Currently, there is a controversy in Japan about textbook treatments of Japanese military actions during World War II. This digest examines: (1) the importance of history textbooks in schools in Japan and the United States; (2) the context of history textbook controversies in Japan; (3) the current issues and contending positions in the Japanese…

The hard-cover basal textbook continues to dominate teaching and learning in elementary social studies, particularly as a reaction to reduced budgets, the back to basics movement, state-wide testing, and criticism of less traditional teaching practices. Two problem areas encountered by children when using social studies textbooks include lack of…