The authors begin by pointing out that up until recently teachers in England had the freedom to choose which textbooks they would use and how much money they would spend on textbooks. Since 1988, while teachers technically still have choice in textbook selection, the presence of the National Curriculum, its accompanying testing, accountability and inspection practices have reduced the autonomy of individual teachers, creating a state-controlled education system with an increasingly profit-driven textbook industry. Furthermore, the institution of the National Curriculum has limited the textbook market and caused textbook publishers to respond to the demands of examination boards. It has made economic considerations in the textbook market more important than educational concerns, and decreased the variety in educational products as a smaller number of large publishers now control the market. In this chapter the authors argue that textbook publishing is situated in the middle of a variety of stakeholders’ social, economic, ideological and academic interests. The authors examine how editors, authors, and publishers respond to the tension of this positioning and the way in which education in England has supported a “conservative and narrow educational vision.”

Crawford and Foster site survey and interview based studies with major textbook publishers to support their point that the top priority for textbook publishers in England is to protect their share of the market. For publishers, this means ensuring textbooks reflect the ideological and political interests of the most powerful interest groups and national agencies that manufacture the curriculum. This in turn limits access to knowledge, which is particularly concerning given some have criticized the history National Curriculum as ideologically unsound. Another priority for textbook publishers is to respond to the requirements of the national examination and testing systems. The authors explain that the National Curriculum has essentially created a state-sponsored market, which in turn limits the diversity of textbook production. In order to ensure the success of their product and thus maximize profits, textbook publishers seek the endorsement of examination boards, endorsement that strongly appeals to teachers. Prior to the 1990s, the practice of examination boards endorsing texts was unheard of. The quality of the textbooks is often compromised when curriculum specifications and educational reforms occur too rapidly and textbook publishers are pressed to meet deadlines. The consequences in history textbooks include lack of reference to recent scholarship, non-challenging tasks for students, and a narrow, traditional view of history.

The authors continue, explaining the powerful role of editors in textbook publishing. Editors negotiate between teachers and publishing demands, making pragmatic, political or ideological decisions that often do not reflect educational values. Editors seek authors that are efficient and willing to compromise, as the textbook creation process is not simply a matter of writing, but of designing a text that will sell. This is a market-driven formula for textbook production that limits the variety and quality of textbooks available to teachers. In closing, the authors emphasize that increased state-control in textbook publishing and English education in general has impacted the cultural knowledge taught in classrooms. Due to the nature of textbook publishing, innovation and risk taking are avoided and conservative methods upheld. Textbook publishing has become bureaucratic and process-oriented, and the authors see cause for distress in the fact that teachers participate in this by selecting textbooks for reasons other than content and pedagogy.