CLASSIFICATION OF REGIONAL AND THEMATIC APPROACHES IN SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE

Regional and thematic approaches are two basic approaches in geography, and they are found in many combinations and variants in textbooks. An extensive analysis of textbook approaches showed that a detailed classification of these approaches does not currently exist. The main purpose of this study was to fill this gap with the first attempt at a detailed classification of all possible approaches in European textbooks devoted in part or in full to examining the geography of Europe. To this end, it was also necessary to review the terminology and redefine some concepts. The study is based on an analysis of 450 textbooks from twenty-eight European countries using the method of content analysis. It resulted in four classification schemes: a scheme for geography in textbooks in general, and schemes for three approaches used in exploring the regional geography of Europe. Any European textbook covering the geography of Europe can be classified using these schemes.