Civics is a multidisciplinary subject which draws on several disciplines, above all political science, sociology, economics and law. At Karlstad University you can study to be an upper secondary teacher in civics.
The subject itself builds on the idea that the content of these disciplines can be transformed and adapted through the subject civics in such a way that it is made available to you as a future civics teacher. In that capacity you will then support the students’ learning so that they develop the knowledge, competence and skills that modern society demands and needs.
The reason why civics is an academic subject is because the government once decided that a subject called civics should be part of Swedish education. The essence and the challenge of the subject is to identify the specific areas of knowledge that civics should include and to make this available and useful – for you as a trainee teacher in practical placement – and for school students’ participation in society.
Theoretical Depth of the subject
The particular character of civics must be taken into account so that the different disciplinary perspectives of the subject are given room to provide theoretical depth. At the same time our ambition must be to consistently allow proven experience to meet, complement and enrich the content of the course. For this reason the teaching is conducted by teachers with a great deal of experience in education and also by highly qualifies university staff, or both.
Secondary education levels
In subject teacher education the lower and upper secondary trainee teachers study the first 90 ECTS credits together. The upper secondary trainee teachers then study an additional 30 ECTS cr. Trainees for both educational levels are assigned tasks – often connected to the practical placement – to process and solve in relation to their chosen future level of teaching.
Besides the courses clearly focusing on civics, the civics section is responsible for other courses in the area of general teacher education core studies.
Why study civics?
Civics is ranked highly in school and is a so called core subject in upper secondary schools. Studying and eventually teaching civics means representing a strong and dynamic subject, deeply rooted in Swedish education.
Karlstad University and its predecessors have a long tradition of teacher education and are one of the few HIE which in 2011 received the right to award degrees for teaching at all the school levels. As a group the civics staff has broad research expertise and proven experience. The subject cooperates with the Centre for Social Science Education (CSD), which means that staff members work in a prominent and first-rate research environment.
