Googlepreview
Googlepreview
Googlepreview
THE
SCHOOL TEXTBOOK:
GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY
AND SOCIAL STUDIES
William E. Marsden
University of Liverpool
~ ~~~~~~n~~~up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published in 2001 in Great Britain by
Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016
Website: www.routledge.com
Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but
points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent
Contents
List of Illustrations VI
Preface VII
Acknowledgements IX
1 Introduction 1
References 239
Index 299
Illustrations
The impetus for this book stemmed from a Congress of the International
Geographical Union in 1996, at which American members of the IGUs
Commission on Geographical Education gave notice of an international
project on the theme Geography Textbooks and Education Reform, draw-
ing on the experience of different countries. I was invited to write a British
chapter. To my astonishment, in undertaking the background research, I
discovered that no comprehensive text had ever been written in Britain on
the subject of the school textbook. This seemed to me good enough reason
to attempt to plug the gap.
A key decision was how much to cover. My main academic interest and
indeed relevant skills lay in geographical and historical education, and in
historical perspectives on school curricula. As there was relatively little
domestic guidance on how to write a book about textbooks I decided also
that the international perspective, most particularly drawing on the American
experience, was as essential as the historical perspective, in providing neces-
sary contexts. While the book draws upon 'international perspectives', it
should be emphasised that I am writing from the standpoint of what I
believe to be lacking in the British educational situation and from this par-
ticular slant. At the same time, I hope that the British context will be of
some interest to readers in the United States and elsewhere.
A more specific choice was of which school subjects to cover. As my
teaching and research interests have long been in both geography and history,
I had little trouble in starting with these. Bearing in mind the importance
of the American dimension in the book, however, it seemed essential to
consider also social studies textbooks, particularly in that context. There
is additional justification for this three-fold choice in that as a group
geography, history and social studies textbooks have for long exhibited
common features, and have equally been strikingly different from those in
mathematics, science, modern languages and English, among others.
I have focused on two centuries of continuity and change. Chapters
follow mostly a chronological structure, starting with the early nineteenth
century, then usually combining the late-nineteenth and pre-First World
War period of the twentieth century, followed by the inter-war period, and
finally that of the post-Second World War. In some cases this last period is
divided between the pre- and post-1960s decades, the 1960s being an
important threshold time in curriculum history. Some chapters address
more particularly the American dimension, obviously Chapter 2 and much
IX
The School Textbook
of Chapter 9, and some the British, obviously Chapter 3 and Chapter 11.
But in most comparative studies are made of both. The European context
also figures quite frequently, though in a more sporadic way. For the latter,
I have tended to rely on the considerable number of publications in English.
In autobiographical mode, I might mention that my work over thirty
years in teacher education was involved with fulfilling two responsibilities:
one was that of teaching pre-service students and mediating the associated
relationships with schools; and the second was the academic research
world. While I took both seriously, I regret retrospectively that I kept these
roles too separate. For all the time I have been in teacher education, I have
authored or co-authored school textbooks, and also many articles and
academic monographs. I feel more than a little guilty however that, like
many of my peers, I kept the former activity rather under my hat. It was
not referred to, for example, in either of my methodological texts on geo-
graphical education. This book is therefore to an extent seeking to achieve a
redress. It is my hope in fact that it will be of interest to both theoreticians
and practitioners.
x
Acknowledgements
In the first place, for the third time I acknowledge with gratitude the
support of the Nuffield Foundation Small Grant Scheme for Social Science
Research, which was devoted in particular to covering the expenses of
many visits to the British Library, British Newspaper Library, and other
repositories. Obviously these collections did not cover some of overseas
material I required. For help with this I must thank most warmly the
support of colleagues in two institutions in particular. The first is the Georg-
Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig,
where the Director, Professor Dr Ursula Becher, and her colleague Dr Falk
Pingel, were unfailingly welcoming and supportive. The same was the case
with David Ment, Director of Teachers College Library Collections, at
Columbia University, and his colleague Bette Weneck, Manuscript Curator.
As I combined my visit to New York with a brief holiday, their help in expe-
diting my search and the photocopying of relevant materials from their
superb historical collection was vital. In this country, I also am pleased to
thank librarians and others at the British Library, the British Newspaper
Library, the University of London Institute Library, and at the University
of Liverpool.
out the American initiators of the textbooks and educational reform pro-
ject, Sarah and Bob Bednarz and Jo Stoltman, who really started me off
thinking about writing this book. Jo Stoltman has also helpfully commented
on my discussion of the American standards debate.
Xll
1
Introduction
Sir Oracle in pedagogy cries: Throw text-books out of the window. Teach every
subject as if there were no text-book in the universe.'
(E.E. White, (1901) The Art of Teaching, p. 117)
Textbooks are still the most widely used resource for teaching and learn-
ing in British schools (see Westaway and Rawling, 1998, p. 36). Even in
the post-Plowden (1967) heyday of progressivism in primary education,
hostile in principle to textbooks, government inspectors found three-fifths
of upper junior classes used them in their geography and history lessons
(DES, 1978, pp. 73-4). Yet the most conspicuous feature of attitudes in
British educational circles towards school textbooks has remained a high
level of negativism and/or neglect. Stray remarked that 'textbooks have
rarely been taken seriously as an object of study' (1994, p. 1), while Wilkes
described them as ' ... the most despised literary genre of all' (1997, p. 44).
Graves observed that research output was 'pitifully small' (1997a, p. 62).
While criticism of textbooks has always been evident, it has in recent
decades in Britain become more strident, both formally, in the educational
literature, and informally, as 'a puzzling and continuing feature of many
conferences and conversations' (Wright, 1996a, p. 13). In pre- and in-service
courses, the advice given to students and teachers, if any, has been either
to discourage or even renounce textbook use (Lidstone, 1992, p. 177). The
received wisdom remains that textbooks undermine professionalism, typify
an undesirable transmission model of teaching and learning, and are gener-
ally incompatible with progressive educational practice. Such opinion
embodies at the very least a thought chasm between elite definitions of what
is deemed to be educationally appropriate, and the views of practising
teachers, reliant to varying degrees on textbooks, and a factor in explain-
ing why research in education 'does not seem to have been very well
received by the teaching community' (Lidstone, 1988,p. 282). On a broader
front it prompted Hargreaves to suggest that teachers are able to be effective
in their practice in almost total ignorance of the research infrastructures
of the educational theorist (1996, p. 2). 'Is there any hope of ending this
1
The School Textbook
5
The School Textbook
6
Introduction
8
Introduction
9
The School Textbook
The focus of this study is on textbooks in geography, history and, with partic-
ular reference to the American dimension, social studies. To a much lesser
extent separate elements of the social sciences in Britain, namely economics,
sociology and political science will be considered, in part because in
England and Wales such subjects have still to gain a foothold in most phases
of schooling, and in which, below the 16-19 level, few influential text-
books have emerged. Apart from reasons of space, in justifying restricting
the coverage to textbooks in geography, history and social studies, it can
be argued that they have long been closely associated in the make-up of
school knowledge. Where a social studies framework has been chosen, it
has normally taken on board geography and history as key contributors.
Together, geography, history and the various elements of the social studies
have been defined as the 'social subjects'. Textbooks in these three areas,
while varying in a number of ways, have often been similar in presenta-
tion, and have reflected complementary social purposes. They display much
greater differences with textbooks in the sciences, mathematics, English,
modern languages, and the creative arts subjects, largely excluded from
consideration in this text.
OUTLINE
Different authors have written and still write different textbooks for dif-
ferent publishers. They are appraised by different reviewers, and targeted
at different audiences, who in tum use and react to them differently. The
account which ensues seeks not least to query some of the aggregate
assumptions attached in theoretical writings to each of these groups, and to
look more carefully at the individual variations.
12
References
References
239
The School Textbook
241
The School Textbook
244
References
Birrell, J.H. 'No Lumber' Geographies: The British Isles (London: Chambers,
1933).
Blagdon, H.W. 'Dilemmas of a Textbook Writer', Social Education, 33,
3 (1969),pp.292-9.
Blanshard, P. The Right to Read: The Battle Against Censorship (Boston,
MA: The Beacon Press, 1955).
Blenkin, G.M. and Kelly, A.v. The Primary Curriculum (London: Harper
& Row, 1981).
Blodgett, J.H. 'School Text-books in Geography', Journal of School
Geography, 3 (1899),pp. 138-45
Bloom, B.S. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive
Domain (London: Longman, 1956 (1972 edn».
Blyth, J. History in Primary Schools: A Practical Approach for Teachers
of 5- to II-Year Old Children (London: McGraw-Hill, 1982).
Blyth, W.AL, Cooper, K., Derricott, R., Elliott, G., Sumner, H., and
Waplington,A. Place, Time and Society 8-13: Curriculum Planning in
History, Geography and Social Science (Bristol: Collins-ESL for the
Schools Council, 1976).
Board of Education. Report on the Teaching ofHistory. Education Pamphlets
No. 37 (London: HMSO, 1923).
Board of Education. Report of the Consultative Committee on Books in
Public Elementary Schools (London: HMSO, 1928).
Bobbitt, F. 'The New Technique of Curriculum-making', Elementary
SchooIJournal,25,1 (1924),pp.45-54.
Boden, P. Promoting International Understanding through School Textbooks:
A Case Study (Braunschweig: Georg-Eckert Institute for International
Textbook Research, 1977).
Boerma, EJ. 'The Selection, Use and Research on Textbooks in the
Netherlands' (1992), in Bourdillon (ed.), History and Social Studies,
pp. l39-44.
Boller, P.F. 'High School History: Memoirs of a Texas Textbook Writer',
Teachers College Record, 82, 2 (1980), pp. 317-27.
Booth, M. History Betrayed (London: Longman, 1969).
Booth,M. 'History'(1996) , in Gordon (ed.),A Guide to Educational Research,
pp.31-52.
Bourdillon, H. (ed.), History and Social Studies - Methodologies of
Textbook Analysis (Strasbourg: Council of Europe/Amsterdam: Swets
and Zeitlinger, 1992).
Bourne, H.E. The Teaching of History and Civics in the Elementary and
the Secondary School (New York, NY: Longmans, Green & Company,
1909).
245
The School Textbook
255
The School Textbook
Hall, D. Geography and the Geography Teacher (London: George Allen &
Unwin, 1976).
Hall, L. and Hastle, T. 'Anti-social Social Studies', Teaching History,
30 (1981), pp. 35-6.
Hallam, R.N. 'Piaget and Thinking in History' (1970), in Ballard (ed.),New
Movements, pp. 134-46.
Hall-Quest, A.L. The Textbook: How to Use and How to Judge It (New
York, NY: Macmillan Company, 1920).
Halocha, J. Coordinating Geography across the Primary School (London:
Falmer Press, 1998).
Hamilton, D. 'The Pedagogical J uggemaut' ,British Journal of Educational
Studies, 35,1 (1987), pp. 18-29.
Hamilton, D. 'Texts, Literacy and Schooling', in B. Green (ed.), The
Insistence of the Letter: Literacy Studies and Curriculum Theorizing
(London, Falmer Press, 1993), pp. 46-57.
Hamilton, D. 'The Pedagogic Paradox (or Why no Didactics in England?)"
Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 7, 1 (1999), pp. 135-52.
Hamilton, W.R. 'Address', Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of
London,8 (1838), pp. xxxix-xl.
Hans, N. New Trends in Education in the Eighteenth Century (London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1951).
Hanson,J. (1982) 'Textbooks of the Past: What Can we Learn from them?',
Teaching Geography, 7, 3 (1951), pp. 124--7.
Harap, H. (ed.), The Changing Curriculum (New York, NY: D. Appleton
Century, 1937).
Hargreaves, D. 'The Rhetoric of School-centred Innovation', Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 14,3 (1982), pp. 251-66.
Hargreaves, D. Teaching as a Research-based Profession: Possibilities and
Prospects (London: Teacher Training Agency, 1996).
Hargreaves, D. 'Revitalising Educational Research: Lessons from the Past
and Proposals for the Future', Cambridge Journal of Education, 29, 2
(1999a),pp.239-49.
Hargreaves, D. 'In Defence of Research for Evidence-based Teaching: A
Rejoinder to Martyn Hammersley', British Educational Research
Journal, 23, 4 (1999b), pp. 405-19.
Harper, S.H. 'Textbooks - An Under-used Source', History of Education
Society Bulletin, 25 (1980), pp. 30-40.
Harper, S.N. Civic Training in Soviet Russia (Chicago, IL: Chicago
University Press, 1929).
Harrison, C. 'Assessing the Readability of School Texts' (1979), in Lunzer
and Gardner (eds), The Effective Use of Reading, pp. 72-107.
262
References
264
References
Children and Controversial Issues: Strategies for the Early and Middle
Years of Schooling (London: Falmer Press, 1988a), pp. 172-88.
Hicks, D. (ed.), Education for Peace: Issues, Principles and Practice in the
Classroom (London: Routledge, 1988b).
Hill, A.D. (ed.), International Perspectives on Geographic Education
(Boulder, CO/Skokie, IL: International Geographical Union Commission
on Geographical Education/Rand McNally and Company, 1992).
Hill, A.D. and Callop, E.C. 'Valuing Professional Development in the
Creation of the Best Geography Teachers', International Research in
Geographical and Environmental Education, 7,2 (1998), pp. 142-5.
Hill, P.C. Suggestions on the Teaching of History (Paris: UNESCO, 1951).
Hinrichs, E. 'Subject Matter Adequacy'(1992), in Bourdillon (ed.), History
and Social Studies, pp. 42-51.
Hirsch, E.D. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
(Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1987).
Hobsbawm, E. 'Introduction: Inventing Traditions', in E. Hobsbawm and
T. Ranger (eds), The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983) pp. 1-14.
Hobsbawm, E. Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth,
Reality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).
Hogan, M.M. 'The Evolution ofthe Regional Concept and its Influence on
the Teaching of Geography in Schools', Unpublished MA Dissertation,
University of London (1962).
Hollander, G.D. Soviet Political Indoctrination: Developments in Mass Media
and Propaganda since Stalin (New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1972).
Holloway, S.W.F. 'History and Sociology: What History is and What it
Ought to be' (1967), in Burston and Thompson (eds), Studies, pp. 1-25.
Holtz, F.L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography (New York,
NY: Macmillan, 1913).
Honeybone, R.C. and Goss, M.G. Geography for Schools: Book I: Britain
and Overseas (London: Heinemann, 1956).
Honig, B. 'California's Experience with Textbook Improvement' (1991),
in Altbach et al. (eds), Textbooks in American Society, p. 105-16.
Hooton, E. 'Review of D.Waugh and T. Bushell Key Geography: Places',
Teaching Geography, 22, 1 (1997), pp. 44-5.
Hopkin, l. 'Geography and Development Education' , in A. Osler (ed.), Devel-
opment Education: Global Perspectives on the Curriculum (London:
Cassell, 1994), pp. 65-90.
Hopkin, l.W. 'The Worldview of Geography Textbooks: Interpretations
of the National Curriculum', unpublished PhD Thesis, University of
Birmingham (1998).
265
The School Textbook
266
References
267
The School Textbook
271
The School Textbook
Marsden, W.E. 'The Book of Nature and the Stuff of Epitaphs: Religion,
Romanticism and some Historical Connections in Environmental
Education', Paradigm, 24 (1997a), pp. 4-15.
Marsden, W.E. 'Environmental Education: Historical Roots, Comparative
Perspectives, and Current Issues in Britain and the United States',
Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 13,1 (1997b), pp. 92-113.
Marsden, W.E. "'Poisoned History": A Comparative Study of Nationalism,
Propaganda and the Treatment of War and Peace in the Late Nineteenth-
and Early Twentieth-century School Curriculum', History of Education,
19,1 (1999),pp.29-47.
Marsden, W.E. 'Geography and Two Centuries of Education for Peace and
International Understanding', Geography, 85, 4 (2000), pp. 289-302.
Marsden, W.T. Problems of Seventeenth Century European History
(1555-1714): A Handbook for Teachers (Oxford: Basil Blackwell,
1924).
Marshall, J.D. 'State-level Textbook Selection Reform: Toward the
Recognition of Fundamental Control' (1991), in Altbach et al. (eds),
Textbooks in American Society, pp. 117-43.
Marten, C.H.K. 'The Teaching of History in Schools - Practice' (1901), in
Archbold (ed.), Essays on the Teaching of History, pp. 19-91.
Marten, C.H.K. On the Teaching of History and Other Addresses (Oxford:
Basil Blackwell, 1938).
Marten, C.H.K. and Carter, E.H. From then till Now (Books I-IV) (Oxford:
Basil Blackwell, 1927).
Martin, C.M. (ed.), Geography Textbook Assessment for Middle and High
School Educators (Washington, DC: Geography Education National
Implementation Project, 1996).
Martin, F. and Bailey, P. 'Evaluating and Using Resources', in P. Bailey
and R. Fox (eds) , Geography Teachers' Handbook (Sheffield: Geo-
graphical Association, 1996), pp. 235-47.
Martin, GJ. 'A Contribution to the Study of the History of Geography in
the United States of America, 1892-1925', unpublished PhD thesis,
University of London (1987).
Massie, D.C. 'Censorship and the Question of Balance', Social Education,
48,2 (1984),pp. 145-7.
Maxwell, C.R. The Selection of Textbooks (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1921).
Maxwell, E.A.M. 'Text-books: Their Place and Use - A Symposium: 1-
Geography Text-books', Child Life, 5, 4 (1939), pp. 57-9.
Mayer, M. The Schools (London: Bodley Head, 1961).
Mays, P. Why Teach History? (London: University of London Press, 1974).
276
References
279
The School Textbook
281
The School Textbook
284
References
285
The School Textbook
286
References
288
References
289
The School Textbook
291
The School Textbook
295
The School Textbook
Woodward, A., Elliott, D.L., and Nagel, K.C. Textbooks in School and
Society: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Research (New York,
NY: Garland Publishing, 1988).
Woodward, W.H. 'The Teaching of History in Schools - Aims', (1901) in
Archbold (ed.), Essays on the Teaching of History, pp. 69-78.
Wooldridge, S.W. 'The Status of Geography and the Role of Field Work',
Geography, 40, 2 (1955),pp. 73-83.
Worts, ER. Citizenship: Its Meaning, Privileges and Duties (London:
Hodder & Stoughton, 1919).
Worts, ER. The Teaching of History in Schools: A New Approach (London:
Heinemann, 1935).
Wright, D. R. 'Authors and their Books: "A Walking Stick and not a
Crutch"', Teaching Geography, 2, 4 (1977), pp. 173-5.
Wright, D.R. 'International Textbook Research - Past Stagnation and
Future Potential', Curriculum, 4, 2 (1983a), pp. 14-18.
Wright, D.R. 'International Textbook Research: Facts and Issues', Interna-
tionale Schulbuchforschung, 5, 3 (1983b), pp. 310-14.
Wright, D.R. 'Are Geography Textbooks Sexist?', Teaching Geography,
10,2 (1985a), pp. 81-4.
Wright, D.R. 'In Black and White: Racist Bias in Textbooks', Geographical
Education, 5, 1 (1985b),pp.13-17.
Wright, D.R. 'Evaluating Textbooks', in D. Boardman (ed.), Handbook
for Geography Teachers (Sheffield: Geographical Association, 1986),
pp.92-5.
Wright, D.R. 'A Pupil's Perspective on Textbooks - Issues of Motivation
and Racism' ,Internationale SchulbucJiforschung, 9,2 (1987), pp. 137-42.
Wright, D.R. 'Applied Textbook Research in Geography' (1988), in Gerber
and Lidstone (eds) , Developing Skills, pp. 327-32.
Wright, D.R. 'The Role of Pupils in Textbook Evaluation', Internationale
Schulbuchforschung, 12,4 (1990), pp. 445-54.
Wright, D.R. 'Ten Approaches to Textbook Research in Geographical and
Environmental Education' ,Internationale Schulbuchforschung, Newslet-
ter 5,18,2 (1996a), pp. 3-14.
Wright, D.R. 'A Curriculum Palimpsest: Continuity and Change in UK
Geography Textbooks, 1820-1970', Paradigm, 21 (1996b), pp. 32-9.
Wright, D.R. 'Textbook Research in Geographical and Environmental
Education' (1996c), in Williams (ed.), Understanding Geographical
and Environmental Education, pp. 172-82.
Wynne-Tyson, E. Prelude to Peace: The World-Brotherhood Educational
Movement (London: C.W. Daniel Company, 1936).
Young, M.F.D. (ed.), Knowledge and Control: New Directions for the
296
References
297