Los Conocimientos Históricos en el Currículo de Educación Primaria: una comparativa entre España, Italia y Portugal

This is a transnational comparative study of how history is approached in primary school curricula in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. This is the first comparison to date of the curricula of these three neighbouring countries. Despite what one might expect given that these countries share the same linguistic and cultural roots and have evolved similarly in terms of educational reforms, primary school history lessons have been approached in very different ways. This paper aims to set the context for and characterise history taught in the three countries and compares and contrasts similarities and especially thematic differences among them. It also analyses some countries’ predilection for a specific historical period, why each country chooses to cover certain topics and not others and draws attention to the fact that they have not kept up with the most recent historiographical trends. This comparative analysis, based on legislation and a review of the bibliographic literature analysing curricula, sheds light on why some school curricula are more successful than others when it comes to teaching history in primary school.