Historical contextualisation in primary school history textbooks in Ghana

The paper positions historical contextualisation as central to historical reasoning and notes its inclusion in curricula internationally and in Ghana’s current framework (NaCCA, 2019). Contextualising entails examining events within appropriate temporal, geographical, and socio-cultural settings to avoid presentism and to explain relationships and cause–effect in history. Prior research has emphasized pedagogies (sourcing, collaboration, close reading) and students’ abilities to contextualise, but there is limited knowledge about how contextualisation is reflected in curriculum documents, particularly textbooks. This study addresses the question: How is historical contextualisation reflected in 12 History of Ghana textbooks for primary schools? It aims to contribute to textbook research by analysing approved learners’ textbooks and understanding their support for historical reasoning.

The study draws on historical thinking frameworks, especially Wineburg’s heuristics, where contextualisation involves situating sources and events within time and place and understanding authorship and purpose. Van Boxtel and van Drie (2012) define historical contextualisation as situating phenomena and actions in contexts of time, location, long-term developments, or specific events to explain, compare, or evaluate them, requiring knowledge of social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental factors. In classrooms, contextualisation includes dating/periodising events, identifying creators and audiences, and understanding reasons behind sources. Talin’s 5W1H (When, Where, Who, What, Why, How) framework offers a practical lens to analyse contextualisation in texts. Wineburg (2001) and Leon & Whelan (2008) propose guiding questions to use contextual information to interpret actions and settings, enhancing appreciation of the past. Prior studies have evaluated pedagogical interventions and students’ contextualisation abilities; fewer have examined textbooks’ reflection of contextualisation, motivating this analysis.

Design: Critical paradigm blending qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Data sources: From NaCCA’s (2021) approved list of 96 History of Ghana books, 45 learners’ textbooks (8 publishers) were purposively selected; from these, 12 learners’ textbooks (4 publishers) were randomly sampled to represent the six primary classes (two textbooks per class). Table 1 summarised characteristics (publishers included NNF Esquire & Cambridge, Excellence Publications, Winmat Publishers, and Masterman Publications). Instrument: A thematic matrix derived from Wineburg (2001) and Talin (2015) captured indicators of contextualisation across text, visuals, and activities. An alphanumeric code denoted publisher/class (e.g., A2). Analysis: Three stages: (1) Identify and count evidence of contextualisation and rate each textbook on a 0–5 scale via Excel functions (COUNTIFS; IF): counts ≥40=5; 30–39=4; 20–29=3; 10–19=2; 1–9=1; <1=0. (2) Compute descriptive statistics (means, SDs) to gauge level and variability. (3) Apply Maton’s (2013) Semantic Wave principle to classify evidence as Strong (SE), Intermediate (IE), Weak (WE), or None (NE) based on mean thresholds (≥3.75=SE; 2.50–3.74=IE; 1.00–2.49=WE; <1=NE). Both textual content and images were analysed.

• Overall, textbooks showed Intermediate Evidence (IE) of historical contextualisation (overall mean M=2.60). - Variability across books was notable (average SD=1.22), indicating heterogeneity. - Specific performance: B1, B2, B3, D4, D5, D6 showed relatively good reflection of contextualisation, whereas A1, A2, A3, C4, C5, C6 reflected relatively weaker evidence. - By dimension: • Connecting events/processes to specific time and place: Intermediate evidence (M=3.67, SD=0.78). • Connecting events/processes to broader regional, national, or global processes: Intermediate evidence (M=3.33, SD=0.98), relatively homogeneous across books. • Use of Talin’s 5W1H principle: Intermediate evidence (M=3.08, SD=1.00). - Examples: Activities in sample textbooks (e.g., B1 p.39; B2 p.63) prompted learners to identify What, Where, When, Who, and Why regarding local historical sites, supporting contextualisation practices. - Interpretation thresholds used: means ≥3.75=SE; 2.50–3.74=IE; 1.00–2.49=WE; <1=NE, with SD<1.00 indicating homogeneity.

Findings indicate that Ghanaian primary history textbooks generally incorporate contextualisation at an intermediate level, aligning with international curricular emphases on historical thinking. This suggests learners can situate events in time/place and relate them to broader contexts, potentially enhancing reasoning, imagination, and appreciation of multiple perspectives, and helping avert presentism. The results align with studies showing adequate contextual content in textbooks (e.g., Vella, 2010; Bharath, 2015) and contrast with findings of limited contextualisation elsewhere (e.g., Ramoroka & Engelbrecht, 2015). Practical implications include the need to tie reconstructed textbook contexts to classroom instruction, explicitly teach contextualisation skills, and foster connections to learners’ lived experiences. The study underscores that contextualisation supports other procedural concepts (chronology, sequencing) crucial for understanding change, continuity, and historical argumentation. It also suggests textbook writers are reflecting curriculum philosophy that promotes reconstruction of the past through informed analysis and evaluation, advancing historical reasoning and competencies like cultural identity and global citizenship.

The study concludes that historical contextualisation is present in the sampled History of Ghana textbooks, with materials that support learners’ engagement in contextualised historical inquiry. Such materials can guide planning and instruction consistent with the nature and pedagogy of history. The findings enhance understanding of how textbook authors incorporate contextualisation in line with curriculum requirements and how this supports historical reasoning among teachers and students. The authors propose further research into alternative approaches to assessing contextualisation in textbooks and examination of additional historical reasoning concepts in textbooks.