The student shall meet the following learning outcomes, which cover knowledge and understanding, skills and abilities as well as judgement and approach.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- give an account of the central concepts and historical development of social representations theory

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- analyse examples of theoretical and methodological application of social representation theory
- apply social representation theory, both theoretically and methodologicaly to a research problem of their own choosing
- demonstrate how the study of social representations influence methodological choices for colleting and analyzing data

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:
- discuss social representation theory, its methodological implications and approaches, and its relevance for social science research
- evaluate social representation theory and demonstrate an understanding of its theoretical and methodological applicability to different research problems in the study of social phenomena

• Historical development
• Theoretical foundations, central concepts and ideas
• Methodology in the study of social representations of social phenomena
• Methods for data collection and analysis

The teaching consists of lectures, seminars, and workshops

Undervisningen bedrivs på engelska.

The applicant must meet the general entry requirements for third-cycle courses and programmes.
English proficiency corresponding to English 6, or English course B in the Swedish upper secondary school system, is required.

Kursen bedöms med betygen Underkänd eller Godkänd.

The course is examined through one individual written assignment, one oral group presentation, and seminar participation.

Individual written assignment 5 crecits
Oral group presentation 1,5 credits
Seminar participation 1,0 credits

Further information concerning assessment of specific intended learning outcomes and grading criteria is provided in a study guide distributed at the beginning of the course.

Examinationsmoment	Omfattning	Betyg
Individual written assignment	5 hp	U/G
Oral group presentation	1,5 hp	U/G
Seminar participation	1 hp	U/G

The instruction is followed up throughout the course, and a course evaluation is performed at the end of the course. The course coordinator collates and comments on the evaluation before submitting it to the associate dean of doctoral programmes at the School of Education and Communication. The evaluation is to function as a basis for future improvements to the course.

The course is primarily aimed at participants from the social sciences.
See separate attachment for a detailed schedule and information about the application procedure.

The specified required and elective readings will be supplemented with approximately 200-250 pages of scientific literature chosen in consultation with the examiner.


Bagga-Gupta, S. (2010). Creating and (re)negotiating boundaries: representations as mediation in visually oriented multilingual Swedish school settings. Language, Culture and Curriculum. Vol. 23 (3), (pp. 251-276) (approx 25 pages)

Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela (2013). Social Representations of Career - Anchored in the Past, Conflicting with the Future. Papers on Social Representations, Vol. 22(1), (pp. 14.11-14.27). (approx. 30 pages)

Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela (2015). The Uneasy Relationship to Career: Guidance Counsellors´ Social Representations of their Mission and of Career therein. In Social Representations of Career and Career Guidance in the Changing World of Working Life. (Included in dissertation.). Jönköping: Jönköping University. (approx. 30 pages)

Chaib, Mohamed., Danermark, Bert., & Selander, Staffan (2011). Education, Proffessionalization and Social Representations. On the Transformation of Social Knowledge. New York, London: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. (selected chapters, approx. 60 pages)

Hansson, Kristina., & Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela (2019). Governance of Teachers´ Professional Development and Learning within a New Career Position. Adult Education Discourse, Vol. 18 (pp 157-178). (approx. 30 pages)

Hirsh, Åsa., & Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela (2019). Teachers leading teachers - understanding middle-leaders' role and thoughts about career in the context of a changed division of labour. School Leadership & Management. Vol. 39 (3-4). (pp. 352-371). (Published online, open access 2018-11-03, doi:10.1080/13632434.2018.1536977 (approx. 30 pages)

Moscovici, Serge (1984). The phenomenon of social representations. In Robert Farr & Serge Moscovici (Eds.), Social representations (pp. 3-70). Cambridge Cambridge University Press. (approx. 60 pages)

Moscovici, Serge (1988). Notes towards a description of Social Representations. European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 18, (pp. 211-250). (approx. 40 pages)

Moscovici, Serge (2000). Social representations: Explorations in social psychology. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. (approx. 300 pages)

Wagner, Wolfgang, Duveen, Gerard, Robert Farr, Jovchelovitch, Sandra, Lorenzi-Cioldi, Fabio, Marková, Ivana, & Rose, Diana (1999). Theory and method of social representations. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 2 (pp. 95-125)

Elective readings in English (for all students but especially for non scandinavian students)
One of the following must be chosen for in-depth study.

Andersén, Annelie (2010). Social Representations and Social Identity in Swedish Folk High Schools: an application of Duveen and Lloyd. Papers on Social Representations, Vol. 19 (1) (pp. 10.1-10.14)

Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela (2015). Social Representations of Career and Career Guidance in the Changing World of Working Life: [(Doctoral dissertation]. School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University. (approx. 140 pages)

Ohlson, Robert (2016). Diagnosis as a Resource in the Social Representation of Mental Illness. Papers on Social Representations, Vol. 25 (1), (pp. 12.1-12.44) (appprox 24 pages)


Elective readings for scandinavian-speaking students
One of the following must be chosen for in-depth study.

Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela (2015). Social Representations of Career and Career Guidance in the Changing World of Working Life: [(Doctoral dissertation].School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University. (approx. 140 pages)

Granbom, Ingrid (2011). "Vi har nästan blivit för bra". Lärares sociala representationer av förskolan som pedagogisk praktik. [(Doctoral dissertation]. School of Education and Communication. Jönköping University. (approx. 200 pages)

Andersén, Annelie (2011). Ett särskilt perspektiv på högre studier? Folkhögskoledeltagares sociala representationer om högskola och universitet. [(Doctoral dissertation] School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University. (approx. 200 pages)

Ohlsson, Robert (2009). Representationer av psykisk ohälsa. Egna erfarenheter och dialogiskt meningsskapande i fokusgruppsamtal. [(Doctoral dissertation].Stockholm University. (approx. 200 pages)

Recommended readings for all students

Jovchelovitch, Sandra (2007). Knowledge in Context. Representation, community and culture. London: Routledge.

Marková, Ivana (2003). Dialogicality and Social Representations. The Dynamics of Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

For non-Scandinavian-speaking students, other complementary readings in the native language of the students can be selected in collaboration with the teacher/s and examiner.


Recommended reading for Scandinavian-speaking students

Chaib, Mohamed, & Orfali, Birgitta (1995). Introduktion till teorier och metoder kring sociala representationer In M. Chaib & B. Orfali (Eds.), Sociala representationer. Om vardagsvetandets sociala fundament. Göteborg: Daidalos. (selected chapters, approx. 50 pages)

The Interactive Anti Plagiarism Guide - Jönköping University (will be available on the learning platform)

Search and write (n.d.). Citing sources - how to create literature references. University Library: Jönköping University