Between historical consciousness and historical thinking: Swedish history teacher education in the 2000s

Abstract

For over 100 years, Swedish upper secondary teacher education followed the same pattern: Subject studies at the respective subject departments were followed by studies in educational sciences and didactics at teacher education departments or pedagogical faculties. With a major teacher education reform in 2001 this changed—from then on, subject didactics had to be an integrated part of the subject courses and, consequently, the responsibility of the respective subject departments. History departments thus had to tackle questions not only about the whats of history teaching, but also about the whys and the hows—questions that had rarely been addressed by historians. A survey of curricula from 16 Swedish universities shows that history departments have adjusted to the demands and revised their courses accordingly. There are, however, marked differences as to how studies of history and subject didactics have been integrated, as well as to the breadth and depth of history didactics studies.