What do our future teachers think about terrorism and politically motivated violence in the Basque Country?

Abstract

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna—Basque Country and Freedom (ETA) was an armed organisation from the Basque Country and after it declared that it would cease violent actions and subsequently disbanded, the Basque Country has been involved in a peace process. The Adi-adian programme that is part of this process has been implemented as a part of teacher training programmes. By means of a mixed model that combines both qualitative and quantitative elements, the present study has attempted to identify the attitudes of future teachers—prior to implementation of Adi-adian—regarding terrorism and politically motivated violence that occurred in and from the Basque country since 1960, the information they have received with respect thereto, and their opinions as to how the issues are dealt with in the classroom. The results obtained reveal a generally respectful attitude toward human rights and the delegitimisation of violence; lack of satisfaction regarding the information they have received throughout their lives; and, as future teachers, a lack of certainty as to how to approach such issues in the classroom. It was noted that these future teachers had a high degree of motivation and interest with respect to these matters.