Exploring the role of archaeology in Dutch secondary school history textbooks

Archaeological principles might promote historical thinking competencies among students but not much is known about the role of archaeology in Dutch history textbooks. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore how archaeology is presented and used in two Dutch history textbooks for first year pre-university secondary school students. A horizontal textbook analysis was conducted which showed that both textbooks implement archaeological concepts and sometimes in combination with historical thinking competencies. The study ends with a call for close collaboration between archaeologists and history teachers.