Curriculum, citizenship and racism: a reading of the national curriculum texts

Abstract

Due to its parasitic and systemic condition, racism permeates different spaces and social spheres, namely the school. In fact, different international examples have revealed the perpetuation of ethnic, cultural and racial inequalities, also through the educational systems and their curricular and organizational options. Following these concerns, the present research aims at identifying and understanding the way in which the national curriculum for Basic Education contemplates issues related to racism and its manifestations. From the documental analysis of the Portuguese curricular texts of the curricular components linked to Social Studies, three key ideas already stand out. First of all, as an example of an education involved in the citizen and anti-racist education, the presence of different knowledge associated to the identity plurality and to the cultural diversity is noticed, although with reduced expression. As a second aspect, certain absences are detected - such as eurocentrism, awareness of social inequalities and discussion of racism - which, at least in part, seem to weaken the potential of these artefacts regarding the disclosure of the phenomenon and its multiple characteristics. Finally, despite occasional nuances, the same curricular texts are predominantly monochromatic, with a prevalence of the western cultural heritage.