Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Olsson, Torvald Leif

Titel

Population growth, poverty, religion--problems of objectivity in Swedish school textbooks, with special emphasis on their views of India and developing countries

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

1988

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The primary goal of this dissertation is to discuss the problem of objectivity in teaching materials, from the perspective of philosophy and conceptual analysis and to suggest a definition of objectivity which can be used in this context. This philosophical discussion is, however, based upon a concrete analysis of actual, existing teaching materials. Consequently, to carry out such an analysis is a secondary, but nonetheless important, goal of the thesis. The design and structure of this dissertation has been determined in large measure by four closely related questions which are answered in the order they are presented below. These questions are: (1) Which criteria for an objective presentation are spelled out in the school curricula (laroplanerna) and in the Objectivity Memorandum of the Teaching Materials Committee (Laromedelsnamndens PM for objektivitetsgranskning)? (2) Do existing school textbooks satisfy the criteria for objectivity which are explicitly put forward for them? (3) Which criteria for objectivity can reasonably be laid down for an objective presentation? (4) Do existing textbooks satisfy those criteria for objectivity which are spelled out in Chapter 11 of this thesis? Chapters 2 through 10 of this dissertation, what might be called a "first step", are composed of an analysis and evaluation of the first two of these questions. It is possible to reach the conclusion that--with certain exceptions--those criteria for objectivity which are actually laid down for teaching materials are, as a matter of fact, satisfied by those systems of teaching materials which have been examined in this thesis. This does not necessarily mean that the teaching materials under discussion are sufficiently objective, however. In chapter 12, a new examination is made of if the definition of objectivity, which is spelled out in Chapter 11, is sufficiently satisfied in the chosen textbooks. When looking at Swedish teaching materials during the period 1960-1985 as a whole, it is possible to discern various trends. The presentations of people's actions and the depth of poverty in the Third world or in India have become more objective, while the presentations of the role of cultural or religious factors in the developmental process have tended to be less objective.