Mellan läroplan och läromedel : De nationella minoriteternas representation i historieläromedel för årskurs 7–9 efter Lgr22

The purpose of this study is to examine how Sweden’s national minorities – the Sami, Swedish Finns, Tornedalians, Roma and Jews – are represented in history textbooks for grades 7-9 following the implementation of the national curriculum Lgr22. The study analyses both textbooks and interviews with textbook authors to explore how minority perspectives are portrayed, interpreted, and influenced by curricular changes. The material consists of eight history textbooks from different Swedish publishers and interviews with several of their authors. A mixed-methods approach is applied, combining quantitative content analysis of the frequency of minority representation in text and images with qualitative discourse analysis of how language and structure shape understanding. The results show that while the minorities have not disappeared from textbooks, their representation remains limited and often marginalized. Jewish history receives the most attention, primarily in relation to the Holocaust, whereas the Sami, Roma, Swedish Finns and Tornedalians appear mostly in brief fact boxes or in references to culture and tradition. The interviews indicate that the authors’ choices are strongly influenced by the curriculum, where the topic of national minorities in Lgr22 has been moved to the subject of civics. The study highlights the need for a more integrated and nuanced representation of minorities in history education to support an inclusive understanding of Sweden’s past.