South African history textbook research - A review of the scholarly literature

Carol Bertram,Johan Wassermann

doi:10.17159/2223-0386/2015/nl4a7

Abstract

School history textbooks are seen to embody ideological messages about whose history is important, as they aim both to develop an ‘ideal’ citizen and teach the subject of history. Since the 1940s, when the first study was done, there have been studies of South African history textbooks that have analysed different aspects of textbooks. These studies often happen at a time of political change (for example, after South Africa became a republic in 1961 or post-apartheid) which often coincides with a time of curriculum change. This article provides an overview of all the studies of South African history textbooks since the 1940s. We compiled a data base of all studies conducted on history textbooks, including post graduate dissertations, published journal articles, books and book chapters. This article firstly provides a broad overview of all the peer-reviewed studies, noting in particular how the number of studies has increased since 2000. The second section then engages in a more detailed analysis of the studies that did content analysis of textbooks. We compare how each study has engaged with the following issues: the object of study, the methodological approach, the sample of textbooks and the theoretical or philosophical orientation. The aim is to provide a broad picture of the state of textbook analysis studies over the past 75 years, and to build up a database of these studies so as to provide an overview of the nature of history textbook research in South Africa.

Highlights

Background and introductionThe production of textbooks, from conception to distribution to use, is a politically and educationally contentious activity
We began asking a range of questions about the growing field of History textbook research in South Africa, including: What research has been done in this regard? Who has been doing the research? When was it done? What was the focus of the research? Which methodologies were employed? These questions were the catalyst and motivation, both on a professional and a scholarly level, for us to do three things in this article
In this article we have created a database by means of a literature search of the research conducted globally on South African History textbooks

Summary

Background and introduction

The production of textbooks, from conception to distribution to use, is a politically and educationally contentious activity. According to our literature search a total of 65 peer-reviewed academic research works on South African School History textbooks have been completed far (Appendix A). Of these 25 were postgraduate degrees leading to higher academic qualifications; 19 were Masters and six Doctoral degrees. Research into History textbooks in South Africa started in the 1940s with a Masters dissertation which was the first ever such research endeavour in 1944 This was followed by an article and two postgraduate studies in the 1960s one of which, The power of prejudice in South African education: an enquiry into history textbooks and syllabuses in the Transvaal high schools of South Africa, by FE Auerbach, was published as a book in the same decade.

Methodology of the studies

Conclusion

Books and book chapters on South African school History textbooks

Findings

Peer reviewed journal articles on South African School History textbooks7