Att lära statsvetenskap – två ämnesdidaktiska utmaningar

Abstract

Teaching and learning in political science – two didactic challenges In light of a pluralist view of the discipline, this article addresses two didactic chal- lenges in teaching political science. The first challenge stems from the balance between substance and methodology, between specialist knowledge and analyti- cal skills or, put differently, between subject matter and generic competence. The second challenge relates to the intersection between “is” and “ought” in political analysis, between the empirical and the normative. Both issue areas tend to create learning thresholds for students due to their complex nature and to the cognitive dissonance created when student’s perceptions and preunderstandings of political science in these matters clash with the views of the discipline presented by teach- ers. Both issue areas also call attention to the importance of highlighting meth- odological aspects of knowledge production in class. Against this backdrop, the article argues for a process-oriented and problem-based approach to teaching and learning that combines a curious quest for knowledge with methodological aware- ness and that couples holism and concreteness, e.g. by the use of case-methods in teaching and authenticated forms of learning activities and forms of examination.