A lot has been made about the role of textbooks in the classroom, particularly with regard to Social Studies. Many say that they are a good resource that has helped to educate generations of students and has been successful in several ways. Others could not disagree more, claiming that textbooks hamstring teachers and promote meaningless education. Here is my brief take on this question, and as always it is important to understand that these issues are not always as black and white as they may seem.
Throughout most of my education coursework here at Rutgers a lot has been made about the deficiencies of textbooks, along with the trouble and problems which accompany an over reliance on these books while teaching. However, I believe that textbooks do have their place in the classroom, when used correctly. As with anything used in the classroom, it is important to be careful of how you use it, and understand that it should be a supplement to the larger goal of education the students. Just as a teacher should not overly use lecture, technology, or primary sources, it is important that a teacher not rely on textbooks as the guide for how they teach their class. Practically, I think that any approach which uses one type of source or one strategy to guide the teaching is flawed as the teacher is not going to equally or meaningfully reach all of the students. Therefore, it is our jobs as teachers to implement a variety of different sources and methods, and textbooks can serve as one of those sources in our classrooms.
One of the things that struck me most throughout the readings was the discussion of the “truth” and how to discern what really is the “truth” when discussing history, especially in the classroom. Throughout Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen consistently discusses how many of the students he interviewed were mislead or mistaught due to the best story in the textbook, or the lack of controversy introduced throughout the text. Although I would love for a textbook to have that controversy and multiple perspectives built in them, it really is not practical to expect one text to have all of these stories and backgrounds built in them for several reasons. If the text included all of these in a well fleshed out manner, the texts would be even longer and more cumbersome with regard to their practical use to the student. In addition, one has to understand the practical situation which textbook companies must face, as they are companies and are run to make a profit. As such, they are going to produce products which appeal to the largest audience and are not high risk in their content or organization. David Tyack discusses this in his piece “Monuments Between Covers: The Politics of Textbooks” several times, particularly with regard to politics and culture, and the difficulty of integrating all aspects of history into the conversation. As teachers we can not effectively or practically change the nature of the textbook industry in a meaningful way, as these factors will always shape how the text is written in some shape or form; bias will always exist.
However, we can have an impact on how this information is transferred to students with a filtering of ‘best story’ history and by integrating multiple perspectives in the classroom. This is the moment where teachers should use various other sources such as primary and secondary documents, interpretive resources, and opinion pieces to get students to think about different points of view and backgrounds. Using these sources along with the text will allow the students to see a fuller picture of the past, and become more aware of the world around them, particularly if they are not a part of the ‘best story’ described in the text. It is also a great way to allow students to develop the skill of understanding and interpreting bias in a way that gives the document real meaning to them. This will help bring the students to a greater idea of what the “truth” really is and a meaningful understanding of the past. As teachers we can work against the interests that stress the power narrative and incorporate alternative stories and encourage engagement with different and varied materials and resources, not only in school, but beyond.