Historical memory in school textbooks

This article reports the results of a study conducted at the University of Leon, Spain, and funded by the Spanish Ministry for the Presidency. The aim of this research study was to analyze how history textbooks in Spain present the subject of the post civil war era, particularly those aspects related to repression under the Franco regime and anti-Francoist resistance. A review of textbooks was conducted, focusing especially on those used for 2nd year of Bachillerato (upper secondary education), since it is the course where Spanish Contemporary History is studied more thoroughly in the curriculum. A Critical Discourse Analysis approach has been adopted to investigate the extent, completeness, orientation and perspective of the content presented. In addition, 610 history teachers were interviewed in order to gather 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.