The Function of Fiction. Textbooks After the 2011 Swedish Senior High School Reform

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze how work with fiction is organized in six textbooks for senior high schools in Sweden after the 2011 school reform. Research into Swedish teaching materials has been neglected in recent years, and there is a knowledge gap regarding how work with fiction has been affected by the 2011 reform. In this study, quantitative and qualitative methods are used and Bernstein’s theories relating to horizontal and vertical discourse are applied to the empirical material. The results show that work with fiction in textbooks has been marginalized, particularly work with fiction written by women. The study also shows that students enrolled in vocational programs have access to different knowledge than students enrolled in university preparatory programs. This is remarkable, since the learning objectives in Svenska 1-the common curriculum for vocational and university preparatory programs-are the same. This means that core values of equal education were eliminated after the reform, and the knowledge gap between different groups of students is likely to increase.