Date of Award

2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

School of Education

Abstract

This study uses qualitative content analysis to compare fifth grade social studies textbooks in Mexico and the United States to provide insight on how messages of national identity change as students migrate between school systems. The following research questions will guide the analysis: Given that one of the roles of textbooks is to form a national consciousness through mythmaking, how do messages of national identity conveyed in Mexican and U.S. textbooks conflict? How are the topics of immigration and citizenship presented in each nation's textbooks? In what ways do differences in the accounts of history between Mexico and the United States reflect the political agenda of each nation? How do heroes presented in textbooks differ in Mexico and the United States? How will messages of national identity change when students migrate across the Mexico-U.S. border, and how might this affect their national consciousness? The Mexican textbook sample includes the most current series published by the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP). The U.S. textbook sample includes the publishers most widely adopted by U.S. public schools. The purpose of analyzing this material is to determine how identity formation differs in each nation in order to draw inferences about the experience of transnational students.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS