Research theory and methodology on textbooks: Didactic analysis of activities, pictures and digital resources in social sciences education

Didactic materials in any format, especially Social Sciences textbooks-Geography and History-, have been historically constituted as a central resource in the classroom for this discipline. In this study we propose its theoretical evolution as a research problem in Social Sciences (in the Spanish context) in terms of content, use and diffusion, to propose a methodology of textbooks analysis based on the study of activities and pictures linked to the cognitive complexity demanded in them. The conclusions insist on the role of textbooks as a central component of school culture in Spain and Ibero-America that requires a specific research methodology for its necessary transformation into a useful element for teaching.