Environmental Paucity and Anthropocentrism in Textbooks on the Occupation of Araucanía, and a Solution from the Fields of Environmental History and Environmental Education

Abstract

There will be no progress in the interculturality of textbooks associated with the topic of the military occupation of the Araucanía region if attention is only paid to political or social matters. The environment should also be included. This study provides an environmental analysis of secondary education textbooks that cover this content on the history of Chile. A mixed research strategy and a multiple research design were employed. The sample was composed of eight textbooks used in the secondary school subject of History and Geography from 2008 to 2021. The data were subjected to a quantitative content analysis and a documentary analysis. The results show that there is only limited representation of biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as a lack of didactic activities that foster environmentally friendly behavior and attitudes among students. More importantly, the environment is addressed from an anthropocentric perspective, which does not consider the biocentric environmental relationship that tends to characterize aboriginal peoples and, in this case, the Mapuche people. A more effective link with the tenets of environmental history and environmental education could correct these biases. This would foster methodologies that are more focused on human diversity, the role of the environment in human history would be highlighted, and the content of textbooks would be aligned with the sustainability that is required in the modern world.