WORLD HISTORY TEXTBOOKS - ERIC

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WORLD HISTORY TEXTBOOKS

A Review

Gilbert T. Sewall

A Report of the American Textbook Council

? 2004

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??????????????????????????????? The American Textbook Council was established in 1989 as an independent national research organization to review social studies textbooks and advance the quality of instructional materials in history. The Council endorses the production of textbooks that embody vivid narrative style, stress significant people and events, and promote better understanding of all cultures, including our own, on the principle that improved textbooks will advance the curriculum, stimulate student learning, and encourage educational achievement for children of all backgrounds. The Council acts as a clearinghouse for information about social studies textbooks and educational publishing in general. It has published numerous history textbook reviews and other curriculum studies. Consulted by educators and policymakers at all levels, it provides detailed information and textbook reviews for individuals and groups interested in improving educational materials.

World History Textbooks: A Review ? 2004 American Textbook Council American Textbook Council 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1948 New York, New York 10115 (212) 870-2760 website: email: atc@columbia.edu

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CONTENTS

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Textbooks reviewed Subjects reviewed Research design Acknowledgments

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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II. Publishing Trends . . . . . . . .

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III. Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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IV. Problem Topics . . . . . . . . . .

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V. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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WORLD HISTORY TEXTBOOKS: A Review

This world history review examines standard textbooks used between the sixth and twelfth grades in schools across the nation. These established textbooks dominate the field and set the pitch for new and forthcoming volumes. The 2002 Texas history textbook adoption and the California list have influenced what textbooks will dominate the national market during the current decade. New world history titles introduced into Texas have yet to prove their viability and continued shelf life. Of the seven textbooks originally examined, examples are selected from the four most widely adopted world cultures and world history textbooks.

What did this review find? In order to meet demands for scope, diversity and readability, world history textbooks abandon narrative and complexity. High school world history textbooks are superior to middle-grade world cultures textbooks. They emphasize "Western" subjects. Dire claims of the loss of European political history can be overdrawn. But Western antiquity, Judaism and Christianity, and the rise of modern democratic government, reviewers complain, are lost in a procession of trivia designed to satisfy competing demands for inclusion, diversity and multiple perspectives. What should be central topics and themes are compressed to make room for new topical material, some of it ideologically loaded.

In subjects ranging from Africa to terrorism, the nation's leading world history textbooks provide unreliable, often scanty information and provide poorly constructed activities. In doing so, these textbooks foster ignorance of geopolitics and deprive students of authentic global understanding. Publishers could and should be providing high school teachers and students with cheaper, smaller, more legible volumes, stripping trivia and superfluity from current volumes. Pressure from educators themselves is needed, but whether sufficient will exists to force publishers to change remains an open question. Rooted in a flawed production system and publishers' intransigence, the problems with world history textbooks go deep enough to raise questions about corporate violations of public trust.

Who should pay attention to this review and take action? Textbook purchasers, including members of state boards, department of education officials, and school textbook committees. So should elected officials, editorial writers, and policy analysts. World history textbooks undermine their hopes, standards, curriculum frameworks, and official policies.

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Textbooks reviewed World history and cultures textbooks aimed at 6th to 9th grades:

1. Ahmad, Iftikhar, Herbert Brodsky, Marylee Susan Crofts, and Elisabeth Gaynor Ellis. World Cultures: A Global Mosaic. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2001.

2. Nash, Gary B., Beverly J. Armento, J. Jorge Klor de Alva, Christopher L. Salter, Louis E. Wilson, and Karen K. Wixson. To See a World: World Cultures and Geography. Houghton Mifflin, 1994 ff.

The second textbook -- a world cultures compendium that first appeared in 1994 -- has many copyright years, as do the two volumes for sixth and seventh graders in the Houghton Mifflin K-8 social studies series from which the material for To See a World was selected and derived:

2a. Across the Centuries. Houghton Mifflin, 1989 ff. 2b. A Message of Ancient Days. Houghton Mifflin, 1989 ff.

World history textbooks aimed at tenth to twelfth grade, adopted by Texas in 2002 in slightly altered editions with 2003 copyrights:

3. Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to Today. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2001, 2003.

4. Beck, Roger B., Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, and Dahia Ibo Shabaka. World History: Patterns of Interaction. McDougal Littell/Houghton Mifflin, 2001, 2003.

During the last five years, the two mass-market high school textbooks above have gained national dominance and are used in world history classes nationwide. They have advanced in volume-sales at the expense of the two following textbooks, which are being gradually retired:

5. Farah, Mounir A. and Andrea Berens Karls. The Human Experience. McGraw-Hill/Glencoe, 1999. 6. Hanes, William Travis, III. Continuity and Change. Harcourt/Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1999.

The future of a seventh world history textbook, World History: People and Nations, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, seems even more uncertain than these two books. Glencoe and Holt introduced new and unauthored world history textbooks in Texas in 2002, volumes that have yet to prove themselves among textbook purchasers. In 2004, in social studies, Houghton Mifflin and Pearson have a distinct market lead over McGraw-Hill and Harcourt. A few titles dominate the world history textbook market. In world cultures courses, usually taught between the sixth and eighth grades, Houghton Mifflin's To See a World stands out nationwide. In the nation's high school world history courses, Prentice Hall's Connections to Today and McDougal Littell's Patterns of Interaction have large shares. Some world history textbooks revised in the 1990s and market prominent in the year 1999 are five years later faded titles. They will gradually be backlisted or go out of print. The impact of the generic Glencoe and Holt books is not yet known, but the sameness of these new products to the market leaders provides additional evidence of copy-cat practices. Social studies publishers employ the same editorial packagers, listen to the same interest and focus groups, and are influenced by the same educational organizations.

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