Analysis of images of natural hazards in the school textbooks of Social Sciences (Spain). Catastrophism and territorial reality

Currently, the content on natural hazards has been attracting significant interest from the educational field due to the awareness-raising and training efforts carried out among the younger cohorts. The objective of this research is to analyze the images that are inserted in the school textbooks of Social Sciences (3rd cycle of Primary Education) that refer to natural hazards, the type of risk, the degree of catastrophism, and the territorial context to which they are assigned to explain these phenomena in Spain. Based on a review of the main publishers used in Spain (Anaya, Bromera, Santillana, SM, Vicens Vives), the results obtained show that, out of 640 images identified, most of them refer to droughts (38.2%) and floods (29.4%). Regarding the degree of catastrophism, 67.6% are presented with this purpose, and as for the territorial context, in the majority (79.4%) the geographical location is not known. In summary, risk education in the initial training stages is essential in the current climate change context for the formation of more informed and safer societies. However, the messages to be communicated must be based on scientific rigor.