Powerful knowledge in social studies subjects: challenges and possibilities

The purpose of this workshop is to investigate the implications of knowledge-based teaching in terms of powerful knowledge in the teacher practice in the Social study subjects of Swedish schools.

Two research questions will be in focus: What knowledge and which abilities in each of these subjects can be considered to be powerful, of specific value, and have the potential to empower students? and How can this knowledge and these abilities be enhanced in educational practice?The workshop will offer a contribution to the scientific knowledge of teaching in the four social study subjects Civics, Geography, History and Religious Education, both regarding each one of them and on an interdisciplinary level.

The contribution is innovative in that it is directed towards an examination of the practical implications of the theoretical framework expressed in terms of powerful knowledge.

Previous research about powerful knowledge has mostly been abstract and theoretical about what should be taught in schools (the curriculum), but the question of how this can be achieved, that is, which approaches can contribute to the students´ acquisition of powerful knowledge, have been much less studied, and not at all in the context of Swedish compulsory school.Our contribution, combining a systematic review of the “what” in Social study subjects with a teacher collaboration exploration of “how”, will offer new, significant perspectives on teaching of powerful knowledge in social study subjects.