Textbooks Over Time

I ran across a couple of articles dealing with how math textbooks have changed in the 100 years between 1900 and 2000.  Back in 2010, someone took a look and analysed the content in 141 math textbooks for elementary students that were published between 1900 and 2000.  They discovered that up until the 1960’s, most of the material (85%) covered focused on basic math but by 2000 the percentage dropped to 64%.  In the meantime, textbooks began teaching more on topics like advanced Algebra or geometry.  

In addition, many of the early textbooks were written by teachers teachers and supervisors rather than real mathematicians.  This meant many authors of mathematical textbooks didn’t even hold a Bachelors in Mathematics.  Many people who qualified as teachers in the 1930’s only attended a “Normal School” for two years so they didn’t have a strong background in the subject and most students were not expected to take four years of math in high school.

Often, these authors thought they could do a better job of creating a textbook than the one they used so they’d write one and at the same time, they’d earn a bit of extra money.  Even in the 1950’s prospective university students were not expected to have taken a lot of math but then the 1960’s hit.

In the 1960’s,  there came the push to have students learn more math and science so they could think more like mathematicians and scientists.  This became especially true when the Soviet Union managed to launch the first man into space.  At first, math was taught based more on inquiry and by the 1980’s there was a move away from rote memorization towards the standards used in today’s schools.

With the push towards having students focus on conceptual learning and rich mathematical ideas, teachers have been using various activities more which don’t always support these topics. In addition, the writing of textbooks has moved from teachers and supervisors creating their own version, to publishing companies creating a series of textbooks written by mathematicians and educators who have a solid understanding of learning.

Furthermore, analysis indicates that prior to adopting the common core standards, most standards were an accumulation of beliefs on what they should know so the curriculum was mostly set up to minimally look at so many different topics and was referred to as “scope and sequence”.  The change has certain topics appearing across several grade levels moving from an introduction into a deeper use.

If you look at universities and colleges, you’ll find that they also underwent a change.  Prior to 1900, many math classes were taught by professors as that one elective they needed to teach outside of their area of expertise much like coaches teaching math in high school.  In addition, many mathematics professors taught classes in subjects outside of their field like art, or science.  Over time, mathematics came into it’s own with departments, journals, and real textbooks.  

So textbooks have changed over time to what we see today. If you get your hands on a textbook from the past, it has little explanation but with mathematical proofs to explain the topic.  I’ve got a few from the 1940’s and 50’s for physics which can be difficult to follow. Right now, it is known that things need to change but it takes so long for textbooks to change.  Textbooks only change if school districts make the demand or states want it.  Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear.