explores the content (what), form (how), and aim (why) of the teaching, as well as its adaptation to different groups of pupils (for whom). Hereby, I provide a methodological contribution, by showing that concepts from the field of teaching may enrich political science.This study analyses the teaching of civics using a theoretical structure based around three dimensions of citizenship: rights, participation, and identity. I have used political ethnography as a method. The empirical data consists of interviews with teachers, classroom observations, education and examination materials, and also regulatory and policy documents. The results show that newly arrived immigrant pupils mostly receive education about citizenship regarding the dimension of rights and views of what constitutes a good citizen. Contextual factors such as school organisation, lack of time, and heterogeneous groups matter greatly for how the subject of civics is taught in practice. The discrepancy between policy and practise shows that the syllabus is unrealistic with regards to the actual situation. The subject of civics may influence pupils’ views of citizenship. Within the limits given, the teachers have created a class that is mostly concerned with knowledge regarding civil, political, and social rights and obligations. The subject, such as it appears in this thesis, is a kind of moral education based on the teachers’ care for the pupils. The teaching appears as an introductory course in citizenship knowledge, and as a part in integrating new citizens into society.