Archives

• Nordidactica 2024:1

  Vol. 14 No. 2024:1 (2024)

  Welcome to the newest issue of Nordidactica, in which we launch the first quarter of 2024 with the Nordidactica mission firmly in sight: to provide a platform for scientific discussion within geography, history, social studies and religious education. It is especially illuminating to see how these four subjects share similar perspectives and theoretical approaches, yet also differ from each other in enlightening respects. We invite our readers to find inspiration from this platform, where research on these four subjects is published side by side. Which theories, findings or questions could we usefully apply across subjects?

  In the current issue, Pia Mikander, Harriet Zilliacus, Lili-Ann Wolff and Arto Kallioniemi analyse the discourses on non-human animals in worldview education (religious education and its secular counterpart) textbooks. Their results show that non-human animals are constructed as ‘others’ and caring for them is often based on utility. 

  Cathrine Sjölund Åhsberg explores middle school students’ views on historical significance. Based on focus group interviews prompted by a picture selection task, Sjölund Åhsberg suggests adding ethical and affective dimensions to previous frameworks of historical significance. Historical significance is very close to historical consciousness. In Jimmy Engren’s contribution, historical consciousness refers to diverse ways of interpreting history and seeing its significance for the present. He uses letters written by young people to Ilona Enqvist, a former concentration camp prisoner who in the 1990s visited Swedish schools as a living witness of the Holocaust. Encounters with real people with experiences relevant to educational goals are also under focus in Gunnfrid Ljones Øierud’s and Richard Aas’s article on teacher and faith representative perspectives on excursions to religious communities in the context of religious education. 

  The affective dimension of history and religion addressed above relates to attitudes. Kjetil Børhaug and Mona Langø examined social studies teachers’ self-reported assessment of knowledge, skills and attitudes, but found that attitudes or values were hardly ever mentioned. They designed an extensive categorization of knowledge, skills and attitudes in social studies education, and even identified new skills mentioned by teachers, especially reflective skills. The practices of teachers are approached by Ådne Meling from the perspective of social studies teacher education. Based on interviews with social studies student teachers, Meling questions the dichotomy between theory and practice. The student teachers expressed a need for an instrumentalist theory to point out the relevance of content knowledge and to help them design lessons on social studies topics. 

  Finally, the research group of Malin Tväråna, Ann-Sofie Jägerskog, Mattias Björklund, Sara Carlberg, Patrik Gottfridsson, Therese Juthberg, Robert Kenndal, Bodil Kåks, Marie Losciale, Per Sahlström and Max Strandberg analysed students’ discussions on visual models of society. They conclude that the key stages to proper understanding of a model are seeing it as a whole rather than as many parts, viewing the relations between the units of the model as reciprocal.

  We hope you enjoy the current issue and find support and new ideas for your own research!

   

   

   

• Nordidactica 2023:4

  Vol. 13 No. 2023:4 (2023)

  This issue presents seven fresh studies on the didactics of social science subjects.

  In the first article Jonas Henau Teglbjærg focuses on classroom discussions in Danish social science lessons.

  The second article by Tanja Kohvakka seeks to examine how history textbooks have portrayed minorities in Finland and the nation’s colonial past.

  The third article by Sebastian Tjelle Jarmer focuses on the themes of democracy and citizenship education.

  In the fourth article Simon Simchai Hansen and Knut Aukland report a design-based intervention in moral education that aimed to enhance 11-13 year old Norwegian students’ ethical competence.

  The fifth article focuses on a similar theme, ethics, although with a completely different approach. In the article, Jon Magne Vestøl reports a review study of articles from the Journal of Moral Education.

  The sixth article by Christina Ruth and Tomas Hanell offers insight on matriculation examinations in Finland in Geography.

  The seventh article by Katarina Kärnebro concludes the issue. She presents results from a discourse analysis of teachers’ talk about their teaching in relation to children’s existential questions.

  We would like to express our gratitude here especially to the authors and reviewers who have been key in keeping the journal alive, interesting and of excellent quality in 2023.

   

  Martin Ubani & Anuleena Kimanen

• Nordidactica 2023:3

  Vol. 13 No. 2023:3 (2023)

  This is the third issue of Nordidactica - Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education - in 2023 (vol 13), and our first issue as its Editors.

  The present volume consists of seven articles and one debate article. The first two articles of the issue spring from recent curriculum reforms. In the first article, Nina Mård focuses on primary school teachers’ perceptions of their subject in basic education grades 4-6 in Finland. In the second article Thomas Widholm also focuses on teachers. The article stems from changes in the Swedish curriculum in 2011, where the topic ’questions about creation and evolution’ was included as an example but not as a mandatory topic in religious education.

  The next four articles provide insights into subject education in the intersection of democracy education, critical thinking and civic education. In the third article Harald Borgebund and Kjetil Børhaug from Norway combine democracy education with experiential learning. The fourth article by Klas Andersson and Kristoffer Larsson focuses on critical thinking social studies subjects in Sweden. The fifth article by Henri Satokangas and Pia Mikander focuses on the ways in which the reader is positioned in the role of an active citizen in social studies textbooks in Finnish basic education. In the sixth article Evy Jøsok and Anders Granås Kjøstvedt focus on political self-efficacy and controversial issues in social studies education in the Norwegian context.

  In the seventh article Anders Åkerlund presents a pilot study of student-supervisor interaction and the articulation of practical or silent knowledge in history education in Sweden. This issue ends with Harald Endre Tafjords debate article which discusses the prospects of using historical novels in history teaching in Norwegian upper secondary schools.

  As the final words of this editorial, we would like to express our gratitude to the previous editors of the past two years, Heidi Eskelund Knudsen and Anders Stig Christensen: Tusind Tak!

  Martin Ubani & Anuleena Kimanen

• Nordidactica 2023:2

  Vol. 13 No. 2023:2 (2023)

  Nordidactica 2023:2 Critical thinking in Nordic Social Studies

  This thematical issue holds six articles with empirical material from different levels of education in Norway and Sweden. Teaching in and about civics, history, geography and sustainability are analysed and discussed. A coomon theme in the articles is perspective taking.

• Nordidactica 2023:1 Jubileum

  Vol. 13 No. 2023:1 Jubileum (2023)

  Jubileum - fokus på ämnesutveckling i samhällsvetenskap, samhällskunskap och historia i Norden

  Nordicatica fyller 12 år och det manifesteras med föreliggande jubileumsnummer! Efter 37 nummer och 218  artiklar summerar vi vår verksamhet med ett fullmatat nummer. I den inledande editorial-texten sammanfattas tidskriftens tema och verksamhet sedan starten 2011.  I  Heidi Eskelund Knudsens & Harry Haues artikel Historieundervisning i Danmark – epokale tendenser, kontinuitet og forandring i lærebøger og læremidler analyseras och diskuteras historieundervisningens utveckling i Danmark framförallt via läromedel av olika slag. Sedan följer kommentarer av Sirkka Ahonen,  Niklas Ammert & Fredrik Alvén som ger ett finskt och svenskt perspektiv på den danska utvecklingen. I artikeln Samfundsfag i Danmark - et overblik behandlar Torben Spanget Christensen  karaktären på samfundsfaget i Danmark under de senaste 100 åren. Politiska beslut, utvärderingar och läromedel utgör underlag för artikeln. Kommentarer från Tom Gullberg, Kjetil Børhaug, Anna Larsson & Kristina Ledman, ger ett nordiskt perspektiv på ämnet.  Slutligen redogör Johan Samuelsson för hur det samhällsvetenskapliga perspektivet fick ett eget gymnasieprogram i artikeln Skolan och samhällsvetenskapen - Framväxt och etablering av en svensk gymnasial samhällsvetarutbildning 1922-1970. Samuelsson tittar framförallt på de debatter och utredningar som lade grunden till det reformerade linjesystemet med ett samhällsvetenskapligt program.  Jan Löfström pekar på likheter och skillnader mellan Sverige och Finland gällande samhällsvetenskap och skola i sin kommentar.  Det är alltså ett jubileumsnummer med representation från hela Norden och flera ämnen; helt i linje med tidskriftens ambition!

• Nordidactica 2022:4

  Vol. 12 No. 2022:4 (2022)

  Nordidactica 2022:4 has seven articles. Writers from Norway, Finland and Sweden writes about both contens and methods. Some articles are subject specific and some are more thematic regarding for example social justice and citizenship.

  This is also the last issue with Heidi Eskelund Knudsen and Anders Stig Christensen as editors. The next two years will have Anuleena Kimanen from University of Turku and Martin Ubangi from University of Eastern Finland as editors.

• Nordidactica 2022:3

  Vol. 12 No. 2022:3 (2022)

  Nordidactica 2022:3 holds nine articles. The articles and the writers represents all subjects in Noridactica's scope and all Nordic countries. The presented research aims to develop the subject didactics, in both theoretical and empirical ways. Severeal of the articles uses concepts from other but useful subjects which creates new thoughts in their own subjects. 

• Nordidactica 2022:2

  Vol. 12 No. 2022:2 (2022)

  Teaching and learning ethics in the Humanities and Social Science school subjects

  In some of the Nordic countries, there is a school subject where discussions on ethical questions are central in the curriculum. For example, the subject that in Finnish schools since the 1980’s is the alternative to the non-confessional subject Religion is named ‘Secular Ethics’. Obviously, school subjects like ‘kristendomskundskab’ in Denmark, ‘religionskunskap’ in Sweden, and ‘religion og livssynsfag’ in Norway are subjects where ethical questions are as if by definition in the curriculum. The same applies also to the subject Philosophy. However, educational aims connected with development of the students’ moral judgment and processing of ethical issues can be present also in school subjects such as History, Biology, Economics, and Drama.

  For this issue of Nordidactica, contributions were invited that focus on teaching and learning ethics in the school subjects History, Social Studies, Religious Education, Geography and Philosophy, and in cross-disciplinary settings that these subjects are part of. The contributions could be theoretical, empirical, or methodological. The invitation resulted in the following five articles that we are delighted to present.

  Carla Nielsen's article, “Preparatory remarks concerning an 'existence didactics' in ethics education in the subject Christianity (Kristendomskundskab) in the Danish primary and lower secondary school”, deals with the existential perspective of the Christianity curriculum in Denmark. In their article, “Students’ performance in ethics assignments in the Finnish Matriculation Examination 2017–2021”, Mika Perälä and Eero Salmenkivi discuss Finnish students’ knowledge in metaethics and normative ethics. The article “Ethics as intended, actualized and evaluated content in the subject Christianity/Religion in teacher education”, by Hanne Fie Rasmussen, Julie Nørgaard and Pernille Julie Östergaard Nielsen, discusses ethics as incorporated in other subjects in the Danish teacher education programme. In her article Maren Lytje discusses what knowledge content to use in order to support democratic education in History teaching. The paper “Fiction-based ethics education in Swedish compulsory school – reflections on a research project”, by Karin Sporre, Christina Osbeck, Annika Lilja, David Lifmark, Olof Franck and Anna Lyngfelt, takes its starting point in a research project on fiction-based ethics education. 

• Nordidactica 2022:1

  Vol. 12 No. 2022:1 (2022)

  Nordidactica 2022:1 holds four articles. Even though this is not  theme issue, all four articles are about Religious Education. The articles research focus are curriculum issues in Denmark and Sweden now and historically, how the subject is understood and the relationship betwwen the subject in school and university. The articles shows subject didactics as interested in the dynamic dimensions of it's subjects as well as it's relationship to something lasting over time.

• Nordidactica 2021:3

  Vol. 11 No. 2021:3 (2021)

  The Nordidactica 2021:3 issue has a wide range: a discussion about the new civics curicullum in Norway, Swedish history teachers view about knowledge, how christianity is presented in school books, the concept of religion in different Swedish curicullums and a comment regarding the revised curicullum in Swedish religious education.

  Together the articles in this issue shows that the school subjects in social science education together with the society itself is in a ongoing development, and that qualitative discussions about these changes are needed.

• Nordidactica 2021:2

  Vol. 11 No. 2021:2 (2021)

  Nordidactica 2021:2 has four scientific peer reviewed articles. Three of the articles contains studies of civics teaching in Sweden, but with a variety of methods and focus. The role of emotions, pupils understanding of events and reports concerning news and the similarities and differences in teaching the subject of civics are the main focuses in the respective article. The issue also holds an article about oral examination in history and english in Denmark.

• Nordidactica 2021:1

  Vol. 11 No. 2021:1 (2021)

  The first Nordidactica Issue of 2021 holds seven articles - five scientific peer reviewed and to discussions. This is the first issue with the two new editors from UCL Odense in Denmark. 

  The articles have several perspectives on subject didactics in civics, history and religious education: contorversial issues in classrooms, attitudes towards equality among youths, the meaning of structured writing in history, gaming as a didactic tool and development of teaching processes in religious education.

• Nordidactica 2020:4

  Vol. 10 No. 2020:4 (2020)

  Nordidactica 2020:4 contains six articles regarding both subject specific didactisc issues and more general social science didactics. Among the subject specific articles we are happy to see that two of them focuses on geography didactics.

  This issue also introduces debate as a theme for articles in Nordidactica with two texts that adresses a former article by Lindstrom.

• Nordidactica 2020:3

  Vol. 10 No. 2020:3 (2020)

  This issue, Nordidactica 2020:3, contains six articles with big range of different subjects and different grade of theoretical level. The writers represent four of the Nordic countries and all but one of the articles are written in a Nordic language. Two issues each year are supposed to be open without any spcific themes, and we are happy to see proof of the many perspectives and themes that are subject for research in Social Science Education in the Nordic countries. The fact that 2020 is the 10:th year of Nordiactica (look out for jubilee issue and jubilee articles in 2021) makes time for reflection and the articles in this issue shows that Nordidactia has become an important arena for Social Science subject didactics on a Nordic cooperative level.

• Nordidactica 2020:2

  Vol. 10 No. 2020:2 (2020)

  Nordidactica 2020:2 contains seven papers written by researchers from Norway and Sweden. Two papers are directly related to the special theme for this issue, namely the double mission for social studies that includes both democratic socialisation and critical scientific views. Five articles are more traditional subject didactics with two of them looking att the early years in swedisch schools.

• Nordidactica 2020:1

  Vol. 10 No. 2020:1 (2020)

  This issue contains eight research papers written by 14 researchers at eight different universities in Sweden, Noway and Finland. The breadth of subjects in wide, and this time the emphasis is on civics. This issue contains both theory-driven papers at the intersection of theory of science and subject didactics, as well as studies that mainly focus  on concret activities of teaching and learning. This kind of breadth is appreciated by a scientific journal within our disciplines.

• Nordidactica 2019:4

  Vol. 9 No. 2019:4 (2019)

  The fourth issue of Nordidactica 2019 is a special issue focusing on core elements and Big Ideas. It contains six contributions: four scientific articles and two position papers. All the articles – with one Norwegian exemption - are written in English – hence this English version of the Editorial. This can be explained by the fact that the English texts are based on contributions presented during the NCRE (Nordic Conference of Religious Education) 2019 where the theme was "Core elements and big ideas for religious education ». The conference was organized by NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) 10-14. June 2019. The scientific articles are written by a total of six authors; four women and two men working at institutions in Denmark, England and Norway. The two position papers are written by a woman and a man, both of whom connected to institutions in England.

• Nordidactica 2019:3

  Vol. 9 No. 2019:3 (2019)

  This special issue focuses on comparative subject didactics. Within the field of interest of Nordidactica - subject didactic studies in geography, history, religious education, civics, and political science in the Nordic countries - research is to a high extent framed by the separate subjects. Studies that explicitly investigate two or more subjects are rare. In order to encourage subject compaison, the redactional council of Nordidactica arranged a symposium at the NOFA Conference in 2019. A call for papers with a comparative foucus was also issued on Nordidactica's website. The current issue is the result of that call for papers. After the usual peer review, eight articles that put comparison at the centre are published here.

• Nordidactica 2019:2

  Vol. 9 No. 2019:2 (2019)

   The second issue of Nordidactica 2019 contains  nine peer-reviewed articles and a conference report. In all, 13 different authors contribute to these articles. Of these, eight are female and five are male. The authors belong to institutions in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

• Nordidactica 2019:1

  Vol. 9 No. 2019:1 (2019)

  In the first issue of Nordidcatica for 2019, we present seven articles and one book review. This issue is the first to be published since the editorial was transferred to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. A majority of the articles - 5 out of 7 - are written by Swedish authors, and a majority are written in English - 4 out of 7. Since the aims of Nordidactica includes the publication of articles written in the Nordic languages, we as new editors call for more contributions written in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, even though we certainly will accept contributions in English. To be a Nordic forum for publication of research regarding the didactics of the social studies subjects is the main aim of the journal.    

• Nordidactica 2018:4

  Vol. 8 No. 2018:4 (2018)

  This special issue of Nordidactica, the last for 2018, has the theme Sustainability in social science education and research: challenges and possibilities. Questions of sustainability are frequently  present in public debates, and remain relevant not least through dramtic reports of climate change that are published and made known throughout the world. However, challenges regarding sustainability transcend environmental and climate studies and can be encountered in economic, social, and cultural contexts. The school subjects of geography, history, religious education and civics make up disciplinary areans where questions of knowledge and values are tackled together, which is essential to a sustainability perspective. This holds for questions regarding the climate and the environment, but also for questions about social justice, freedom and human rights, both contemporary and historically.

   

• Nordidactica 2018:3

  Vol. 8 No. 2018:3 (2018)

  This issue of Nordidactica contains four articles that all investigate interesting and important challenges in the social studies subjects. Their respective focuses are on issues that call for an investigation of how the challenges can be analysed and discussed critically and constructively, aiming to develop possible ways forward.

• Nordidactica 2018:2

  Vol. 8 No. 2018:2 (2018)

  Last issue of Nordidactic focused on history education, containing three articles on various topics. This issue mainly emphasises religious education, with two articles investigating differing questions. Additionally, the issue contains an article focusing on history education. The aim of the journal to be a forum for research on the different social studies subjects is thus reflected in variation both between and within different issues.

• Nordidactica 2018:1

  Vol. 8 No. 2018:1 (2018)

  After a few issues with only a few history didatcic articles we improve this by having three such articles in 2018:1. Depending on our interset and profession we read the articles in different ways. The traditional historian read the articles in a general way and with different references than the history didactic. And this is what makes Nordidactica such an interesting meeting point for social studies didactics. The different subject fields of didactics can influence each other. We can see that we have many things in common even if they turn out in different ways. This issue encourages subject didactic cooperation and continous reading beyond our own narrow field which can improve the overall development of knowledge in the general field of didactics.

• Nordidactica 2017:4

  Vol. 7 No. 2017:4 (2017)

  This issue of Nordidactica contains four articles. The first two articles have a focus towards the subject of "samhällskunskap" (civics/social studies) and the challenges it faces in Sweden. The third one presents a study of first time voters in the national election in Norway 2013 and what these young voters claimed to be the main factors behind their choice. The fourth and final article deals with the future of Religious Education in the finnish school system.