Martin Andersson is a PhD student (1,5 year left to finish his thesis) that has studied in Gothenburg for his bachelor and master in history before moving to Umeå in order to pursue his PhD. Furthermore, he has also worked for a few years as a teacher in a folk high school, teaching Swedish, history, and maths. His supervisors are professor Daniel Lindmark and associate professor Henrik Åström Elmersjö.
Interviewer: What is your research interest/topic about ?
Martin: My research is about the emergence of the elementary school teachers as collective actors, around 1846-1880. I study their associations and magazines in order to find out why and how they acted collectively. The time period I am looking at is a very dynamic time in terms of changes in civil society, and I find it particularly interesting to discuss changes and continuities in the patterns of collective action.
Interviewer: What made you follow this particular academic path?
Martin: I’ve always been fascinated by the rise of mass education during the 19th century; by the investments and sacrifices that led up to a nationwide system of schools despite the poverty of the time. So, that was something I wanted to understand better.
Interviewer: Has the subject of your research changed at all? How has everything been going thus far? Are you satisfied?
Martin: Yes, I actually started out with a quite different research question. Initially, I wanted to study Christian education in the elementary school in terms of memory culture. At a critical point, when I had to search the archives to know if I could pursue my research plan, travel restrictions were enforced due to the pandemic. That made me look for other paths, that eventually led me to look deeper into the history of teachers.
I would say that things have been going well. Doing research is a very unpredictable process, and at times I have been unsure whether I am moving forward or not. So, it’s not always satisfying. On the whole, though, it has been a great time.
Interviewer: Do you have any other academic assignments outside your research? What is the subject/ matter of them?
Martin: Besides my own research, I’ve participated in a few conferences: National Christianities in Uppsala 2023, ISCHE 44 in Budapest 2023, Svenska historikermötet in Umeå 2023. Also, I’m doing some teaching in history, mostly supervising students’ essays. I’ve also been involved in the teacher training program at the university.
Interview by Angjela Preci, MA student, University of Groningen
appliedhistoryofeducation.school.blog 