This thesis aims to investigate how Swedish upper class teachers in technical subjects relate to citizenship education and how these affect teaching and professional behavior. The work also includes investigating how technology teachers describe their behavior in comparison to humanities subject teachers. The research is carried out using a qualitative method, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with four teachers in technical programs at upper secondary school level. Theories from Dewey and Amnå about democracy, social participation and citizenship were used as a background for the interpretation of data. The interviews were coded and thematized. Following themes emerged: Social behavior and “good” people; Preparation for profession and society; Teachers as a role model; Subject-specific interventions; and Technology as a “social studies subject”.

The conclusion is that technology teachers relate to the citizen education mission in two strictly different ways. In part, it is seen as something important and natural that has greater meaning than subject knowledge. At the same time, they relate to the mission without reflection and it is seen as a sidetrack that can be downprioritized when time or organisation does not facilitate implementation. How one approaches and implements the citizenship mission seems, based on this study, to be strongly dependent on the individual teacher. The implementation of the mission is, when time is available, done through practice in cooperation and respect between students, and open climate in the classroom and for the teacher to act as a role model for good citizenship. The citizen education mission is also described as something that they work on long-term and it appears that the technology subject has several touching points with social participation and democracy. In comparison with teachers in social studies, there is an uncertainty among technology teachers regarding how much time is possible to dedicate to the mission, but there is also an understanding that all teachers are equally responsible for citizenship education.