History Textbooks from 1965-2010
As W.E. Marsden points out in his typically meticulous and thoughtful book about the development and role of the textbook in the teaching of history and geography, textbook research in Britain is something of a ‘black hole’.[1] He notes a dearth of articles in education journals from the late 1980s to 1990s. However, in the past decade, there has been more interest, with a themed issue of the International Journal of Historical Learning, Teaching and Research (Vol. 3:2, July 2003) and several other articles on textbooks in other issues. Stuart Foster and Keith Crawford have also published an article in Nicholls, J. (ed.) School History Textbooks across Cultures: international debates and perspectives (Oxford Studies in Comparative Education: Symposium Books, 2006) and their own book, War, Nation, Memory: International Perspectives on World War 2 in School History Textbooks (IAP Publishing, 2007). Several of the oral history interviews include discussion with textbook authors, principally John D. Clare, Chris Culpin, Ian Dawson, Penelope Harnett and Michael Riley. Several of the teachers interviewed discuss the role of textbooks in their teaching. John Simkin in his interview discussed the issues facing independent publishers and changes in the production of textbooks, CD-roms and resources on the internet since the 1980s. In addition, I discussed the development of history textbooks with Jim Belben at Hodder Education and with Ben Walsh, an independent textbook author. I was also able to make use of the collection of textbooks in the Institute of Education and had the opportunity to look through the private collection of Ian Colwill.
Textbooks in the teaching of history in English state schools
Marsden identifies an ambivalent attitude towards textbooks amongst history teachers. They have continued to buy textbooks in large numbers, but at the same time, the ideal history teacher is one who does not rely on the textbook, or at least not on one textbook but instead, as a mark of teacher professionalism and autonomy, creates his or her own resources particularly suited to each class or course. This attitude seems to have reached its apogee in the 1970s, with the ‘home-brewed textbook’, facilitated by the spread of technology in schools, such as the banda and photocopier.[2] Thus the textbook has been characterised as a ‘crutch’ for the weaker teacher rather than an essential tool for the transmission of the curriculum, as in other countries. This attitude was not necessarily new in the 1960s – historically spending on textbooks in Britain was low compared with other nations and textbooks seem to have had a low priority in the classroom, though history teachers seem to have given them more priority than geographers.[3]
Marsden attempts to explain this anti-textbook attitude in a number of ways. Firstly, he locates it in the growing popularity of child-centred education in primary schools which led to an ‘anti-subject and anti-textbook’ approach, apparently (but not actually) sanctioned by the Plowden Report of 1967.[4] This is confirmed by Penelope Harnett in her interview (p. 2). Secondly, he points to the influence of curriculum change in the US in the 1960s which emphasised the process of teaching (methods) over the content of subjects (knowledge). Post-modernist influences also conspired to cast doubt on the value of the textbook since its construction and contents came to be seen as ‘a politicised and socially biased selection from the culture’ of those in power in society.[5] More prosaically, changes in the structures of schooling in England also helped to challenge any traditional attachment to textbooks (at least those of the traditional narrative text type). Comprehensive schools, the need to cater for the less able (especially after the raising of the school leaving age in 1973) and the popularity of curriculum innovation all promoted the teacher’s creativity in the classroom. New approaches were required to meet the needs of a wider range of ability levels. The secondary modern school teachers interviewed found they had few textbooks to use for history teaching, either because there was a view that they were not necessary for a good teacher who relied on his own expertise or because they were boring for the students.[6] Instead teachers who wanted a more lively approach concentrated on amassing their own resources, such as postcards and photographs (Evelyn Hinde). During the seventies, the spread of banda and photocopying machines encouraged teachers to produce their own materials – this was the start of the ‘worksheet revolution’. Reliance on one textbook came therefore to be associated with reactionary teaching and a lack of imagination by the teacher.[7]
None the less, history teachers continued to purchase textbooks for their pupils throughout the seventies and eighties, often with the intent of photocopying parts of them to create their own versions. The photocopier also facilitated the production of materials tailored to local study or special topics of interest – the curriculum was flexible and now the technology facilitated the production of materials to support a great diversity of courses. The popularity of the Mode 3 CSE enabled many teachers to indulge their enthusiasms, produce their own exams and then design the materials to go with it.[8] For a few it was the start of a career in textbook writing.[9] The link between the examination and the textbook is not a new development – the more specific examinations have become the more reliant teachers have become on textbooks. GCSE introduced much more specific assessment and thus fuelled demand for textbooks which offered to help students (and teachers) meet the requirements of the examination. Textbooks offered reassurance, alongside training, for teachers that they could deliver the new courses – and examiners were often the people writing the books and delivering the training.[10]
But GCSE paled into insignificance compared with the amounts spent on history textbooks for the National Curriculum. At primary level, there was a 38% increase in spending on textbooks between 1988/9 and 1991/2 (from £29m. to £40m. approx.) and a 28% increase in secondary level spending on textbooks in the same period (£39m. to £50m.). The spending on primary history textbooks increased greatly from 0.7% of the total to 5.5%, which Marsden claims reflected the more prescriptive content of the NC history syllabus at Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11).[11] It may also reflect the relative lack of expertise and confidence felt by many primary school teachers about delivering the history NC with its novel assessment approach, an issue noted by Penelope Harnett in her interview (p. 18).
At secondary level, teachers also sought reassurance in a good textbook. The lure of the potential market meant a huge choice in the 1990s and, though there has been contraction in the sales now that the National Curriculum is established, secondary schools have continued to invest in textbooks. However, the position of the textbook in history teaching is currently a matter for debate. Teachers have access to high quality colour illustrated texts with accompanying CDs of electronic material and suggested activities for learning. Marsden contends that such materials have usurped the control over the learning process which is the creative heart of the history teacher’s professional role. On the other hand, the sheer quantity of resources available for the classroom in electronic form, on the internet, to support the study of history in schools would suggest the imminent demise of the textbook and the promotion of teacher – and perhaps student – design of the learning process.
To some extent, one would expect the textbook to have been displaced in recent years by video then computer-based materials, first CD-rom then the internet. The continuing strong market for history textbooks in 2010 suggests that this has not been the case even though the style and content of textbooks has changed significantly to reflect changes in the methods of teaching and learning and the requirements of examinations. Most history textbooks now carry a CD with materials from the book which teachers can ‘cut and paste’ and use on an electronic whiteboard. Jim Belben of Hodder Education believes this is now an ‘essential’ item for teachers – to some extent the hard copy is the ‘extra’ rather than the CD. Web-based materials (with subscription) are also replacing the CD. None the less, he estimates that only 15% of teachers would be willing to sacrifice the textbook completely and have everything delivered online. Both pupils and parents also like to have a textbook to use for study (this may change with the widespread use of e-book devices). History teachers are still much more committed to the use of textbooks than geographers (who use the web and fieldwork more).[12]
The development of history textbooks since the 1960s
Content , presentation and the introduction of ‘process’ into textbooks
In the 1960s, where formal learning still dominated primary education, textbooks played a significant role in the teaching of history between the ages of 7 and 11. In primary schools, the dominant influence was Unstead. His text books for primary children were overwhelmingly British (English) history arranged chronologically, though his books contained few dates and concentrated on what might be broadly called social history as well as well-known historical stories.[13] The importance of Unstead in primary history in the 1960s and 70s is confirmed by the interviews with Harnett and Wood.[14] However, as child-centred methods of teaching spread, with ‘topic-study’ as the main vehicle for learning, text books played a lesser role, supporting cross-curricular topics or as part of reading schemes rather than defining a history curriculum in the primary school.
Unstead’s books represented a blending of ‘traditional’ content with less formal narrative writing for children, which was intended to appeal to the imagination. This ‘imaginative turn’ in history teaching was very significant in primary education, as it dove-tailed with the child-centred philosophy, but it had influence also in the lower secondary school, where ‘bringing history alive’ was the purpose of the more innovative textbooks, such as the Then and There series edited by Marjorie Reeves and Paula Hodgson. Reeves’ commitment to verisimilitude extended to including photographs and case studies from original sources adapted to the age and reading level of younger children.[15] Inevitably, the use of original sources in class, which was a growing trend in history teaching, led to discussion of the inherent language issues. Traditionalists preferred to have a narrative in which children could become absorbed.[16] On the other hand, some of the supporters of ‘new history’ were perfectly willing to ‘bowdlerise’ sources to aid historical understanding.[17]
History textbooks started to include questions for pupils to answer. At first, these were discreetly positioned at the end of each chapter, in order not to interrupt the flow of the text. Illustrations, still only black and white in the sixties, were progressively thinner on the ground as pupils progressed up the school. Both of these aspects started to change in the seventies, especially in books for the less able pupil, where graphic diagrams and cartoons made their appearance and questions were more prominent and broke up the text.[18] The series of books by Peter Moss proved popular, though they were limited in the range of activities for pupils.[19] The ‘easily-digested’ double-page spread was used to enable a pupil to read all about a single topic or event in one ‘viewing’.[20] Trends in presentation continued to make history textbooks more visually stimulating. By the seventies, textbooks for younger secondary pupils included large photographs of authentic historical artefacts or sites, like the lavishly-illustrated The Ancient World by R.J. Cootes and L.E. Snellgrove in the Longman Secondary Histories series (1970). Innovation in the content of textbooks for secondary schools led away from the ‘one size fits all’ textbook which encompassed a year’s British history in dense text between two hard covers. The ‘patch’ approach required in-depth studies to supplement an outline narrative – the Then and There series provide examples.[21] But this required more books and that meant increased costs for schools.
New history began to influence the content and layout of textbooks. Initially, original sources were provided in supplementary packs, such as the Jonathan Cape Jackdaw series; these sold well, partly because one needed to buy only one or at most a few packs to use in class. However, one wonders how often they were used by teachers, except as a novelty (the author recalls a unique lesson during which she and her class wandered round a display of facsimile documents making notes on each one to answer a question about Guy Fawkes – this was a highly novel diversion from the usual diet of note making). The challenge of using sources in class was one most history teachers had never encountered – textbooks had traditionally been largely non-directive in terms of classroom activities. Teaching History attempted to fill the gap with advice about how to teach using the ‘source method’.
The standard-bearer for new history was the Schools Council History Project, which produced a set of books to support its History 13-16 course. These balanced narrative text with a large collection of source materials and questions. The SCHP was not the first to produce books with sources in, but these had been used more for illustration or to give a sense of period, as in the Then and There books, than as the focus for historical study, which was the SCHP approach. SCHP also provided teachers’ materials which made it clear how the topics were to be delivered in the classroom, what activities were suitable and what their purposes were in terms of conceptual learning by the pupils. As Ian Dawson reflected, ‘The ‘What is History?’ material started people thinking because they clearly required a different kind of engagement with the kids.’[22] This was novel because it incorporated a particular philosophy of history teaching, which the teacher was expected to follow in the classroom. None the less, Dawson stresses the pragmatism of SCHP – it did not push teachers to change their approach to teaching to radically unless they wanted to. SCHP was also novel in terms of its content and this probably increased teachers’ reliance on the textbooks because some of it, for instance the history of medicine, would have been unfamiliar to them, as well as their pupils, though other topics, such as the modern world history topic on the Arab-Israeli conflict reflected a growing trend in post-14 history courses.[23] The SCHP materials were expensive to buy, partly because each unit had a separate book devoted to it. This probably restricted the take-up of SCHP somewhat; some schools innovated instead by introducing a modern world history syllabus for O level and CSE in the seventies and early eighties, for which there was a great choice of textbooks. The wider availability of TV documentaries and then video also influenced history teachers to move to modern world history. Tony Howarth’s Twentieth Century History: The World since 1900 (Longman, 1979), for instance, was written to accompany a BBC television series for schools.