engleski

To be or not to be (European)?: Geography textbooks analysis in Croatian primary schools

The European Parliament in the Resolution on Learning EU at school (2016) emphasizes the importance of learning about the EU in schools by implementing the concept of European dimension in education. The document indicates the importance of implementing EU related content in the curricula and teaching materials as well as enhancing and developing teachers' skills and competencies with regard to the concept of the European dimension in education. Croatia's accession to the European Union has instigated changes in the national educational policies, however, the manner in which these changes are actually implemented, remains to be explored. This paper aims to determine, analyse and compare the incidence of the European dimension in education within the curricula and the geography textbooks for primary schools in Croatia. Geography textbooks have been chosen because the literature (e.g. Savvides 2008 ; Resnik Planinc, 2012) and the European institutions' reports, identify geography as one of the subjects within which European dimension in education can best be promoted. Research results have shown that the change in the orientation of the curriculum did occur after Croatia's accession to the EU. However, the changes have not been equally reflected in the textbook content. Furthermore, the results suggest that the implementation process of the European dimension in education requires systematic commitment in terms of value orientation as well as knowledge and skills subject teachers need to acquire in order to be able to include it in their classes.

European dimension in education ; geography textbooks ; primary school

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