Analysis Of History Textbooks Research Articles

Missing methods: a call for holistic analysis of history textbooks

The purpose of this article is to call for a holistic approach to the study of history textbooks. We engaged in an extensive analysis of textbook studies for the purpose of developing our own textbook study framework for the Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future project. We found that scholars rely on a narrow scope of research methods and that the field lacks attention to a holistic approach that broadens the researcher’s capacity to dissect positionality and perpetuation of historical knowledge(s). We demonstrate why it is beneficial for scholars to expand beyond narrow methods in the field of history textbook studies. Specifically, we illustrate that a holistic approach enables textbook researchers to further contest the often uncritical embrace of history textbooks and expand upon our understanding of the textbook as an artefact of our societies. In this article we significantly extend the yet to be taken-up call for a holistic approach to textbook studies.

Investigating the Inclusion of Human Rights Education in Pakistani Elite Schools: A Qualitative Content Analysis of History Textbooks

Pakistani educational system is broadly divided into public and private sectors. Due to specific financial and administrative issues, the public sector has failed to produce social capital that could serve as an advocate of human rights. However, elite schools in the private sector are better equipped to educate their students on human rights. Through qualitative content analysis, the present study explores the status of human rights in history textbooks taught in elite schools from grade 6 to O-levels and the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) Middle Years Programme (MYP). It was observed that the human rights issues in Pakistan remained part of the null curriculum in the books published for Pakistani students. In the I.B. books, human rights issues were discussed at the global level, leaving elite students ignorant and oblivious to the state of human rights in Pakistan. It is suggested that human rights should be transformed from abstract and generalized statements to absolute and concrete reality, first stemming from local society and then advancing to a global community.

Visual Literacy in History Education

Abstract This introductory article presents the contributions to a thematic issue about the visual analysis of history textbooks and other educational media. It provides a brief historical overview of the use of pictures in history textbooks and discusses how developments in visual studies can help move the study of such pictures beyond questions of representation, toward considering the different ways in which they can exercise an agency of their own. It argues that we need to develop complex forms of visual literacy in interacting with textbooks and shows how the distinctions proposed by the issue authors can advance this task. The article ends by suggesting avenues for further research.

‘Part of the Civilized World Community’: Holocaust in Historical Politics of the Unrecognized Republics of Transnistria and Donbas

Based on an analysis of history textbooks and commemorative declarations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the paper argues that the leadership of the unrecognized republics of Transnistria and Donbas has instrumentalized Holocaust remembrance to legitimize their regimes internally and externally. The use of the Holocaust in historical politics allowed the secessionist regimes to portray themselves as opponents of radical nationalism and representatives of the multi-ethnic population of Transnistria and Donbas. In external relations, the secessionist leaders have used Holocaust commemorations as a tool for self-positioning within international ‘memory wars,’ and as a channel for the consolidation of the ‘civilized’ image of unrecognized republics and the extension of international contacts. Despite a quite similar discourse on the Holocaust, the aims of the instrumentalization of the Holocaust in historical politics have differed in certain respects due to the dissimilar challenges faced by the Transnistrian and Donbas unrecognized republics.

Nation-building in Kazakhstan in the first years of independence

After gaining independence, Kazakhstan began to reorganize its official historiography, which contributed to the formation of a new national state. Kazakhstan, like other post-Soviet countries, has taken up the issue of nationalization of the territory or the formation of a national territory during the years of independence after strengthening its statehood, it is known that the ruling elite chose civic identity as a guarantee of social and political Society. According to domestic and foreign researchers, civil and ethnic identity in Kazakhstan is used in parallel in the construction of the nation. The article analyzes what direction Kazakhstan chose in the first years of independence against the background of this identity. The study describes the evidence that Kazakhs are the main ethnic nation that forms the state, attempts to legalize the existence of the Kazakh ethnic group on the land of Kazakhstan from time immemorial, the use of the history and symbol of the Kazakh ethnic group as a state-forming nation. The reasons for choosing this ethno-cultural center in the first year of independence will be discussed. The methodology of the study was the study of the works of domestic and foreign researchers, comparative analysis of history textbooks, national state documents, and programs. As a result of the study, it was noted that in the first year of independence, Kazakhstan pursued an ethno-oriented policy. This policy is reflected in the fact that the Kazakh ethnic group has been a people living in this region since ancient times, and the main goal of the national policy pursued by the country's political leadership since the first days of independence is to maintain a balance between ethnic and civic identity. It seemed that the main direction of nation-building was directly transferred to the state, the ruling political elite. Since the adoption of the new Constitution, it has been noted that the issues of forming the civil and ethnic identity of society have been identified in the construction of the nation. The results obtained as a result of the work contribute to the writing of scientific papers related to nation-building in Kazakhstan and its further study. Keywords: nation-building, historiography, symbol,ethnos,identity

Reconfiguring China: an analysis of history textbooks in the Republic of China (1912–1949)

ABSTRACT Nation-building in modern China at the beginning of the twentieth century had to manage the strain between ethnic nationalism and the claim of a multi-ethnic national identity. This study focuses on how history textbooks defined China and addressed this paradox. Based on the qualitative content analysis of eight popular middle school history textbooks about imperial China, this paper demonstrates how Han nationalism and the multi-ethnic nationality of China evolved in the textbooks. While these two features of national concept contradict each other, the thesis of Hanhua may serve as a bridge between them within the symbolic framework of Chinese nationalism.

Bridging Past and Present Traumas: The Emergence of Kosovo Serb Ethnoscape in the Dynamic Interaction between the Enclaved Environment and History Textbooks’ Content

AbstractThis article deals with the use of history textbooks imported from Serbia in the specific context of Kosovo Serb enclavement. It provides a content analysis of history textbooks used by Kosovo Serb pupils in Kosovo in terms of their contribution to Kosovo Serb collective identity building. This article focuses on the interaction between the enclaved environment within which Kosovo Serbs have lived since 1999 and the narratives contained in the history textbooks, to highlight how this interaction influences the way Kosovo Serbs consider their identity. First, I start by showing that history textbooks used by Kosovo Serbs in Kosovo emphasize religious identity. Next, I argue that dialogic relation between past and present, understood through the dynamic interaction between the enclaved environment and history textbook narratives, contributes to the emergence of enclaves as ethnoscapes.

Remembering the good: Constructing the nation through joyful memories in school textbooks in the former Yugoslavia

Studies examining the reification of nationhood narratives in history textbooks have typically focused on memories rooted in trauma (stories of loss of territory, victimhood, and perpetual enmity with neighbours), although glorification of the nation, ideas of who belongs to the nation, and what constitutes the nation, are also found in joyful memories. In this article, I examine how memories of joy are accounted for in a classical nation-building subject such as history. Which discursive strategies do textbooks use in instilling particular images of the nation in pupils’ heads, and how do they differ from those used in non-joyful events? Relying on content analysis of history textbooks currently used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, I examine how ‘joyful’ memories are represented in memories of ‘banal’ and everyday joy (memories of sports events, music, literature, and popular culture), and in memories of ‘hot’ or explicit nationalism (memories of victories in battles, reclaiming territory, etc). I conclude with reflections on the usefulness of studying memories of joy when examining issues of nation-building, national identity, and nationalism.

Rural Education and teaching material: an analysis of History textbooks

En este articulo, el objetivo es analizar Libros Didacticos de Historia (LDH) utilizados en la Ensenanza Fundamental (6o ano) en escuelas rurales situadas en el municipio de Tocantinopolis-TO. Considerando que la formacion en la perspectiva de la Educacion Rural posibilita reconocer y valorar los saberes y la cultura, buscando la emancipacion de los campesinos, el estudio de material didactico seleccionado comprende un analisis de los siguientes elementos de las obras: (1) contenido; (2) actividades; (3) interaccion maestro-alumno; y las (4) imagenes. La investigacion es de naturaleza bibliografica, de abordaje cualitativo. El corpus esta constituido por dos LDH: uno producido para el Programa Escola Ativa y, otro, destinado a las escuelas situadas en el medio urbano, pero adoptado en escuelas rurales del contexto de la investigacion. En vista de la realidad de las escuelas rurales y del contexto social, politico y economico en que viven los campesinos, el estudio revelo que solo uno de los LDH analizados atiende a los principios defendidos por la Educacion Rural

The Making of the National Curriculum for History and Multicultural Education in Britain, 1986-2014: An Analysis of History Textbooks of Key Stages 2-4

The Making of the National Curriculum for History and Multicultural Education in Britain, 1986-2014: An Analysis of History Textbooks of Key Stages 2-4

НАСТАВА И УЏБЕНИЦИ ИСТОРИЈЕ У ОСНОВНИМ ШКОЛАМА У СРБИЈИ (1880–1913)

На основу објављених извора, релевантне литературе и периодике у раду је анализиран развитак наставе историје и уџбеника у основним школама у Србији од 1880. до 1913. Држава је започела са интензивним законским уређивањем школског система 1880. године, када је уведено и обавезно похађање основне школе. Ово је период у коме Србија тражи начине да изврши реформе и модернизује школски систем, пре свега основне школе. Настава историје има важну улогу у изграђивању националног идентитета. Наставни планови и програми се непрекидно преиспитују и дорађују. Предмет анализе су и репрезентативни уџбеници историје за основне школе у којима се виде промене у тумачењима историјских садржаја у овом периду.

Don’t forget to remember: Collective memory of the Yugoslav wars in present-day Serbia.

Between the years 1991-1995, three wars were fought on the territory of former Yugoslavia, which led to the fall of the supra-national state and a newfound emphasis on ethnic and national identities. Since then, collective memories in the ‘newly’ created nations have undergone tremendous change in attempts to clarify ‘who we were before and who we are now’. The current study looks at the present-day understandings of the past in Belgrade, Serbia. Through an analysis of history textbooks coupled with an inter-generational comparison of focus group data, the study attempts to account for both reified and lay representations of the past as well as any divergence that exists between them. The findings suggest that there is a close link between remembering and belonging, a connection that functions to frame identity in exclusive rather than inclusive terms. Through this process, where one version of the past is considered the only right one, critical attachment becomes equated with in-group detachment and attempts to acknowledge the transgressions of the in-group become silenced.

Beyond the Margins: Evaluating the Support for Multicultural Education Within Teachers' Editions of U.S. History Textbooks

Although previous research has described analysis of history textbooks in terms of multicultural education, limited attention has been given to teacher only resources, such as the “wraparound features” of teachers' editions. The study highlighted in this article applies critical discourse analysis to explore the potential for teachers' editions to support multicultural education. Teachers' editions of five U.S. history textbooks demonstrate the tendency for textbook authors to position Native peoples as invisible, as the savage Other, and as actors of the past. Additionally, teachers' editions privilege White settler and economically-motivated narratives, which suggests that conflict between Native peoples and settlers was a matter of destiny. Less frequently, wraparound features encourage critical thinking about dominant culture narratives and actors. The results demonstrate that today's teachers' editions frequently marginalize Indigenous peoples, experiences, and histories both spatially and literally through uncritical acceptance of the dominant culture narrative (i.e., “business as usual”) or assimilationist orientations (i.e., “teaching the culturally different” or “human relations”). The article concludes with implications for scholarly practice and classroom pedagogy.

Reflections on applying critical discourse analysis methodologies in analysing South African history textbooks

This article is a reflection on the choice to apply Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in a large scale study in which South African history textbooks were analysed for their construction of African consciousness. The article begins with an evaluation of history textbooks analysis as a field of study. It then explains my rationale for adopting CDA in a field where most studies are qualitative content analyses. This is followed by the explanation of my practical adaptation and application of Norman Fairclough’s version of CDA mixed with functional linguistics and visual semiotics. Only a few examples of the findings in the larger scale study are given to elaborate on this application. The article ends with a reflective evaluation of my application of CDA. I conclude that, though fraught with challenges, the application of CDA offers a worthwhile alternative methodology in the analysis of history textbooks.

New Textbooks and the 21st Century History Programmes for Middle and High Schools: An Analysis of History Textbooks from Québec Case Study: A Chapter About Fifth Century B.C. Athens

New Textbooks and the 21^st Century History Programmes for Middle and High Schools: An Analysis of History Textbooks from Québec Case Study: A Chapter About Fifth Century B.C. Athens

The path of history: narrative analysis of history textbooks – a case study of Belgian history textbooks (1945–2004)

The philosophical background of the subject history in secondary education has been mainly addressed through research based on ‘obvious’ source types (curricula, discussions in committees or journals, …). This article proposes a narrative method of analysing history textbooks in order to study the underlining historical philosophy of history education.

Chinese Nationalism

Chinese Nationalism

La socialisation et l'intégration europèenne: une analyse de contenu des manuels d'histoire français

Students of political integration from all schools of thought have recognized that the creation of a new larger political community out of smaller existing units depends upon the development of values of legitimacy towards the new political centre. This process is often referred to as the development of a “sense of community” or as a “shifting of loyalties,” and it has been theoretically posited as a fundamental condition for the long-term success of political integration both by the cybimetic and the neo-functional schools of integration.When changes in values towards supranational integration in Europe take place they will be observable in the socialization process as younger generations of European students acquire the new values. This article examines changes in the values socialized in the French Lycée through a diachronic quantitative content analysis of history textbooks used in 1950 and 1966. Three central hypotheses are derived from the two major approaches to integration and are examined in light of the data with particular attention being paid to changes in values of nationalism, conflict vs co-operation, and high political vs economic and social matters.The results of the analysis show contradictory trends, some of which are explained by controlling for international regions and some of which must remain unexplained until a larger cross-national study is undertaken.