Johan Samuelsson, Professor of History
Johan Samuelsson grew up on a farm outside of Mariestad in Västergötland. In the mid 1990-s, he graduated with a teacher education degree from Karlstad University with a specialisation in history and religious studies. After a few years as a professional teacher, he began his doctoral studies in economic history at Uppsala University and completed his PhD in 2005.
Johan Samuelsson has worked for government agencies as a director of education and research bureaucrat and has had a permanent position at Karlstad University since 2009.
"My main research interest has revolved around local development processes with regard to history and its role in society, as well as issues related to education history and history education. In recent years, my research has become more focused on historical perspectives on education and the school system. I want to understand what has caused change over time and I’m particularly interested in how groups and individuals drive the historical development. I adhere to the perspective that is internationally referred to as “the black box of schooling”. This means that focus is more on collective activities staged by teachers and other school staff who “do school” rather than a focus on national institutions and policy processes"
Johan Samuelsson has, for example, in several studies looked at how teachers during the period between the two world wars related to expectations of a more democratically oriented school and way of teaching.
"In these studies, I have also applied subject-didactic theories on the historical material. In another current Nordic project, I’m conducting close studies of local processes for the construction of lower secondary schools. By studying how local construction contractors, architects and carpenters work together with public officials in the municipality, you can clearly see that the construction of the modern lower secondary school to a high degree was affected by local traditions and informal institutions during the postwar period."
Johan Samuelsson’s fundamental approach to research is that it has to be motivated by curiosity, focused on generating knowledge, and sometimes also multidisciplinary. He has been part of projects that have included, for example, political scientists, economists, teachers, literary scholars and natural scientists, and he has used sociological and education theoretical perspectives in several of his studies.
Johan lives with his wife and two cats in Karlstad, and has two adult children who have left the nest. In his spare time he enjoys gardening and spending time in the kitchen preparing a nice meal, unless a visit to family and friends or a hike in the mountains beckon.