Abstract
This chapter examines the attitude to the Self and the Other, and the interaction between them within the overall Tunisian national identity as reflected in Tunisian textbooks. The basis for this study has been provided by 64 textbooks of various subjects for grades 1–13, nearly all published in 2007, that is, more than 3 years before the popular uprising and change in Tunisia’s regime in late 2010. The books were examined within a larger research operation done mostly by the author during the years 2000–2010, analysing the attitude to the Other and to peace in nearly 1500 textbooks of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran, besides Tunisia itself, which provided a broad basis for comparison between the various curricula in this respect. The main thesis of this chapter is that the pre-revolutionary Tunisian textbooks (as well as their post-revolutionary counterparts up to the 2013/2014 school year) have adopted a special attitude to the Other not encountered in other Middle Eastern textbooks, including those of Israel. In order to substantiate this thesis, limited references to non-Tunisian textbooks will be made here by way of comparison only, as the present chapter does not claim to discuss other curricula specifically.
Notes
- 1.
This research was conducted at the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE, formerly known as the Center for Monitoring the Impact of Peace—CMIP).
- 2.
For example, UNESCO Recommendations concerning Education for International Understanding, Cooperation and Peace, and Education relating to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the General Conference at its eighteenth session, Paris, November 19, 1974, Articles IV 7, V 14; Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, proclaimed and signed by Member States of UNESCO on November 16, 1995, Articles 4, 5; Declaration of the Forty-Fourth Session of the International Conference on Education, Geneva, October 1994, endorsed by the General Conference of UNESCO at its twenty-eighth session, Paris, November 1995; Integrated Framework of Action on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy, approved by the General Conference of UNESCO at its twenty-eighth session, Paris, November 1995, Articles 6, 9, 16, 17, 18.
- 3.
The statistics in this chapter, except when otherwise stated, have been taken from “School Statistics for the 2012/2013 School Year” by the Tunisian Ministry of Education http://www.education.gov.tn/article_education/statistiques/stat_education2013_ar.pdf (Arabic).
- 4.
Press report on November 9, 2011, http://arabnet5.com/news.asp?c=2&id=117981. (Arabic).
- 5.
- 6.
- 7.
Philosophy, Grade 13 [Humanities] Part 1: 192 (undated). Compare this approach to the one found in Saudi Arabian textbooks that persuade students not to have friendly relations with non-Muslims (Monotheism, Hadith, [Islamic] Jurisprudence and [Koran] Recitation Grade 5, Part, 2001: 14) and not even visit foreign countries, so that their Islamic belief would not be corrupted (National Education Grade 9, 2000: 43–44).
- 8.
The lessons are found in Islamic Education Grade 9, 2007: 16–32; and see another example in Islamic Thinking Grade 13 [Humanities], 2007: 68.
- 9.
Compare Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 9: 84 (undated); History Grade 13 [Humanities], 2007: 326.
- 10.
See the story “My Friend Marcel” in Reader Grade 2, 2007: 27–28 and the exercise on p. 35, and similar cases in Writing [Exercises] Grade 5, 2007: 173; Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 5, 2007: 159; Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 6, 2007: 175.
- 11.
Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 9: 89. Other such maps can be found in History Grade 13 [Humanities], 2007: 341, 349.
- 12.
[Literary] Texts Grade 7: 158 (undated).
- 13.
Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 9: 90; History, Grade 13 [Humanities], 2007: 355, 354, respectively.
- 14.
“The Zionist Entity”, History Grade 12 [Sciences], 2007: 270–273, “the State of Israel”, ibid: 274.
- 15.
Document No. 20, History Grade 12 [Sciences], 2007: 207. This statement is not included in any Palestinian Authority textbook.
Textbooks Cited
Reader. Grade 2. 2007.
Writing [Exercises]. Grade 5. 2007.
Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 5. 2007.
, ——— Grade 6. 2007.
[Literary] Texts. Grade 7, undated.
Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 7. 2007.
[Literary] Texts. Grade 9. 2007.
Islamic Education. Grade 9. 2007.
Social Sciences: History, Geography, Civics Grade 9, undated.
Literary Horizons. Grade 10, undated.
Literature. Grade 11, Part 2. 2007.
History. Grade 11 [Humanities], undated.
History Grade 11. [Sciences]. 2007.
[Literary] Texts. Grade 12 [Humanities]. 2006.
History. Grade 12 [Sciences]. 2007.
[Literary] Texts. Grade 13 [Sciences], undated.
Islamic Thinking. Grade 13 [Humanities]. 2007.
History. Grade 13 [Humanities]. 2007.
Philosophy. Grade 13 [Humanities], Part 1, undated.
National Education: Egypt and its Role in Civilization. Grade 9. 2002.
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Ministry of Education. n.d. School Statistics for the 2012/2013 School Year. Tunisia. Accessed 9 September 2016. http://www.education.gov.tn/article_education/statistiques/stat_education2013_ar.pdf [Arabic].
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Groiss, A. (2018). Self-Identity and Others in Tunisian Textbooks. In: Podeh, E., Alayan, S. (eds) Multiple Alterities. Palgrave Studies in Educational Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62244-6_10
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