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Learning and Instruction !! (2002) !!!–!!!

www.elsevier.com/locate/learninstruc

Learning history through textbooks: are

Mexican and Spanish students taught the same
story?
Mario Carretero a,b,∗, Liliana Jacott a, Asunción López-Manjón a
a
Autonóma University of Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
b
FLACSO, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Ayacucho, 551, 1026-Capital, Buenos
Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Teaching history, compared to other school subjects is characterised from country to country
by widely varying content. This has been commented on by both historians (How history is
re-told to the children of the world Fondo de Cultura Económica (1981); Clio sans uniform
Suomalaineniedeakatemia (1992)) and psychologists (J of Narrative and Life History 4 (1994)
295). In this paper, some of the events that occurred in 1492 and their representation in history
textbooks have been selected in order to analyse the content of Mexican and Spanish textbooks.
These two countries have been selected because it is anticipated that they will offer very
different views about these controversial historical topics and some of the characters involved,
such as Columbus. The analysis of textbook content indeed showed two different views of
the same event by Mexico and Spain. This paper discusses the influence of these views in the
formation of different national identities.  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The teaching of history has specific features that make it a very different topic in
comparison to other school subjects (Carretero, Jacott, Limón, Lopez-Manjón, &
Leon, 1994; Voss & Carretero, 1998). One of these is the age from which history
is taught. In some countries, the teaching of history begins at primary school, and
it is an important part of the curriculum as early as elementary school (e.g. Italy,

∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-91-3975190; fax: +34-91-3975215.
E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Carretero).

0959-4752/02/$ - see front matter  2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 5 9 - 4 7 5 2 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 3 6 - 6
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Argentina, Mexico). In other countries, history is a minor part of secondary edu-

cation. Important differences can also be found with respect to the number of hours
per week devoted to history in relation to the curriculum as a whole. For example,
a number of European countries devote much more time per week to history than
the United States of America, and the same can be said with regard to the total
amount of time per year. These differences are striking particularly since there has
been a continuous trend towards similar curriculum contents in recent decades. If a
comparison is made in relation to mathematics or natural sciences, it can easily be
seen that there are enormous similarities between different countries. Topics such
as “energy”, “density”, “fractions” or “proportion” are taught at almost the same
age, and almost the same importance is being given to them in terms of hours per
academic year.
If we look at the selection of historical content across countries, a number of
remarkable differences arise. For example, some educational systems include only
a few topics about their national history, while others include the history of different
civilisations and some international events. There is no doubt that these issues indi-
cate the importance given to these historical contents by different societies, as much
as the conception that these societies have of historical knowledge and of its uses,
one of them being educational. Analysing instructional materials such as textbooks
is an excellent way to study the above issues. This will be one of our main goals
in this paper.
We are assuming that the study of history textbooks offers a broader and more
illustrative picture of what happens in the classroom. Of course, we are aware that
a comprehensive picture should include not only the study of instructional materials
but also the study of what actually happens in the classroom. However, the analysis
of historical content from both educational and cognitive points of view is an essen-
tial endeavour if we want to examine how students understand and represent histori-
cal knowledge.
In the case of history education, there is no doubt that textbooks have commonly
transmitted the official historical version that different societies have of their past.
Studying how official versions are taught to students in different countries is also
very important for our purposes. We have therefore selected a historical topic that
has played an influential role in Mexico and Spain — the “discovery” of America.
This controversial topic has been selected because of the different and conflicting
historical views and interpretations it has generated. The official and Eurocentric
version that has been maintained for many years is that America was discovered by
Columbus in 1492. In contrast to this “traditional” idea, in the last few years many
Latin–American historians have considered this event not as a “discovery” but as
an “encounter between two worlds: Europe and America” (e.g. Zea, 1989). Thus,
rather than supporting the idea that America was discovered by the Old World —
as traditionally stated — Americans and Europeans met and became acquainted with
each other. Within this discussion of non-Eurocentric approaches, O’Gorman (1958)
has played a very important role. He argues that the idea of America being discovered
was the result of an intellectual invention and that America was not really discovered
but instead experienced a complex intellectual, philosophical and historical process.
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Another brilliant example of a very different approach is Todorov (1982). For him,
the year of 1492 symbolises a twofold movement in the history of Spain. In that
year, Spain repudiated its interior “other” by expelling the Jews and Muslims from
Granada, while discovering its exterior “other”— the new continent that would later
be called America (Todorov, 1982).
Despite the different accounts and conceptions of the past, presented above, there
is no doubt that the discovery of America has been taught as an essential part of
the national history curricula in Mexico and Spain. However, an important question
thus arises: to what extent are students of these two countries taught the same story?
One of the well-known social functions of history education has been the pro-
duction and propagation of an accurate account of the past. Indeed, every country
has generated a number of “official” accounts of the past in different historical times
and socio–political situations. Thus, the teaching of history has been a matter of great
concern for every modern society. There is evidence of how the history curricula in
Estonia and East Germany have changed in essence since the socio–political changes
that took place in 1990. After the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the
USSR, these two societies now represent their past in different ways (Ahonen, 1992).
Therefore, it is fascinating to observe how school curricula convey the so-called
“discovery of America”, and leads us to compare how historical content is used as
a way of fostering and shaping the national identity — or at least a community or
group identity. The distinction between “official history” and “unofficial histories”
(Carretero et al., 1994) is useful for our purposes as identifying two different ways
of representing the past. Thus Tulviste and Wertsch (1994) have analysed how these
two types of histories were produced and consumed in post-Soviet Estonia. On the
one hand, the “official history” has been spread through the teaching of history in
school, textbooks being one of the most efficient tools. On the contrary, “unofficial
histories” have been produced by informal education (e.g. oral tradition, religious
institutions, meetings and discussions, underground literature, etc.).
According to Wertsch and Rozin (1998), “official history” has three main func-
tions: (a) providing a cognitive instrument for envisioning the nation, (b) enhancing
group identity, and (c) fostering loyalty in its citizens. These functions are also very
important if we want to understand unofficial histories. For example, as Tulviste and
Wertsch (1994) have outlined, unofficial histories in Estonia during the Soviet era
served these functions in a more effective way than the official history taught in
schools. Nevertheless, there is evidence of how people in Russia, Estonia and East
Germany during the Soviet era had learned to manage at least two different historical
versions, the official and the unofficial, creating what Ahonen (1992) has termed
a “double consciousness”. This is a clear example of how official and unofficial
representations of the past could coexist in one society.
Thus, some of the questions we are trying to address in this paper are as follows.
What is the official historical version transmitted in the textbooks of Mexico and
Spain in relation to the “discovery”? To what extent do textbooks share the same
basic story or the same historical version? Do Spanish and Mexican textbooks offer
very different historical versions of this event? If so, to what extent can these two
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official versions be considered as the Eurocentric official version and the Latin-
American non-official one?

2. Analysis of textbooks

Before analyzing the different textbooks, let us look at the importance given in
both countries to the historical episode selected. As already mentioned, the discovery
of America constitutes a relevant historical period in the history curricula of these
two countries. If we look carefully at the organisation of the curricula, at primary
and secondary levels, we shall observe that, to some extent, this theme serves as a
landmark in their national histories.
In the case of Mexico, the national history curriculum is organised around the
following themes: prehistory, first settlers of America, ancient Mexico, discovery
and conquest, colony, the independence, the consolidation of the Mexican state, the
Mexican revolution, and contemporary Mexico. In Spain, the national history curric-
ula comprises the following themes: prehistory, Spain: from first settlers to romanis-
ation, German invasions, Muslims in Spain, origin and expansion of Spanish Chris-
tian kingdoms, Spain from the 13th century until the end of the Reconquest, Spain
in the reign of Fernando and Isabel, the discovery of America, the Spanish empire,
Spain and the loss of hegemony, the 18th century: the illustration era, unity of Spain
and the autonomy of its people. In both cases, it can be observed that there is a
traditional linear approach in which history covers from the Stone Age to contempor-
ary years. The only historical episode common to both curricula is the discovery and
conquest of America.
Moreover, the weight that each country gives to history as a subject is different.
In Spain, history is taught alongside geography, and ethic and civic subjects, as part
of the social studies curriculum in elementary education, and as a specific subject
in secondary education. The same pattern occurred in Mexico, but only until 1991.
In 1992, history as a school subject in elementary education has changed. For 20
years, history was taught as part of the social studies curriculum. Nowadays, history
is taught as a standalone subject from 4th to 6th grade and beyond into secondary
education.

2.1. Material

We have selected four Spanish and five Mexican textbooks published in 1994
where the topic of the discovery of America was included (see Table 1). It is worth
noting that, in Mexico, this topic is taught from the 4th grade (9–10-year olds) and
continues into the 5th (10–11-year olds) and 7th (12–13-year olds) grades. In Spain,
it is taught from the 5th grade (10–11-year olds) up until the 7th grade (12–13-
year olds).
We have chosen four of the textbooks that are most widely used in Spanish
elementary schools for all grades. Specifically, the textbooks published by Anaya
and Santillana are more widespread, with schools across the whole country using
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Table 1
Description of textbooks analysed

Title Age Grade Publisher

Spanish textbooks
1 Ciencias Sociales 5 (10–11) 5th Anaya
2 Ciencias Sociales Boveda (12–13) 7th Anaya
3 Sociedad 7 (12–13) 7th Santillana
4 Ciencias Sociales 7 (12–13) 7th Vicens-Vives
Mexican textbooks
1 Historia 4 (9–10) 4th Mexican State
2 Historia 5 (10–11) 5th Mexican State
3 Historia 1 (12–13) 7th Trillas
4 El mundo en la historia (12–13) 7th Trillas
5 Historia 1 (12–13) 7th Castillo

them. The same is true with Vicens-Vives in Catalonia. The choice of Mexican
textbooks has followed a different pattern due to the country’s educational policy.
Mexican textbooks are published by the Ministry of Education in elementary school
(1st to 6th grade), and are provided free to all students. For this reason, two of the
Mexican texts analysed here (4th and 5th grades) are state-published. In the case of
secondary education (7th grade) the two textbooks published by Trillas and one
published by Castillo have been chosen because of their great dissemination at this
educational level.

2.2. Content analysis

In order to know how textbooks approach the discovery of America, we have

carried out a content analysis of the selected texts and the iconographic represen-
tations therein. Specifically, the following features have been considered in the analy-
sis of content: (a) some important aspects related to the controversial concept of the
discovery of America, (b) the role of Columbus and other historical characters, (c)
some of the consequences of these historical events in the two continents.

2.2.1. Discovery of America or encounter between two worlds?

Firstly, it is interesting to examine how the event has been labelled by each text-
book. As we mentioned before, the very term “discovery” has given rise to much
debate among historians.
Specifically, we shall consider if the expression “discovery of America” was in
the title or subtitle of the chapter. All Spanish texts begin the study of this period
with titles that includes the term “discovery”, like “The discovery of America”, “The
great geographic discoveries” or “The discovery of the Indias”. On the contrary, in
the case of the Mexican textbooks, our analysis revealed that this matter does not
appear in any of the five texts. Analysing the four Spanish textbooks, the term “dis-
covery of America” is mentioned two, four, five and six times respectively. However,
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the Mexican ones only mentioned it in textbook 1 (twice) and textbook 2 (three
times) (see Table 1 for annotations). The Mexican textbooks examined here seem
to avoid any mention of this historical event as the “discovery of America”, and
instead use terms such as, for example, “The encounter between two worlds”, “The
accidental encounter of a new world”, “The European explorations”, (six, six, two,
three times and once respectively), which are never mentioned in the Spanish texts.
The following extract, from one of the Mexican textbooks, makes clear the idea of
“encounter” rather than “discovery”:

Columbus believed he had arrived in Asia. He probably never suspected that he

had brought about the encounter of two worlds: the old (Europe, Africa, Asia) and
the new one, later called America. From this encounter onwards, communication
between these two parts of the earth, which had been separated for a thousand
years was achieved. (Mexican textbook 1, p. 49)

The differences between these two conceptions are very clear when the captions
in the Mexican and Spanish textbooks are compared (Fig. 1). Although the very
same illustration has been found in Mexican textbook 1 and in Spanish textbook 4,
the different captions reveal the conception that each textbook has of the event. The
Mexican book uses the terms “makes contact” and “encounter”. It also mentions that
the two principal motives for the Europeans were to “collect gold objects” and reli-
gion. It is important to note the emphasis on taking away goods from America.
However, the Spanish caption mentions that the natives offer presents to Columbus,
in the most traditional way of describing the “discovery”. The caption also includes
the fact that the natives were naked, according to the majority of the popular images
of “exotic native”.

2.2.2. Columbus: discoverer?

As regards the figure of Columbus, it can be said that, despite the great majority
of textbooks including a (sometimes detailed) description of his voyages, the treat-
ment given to his character tends to be quite different according to the story being
told. Thus, for example, Columbus has a central role as the “hero” discovering Amer-
ica in Spanish texts. Thus, the courage, experience, steadfastness, intelligence and
“great intuition” of the admiral are just some of the qualities mentioned in descrip-
tions of his actions, alongside his desire and strong conviction to demonstrate that
the earth was round.
In contrast, the majority of Mexican texts avoid any type of personal value judge-
ment of Columbus. Only two references to him were found concerning his experience
as a sailor. In contrast, Mexican textbooks pay more attention to Americo Vespuccio
as the true discoverer of the New World. If we take into account that Vespuccio
was the first to suspect that the land found by Columbus was not Asia but a new
continent, we may understand how important this matter is for the Mexicans. This
idea can be summarised in the following way: Columbus does not discover America
but he rather finds it where he thought Asia would be; Vespuccio meanwhile would
be the first to realise that this land was not Asia. The use of this idea in the texts
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Fig. 1. Although the same drawing is included in one Mexican textbook and one Spanish one, the
captions are different. (a) In this engraving by Théodore de Bry (1528–1599), a Spanish expedition makes
contact with the inhabitants of the Antilles. The two principal motives of the encounter for the Europeans
were to collect gold objects (as shown in the foreground) and to convert the natives to Christianity, for
which purpose the cross is being erected (left) (Mexican textbook 1, p. 49). (b) The engraving by the
Flemish artist Thierry de Bry (16th century) represents Columbus’s landing on the island that would later
be called La Española (Hispaniola). In the background are three ships, and in the foreground Columbus,
dressed in the style of the artist’s period (second half of the 16th century), receiving offerings from the
natives, who are shown naked. The evangelising nature of the expedition is indicated by the scene of the
sailors erecting a cross on the beach. (Spanish textbook 4, pp. 208–209).

serves to subtract the recognition from the role traditionally attributed to Columbus
as discoverer by “the old World perspective”. Furthermore, the way in which Colum-
bus’s arrival in America is described not as a discovery but as an accident is illustra-
tive:

Columbus always thought he had reached Asia; he never realised he had landed
on a continent hitherto unknown to Europeans. The existence of a fourth continent
began to be known in 1503, with the writings and maps of Americo Vespuccio,
after whom it was named (Mexican textbook 2, p. 34).

In the same way, there is a tendency to stress the importance of other navigators
such as Nuñez de Balboa as the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean. Mexican textbooks
also refer to Sebastian Elcano and Fernando Magallanes as those navigators who
truly circumnavigated the globe.
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In comparing the view transmitted by different descriptions of Columbus, it is

important to note that Spanish texts mostly describe him as a great scientist who,
in spite of many obstacles, tried to demonstrate that the Earth was round. In contrast,
the scientific objectives of Columbus’s venture are not even mentioned in the Mex-
ican texts analysed in this study. Indeed, it could be argued that the opposite is true,
and that the textbooks present attempts to destroy the idea of Columbus as a scientist.
As an example of this, Mexican textbook 1 includes an illustration showing a
Cyclops, mermaids and other fantastic creatures that Columbus believed he had seen
on his voyages (p. 460). At the same time, there is a tendency to include maps and
information about contemporary knowledge in relation to the spherical nature of the
earth. Again we can see the differences between the texts. First, let us look at two
Mexican texts, where it is emphasised that the theories of Columbus and his contem-
poraries were not new:

From the beginnings of 15th century, European geographers and sailors knew that
the Earth is spherical. This idea has been maintained by Ptolemy, a Greek wise
man, in the 2nd century. However, it was not known in Europe until the 13th
century (Mexican textbook 2, p. 136).

From a long time ago, many Europeans knew that the Earth was round. This is
an illustration of an Italian book from the 13th century [The illustration represents
the Earth being round, and six men are located around it in different positions]
(Mexican textbook 1, p. 45)

The Spanish example, below, reveals a very different story. Here, we can observe
how the conception of the scientific knowledge that Europeans had of the Earth at
those times seems to be very different:

After looking carefully this map, you will realise that Europeans knew very little
of the Earth in the 15th century. Many people believed that the earth was flat and
only a very few wise men and cartographers had begun to suspect that the Earth
was round (Spanish textbook 4, p. 199).

Thus, the idea of Columbus as a genuine scientist who maintained ideas contrary
to the knowledge of his times, makes his enterprise more heroic. On the other hand,
while Spanish texts tend to describe the hero’s glorious exploits in some detail, there
is almost no reference to some of the hardships and troubles that he endured later
in life. Only Mexican texts refer to his imprisonment after his third voyage, and how
Isabel and Fernando (the Catholic monarchs) removed his status as governor of the
new lands. Spanish texts only recount the events that make Columbus a hero and omit
all events relating to the decadence of the hero, such as his death in complete poverty.
In relation to other historical characters mentioned in the Spanish texts, that the
Spanish King and Queen and the Pinzón brothers are the most frequently mentioned.
It can also be observed that some iconographic representations of the Catholic mon-
archs appear in most of these textbooks. But in the case of the Mexican ones, the
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more frequent character mentioned is Americo Vespuccio, followed by Fernando

and Isabel.
2.2.3. Consequences
Generally, there seem to be two different models of representing the consequences
of Columbus’s arrival in America in 1492 in the textbooks analysed here: the “cul-
tural imposition approach” reflected in the Spanish textbooks and the “mixing
approach” in the Mexican ones.
The central idea of the cultural imposition approach is that the most important
consequences were the diffusion of the Spanish culture in America and its imposition
on indigenous cultures. As might be expected, this version appears only in the Span-
ish texts. However, it cannot be maintained that all indigenous culture manifestations
completely disappeared, but this is often the idea that tends to be transmitted in such
texts: traces of indigenous cultures would seem to have been effectively eliminated.
As was the case with the “discovery approach” discussed above, the subjects of this
official history are the same in the “imposition approach”: those men who discovered
a new continent or those who conquered and colonised the New World. It is a story
that has no place for American natives as active agents of this great and impressive
enterprise. Their “voices” are mostly neglected and rejected. They are simply denied
as if they have never existed. They are frequently only referred to as objects, using
expressions such as the “conquered territories”, the “colonized lands”, for example.
It is worth realising how these texts contain no information about the socio-economic,
cultural or political life of people living in America before Columbus’s arrival. This
is even more important if we think about the effects of the discovery, how indigenous
cultures were transformed by this cultural imposition. In one paragraph entitled “The
Hispanisation and Christianisation of the Indians”, we are told how native Americans
adopted not only the new techniques brought by the Spaniards, such as crops, tools
and animals, but “above all they [the Indians] adopted from Spain those elements
that would change their identity: its language and its religion” (Spanish textbook 4,
p. 233). The following are further examples of this: “Europeans spread their culture.
The language, form of administration, laws, art and religion of each mother country
were extended to the conquered territories” (Spanish textbook 3, p. 113). “Spain’s
colonial presence in America lasted more than 300 years, but her cultural bequest
remains to the present day. The nations that have arisen from the former colonies
speak Spanish, follow the Catholic religion and have many customs inherited from
Spain” (Spanish textbook 3, p. 144).
In the same way, in referring to the conquest and colonisation of America, there
is a tendency to stress the heroic nature of the actions carried out by a handful of
Spaniards in the great expanses of the new continent. Three Spanish texts contain
references to the small number of Spaniards in America compared to the number of
natives. This fact lends more credibility to the glorious nature of the conquest and
colonisation of the new world. The following are some examples:
By the mid-sixteenth century, in less than fifty years, a handful of Spaniards had
travelled the length of and colonized an entire continent. (Spanish textbook 2,
p. 144).
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After the discovery of America, the Spaniards began the enormous task of explor-
ing and colonising the continent. In less than fifty years, Spain conquered exten-
sive areas of North, Central and South America. (Spanish textbook 3, p. 144).

Once the Gran Conquista (Great Conquest) had been completed, around 1500,
the Spaniards began the painstaking task of colonisation. Over the next two and
a half centuries, a group, never very numerous, of Spaniards and descendants of
Spaniards would transform a large part of the American continent, converting it
into the basis of what is now Hispanoamerica. The Spaniards impose in America
their language, their religion, their techniques, their government, their way of
thinking. The great mass of natives, whom were always larger in number than
the Spanish, largely accepted this Spanish culture”. (Spanish textbook 4, p. 228)

The heroic suffering of the Spaniards is emphasised in Fig. 2. In this drawing

(Spanish textbook 4, p. 208) we can see how Spanish troops left by Columbus in “La
Española” were killed by the natives. The choice of this illustration is not extreme. It
reveals an implicit idea about the character of native people as savages and therefore
belonging to a very primitive culture.
In contrast, the other account identified by us emphasises the mixing of different
cultures. As might be expected, only the Mexican texts make reference to this idea.
In fact, in Spanish texts it is rarely mentioned that one of the most important conse-

Fig. 2. This engraving appears in the book by Décadas. It represents, in a quite primitive way, the story
of the fort called Natividad, which Columbus built on the island of La Española. When he returned on
his second voyage, Columbus found the fort burnt and destroyed, and the men he had left behind had
been killed. (Spanish textbook 4, p. 208).
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quences of these events was the mixing of very different cultures. The only reference
found in the Spanish texts alludes to blood mixing:

The American culture is an extension of the Spanish. Spanish and Indian blood
soon became mixed […] The race, language, religion and thought of Latin Amer-
ican society today is that left by Spanish culture as the inheritance of centuries
of common history (Spanish textbook 2, p. 144).

Thus, in the Spanish texts, we have “American culture is an extension of Spanish

culture” or “continent of Spanish language and culture”. We are left in no doubt that
the Indians, “adopted Spanish civilization”, as was the desire of the Spanish crown.
This Eurocentric vision opposes the Mexican one. In the latter one, far less impor-
tance is given to the encounter itself and much more to the mixture of different
cultural and racial elements, the consequence of which was the birth of new cultures.
The implication here is that the relationship between Spaniards and natives was two-
way. However, there is a tendency in the texts to overestimate the importance of this
phenomenon of mixing, if we consider that they often fail to mention the presence of
a considerable number of indigenous cultures, of approximately ten million native
people, that nowadays exist as ethnic minorities.
We found an implicit and sometimes explicit assessment of the consequences of
the discovery. On one hand, the Spanish textbooks highlight the positive nature of
the cultural imposition. On the other hand, the arrival of the Spaniards is considered
by the Mexican textbooks to be a tragedy or drama for the natives. Let us take
the following example where the negative consequences of the Spanish arrival are
very explicit:

The encounter between the two worlds was devastating for the inhabitants of the
New World. The Europeans appropriated the land and forced the natives to work
in mines, in construction and on their estates. They imposed their religion and a
new way of life. Where they were able to accuse them of rebellion or of rejecting
Christianity they felt justified in enslaving them. Moreover, the colonists brought
diseases such as measles, typhus, diphtheria and smallpox, against which the
indigenous people had no defenses. This led to the death of many “naturals” (as
they called the native people). In the first 25 years of the Spanish occupation, the
population of the Antilles almost disappeared. Spain and Portugal exploited the
resources of America; other European nations would later do the same (Mexican
textbook 1, p. 49).

This dramatic view can also be observed in the pictorial representation included
in the texts. Specifically, Fig. 3 appears in the Mexican textbook 2 (p. 151) reveals
how “the threatening dogs brought by Spaniards show their ferocity and violence”
towards the Indians. The choice of one illustration or drawing influences how the
textbooks transmit their message. Teaching history also teaches emotions and values.
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Fig. 3. The Spaniards brought ferocious dogs an Indian is being attacked by a Spanish soldier’s dog.
(Mexican textbook 2, p. 151).

3. Conclusions

The aim of this paper was to analyse the content of history textbooks from Mexico
and Spain. Both countries share a very important part of their history in the Modern
Era (1492–1789) since the “encounter” or “discovery of America”.
The analysis of the textbooks reveals differences between the two countries in
their historical approach. On the one hand, the Spanish textbooks share the concept
of the discovery of America, the heroic nature of the enterprise, the importance of
Columbus, and the idea of cultural imposition. The whole picture reveals that the
Spanish textbooks transmit the discoverers as the “good guys”. In a certain sense,
this means that Spanish culture, better and more advanced, was “superior” to that
of the natives’. The picture that Spanish textbooks offer agrees with the image of
Spain as a great empire where the sun never sets. We cannot forget that the discovery
of America was definitive, in allowing Spain to become one of the most influential
countries of the time. Thus, the approach offered in Spanish textbooks reinforces
the idea of being proud of their past in Spanish students.
The same relationships can be found between the past offered by the Mexican
textbooks and their influence in the conformation of the national identity. In the
Mexican case, the historical approach is based on the idea of encounter between two
worlds according to the mixing concept of cultures. We have said that the Mexican
textbooks tried to stress the bi-directionality of the encounter, that is, the similar
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status of the two worlds involved. It also seems to de-emphasise Columbus’s impor-
tance and consequently his intelligence and scientific knowledge. This approach
stresses the negative consequences of the Spanish arrival on the natives. Mexican
textbooks clearly take the natives’ side, while Spanish textbooks take the con-
queror’s side.
Can these two accounts be considered as the official and the unofficial histories?
We think that the two versions are the official history in each country, although this
issue is much more complex. Let us explain some previous concepts that will help
to explain the relationship between official and unofficial histories. In describing the
emergence of Mexico as a nation, two approaches can be found among Mexican
historians. On the one hand, the so-called indigenous approach states that Mexico
has always existed. On the other hand, the so-called Spanish approach states that
Mexico has only existed since the arrival of the Spaniards. These two approaches
have been taught alternately in different periods in Mexican history. After the Mex-
ican Revolution (1910–17) these two approaches become incompatible and the
indigenous version becomes the official history. From the 1940s to the 1970s, a more
conciliatory version of the past emerged that continues today. However, the indigen-
ous tendency is usually present in some way.
What we found in the analysis of the Mexican history textbooks is a “mixed”
version according to the conciliatory version of the 1970s. Perhaps, the case of Mex-
ico is similar to that of Estonia, where despite the existence of a clear and open
rejection to the official Soviet approach, the unofficial histories were based funda-
mentally in the official approaches (Tulviste & Wertsch, 1994). That is, the unofficial
approach or history contains various counter-arguments stated to refute the basic
point of the official history. In the case of Mexico, the history presented in the
textbooks, even though different, is not completely incompatible and alternative.
There is a tendency to refute some of the basic argument of the official history, such
as the very concept of discovery, the figure of the hero, etc. As a matter of fact, the
Spanish version can be considered as the official one that influenced the version
found in Mexican textbooks.
The so-called discovery of America is not a historical event directly connected to
the Mexican culture, taking into account that Columbus never set his foot in Mexican
land. Despite this, Mexico celebrates 12 October, the day of the discovery of Amer-
ica, and Columbus is represented in several statues. It is interesting to reflect how
Mexican textbooks will describe the colonisation period. The colonisation provokes
great emotional reactions among Mexican people. In this case Hernán Cortés, the
conqueror of Mexico, is so hated that not a single statue or other representation of
him exists. Further research is needed to convey these issues. In Spain, another
fascinating matter is that, in the last few years, official and unofficial historical
accounts about Columbus’s trips seem to be emerging, together with a re-visiting of
the role played by Fernando and Isabel in the discovery and in the formation of a
national unity. Currently, this only appears in the teaching materials of certain Span-
ish regions. It will also be interesting to see what historical approach will be adopted
by different Spanish communities, for example, in Catalonia and the Basque country
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in relation to these matters. These are some topics worthy of research in future
studies in both countries.

Acknowledgements

This research has been supported by two grants from the Ministry of Education and
Science of Spain (DGICYT-PB5-541A-2-640 and DGICYT-BS02000-0803), and by
a fellowship from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, both of them supervised
by Mario Carretero.

References

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Further reading

Braslavsky, C. (1991). Los libros de texto en su contexto: Argentina 1975–1989 [Textbooks in their
context: Argentina 1975–1989]. In M. Riekenberg (Ed.), Latinoamérica: Enseñanza de la historia,
libros de textos y conciencia histórica. Buenos Aires: Alianza
Carretero, M., López-Manjón, A., & Jacott, L. (1997). Explaining historical events. International Journal
of Educational Research, 27(3), 245–253.
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M. Carretero et al. / Learning and Instruction !! (2002) !!!–!!! 15

Carretero, M., & Voss, J. F. (Eds.). (1994). Cognitive and instructional processes in history and the social
sciences, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Halldén, O., (1986). Learning history. Oxford Review of Education 12, 53–66
Halldén, O., (1993). Learner’s conceptions of the subject matter being taught: A case from learning
history. International Journal of Educational Research 19, 317–325
Holt, T. (1990). Thinking historically: Narrative, imagination and understanding. New York: College
Entrance Examination Record.
Jacott, L., López-Manjón, A., & Carretero, M. (Eds.). (1998). Generating explanations in history (pp.
294–306). Voss, J.F., & Carretero, M. (Eds.), Learning and reasoning in history: international review
of history education, London: Woburn Press.
Ortega, J. A., (1989). La imagen de Cristóbal Colón en la historiografı́a mexicana. [Columbus’s image
in mexican historiography]. In L. Zea (Ed.), El descubrimiento de América y su sentido actual. [The
discovery of America and its present meaning]. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica
Riekenberg, M., (Ed.). (1991). Latinoamérica: Enseñanza de la historia, libros de textos y conciencia
histórica [Latin America: History teaching, textbooks and historical consciousness]. Buenos Aires:
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Vázquez, J., (1970). Nacionalismo y educación en México [Nationalism and education in Mexico]. Méx-
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Vázquez, J., (1991). Textos de historia al servicio del nacionalismo [History textbooks and nationalism].
In M. Riekenberg (Ed.), Latinoamérica: Enseñanza de la historia, libros de textos y conciencia his-
tórica. Buenos Aires: Alianza Editorial
Von Borries, B., (1991). Entre la pretensión histórico-universalista y la práctica etnocentrista: Latinoamér-
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aim and the ethnocentrist practice: Latino-America in the Federal Republic of Germany history text-
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histórica [Latino-America: History teaching, textbooks and historical consciousness]. Buenos Aires:
Alianza Editorial
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323–338). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.