This study focuses on how the European union (EU) is portrayed in six textbooks that are intended for the two mandatory courses (1a1 and 1b) in social science in Swedish upper secondary school. To investigate this, we have used a mixed methods approach with a quantitative part which explores the space given to EU and the location of the space. The qualitative part explores the themes that are brought up about the EU. The textbooks are divided in two groups, three intended for the course 1a1 which are given in vocational programs, and three intended for the course 1b which are given in preparatory programs. The pages about the EU has been located, counted and after that coded through a conventional content analysis. By doing this we can investigate how the EU is portrayed through the themes that is brought up and the location and space given which makes it possible to analyse what content is legitimized and seen as important and by that also compare the textbooks to each other and the ones intended for each course. The result, based on the both quantitative and qualitative investigation, shows that there are differences between the textbooks overall and the textbooks for each track. When it comes to the space given to the EU and the location of the space two out of three textbook pairs show a clear difference in space between the textbook for the 1a1 and the 1b course. The third book pair were almost equivalent when it comes to space given and the location of it. The thematic analysis shows that there are three main themes that are displayed in all the books. The differences consist of what is brought up in these main themes and the amount of information.
2020-01-17