The Changing Nature of High School World Geography Textbooks

This study seeks to document and explain the key changes to the form and content of high school world geography textbooks from 1950 to 2005. Eighteen textbooks, three per decade, were selected and analyzed for manifest and latent content. Four key changes over the study period were identified: greater international orientation, a broader presentation of geography, standardization of approach and content; and content being driven by factors external to geography and the author. The resulting textbooks are larger and better illustrated. They cover the world in greater detail, but are weak in narratives that reflect different points of view and contradictory aims