The battle for the narrative of democratic historical memory in the educational system: when history hides the past

Abstract

This article presents the results of research on the knowledge that young people who have completed secondary education in Spain currently have about the repression of the Civil War, Franco's repression and the anti-Franco struggle. A mixed methodology has been used, triangulating qualitative (interviews and discussion groups) and quantitative (questionnaire) instruments. The results show that these issues are not always dealt with or are glossed over, and that the contents developed in textbooks and curricular materials still maintain silences, distorted or equidistant versions and deliberate concealments. It is concluded that it is necessary to dispute the account of a democratic historical memory in a rigorous and extensive way in the school curriculum in the face of pressure from the ultra-right in its current “cultural battle” against memory and to help rebuild a counter-hegemonic curriculum, which takes into account the victims who have been left on the margins of history, so that “their name is not erased from the memory” of future generations.

Keywords: Democratic Historical Memory; History of Spain; School Curriculum; Educational System; History Teaching.