(Re)Imagining the Responsible, National Citizen

Analysis of Moroccan Citizenship Education Textbooks

Authors

  • Hajar Idrissi Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0352-8612
  • Youssef Benabderrazik Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/tci.v17i1.192679

Abstract

Citizenship education in compulsory schooling plays a critical role in the level of engagement and abilities of young people to assume basic civic roles. Both internationally and nationally, there are increasing calls to reconsider the dominant approaches to citizenship education in order to address the pressing needs of the interdependent and interconnected 21st century global world. This paper analyzes citizenship education in the context of Morocco, considering whether, how and to what extent citizenship education in Morocco’s primary school social studies curriculum addresses themes of human rights; democracy and civic participation; and national and global citizenship. Qualitative data is generated from a sample of 4th, 5th and 6th grade social studies textbooks targeting students aged 9-12. The results indicate that citizenship education offers rather limited content and activities for students to improve their competencies for global learning, political literacy, respect for diversity, and critical thinking, suggesting the challenge in (re)imagining the construction of the predominant responsible, national Moroccan citizen. Keywords: Social studies textbooks, Education for citizenship, Human rights, Global citizenship, Morocco.

Author Biographies

Hajar Idrissi, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco

Hajar Idrissi prepares a jointly supervised PhD in Education and Human Development Studies from Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco and the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, the George Washington University, USA. She has been a visiting doctoral student at the Institute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Estonia. Her main research interests focus on citizenship education policy trends; global citizenship education; curriculum and instruction; sustainable development; discourse analysis.

Youssef Benabderrazik, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco

Professor at Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, Fes-Sais, Laboratory of Discourse, Creativity and Society: Perception and Implications, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco. Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_allsubj=all&as_sauthors=%22Benabderrazik%2C+Youssef%22&as_q=

References

Abdi, A. (2014). Critical global citizenship in K–12 classrooms. In: Montemurro D, Gambhir M and Evans M, et al. (eds) Inquiry into Practice: Learning and Teaching Global Matters in Local Classrooms.

Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: The New Industrial Revolution (p. 257).

Appiah, K. A. (2010). The ethics of identity. Princeton University Press.

Banks, J. A. (2007). Diversity and citizenship education: Global perspectives. Jossey-Bass, An Imprint of Wiley. 10475 Crosspoint Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46256.

Banks, J. A. (2017). Citizenship education and global migration: Implications for theory, research, and teaching. American Educational Research Association.

Barr, R. D., Barth, J. L., & Shermis, S. S. (1977). Defining the social studies (No. 51). Arlington, VA: National Council for the Social Studies.

Bauböck, R. (2001). Recombinant citizenship. In Kohli, M & Woodward, A.(eds) Inclusions and Exclusions in European Societies. London: Routledge; 38-58.

Billig, S. H. (2010). Why service learning is such a good idea. Colleagues, 5(1), 6.

Bogren, A. (2010). Studying social power in textual data: Combining tools for analyzing meaning and positioning. Critical Discourse Studies, 7(1), 73-84.

Branson, M. (2003). The Importance of Promoting Civic Education. California: The Centre for Civic Education.

Care, E., Vista, A., & Kim, H. (2018). Assessment of transversal competencies: potential of resources in the Asian region. Paris and Bangkok: UNESCO.

Case, R., & Clark, P. (Eds.). (1999). The Canadian anthology of social studies: Issues and strategies for teachers. Pacific Educational Press.

Cogan, J., & Derricott, R. (Eds.). (2014). Citizenship for the 21st century: An international perspective on education. Routledge.

Cohen A. A. (2010). Theoretical Model of Four Conceptions of Civic Education. Canadian Social Studies ;44(1):17-28.

Crismore, A. (1989). Rhetorical Form, Selection, and Use of Textbooks. Technical Report No. 454.

El Ouazzani, A. Mellouk, M. Zouiten, M. Idrissi, H, M. and Aki, C. (2010). Education et changement socio culturels au Maroc : La Cohesion social par l’education à la citoyenneté. In Tawil,S., Akkari,A., Azami,B. (Eds.). Education, diversité et cohésion sociale en Méditerranée occidentale (PP : 219-270). Rabat: UNESCO.

Engel, LC. (2014). Global citizenship and national (re) formations: Analysis of citizenship education reform in Spain. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice; 9(3):239-54.

Ercikan, K., & Oliveri, M. E. (2016). In search of validity evidence in support of the interpretation and use of assessments of complex constructs: Discussion of research on assessing 21st century skills. Applied Measurement in Education, 29(4), 310-318.

Faas, D. (2011). The Nation, Europe, and Migration: A comparison of geography, history, and citizenship education curricula in Greece, Germany, and England. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43(4), 471-492.

Faour, M. A. (2013a). Review of citizenship education in Arab nations. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Faour, M. (2013b). The education of future citizens. Key challenges facing Arab countries. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Green, A. (1990). Education and State Formation: The Rise of Education Systems in England, France and the USA. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Heater, D. (1990). Citizenship. Harlow: Longman.

Heater, D. (2004). Citizenship: The civic ideal in world history, politics and education. Manchester University Press.

Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative health research, 15(9), 1277-1288.

Jackson, L. (2014). Under construction: The development of multicultural curriculum in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 23(4), 885-893.

Kymlicka W, Norman W. (1994). Return of the citizen: A survey of recent work on citizenship theory. Ethics ;104(2):352-81.

Martorella, P H. (1996). Teaching social studies in middle and secondary schools. New Jersey: Merrill/Prentice-Hall.

McFarland, D. A., & Thomas, R. J. (2006). Bowling young: How youth voluntary associations influence adult political participation. American sociological review, 71(3), 401-425.

McLaughlin, TH. (1992). Citizenship, diversity and education: A philosophical perspective. Journal of moral education ;21(3) :235-50.

Milton, P. (2015). Shifting minds 3.0: Redefining the learning landscape in Canada. C21 Canada, 20.

Montgomery, K. (2005). Banal race‐thinking: Ties of blood, Canadian history textbooks and ethnic nationalism. Paedagogica Historica; 41(3):313-36.

Nasser R, Nasser, I. (2008). Textbooks as a vehicle for segregation and domination: State efforts to shape Palestinian Israelis’ identities as citizens. Journal of Curriculum Studies; 40(5):627-50.

Nelson, J. L. (2001). Defining social studies. Critical issues in social studies research for the 21st century, 1, 15-38.

Nussbaum, M. (1997). Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Osanloo, A. F. (2009). Civic responsibility and human rights education: a pan‐educational alliance for social justice. Intercultural Education; 20(2), 151-159.

Osler, A., &Vincent, K. (2002). Citizenship and the Challenge of Global Education. Stoke on-Trent: Trentham.

Osler, A., & Starkey, H. (2005). Changing citizenship. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Perveen, M., & Awan, A. S. (2017). Analysis of Curriculum about Political Literacy as Dimension of Citizenship Education. Bulletin of Education and Research, 39(1), 187-202.

Phillips, L. (1998). The third wave of modernization in Latin America: cultural perspectives on neoliberalism (No. 16). Rowman & Littlefield.

Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon and schuster.

Rizvi, F. (2009). Towards cosmopolitan learning. Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education; 30(3):253-68.

Saavedra, A. R., & Opfer, V. D. (2012). Teaching and learning 21st century skills: Lessons from the learning sciences. A Global Cities Education Network Report. New York, Asia Society.

Sanae, F. (2016). Citizenship education in Moroccan schools: The case of the Academy of Rabat, Salé, Zemmour, Zaïr.

Schleicher, A. (Ed.). (2012). Preparing Teachers and Developing School Leaders for the 21st Century: Lessons from around the World, OECD Publishing. 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264174559-en.

Schmidt, E., & Cohen, J. (2013). The new digital age: Reshaping the future of people, nations and business. Hachette UK.

Sinclair, M. & Bernard, J. (2016). Learning to live together: How can we incorporate these cross-cutting issues into book development policy for schools? PEIC and Spectacle Learning Media. 2016.

Stanley, W. B. (Ed.). (2001). Critical issues in social studies research for the 21st century. IAP.

Tedesco, J. C., Opertti, R., & Amadio, M. (2014). The curriculum debate: Why it is important today. Prospects, 44(4), 527-546.

The National Education and Training Charter. (2000). Ministère de l’éducation nationale, de l’enseignement supérieur, de la formation de cadres et de la recherche scientifique.

Tibbitts, F., & Fernekes, W. R. (2011). Human rights education. Teaching and studying social issues: Major programs and approaches, 87-118.

UNESCO. (2014). Global Citizenship Education: Preparing Learners for the Challenges of the 21st Century. Paris: UNESCO. Available http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002277/227729E.pdf

UNESCO. (2015). Sustainable Development Goals: 17 Goals to Transform our World.http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/. Paris, France: UNESCO.

UNDP. (2007). Human Development Report. Brasilia.

Westheimer, J.and Kahne, J. (2004). What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American Educational Research Journal; 41(2): 1-17.

Westheimer, J. (2009). Should social studies be patriotic? Social Education. 2009; 73(7):316-20.

Whitlock, AM & Fox, K. (2014). One Hen: Using Children’s Literature in Project-Based Learning. Social Studies and the Young Learner; 26(4):26-9.

Willemse TM, ten Dam G, Geijsel F, van Wessum L, Volman M. (2015). Fostering teachers' professional development for citizenship education. Teaching and teacher education; 49:118-27.

World Bank. (2008). Un parcours non encore achevé : la réforme de l’éducation au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique du Nord, Rapport sur le développement de la région MENA, Résumé analytique. Washington DC.

Zafer KU, Tarhan, Ö. (2016). Political education in social studies classrooms: a perspective from Turkey. Eğitimde kuram ve uygulama;12(3):464-83.

Zaff, J. F., Moore, K. A., Papillo, A. R., & Williams, S. (2003). Implications of extracurricular activity participation during adolescence on positive outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18(6), 599-630.

Downloads

Published

2020-08-11

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 1 (2020): Curriculum and Displaced Borders

Section

Articles

License

Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to TCI. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to be used, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.