CATCH-EyoU: Representation of the EU and Youth Active Citizenship in Educational Contexts: Cross-national Textbook Analysis

The data set contains the results of the quantitative and qualitative content analysis of local textbooks from different subjects (e.g. ESL, EFL, History, Social Sciences, Civic Education) at ISCED 3 level (upper secondary schools as well as vocational schools). Data collection was carried out using a specifically designed analytical grid (Ribeiro; Ferreira & Menezes, 2016). The grid was tested and applied by national research teams (Portugal, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Sweden) participating to Catch-EyoU project – each textbook analysis implied filling one grid. In total, 34 textbooks were analysed across the participating countries. All grids include excerpts of the textbooks (text or images, whenever legally possible). Quantitative analysis data and bibliographical metadata are also included.

Data collection and analysis was aimed at getting an overall picture of school texts, including the analysis of number of paragraphs, pages and exercises about topics such as the EU, active citizenship, intercultural awareness, political involvement.

Although textbook analysis is relatively common and there are other European projects that include it, the data analysis grid is original (and relatively innovative in the area) as it directly relates to the project topics.

The potential users can be other researchers who might be interested not only in the grid but also in the analysis itself, either to use it with other textbooks or compare it with existing research or with similar data collected in different countries; teachers might also find it useful to explore the analysis as a basis for their practice. Also other stakeholders may be interested in reanalyzing our data for comparative aims.