A Study On The Construction Of National Image In American Middle School History Textbook

At present,the focus of textbook research has gradually shifted from studying textbook content to studying the generation of textbook content and the political,cultural and social development behind textbooks.Textbook image is the expression of national will in textbooks,and it is an important part of modern education,involving the shaping and consolidation of students’ ideology.In the existing research,scholars pay more attention to Chinese images in foreign textbooks and foreign images in domestic textbooks,but the research on how foreign textbooks construct their own national images is still weak.This paper focuses on the national image construction in American middle school history textbooks,trying to broaden the international perspective of the research on the national image construction in textbooks,explore the value basis and value expression of the national image construction in American middle school history textbooks,analyze the national image and its construction characteristics in its textbooks,and then reveal its function mechanism,so as to gain beneficial enlightenment for the national image construction in Chinese history textbooks,effectively educate students in textbooks,and systematically implement the disciplinary practice of the national power of textbook construction.In this study,the American students edition United States history since 1877,published by HOLT Mc Dougal,a subsidiary of houghton mifflin in 2016,is a history textbook for grades 9-12 in the United States.This publishing house is one of the four major publishing houses in the United States,and the usage rate of textbooks published in the United States reaches about 70%.Therefore,in the selection of research samples,this edition of history textbook is relatively representative and convincing.Taking this American middle school history textbook as the research object,this study,starting from the overall design of American history curriculum,sorts out the development of American history curriculum and the formulation and content of American national history curriculum standards,with a view to absorbing ideological nutrients from the perspectives of sociology,communication,pedagogy and other disciplines,and then clarifies the value basis of national image construction in American history textbooks: First,the national image construction in textbooks is regulated by ideology;Second,communication laid the foundation for the concrete expression of textbook national image construction;Third,the value aim of textbook national image construction is consistent with the educational goal of pedagogy.After clarifying the value basis of textbook national image construction,this study combined with the national history curriculum standards of the United States,and found that the value expression of American history textbooks includes cultivating the political concept of democracy,freedom and equality,emphasizing civic awareness,and attaching importance to multicultural values.Based on the classification standards of previous studies and the content analysis of the actual national image elements in history textbooks,this study builds a framework for the analysis of national image in textbooks.This paper deconstructs the national image in American middle school history textbooks from four aspects: national material image,national system image,national culture image and national image.It is found that the material image of the United States in American middle school history textbooks can be interpreted as a modern country with rich natural resources,high urbanization level,territorial integrity and sovereignty independence.The image of the national system includes five aspects: first,the image of the limited government guaranteeing the rights of citizens;Second,the image of respecting the constitution as a country ruled by law;Third,the international image of active participation in global affairs;Fourth,the image of a democratic and free country in which everyone enjoys equal civil rights;Fifth,the image of rapid development of economy and science and technology;The national cultural image shows the cultural spirit of unity as one and the rich and colorful cultural life from the dynamic cultural behavior,and constructs the three-dimensional national cultural image from the static cultural works such as minority artistic works reflecting the social and political reality and pursuing equal rights and mass cultural works spreading rapidly.The national image shapes the political leaders who represent the will of the country and the national heroes who contribute to the country.In addition,through text analysis,it is found that the characteristics of national image construction in American middle school history textbooks mainly include four aspects: first,to awaken historical memory and construct national image;Second,make good use of "others" contrast to construct national image;Third,integrate the core value to construct the national image;Fourthly,construct national image skillfully with micro-historiography.On this basis,the author further discovers the mechanism of national image construction in American middle school history textbooks,in which the history writing is the realistic support,the core values are the internal drive engine,the ideological orientation is the direction guidance,and the multiple power subjects are the confirmation of legitimacy.Finally,based on the experience of constructing the national image of American middle school history textbooks,combined with the practice of the curriculum reform of basic education in China,this paper rationally examines the compilation and use of Chinese history textbooks,in order to provide beneficial enlightenment for their high-quality development: constructing the national image in a complete historical knowledge system;Construct national image in the unity of national will and cultural inheritance;Attach importance to the integration of core values and try to reflect the multicultural identity.