Synen på kristendom en analys av läromedel i religionskunskap

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the perception of Christianity in nine textbooks and identify changes in-between them and over time. The content of the textbooks will also be discussed in relation to the steering documents connected to each book. I have chosen to focus on three curriculums, Lgy 70, Lpf 94 and Gy 11. My research questions are: how Christianity is treated in textbooks in religious studies in relation to the perception of Jesus, God and man? What are the differences/similarities across time and learning materials? In what way does the textbooks change with the syllabuses? Text consumption and discursive practices is analyzed with the help of a set of tools that are based on the critical discourse analysis and Fairclough's three-dimensional model. The image of Jesus, if described by a textbook, is also analysed. Three textbooks were chosen from each curricula. In the background, a historical overview of the religious education in Sweden is given, the various curricula and their syllabuses in religious studies are described. These are then used in the further analysis. The final conclusion is that the context of the different textbooks does not differ significantly. Christianity has a special status in the textbooks but also in the steering documents. Jesus is presented both as a human and as devine. Two of the older books does not describe the Trinity, but the concept is implied. The view on mankind is approximately similar in all the textbooks over time. Mankind is seen as an associate of God and is the divine image. The human is not perfect, and because of the free will, we can make mistakes. All textbooks expect one correspond very well to the syllabuses. It is difficult to achieve the goals of the syllabuses by only using the textbooks. Still Christianity has a special status and are given more space in the textbooks compared to the other religions. This is probably because Christianity is a part of our cultural legacy.