Teaching and Learning about Infectious Diseases in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Abstract in English

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected children’s everyday experiences, highlighting the importance of infectious diseases in science education. As future outbreaks are inevitable, it is essential to understand how teaching and learning about diseases was shaped by the pandemic, in order to develop biology education to meet the needs for future epidemic-prone diseases. This thesis explores how knowledge about infectious diseases is transformed from external sources into content taught and understood in Swedish middle school. The central research question is: How is the portrayal of knowledge about infectious diseases reflected in textbooks, teachers’ practices, and pupils’ understanding in the aftermath of COVID-19?

The thesis includes 4 empirical studies examining different stages of this transformation. A comparative textbook analysis (Paper I) shows that representations of infectious diseases remained largely unchanged post-pandemic. Teaching (Paper II) was shaped by pupil-driven discussions rather than curriculum expansion. Studies of pupils’ understanding (Papers III–IV) reveal limited conceptual grasp, with informal sources outweighing formal instruction. Interpreted through the lens of contagion literacy and powerful knowledge, the thesis argues for integrating the contagion literacy framework including immune response into science education.