The textbook remains a fundamental teaching resource, widely used by teachers to prepare lessons, support classroom instruction, and facilitate students’ self-study at home [Lucenti, M. and Hirsch, S., Educational policies on inclusion and interculturality: What is the impact on didactic tools? Comparative analysis between Italy and Quebec, In M. Gadille (Ed.), Learning, strategies and educational policies. What interdisciplinarity, methodologies and international perspectives? Berlin: De Gruyter (2022); Lucenti, M., Le monde arabo-musulmans et l’occident dans les manuels d’Italie et de Tunisie. Autres histoires. Paris: L’Harmattan (2021); Andreassen, B.-O. and Lewis, J. R., Textbook gods. Genre, text and teaching religious studies. New York: Equinox (2014)]. Beyond its practical function, the textbook reflects the values, approaches, and dominant methods of a specific socio-historical context. Analysing textbooks thus provides insights into the teaching methods, disciplinary content, and societal values of the time [Olsson, S., British Journal of Religious Education 32:41–48 (2010); Pingel, F., Insegnare l’Europa. Concetti e rappresentazioni nei libri di testo europei. Torino: Edizioni della Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli (2003); Pingel, F., UNESCO guidebook on textbook research and textbook revision. Second revised and updated edition. Paris: UNESCO (2010)]. Textbooks serve as vehicles for implementing curricula and regulations, introducing prescribed methods, approaches, and content into the classroom. However, they do not merely replicate official guidelines. This chapter examines the content of history and geography textbooks in Italy and their pedagogical use by teachers. The analysis focuses on including and representing “the other”, particularly Islam, as explored in prior studies [Georg Eckert Institute 2011; Lucenti, M., Storie altre. Il mondo arabo-musulmano e l’occidente nei manuali di Italia e Tunisia. Rome: Aracne (2018)]. While textbook discourse reveals societal attitudes towards diversity and otherness, it is equally important to understand how teachers utilise these materials in the classroom and how such representations impact students. Key questions include these: Do teachers rely on textbooks? What criteria guide their selection? How do textbooks align with a competence-based approach? Are textbooks obstacles [Bonazzi, M. and Eco, U., I pampini bugiardi. Rimini: Guaraldi (1971)] or valuable tools for fostering innovative and inclusive teaching? To address these questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with secondary school teachers, exploring their perspectives, discourses, and practices.

History and Geography Textbooks in Italy. Representations, Discourses, and Practices

章节
发表日期：

2026年

查看全文

Maria Lucenti

摘要

The textbook remains a fundamental teaching resource, widely used by teachers to prepare lessons, support classroom instruction, and facilitate students’ self-study at home [Lucenti, M. and Hirsch, S., Educational policies on inclusion and interculturality: What is the impact on didactic tools? Comparative analysis between Italy and Quebec, In M. Gadille (Ed.), Learning, strategies and educational policies. What interdisciplinarity, methodologies and international perspectives? Berlin: De Gruyter (2022); Lucenti, M., Le monde arabo-musulmans et l’occident dans les manuels d’Italie et de Tunisie. Autres histoires. Paris: L’Harmattan (2021); Andreassen, B.-O. and Lewis, J. R., Textbook gods. Genre, text and teaching religious studies. New York: Equinox (2014)]. Beyond its practical function, the textbook reflects the values, approaches, and dominant methods of a specific socio-historical context. Analysing textbooks thus provides insights into the teaching methods, disciplinary content, and societal values of the time [Olsson, S., British Journal of Religious Education 32:41–48 (2010); Pingel, F., Insegnare l’Europa. Concetti e rappresentazioni nei libri di testo europei. Torino: Edizioni della Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli (2003); Pingel, F., UNESCO guidebook on textbook research and textbook revision. Second revised and updated edition. Paris: UNESCO (2010)]. Textbooks serve as vehicles for implementing curricula and regulations, introducing prescribed methods, approaches, and content into the classroom. However, they do not merely replicate official guidelines. This chapter examines the content of history and geography textbooks in Italy and their pedagogical use by teachers. The analysis focuses on including and representing “the other”, particularly Islam, as explored in prior studies [Georg Eckert Institute 2011; Lucenti, M., Storie altre. Il mondo arabo-musulmano e l’occidente nei manuali di Italia e Tunisia. Rome: Aracne (2018)]. While textbook discourse reveals societal attitudes towards diversity and otherness, it is equally important to understand how teachers utilise these materials in the classroom and how such representations impact students. Key questions include these: Do teachers rely on textbooks? What criteria guide their selection? How do textbooks align with a competence-based approach? Are textbooks obstacles [Bonazzi, M. and Eco, U., I pampini bugiardi. Rimini: Guaraldi (1971)] or valuable tools for fostering innovative and inclusive teaching? To address these questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with secondary school teachers, exploring their perspectives, discourses, and practices.