Miljöhistorisk undervisning om Potatismannen : En kvalitativ analys av elevers miljöhistoriska medvetande baserad på industrialisering och lokalhistoria

Sammanfattning

This essay examines how upper secondary students express environmental and historical consciousness. The focus is on their reasoning about the consequences of industrialization. The study is based on written assignments and transcribed focus groups from a third-year class. It analyzes how local historical examples connected to Alingsås and Jonas Alströmer can facilitate connections between environmental awareness and historical thinking. The findings reveal that students' reasoning operates at several levels of complexity. This ranges from descriptive observations to more integrated reasoning. At the higher levels, views of nature, economic growth, and long-term consequences are interconnected. Time-connections between past, present, and future emerge across three levels. These range from simple statements to more analytical and reflective reasoning. At the most advanced level, historical knowledge is used to take a position on contemporary issues. The local example of Alingsås serves as a concrete reference point. It enables movement between micro- and macro-level perspectives. The study concludes that combining environmental history and local history creates meaningful conditions for developing students' consciousness within ordinary classroom teaching.