Journal of Danubian Studies and Research, Vol 7, No 2 (2017)

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing how the European integration is presented to the students; how it is understood, made familiar and concretized in the educational system in Albania, particularly curricula and textbooks. It focuses on the narrative of the European integration since its inception to the present, set in a wider context of the post-war period. It includes the examination of the politics and the institutions of the European Union, on the basis of a balanced coverage of the strengths and the weaknesses of the European integration. Also, the paper concentrates on the economic, political and social aspects of the European cooperation. The method of content analysis is used to give a more vivid and multidimensional picture of the object of the research. It is complemented with the analysis of the visual materials. The content, the processes, the visual images, the transformations and the structures of the European integration are examined based on the qualitative and quantitative method. The paper demonstrates even the linkage between the European Union and the national identity. Moreover, it analyzes the processes and the challenges of Albania’s integration into the European Union, as presented in the curricula and textbooks for secondary education.