Ämnesövergripande undervisning och betyg i årskurs 4-6 i svensk grundskola i SO- och NO- ämnena

Abstract

Sweden introduced a new national curriculum (Lgr11) for the compulsory school in 2011. It included new syllabi for the school subjects and a grading system now starting from school year 6. Social studies (civics, geography, history and religious studies) and natural sciences (biology, chemistry and physics) received syllabus with knowledge requirements for each respective subject. Despite the sectioning, Lgr11 encourages subject-integrated teaching and, when teaching has mainly been subject-integrated, summarised grades in both social studies and natural sciences are possible in school year 6. The purpose of this study is to investigate, analyse and compare to which extent teaching in school year 4-6 is subject-integrated and whether the grades in school year 6 are summarised in social studies as well as natural sciences. In the autumn of 2017, principals from 113 schools comprehending school years 4-6, completed a questionnaire. The results, also analysed in relation to Bernsteins theoretical model, show that teaching in each individual subject, as well as alternation between subject-integrated teaching and teaching in the individual subjects is most common. Fully subject-integrated teaching in social studies and nature sciences respectively is the least common practise. Three quarters of the schools give grades in the individual subjects. In schools with fully subject- integrated teaching, it is more common with summarised grades than grades in the individual subjects. However, this is more common in social studies than in the natural sciences. Almost all of the schools that teach in the individual subjects also give grades in the individual subjects.