My high school history teacher used to say, “The writers of history are the winners, not the losers.” I remember studying learning content like colonialism in grade school, then relearning it in high school, and then delving into it from a totally different angle in college. This was a confusing shift of learning content. And it wasn’t just the teachers and their varying perspectives on the topic–it was the textbooks, too, that provided changing information. Which makes you wonder, who creates school learning content, and what is the selection process for getting it into the schools? 

A hundred years ago there were many fewer options for textbook publishing companies. Now, with more texts and online material, the choosing process is becoming more democratic, as school boards now have a greater say in what gets taught.