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such as Case studies in Australian history (Stewart, 1986). A brief synopsis of the key junior
history textbooks selected for analysis includes:
The modern world emerges (Lawrence et al., 1986) is arguably the most widely used
textbook for History in grades 9 and 10 across Queensland, and was used into the late 1990s
as a core History curriculum textbook. This claim is asserted here due to the large number of
copies held as class sets in Queensland schools; being part of university library collections;
and importantly its sustained use in classrooms ten years after the original publication date. In
particular, it is this last point that has placed this textbook in the canon of History textbooks
used in Queensland schools. A further reason for the selection of this textbook is two of the
authors, Joe Eshuys and Vic Guest, have written many textbooks in the curriculum areas of
History and English for high school students, and their influence in translating syllabuses to
the classroom through textbooks is notable.
Essentials of history by Ian Grant (1988) is a departure from the usual structure of a textbook,
and although the author states that it can be used as a “‘stand-alone’ text” (Gray, 1988, p. 1),
it really is targeted as a teacher resource, almost as a textbook for teachers to then select parts
to use in the day to day classroom teaching of threshold concepts in the History discipline
(see Source 7.8 for the preface to the textbook explaining the function of this textbook). This
textbook uses historical topics, such as WWI, Industrial and Agricultural Revolutions, and
Ancient Egyptian beliefs to teach historical skills such as note taking, referencing and
developing an hypothesis and historical concepts such as nationalism, cause and effect and
evidence.
Source 7.8. Preface to Essentials of History (Gray, 1988, p 1)
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