“So one can participate”

Abstract

On the value and meaning of history education in the view of pupils on a vocational programme. History is a compulsory subject in Swedish upper secondary Vocational Educational and Training (VET) programs since the reform of the national curriculum in 2011. On a general level, the vocational/academic divide of upper secondary education contributes to social reproduction. This article argues that history education has an important role to play in the acquisition of powerful and critical knowledge for the students in VET, knowledge that can empower subjects and groups in society. Data consists of interviews with 46 students. The analysis draws on the concepts of horizontal and vertical discourse. The results show that the students do appreciate the potential of knowledge in history. However, history education must provide the students with the opportunity to interact with contemporary history in order to answer to the needs that the students in this study articulated, that is to understand present-day society.