Acta Geographica Slovenica (Dec 2010)
The extent and content of the presentation of the geography of Europe in school textbooks in European countries
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to determine to what extent and with what kind of content European textbooks approach the study of the geography of Europe. It presents results from one of the earliest studies to include textbooks from almost all European countries. Using a specially designed data recording sheet an analysis was made of 35 textbooks for lower secondary and 28 textbooks for upper secondary education. There were 17 elements analyzed in the textbooks, using the method of content analysis. The study showed considerable differences between textbooks for lower and higher age groups as well as differences between textbooks of Western Europe and Eastern Europe. In some parts of Europe we find regions with common textbook patterns, but these are based only on individual elements and not several elements taken together.
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