Democratic citizenship in textbooks in Spanish primary curriculum

Abstract

This paper analyses how textbooks deal with the issues of education for democratic citizenship encompassed within the European framework and Spanish educational reforms. The sample comprised the 24 individual texts in social science, natural science, and technology for 6–12‐year‐olds. This paper delimits and defines the six themes for analysis: responsibility, participation, conflict resolution, diversity, and human rights. It offers a qualitative description of the content of each theme as well as a quantitative assessment of the frequency with which they appear. The results indicate that European ideals of citizenship education are dealt with unevenly, and in some cases barely, in these textbooks.

Keywords:

• citizenship education
• curriculum
• socio‐personal education
• Spanish education
• textbooks

Acknowledgements

This research project, a continuation of previous studies (López and De la Caba 2002a, b), forms part of a project subsidized by the University of the Basque Country–Spain (1/UPV 00024.354‐H‐13892/2001).

Notes

1. These publishing firms, which account for ∼25% of the total Spanish market, were chosen because they publish some of the most commonly used textbooks in the Basque Autonomous Region (Isasi and Erriondo 1996). Elkar and Erein are two of the Basque firms with the greatest influence in schools in this region, while Bruño and Santillana are among the five largest firms in Spain (Gimeno Sacristán 1995), and their books also have an important impact within the Basque educational environment. Bruño, Elkar, Erein, and Santillana together control 75% of the market share in Basque primary schools (Isasi and Erriondo 1996).

2. A Roman numeral following a publisher’s name indicates a volume in the listings in the Appendix (each numeral corresponds to a different level of primary school).

3. A school council, a representative committee in which decisions are taken by majority, consists of one city councillor, the headmaster, one office worker, the school secretary, one‐third of the teachers, and (comprising 50% of the total) parents and students.

4. In Spain, primary school textbooks are developed by a publisher, rather than an ‘author’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mariangeles De La Caba Collado

She focuses her teaching and research on themes of socio‐personal education, with special emphasis on questions of ‘values’ (moral development and autonomy, communication skills, discipline, participation, and teamwork).

Rafael López Atxurra

He has published several works on historiography and the social sciences. He has also collaborated in the compilation of textbooks and during the 1990s began carrying out research into ideologies and values in textbooks, and historiography in the school curriculum.