O potencial dos manuais de história na prevenção da ascensão da extrema direita = The potential of history textbooks in preventing the rise of the far right

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore the potential of Portuguese history textbooks to prevent the rise of the far right, focusing on the importance of critical and contextual history teaching, especially in times of political instability. Using a qualitative content analysis methodology, the study begins by briefly analysing the Portuguese curriculum and, in more detail, the presence of content on far-right movements in school textbooks, focusing on how this content can be exploited to develop students' critical thinking. The research also included interviews with some of the authors of the textbooks analysed, who emphasise the need to approach these themes in a cross-curricular and interdisciplinary way, integrating them with citizenship education, reinforcing the idea that History, when taught well, can form critical and aware citizens capable of resisting the rise of extremist movements.