Historical memory in school textbooks

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study conducted at the University of León, Spain, and funded by the Spanish Ministry for the Presidency. The aim of the research was to analyze how history textbooks in Spain present the subject of the post civil war era, particularly as regards those aspects related to repression under the Franco regime and anti-Francoist resistance. A review of the textbooks was conducted, focusing especially on those used in the 2nd year of secondary school education, since in accordance with the curriculum this is when Spanish Contemporary History is studied in most detail. Critical Discourse Analysis was the methodology employed to investigate the extent, completeness, orientation and perspective of the content presented. In addition, 610 history teachers were interviewed in order to obtain their opinions regarding the adequacy of the contents presented. The most significant findings indicate that although content related to these topics has begun to be included, the subject is not covered in sufficient depth.