Visual Materials and Modernisation of Geography Education in Socialist Romania
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| Title: | Visual Materials and Modernisation of Geography Education in Socialist Romania |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Oana-Ramona Ilovan (ORCID |
| Source: | Romanian Review of Geographical Education. 2025 14(2):5-20. |
| Availability: | Romanian Review of Geographical Education. e-mail: didacticageografiei@yahoo.com; Web site: http://rrge.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 16 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Foreign Countries, Geography Instruction, Educational History, Propaganda, Textbook Evaluation, Textbook Content, Social Systems, Patriotism, Maps, Accuracy, Place Based Education, Visual Aids, Films |
| Geographic Terms: | Romania |
| ISSN: | 2285-939X |
| Abstract: | In this study, we presented and discussed how teachers were advised to teach geography, using images, during socialism in Romania (1948-1989). Besides geographical knowledge, geography classes were supposed to also transmit other types of knowledge, because the scientific canon of geography in socialist Romania was shaped through politicised education. Our aim was to show how geography education and geography textbooks were infused with propaganda, in particular to produce a coherent and impactful official visual discourse through spatial representations of territorial development under socialism. We analysed several didactics of geography from the socialist period and school textbooks for teaching geography. Critical visual methodology and the discourse analysis method were employed. Results showed that didactic advice for teachers aimed to shape students' socialist consciousness. This was to be developed starting from patriotism and a positivist approach to geographical space: visual representations were "telling the truth" about the socialist reality. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1507700 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | In this study, we presented and discussed how teachers were advised to teach geography, using images, during socialism in Romania (1948-1989). Besides geographical knowledge, geography classes were supposed to also transmit other types of knowledge, because the scientific canon of geography in socialist Romania was shaped through politicised education. Our aim was to show how geography education and geography textbooks were infused with propaganda, in particular to produce a coherent and impactful official visual discourse through spatial representations of territorial development under socialism. We analysed several didactics of geography from the socialist period and school textbooks for teaching geography. Critical visual methodology and the discourse analysis method were employed. Results showed that didactic advice for teachers aimed to shape students' socialist consciousness. This was to be developed starting from patriotism and a positivist approach to geographical space: visual representations were "telling the truth" about the socialist reality. |
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| ISSN: | 2285-939X |
