Senses and subtext: culture in the Education Curriculum

Author : Clara Rius-Covas, Ann E. Wilson-Daily, Maria Feliu-Torruella

Abstract :The Spanish Education Curriculum employs the term culture extensively and in multiple senses; it appears 238 times in Real Decreto 157/2022 (State Royal Decree). In Catalonia’s Curriculum for Basic Education (covering both Primary and Secondary schooling)—the focus of this study—the term appears 855 times. The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy, RAE, 2014) and the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (Institute of Catalan Studies, IEC, 2024) identify three principal senses of culture: “cultivation,” “knowledge derived from study and intellect,” and “the set of values, traditions, knowledge, and heritage belonging to a community.” Additionally, each institution recognizes a distinct, non-overlapping sense: religious worship (RAE, 2014) and mass culture (DIEC2; IEC, 2024). The persistence of this construct renders its examination significant and suggests the emergence of meanings—or nuances—that extend beyond these institutional definitions. Accordingly, a preliminary hypothesis is advanced: alternative uses of culture may obscure specific representations, potentially aligned with ideological bias. As culture functions as a category central to the formation of intersecting identities, it is essential to analyze not only its meanings but also the contexts and subtexts in which it operates. These dimensions are critical for a reflective understanding of both the curriculum and the broader socio-educational landscape in Spain, as well as for the field of Social Sciences Education and, more broadly, across other educational areas. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach designed to enable a systematic, comprehensive, and critical analysis of meanings. This approach also seeks to develop an analytical framework transferable to curricula from other autonomous communities and states, as well as to comparable educational texts and contexts To this end, the research employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to uncover the meanings of culture embedded within the Curriculum of Catalonia and to examine how these meanings may shape conceptualizations, understandings, and pedagogical practices surrounding the notion of culture. Preliminary findings lend support to the general hypothesis. The variability of uses is confirmed, alongside the emergence of non-traditional categories of meaning that conceal alternative representations. Among these emergent significations are notions such as national or ethnic origin, access to specific cultural referents or forms of knowledge and memory, and social markers of difference. Ultimately, the research proposes a critical and transferable analytical framework for interpreting both the explicit and implicit senses of culture—its uses and concealments—as a lens through which to interrogate the political-educational context and its didactic and socio-emotional implications. This framework aims to inform future curricular reforms and educational guidelines or decrees

Keywords :culture meanings, curriculum analysis, Catalonia, CDA, ideology, identity

Conference Name :International Conference on Current Issues in Education (IC-CIE - 25)

Conference Place Amsterdam,Netherlands

Conference Date 2nd Dec 2025