ABSTRACT
Textbooks are used in history classrooms around the world, but the way they are put together, the pedagogical assumptions that underlie them and the selection of material can differ greatly. This may depend on the intentions of the government and education system in a particular country, how a particular country was involved in key events in the past, the dominant pedagogy in that country and how far textbooks are intended to instil a sense of national pride and common identity. The first extract, from an Israeli perspective, discusses what the aims of history textbooks are now and what they should perhaps in the future. The second, from a comparative study of textbooks in different countries, focuses on the English experience and why it might differ from others; the third suggests a pedagogical approach to using textbooks as interpretations. In many countries there is no choice over textbooks as they contain the officially sanctioned views of the past. However, whether books are officially approved or not, it raises questions for teachers as to how to handle the material contained within.
