An Analysis of Competence Development in Portuguese Geography Textbooks

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present certain results of my doctoral research,
concerning the application of “Competence Pedagogy” in the teaching of
geography in Portugal, particularly an analysis of Portuguese geography
textbooks in order to improve our understanding of how they incorporate, or do
not incorporate, this new pedagogical approach. It presents, therefore, a
theoretical introduction to these issues, a description of the research
methodology based on a typology of textbook analysis from a Portuguese
research project – “Textbooks, E-textbooks and Students Activities”. Databases
constructed in FileMaker for textbook analysis are described and examined
through content analysis and statistical analyses. Finally, some implications of
the research results are presented. This article also seeks to stimulate the debate
about pedagogic approaches in geography textbooks, to describe and evaluate
the current situation in Portuguese geography textbooks, and specially to
stimulate the international debate about curricula directed at competence
development in geography teaching.