This paper is based upon a questionnaire and interviews with Swedish secondary school teachers (student of ages from 16 to 18). The purpose of the paper was to get a picture of teacher?s attitudes to astronomy in the physics courses and how this affects their teaching. The questionnaire showed that astronomy is the least prioritized field in physics in secondary school. Teachers seem to generally consider astronomy as the least important field and they spend little time teaching it, many teachers even exclude astronomy completely from their classes.

This is a study in how astronomy has been taught and is being taught in Swedish schools from 1905 to this date with an emphasis on the latest 30 years. It concerns the regulations and methodical recommendations/curricula for Swedish junior high school/Swedish Comprehensive school for the years 1905, 1933, 1955, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1980 and 1994. The matter of integrating astronomy with other subjects and different methodical approaches is also considered. The problem with textbooks written only for one subject when the teacher tries to integrate subjects is emphasised.Physics textbook analysis shows that astronomy teaching has over the years developed, from being based on observations, to become more and more theoretical. It also shows that the amount of practical exercises has been fairly constant in physics textbooks during the seventies end eighties but now in the nineties varies a lot from textbook to textbook. The amount of liberty the textbook gives the pupil in finding knowledge and answers himself in the practical parts of astronomy was at its lowest during the seventies.