History in the Service of Mankind International Guidelines and History Education in Upper Secondary Schools in Sweden, 1927–2002 Thomas Nygren Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies Umeå University, Sweden, 2011 History in the Service of Mankind International Guidelines and History Education in Upper Secondary Schools in Sweden, 1927–2002 Thomas Nygren Doctoral Dissertation Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies Umeå University Umeå 2011 Umeå Studies in History and Education 5 ISBN: 978-91-7459-185-9 Layout: Gabriella Dekombis Digital version availiable at: http://umu.diva-portal.org/ Printed by: Print & media, Umeå University Umeå, Sweden 2011 Abstract In this study the guidelines of the League of Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe are investigated in relation to Swedish national curricula, teachers‘ percep- tions of and students‘ work in history, from 1927 to 2002. Inspired by John I Goodlad‘s notions of curricula and implementation, the formu- lation of history is studied. The ideological curricula are analyzed via the internation- al guidelines directed to Swedish history teaching. The formal curricula are examined in national guidelines and also how history is formulated in final examinations and inspectors‘ reports. The perceived curricula are studied in teachers‘ debates and in- terviews with experienced teachers. The experiential curricula are examined through looking at students‘ choices of topics in final exams, 1,680 titles of students‘ individu- al projects in history and an in-depth analysis of 145 individual projects written be- tween 1969 and 2002. The study shows that the means and goals of history education have been formu- lated in both different and similar ways within and between curricular levels. On all the curricular levels studied the history subject has become more internationally oriented. After World War II national history landed in the background and the world history, favored by UNESCO, became dominant in Sweden from the 1950s onwards. Despite the fact that the Council of Europe‘s Euro-centrism became more prominent in the 1994 syllabus in history, students still preferred world history over European history. International and national guidelines also stressed the value of paying heed to marginalized groups, local cultural heritage and contemporary history. These orientations were also represented in the teachers‘ views of history teaching and in the students‘ work in history. The results of the study suggest that the implementation of the international guidelines were more than a top-down process. During the entire period studied, guidelines have been formulated and transacted, but also reinterpreted and in some cases, ignored. Teachers and students seem to have been co-creators in the transfor- mation of history education. History as a subject, according to the study, encompassed an ever expanding geo- graphical area and more and more perspectives. Not least on the student level, the subject was formulated and dealt with in manifold ways, often oriented towards con- temporary world history. Students‘ history had great similarities with the interna- tional notion of history education in the service of mankind. Students expressed a rejection of war, an understanding of minorities and a wish to safeguard the local cultural heritage. Even if there were exceptions, students‘ history appears to have been influenced by international understanding during a century filled with conflicts. Keywords: history teaching, League of Nations, UNESCO, Council of Europe, curri- culum, implementation, teachers, students i Acknowledgements This research has been funded by the Swedish Research Council, and I am most grateful that I was asked to join the project ―History Beyond Borders‖. After an initial state of disorientation and confusion my part of the project turned out to be an inspiring trip in time and space. The support from the project and its members has had an immense value for my research. Coming to project meetings filled with jokes and highly intelligent comments has been a vital part of my process; positive energy and intellectual input. I was very fortunate to have such outstanding supervisors within the project, namely Daniel Lindmark and Bengt Schüllerqvist. Thank you Daniel and Bengt for your listening, reading, comments and support; you have guided my journey into the past and present in an excellent way. I am also grateful that Umeå University took me in as a remote member of the research environment. The thoughtful comments on my work have been very valuable. A special thanks to Lotta Vikström and Lena Berggren for the final reading of my manuscript; and to Henrik Åström Elmersjö for good cooperation. This study would have been much harder to accomplish without the sup- port from helpful librarians, archivists, administrators and principals; and last, but certainly not least, my fellow teachers. Your help in my search for sources from practice has been vital and your interest in my study has been encouraging. Excellent translations made by Jan Teeland, a friend and col- league in practice, also played a material part in making my research inter- nationally accessible. The possibility to be a part of school and academia turned out to be a good combination. Thank you my dear colleagues and students for all the positive input. As my thesis is coming to an end I am struck by the possibility proposed in a song saying that ―this is not the end it‘s evolution…tell you once again you are a traveller in time‖1. In this travel in time my most valuable co- travelers have been my family; and I sincerely hope to continue this fascinat- ing journey with you Malin and our children Tuva and Freja. Thomas Nygren A beautiful spring day in Gävle 2011 1 The 1988 hit single named ―This is not the end‖ performed by ―The French Revolution‖. ii Abbreviations AFHL: Aktuellt för historieläraren [New Information for History Teachers]. ASP: UNESCO Associated Schools Project. HLFÅ: Historielärarnas förenings årsskrift [Association of History Teachers‘ Annual Report]. ICIC: International Committee on Intellectual Co-operation (Sub- organization of the League of Nations). TfSL: Tidning för Sveriges läroverk [Swedish Upper Secondary Teachers‘ Journal]. UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. SÖ: Skolöverstyrelsen [National School Board] iii Table of Contents Introduction 1 Outline and Structure 3 Limits of the Study 3 Theoretical and Analytical Framework 5 Previous Research 9 Formulating and Implementing International Guidelines 9 Implementation on a National Level 11 Teachers as Makers of Curricula 12 Students’ History 14 The Complexity of Implementation in a Global World 15 Methodology and Data 16 Ideological Curricula as Starting Point 16 First Guidelines and Post World War II Reforms 18 Formal Curricula 18 Perceived Curricula 18 Experiential Curricula 19 Comparison and Transactions 19 Post-Colonial, End of Cold War and New Century Reforms 20 Formal Curricula 20 Perceived Curricula, Debate and Interviews 20 Experiential Curricula 21 Titles of Individual Projects in History 21 Problems of Categorization 22 Content in Individual Projects 23 The Big Picture 25 Results: Thematic Summary of the Papers 26 International Guidelines for History Education 26 League of Nations Guidelines 26 Peace and Understanding 27 Critical Post-Colonial History 28 Unity in Diversity 29 The Neglect of Women’s History 30 Safeguarding Local Heritage 31 Implementation and Orientations 32 The Swedish School Context 33 Implementation in the Formal Curricula 35 Implementation in the Teachers’ Debate 36 Implementation and Teachers’ Strategies 37 Students and Implementation 39 Orientations in Teaching Compared with International Guidelines 40 iv Comprehensive Formal Curricula 41 Orientations in the Perceived Curricula 41 Students’ Orientations in the Experiential Curricula 42 Concluding Discussion 46 Formulations of History Education in International Guidelines 46 The Process of Implementing International Understanding 47 World over European History 49 Contemporary World History 51 Without and Contra International Guidelines 52 Towards Cultural Diversity 52 Shaping a Better World? 54 Further Research 54 Svensk sammanfattning 56 References 58 Primary Sources 58 League of Nations Guidelines 58 UNESCO Guidelines 58 Council of Europe Guidelines 60 Swedish Guidelines and Reports 62 National Archives of Sweden 63 City and Municipal Archives 63 School Archives 64 Individual Projects in History 65 Journals 65 Secondary Sources 65 Appendix 1 1 v Appendicies Paper I: Nygren, T., ―International Reformation of Swedish History Education 1927–1961: The Complexity of Implementing Inter- national Understanding,‖ Journal of World History, 22, no. 2 (2011). Accepted for publication. (Publication agreement 2010 05 08). Paper II: Nygren T., ―UNESCO and Council of Europe Guidelines, and History Education in Sweden, c. 1960–2002,‖ Educational In- quiry, 2, no 1 (2011): 37–60. (Publication agreement 2011 03 28). Paper III: Nygren, T., ―The Contemporary Turn: Debate, Curricula and Swedish Students‘ History,‖ Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society. Submitted. (Publication agreement 2011 04 15). Paper IV: Nygren, T., Erfarna lärares historiedidaktiska insikter och undervisningsstrategier, PhL diss., Umeå: Umeå universitet, 2009. vi Introduction The 20th century was a century heavily stamped by economic, social and cultural developments in an ever more globalized world. The world‘s