Dominant Traditions in International Textbook Research and Revision

Abstract

History textbooks have been a ubiquitous feature of educational practice in schools systems across the world for many centuries. Textbooks, however, do not stand as neutral entities espousing agreed or accepted “historical truths.” To the contrary, textbooks appear as powerful cultural artefacts because they contain the ideas, values, and knowledge that influential elements in society expect students to know and embrace. As Apple (1993: 46) rightly acknowledges, “Textbooks are conceived”, designed and authored by real people with real interests” and as a result the selection of textbook knowledge is an intensely political activity often leading to tension, controversy and acrimonious debates in the struggle to define “what knowledge is of most worth.”1 Traditionally history education is regarded as the vehicle through which nations seek to disseminate and reinforce narratives that define conceptions of nationhood and national identity. Contained within history textbooks, therefore, are narratives and stories that nations choose to tell about themselves, their people, and their relationships with other nations. As a consequence, to study and interrogate the content of history textbooks and how they are authored, published, and employed is an illuminating and vitally important educational enterprise.