In this study, we analyse 126 secondary pupils' responses to national test questions designed to make them think and care about the history of national minorities in Sweden. Using a mixed method approach we find that historical thinking and empathy as caring are tightly interlinked in the responses. In particular, the cognitive act of…

This paper presents a theoretical approach to analysing educational media using the concept of historical consciousness. The concept of historical consciousness is defined and operationalised and its relevance for analysis of historical media is discussed. One aspect of the theoretical framework proposed is then applied in an analysis of a history…

This article explores the different meanings of "Europe" in Swedish history textbooks over the course of the 20th century. Utilising the concept of myth, this textbook analysis looks at how the older history of Europe, and Sweden in relation to Europe, had changed by the end of the century. In particular, it examines the way in which…

In this study, international recommendations for history education issued by UNESCO and the Council of Europe are compared with the construing of history in national guidelines, teachers' perceptions and the results of students' work in history in Sweden. The study shows how history education from the 1960s onwards could be critical and oriented…