Between coverage and meaning: relevance in world history textbooks

Abstract

This qualitative interpretive textbook analysis examines how secondary world history textbooks present the past in ways that shape historical and cultural relevance. Drawing on scholarship in historical consciousness (e.g., temporality, contingency, change/continuity; Seixas, 2004; Rüsen, 2004; van Straaten et al., 2016; Wilschut, 2012) and culturally relevant education (Banks, 2013; Gay, 2002; Grant, 2012; Ladson-Billings, 1995), the study develops an integrated analytical foundation that synthesizes these perspectives into a structured rubric. The foundation is applied to eight widely used and alternative world history textbooks to examine how narratives model historical interpretation, represent global diversity and cultural agency, make power and interconnection visible, and invite students to find relevance and meaning in the study of the past. Analysis revealed consistent cross-textbook patterns in how historical relevance is constructed. While all textbooks demonstrated attention to global diversity, power, and historical complexity, they varied in how explicitly they modeled historical interpretation and cultural agency. This variation was not determined by whether a text followed a chronological or thematic structure, as elements of interpretation, contingency, and agency appeared across all text types. All the textbooks presented multiple perspectives and structural explanations, yet almost always left the interpretive work of how historical knowledge is constructed implicitly. Relevance was frequently embedded through enduring human issues (e.g., power, inequality, belief systems, governance, etc.) and contemporary themes (e.g., globalization, human rights, environmental change, etc.), though opportunities for students to connect relevance to modern-day issues or their lived experiences remained implicit. This study introduces a theory-informed analytical foundation for examining how historical and cultural relevance are constructed within world history textbooks. By making the tension visible between coverage and meaning in textbook narratives, the findings inform textbook selection, curriculum development, and teacher decision-making in world history classrooms.