The Textbook as Discourse

The central assumption of The Textbook as Discourse is this: interpreted in the flow of history, textbooks can provide important insights into the nature and meaning of a culture and the social and political discourses in which it is engaged. This book is about the social, political and cultural content of elementary and secondary textbooks in American education. It focuses on the nature of the discourses-the content and context-that represent what is included in textbooks. The term "discourse" provides the conceptual framework for the book, drawing on the work of the French social theorist Michel Foucault. The volume includes classic articles and book chapters as well as three original chapters written by the editors. To enhance its usefulness as a course text, each chapter includes an Overview, Key Concepts, and Questions for Reflection.

Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. is a Professor in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education in the School of Education at the University of Miami. Annis N. Shaver is an Assistant Professor of German at Cedarville University. Manuel Bello is an independent scholar and teaches at Miami-Dade Community College.

Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Part One: Studies of American Textbooks and their Content from the Late 18th, 19th, and Early 20th Centuries 1. Education and the Iconography of the Republic: Patriotic Symbolism in the Frontispieces of Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century American Textbooks Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. 2. Values Expressed in American Children's Readers: 1800-1950 Richard Decharms and Gerald H. Moeller 3. Images of Women in Textbooks 1880-1920 Joan N. Burstyn, Ruth R. Corrigan 4. Catholic Textbooks and Cultural Legitimacy, 1840-1935 Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. 5. The Discourse of Americanization Textbooks: 1914-1924 Annis N. Shaver 6. Textbooks and Reconstruction W.E.B. DuBois 7. The Lingering Impact of the Scopes Trial on High School Biology Textbooks Randy Moore Part Two: Ideology, Race, Ethnicity, Socio-Economic Status, Gender, Disability, and Religion in 20th-Century American Textbooks 8. Ideology and United States History Textbooks Jean Anyon 9. The Representation of Christopher Columbus in High School History Textbooks: A Content Analysis Manuel Bello and Annis N. Shaver 10. Don Juan and Rebels Under Palm Trees: Depictions of Latin Americans in US History Textbooks Barbara C. Cruz 11. Race, Class, Gender, and Disability in Current Textbooks Christine E. Sleeter, Carl A. Grant 12. Brown-ning the American Textbook: History, Psychology, and the Origins of Modern Multiculturalism Jonathan Zimmerman 13. Making Dick and Jane: Historical Genesis of the Modern Basal Reader Alan Luke 14. Harold Rugg vs. Horatio Alger: Social Class and Economic Opportunity, 1930-1960 Joseph Moreau 15. Textbook Content and Religious Fundamentalism Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr. Bibliography