Democratic values and tolerance: methodology of anti-discrimination expertise at history textbooks

Abstract

This article related to the problem of anti-discriminatory examination of the history school textbooks. It suggests an examination methodology that was developed on the basis of UNESCO Guidebook on Textbook Research and Textbook Revision as well as author's approaches. Proposed methodology takes into account international legal acts in the field of human rights such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, and Declaration of the Rights of the Child etc. The methodology concerns the follow dimensions of anti-discriminatory examination: ethnic prejudices and stereotypes, gender equality, religious tolerance, xenophobia, chauvinism, racism, ageism, adultism, lookism, ableism, discrimination and mental mapping, using sensitive language. The set of analytical instruments offered in the article includes quantitative and qualitative methods of analyzing the text of history manuals. The article analyzes such quantitative methods as content analysis of the frequency of mentioning historical events, figures and terms and analysis of the text volume devoted to a particular topic. The major qualitative methods are discourse analysis, linguistic analysis and contextual analysis.Examination of  history textbooks also involves the follow directions of activity: identifying whether the history of non-dominant groups’ movements for the social emancipation  reflected on the sufficient level; do the manuals use the multi-perspective approaches of teaching history (entangled history); do the textbooks use the transcultural approach to the interpreting as well as presenting of social identity; do they use the humane approach to illumination the manifestations of mass violence in different historical epochs; do they suggest critical interpretation of discriminatory rhetoric and social prejudices etc.