How is prehistory taught in schools, and to what extent does classroom teaching reflect current archaeological research? These are the questions explored by Lena Almqvist Nielsen in her dissertation, “Prehistory in Schools: Historical, Archaeological and Didactic Perspectives on Textbooks, Educational Films and Site Visits, circa 1900–2020”, which she defended in spring 2025.
Lena Almqvist Nielsen’s interest in prehistory began during her Master’s studies in archaeology. After graduating, she worked as a substitute teacher at a lower secondary school, where she soon discovered a strong interest in teaching as well. This led her to teacher education and, eventually, to a career that has brought archaeology and education together – most recently through the graduate school Käkk.
– Through two graduate schools in history, I’ve had the opportunity to combine these two fields in one dissertation. My point of departure is the developments that came together around the turn of the twentieth century: archaeology became established as a discipline, prehistory was incorporated into the school subject of history, and the first film about prehistory was made and remained part of school film catalogues until the 1970s.
Starting Point of the Dissertation
Since the late nineteenth century, the earliest history of the Nordic region has been taught to young students. Even so, the field has received relatively little attention from a didactic perspective. In addition, teachers in the early years of compulsory school often have limited formal training in history. According to Lena, this means that prehistory risks becoming both vulnerable and oversimplified in the classroom – something she seeks to highlight and critically examine in her dissertation.
– My focus has been on the knowledge about prehistory that students are given. I have analysed what happens to archaeological knowledge about Nordic prehistory when it is transferred into a school context and becomes part of the history curriculum. I have also looked at the forms that teaching takes, with particular attention to three educational resources: textbooks, educational films and site visits.
Both the textbook study and the film study take gender as a lens for examining research and archaeology, with Lena tracing how presentations of Nordic prehistory have changed over the past century. In the site-based study, where school classes visited a Bronze Age cultural heritage site, the focus shifted to historical empathy. In this context, historical empathy means that factual knowledge provides a framework within which imagination can develop – for example, when students visit a site and gain expert insight from guides or museum educators.
What Did You Find?
– In the first two studies, it became clear that society has shaped both the research itself and the teaching materials produced on the subject. Even so, much of what we read about prehistory still relies on the same narratives that have been around for well over a hundred years – although, of course, the details have changed.
This is especially evident in older educational films, which often portrayed society in binary terms because that made it easier for children to understand. Lena argues, however, that prehistoric society was almost certainly far more complex. For example, divisions between who hunted and who took care of the home may well have been based on competence rather than gender. Later films, however, did show change. Girls, who had previously been largely absent, were given greater visibility, and children were increasingly portrayed as having agency of their own.
The site-based study at Vitlycke Museum also produced interesting findings.
– It became clear that the site itself played a major role in how students experienced and related to historical time. Being in a place where people lived 3,000 years ago, and being able to try cooking or making a tin knife, affects children’s experience in a very different way than simply reading a book or watching a film.
Lena also emphasises the importance of expert knowledge. When a guide or museum educator can bring a site to life and place it in a wider context, history becomes more vivid and meaningful. At heart, this is about historical consciousness: where we are now, where we come from, and where we might be heading in the future.
What Do You Hope Your Research Will Lead To?
– I would like to see closer collaboration between schools and cultural heritage institutions, along with greater access to expertise, so that site visits can become a more natural part of teaching. That does not necessarily mean visiting a major heritage site – it could just as well be a local ancient monument that an archaeologist talks about.
Lena also stresses that prehistory is underused and deserves a larger place in teaching, including at higher levels of schooling.
– It’s not necessarily about giving prehistory a separate place in lower or upper secondary school, but about using it to shed light on broader historical connections. For example, it can be used to explore long-term comparative perspectives on issues such as climate change, the environment and migration.
She also argues that future teaching materials need to reflect society more accurately and show a wider range of relationships in prehistory. It is equally important to consider who is given agency in these materials, since they can become role models for children.
Cultural Heritage Still in Focus
More than a year after defending her dissertation, cultural heritage remains a central theme in Lena Almqvist Nielsen’s work.
– At the moment, I’m writing an application for ULF (Education, Learning and Research), where the idea is to study local history and the local community over the long term, once again using historical empathy. I want to interview both children and older people in order to create relationships across generations, and I think those will be very meaningful encounters.
She will also go on to examine how cultural heritage is used in teaching in both Ethiopia and Palermo.
More Information
The dissertation project is part of the graduate school Käkk – Knowledge, Subjects and Quality in Teacher Education and the Classroom, a collaboration between Karlstad University, University West and Halmstad University. Read more about the research school here:
