The &quot;&quot;Other&quot;&quot; in Modern Secondary History Textbook Narratives from Mexico and the United States: Connection, Conflict, or Indifference?

In most countries' history classrooms, a textbook still plays a key role, and the narratives of these texts help to shape students' perceptions of their nation and others. A large body of American research exists examining the historical narratives of ethnic minorities in the United States, including Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, but few studies have examined this question using a textbook sample from across the border aimed at mainstream secondary students. This research raised the question of inclusion of the ""other"" (Mexico in American texts and US in Mexican texts) for the period of the twentieth century. It did this through quantitative analysis of index entries, highlights, pictorial inclusion and text spacing, and also through a qualitative approach of positive/negative coding and using existing theoretical frameworks for narrative analysis. The findings indicated that Mexican texts include references to the US on over 30% of text pages, while US texts average 5%...Show moreIn most countries' history classrooms, a textbook still plays a key role, and the narratives of these texts help to shape students' perceptions of their nation and others. A large body of American research exists examining the historical narratives of ethnic minorities in the United States, including Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, but few studies have examined this question using a textbook sample from across the border aimed at mainstream secondary students. This research raised the question of inclusion of the ""other"" (Mexico in American texts and US in Mexican texts) for the period of the twentieth century. It did this through quantitative analysis of index entries, highlights, pictorial inclusion and text spacing, and also through a qualitative approach of positive/negative coding and using existing theoretical frameworks for narrative analysis. The findings indicated that Mexican texts include references to the US on over 30% of text pages, while US texts average 5% references to the southern neighbor. Additionally, by a 2:1 margin in both cases the coding reveals more negative references than positive, though this can also include victimhood of racial discrimination or economic imperialism. Still, the texts are generally more inclusive than those used in past studies and decades, and sparse but relevant emphasis on cross border cooperation may provide insight into future direction for transnational history provided to a broad audience of secondary students.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

The ""Other"" in Modern Secondary History Textbook Narratives from Mexico and the United States: Connection, Conflict, or Indifference?