Cognitive demands and curriculum alignment in Ethiopia's Grade 10 History Textbook: Bridging policy and practice

Abstract Ethiopia's post‐2018 educational reforms prioritize competency‐based learning to cultivate critical thinking and historical inquiry. However, in Ethiopia, history education remains largely focused on rote memorization, creating a disconnect between national competency‐based reforms and classroom practices. This study examines this misalignment by analysing cognitive objectives and assessment tasks in the Grade 10 History Textbook using a summative content analysis framed by Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge model. A content analysis of 156 cognitive objectives and 267 assessment tasks revealed that 53.19% focused on lower‐order thinking skills (LOTS: remembering, understanding, applying), while 46.78% targeted HOTS (analysing, evaluating, creating). Assessment tasks predominantly included multiple choice (32%) and short answer questions (34%), with minimal performance‐based tasks (3.5%) and no document‐based questions. The findings indicate a textbook emphasis on factual retention rather than critical inquiry, undermining Ethiopia's post‐2018 educational reforms and hindering the development of historical thinking competencies. The study advocates for urgent curricular revisions to embed historical thinking skills (e.g. sourcing, corroboration), teacher professional development programs and assessment reforms that prioritize analytical rigour over memorization. By bridging Ethiopia's aspirational policies with classroom realities, this research contributes a framework for aligning Ethiopian educational reforms with 21st‐century pedagogical standards, emphasizing the development of analytical, critical, creative and problem‐solving skills.