Relevanta perspektiv på kalla kriget : - En studie om elevers meningsskapande kring genus och kalla kriget.

Sammanfattning

This thesis takes its point of departure in the current geopolitical climate, which has become increasinglystrained in recent years due to heightened security concerns and political conflicts, particularly inEurope. At the same time, the Swedish school system continues to uphold its mission of fosteringstudents in a democratic and gender-equal spirit. The aim of this study is to examine how uppersecondary school students perceive and understand the Cold War from gender-historical perspectiveswithin history education.The study was conducted at an upper secondary school in a medium-sized Swedish city and involvedtwo different third-year classes. The material consists of 39 questionnaires completed by studentsregarding the teaching they received about the Cold War. One class received instruction with a strongemphasis on gender perspectives, while the other class only received a brief overview of gender rolesduring the Cold War. Consequently, the study is designed as an intervention study, and the analysis wascarried out using Joan W. Scott´s theory of gender as an analytical category and Jörn Rüsen´s theory ofhistorical consciousness. The discussion, together with previous research, demonstrates that students generally respondedpositively to the inclusion of a gender perspective in history education. However, some students did notunderstand the purpose of this perspective or were not interested in the subject. Among the students whoresponded positively, most stated that it is an important perspective in general, while a smaller numberof students considered it personally important. The students also demonstrated historical consciousnessin the ways they interpreted and understood history. Several students additionally expressed a desire formore focus on “history from below” and more everyday-life examples in order to relate more easily topeople of the past.Furthermore, the findings indicate that students in the class exposed to less gender-focused teachingwere more likely to state that they could relate to the instruction. This was partly due to the unstablepolitical situation currently affecting Europe, and partly because some students had themselvesexperienced war in their home countries. This presents a challenge for today´s teachers to recognize andtake into consideration when planning history education.