A Comparative Study On The Structure Of History Textbooks Between High Schools In China And The United States

Historical textbooks are the embodiment of historical curriculum standards.They are teachers' textbooks and students' textbooks.The structure of history textbooks is an important support for history textbooks,which reflects the arrangement,presentation,and design of historical knowledge in textbooks.Its quality is directly related to the quality of textbooks.Therefore,how to improve the structure of history textbooks in middle schools is an ever-exploring research topic in academic circles.Taking Chinese and American history textbooks as research subjects,the paper selects the American McDougal Littell edition and the Chinese Yuelu edition as the blueprint.Under the guidance of comparative historical education theories,comparative analysis and structural analysis methods are used to start with the structure of the history textbook and contrast the external macro of the textbook.The structure and the internal microstructure are designed to compare the differences,find differences and similarities,explore the causes,and exploit the advantages of others for my own use.Specifically,first of all,this paper compares the external macrostructures of Sino-U.S.history textbooks to the three dimensions of textbook writing style,overall structure and content structure.Then,the author further digs from the outside to the inside and selects the “industrial revolution” case to compare the internal microstructure of the two versions of textbooks from the two levels of the text system and the text auxiliary system,summarizing both the content arrangement and the column setting.The similarities and differences in design intent,etc.,reflect on the shortcomings of our textbooks in this area.Finally,the article draws attention from the differences in the structure of the two versions of textbooks,and summarizes the differences between the two in terms of structure setting,content selection and presentation,and other disciplines.The hidden differences in national conditions,education goals,education systems,etc.,especially the differences between the two countries in educating people.Finally,it returns to the structure of textbooks.At the end of the article,the article puts forward some suggestions for the design of the external macrostructure and internal microcosmic structure of Chinese middle school history textbooks.It hopes to contribute its meager strength and assist the compilation of history textbooks for middle schools in China.