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Although Gray’s book is a departure from the common structure and approach of a textbook,
it has nevertheless been selected for analysis as the author is a widely respected Queenslandbased
educator; and furthermore, this book presents as a new style of textbook for teachers to
use at various times in the school year, across history topics.
Prolific textbook author H.R. Cowie’s textbook series, Crossroads published between 1980
and 1982 forms the focus of analysis for the senior high school grades. This textbook series is
the only publication that addresses each of the ten units available for teachers to select to
teach Modern History in years 11 and 12. As a result, this series was widely used by most, if
not all, senior high school Modern History classes in Queensland. A sample of a cover from
this series can be viewed at Source 7.9.
Source 7.9. Front cover of Crossroads: Asia and Australia in World Affairs. (Cowie,
1980)
How the textbooks were intended for use is stated in the introduction of each of the five
books, with the following example from Crossroads: Imperialism and race relations volume
5:
The books in the Crossroads series are offered as stimuli for learning, not as a single
course of infallible information. Striving to avoid the presentation of a one-view
narrative, we have made frequent use of primary-source extracts and excerpts from
secondary-source commentaries. These are intended to facilitate consideration of
differing opinions, and the re-enactment of past thoughts and events.
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