Terrorism and politically motivated violence in the recent history of the Basque Country. Descriptive study of what teachers in training know

ABSTRACT

Ever since ETA declared that it would no longer carry out acts of violence, the Basque Country has been involved in a peace process. As part of this process, the Basque government has promoted – through its Adi-adian Educational Module – the experience of listening to victims’ testimonies in order to inform young persons about an important chapter of our recent history. Reflecting an awareness of the importance of addressing socially relevant topics, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) began to implement the Adi-adian model in a number of its bachelor’s and master’s degrees in teacher training. With a view towards improving the implementation of Adi-adian, a statistical-descriptive study was carried out with a quantitative methodological approach. Using a 25-item questionnaire, the purpose was to measure knowledge of recent historical events, determine the sources of information concerning those events, and gauge the satisfaction of participants as regards the information that they have received about the violent episodes of their recent history. The statistical analysis of the data obtained in this study was conducted using the SPSS Statistics 27 software. Generally speaking, the participating students were found to possess an average to low knowledge of the events that took place during the recent history of the Basque Country. As for the sources of information cited, the family, the media and the school are the most frequently mentioned, while respondents express a generalised dissatisfaction with the information received in this regard.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizenship education
• controversial issues
• human rights
• terrorism
• political violence

Acknowledgements

This project has received financial support from the office of the Vice Rector for Innovation, Social Outreach and Cultural Activities of the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) via the Educational Innovation Project Memory and Coexistence (HBP2019-20/102); from the Vice-Rectorate for Basque Language and Continuing Education of the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) (PIC INVEC3L4-D00024-1); and from the Basque Government, via the Research Group GIPyPAC, UPV/EHU (IT1442-22), the Department of Peace and Coexistence of the Basque Government (OTRI-EHU2023.0268).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Some of the reports made about violations of Human Rights may be viewed at the following link from the Basque government: https://www.euskadi.eus/documentos-paz-convivencia/web01-s1lehbak/es/

2. Information on the proposal can be accessed at the following link from the Basque Government: https://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/-/modulo-adi-adian/

3. The controversy raised can be followed at the following link from the Basque Government: https://www.irekia.euskadi.eus/es/search/1305631?sort=date; see also some current media coverage (Hernández, J.J., 2023; Noticias Taldea Multimedia, 2023; Segovia, 2023)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leire Albás

Leire Albás After earning a degree in Primary Education, she completed additional work on Educational Innovation Projects at the University of the Basque Country (2018) and obtained a Master’s degree in Psychodidactics: Educational Psychology and Specific Instruction Methods from the University of the Basque Country (2019). She is currently a doctoral student in the programme Psychodidactics: Educational Psychology and Specific Instruction Methods at the University of the Basque Country, as well as a member of the Educational Innovation Project “Memory and coexistence: How politically motivated violence is presented in Basque Country classrooms. Analysis of the implementation and proposals for adaptation of the Adi adian in Social Sciences courses during the initial stages of teacher training” (HBP2019-20/102), where she is developing her doctoral research on the evaluation of the Adi-adian educational programme. Her PhD dissertation is titled “Learning models in digital environments at public schools” (PID2019-106539RB-I00). She is a member of the Research Group in Heritage and Cultural Landscapes (GIPyPAC) at UPV/EHU and the Network 14: Research network in the field of Social Sciences Education. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7240-9978

Naiara Vicent

Naiara Vicent earned a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in 2000, a Post Graduate Degree in Museums and Education in 2001, and a Graduate Diploma in Archaeology in 2003 —the latter two from the University of Barcelona. Her work experience has been linked simultaneously to the archaeology and heritage industry and the education sector, and involves her participation in several education projects related to the teaching of history and archaeology. A highlight of her career is her work as a technical officer and educator at the Art and History Museum of Zarautz, where she is completing a PhD dissertation on the evaluation of a learning programme using mobile technology within the heritage context. She is currently a professor of Social Sciences Education in the UPV/EHU and a member of the Research Group in Heritage and Cultural Landscapes (GIPyPAC) at UPV/EHU, Network 14: Research network in the field of Social Sciences Education, and the Spanish Heritage Education Observatory (SHEO). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2678-0098

Iratxe Gillate

Iratxe Gillate She holds a degree in Geography and History, and a PhD in Psychodidactics: Educational Psychology and Specific Instruction Methods. She is a Professor at the department of Mathematics and Experimental and Social Sciences Education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and a member of the Research Group in Heritage and Cultural Landscapes (GIPyPAC) at UPV/EHU, Network 14: Research network in the field of Social Sciences Education, and the Spanish Heritage Education Observatory (SHEO). Her research areas are Cultural Heritage Education and History Education, both from a gender perspective. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6449-1804

Alex Ibañez-Etxeberria

Álex Ibáñez-Etxeberria With a degree in Geography and History and a PhD in Educational Science, he works as an Professor of Social Sciences Education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). A specialist in Cultural Heritage Education, he has supervised 11 doctoral dissertations in this area. He is a member of the Research Group in Heritage and Cultural Landscapes (GIPyPAC) at UPV/EHU, where he coordinates the education section. As well as being Lead Researcher of Network 14: Research network in the field of Social Sciences Education (a group that coordinates the activities of ten research teams in the area of history teaching in nine different Spanish universities. He has been a research and teaching resident at the Autonomous University of Madrid, UNAE (Ecuador), the Autonomous University of Yucatan (Mexico) and at universities in Valladolid, Bologna, and Porto. He is also a member of the Spanish Cultural Heritage Education Observatory (SHEO). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9495-5155