Constellation Analysis: A Methodology for Comparing Syllabus Topics Across Educational Contexts

By exploring the varied depiction of World War I in the history textbooks used in three countries’ classrooms the author reveals some important facts. Using what he terms Constellation Analysis, he relates the differences he finds to the distinctive nature of the societies and education systems of Japan, Sweden and England.

Jason Nicholls was a teacher and academic who had studied at the universities of Portsmouth, Nottingham, London and Oxford; from the last of these he received his doctorate in 2006. He taught in a large number of countries, only some of which feature in his work on Constellation Analysis.
Bryan Cunningham is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Education, University of London, where he first met Jason Nicholls.