Censored Textbooks
Are they even worth teaching from?
"Picturing a Perfect World"
Textbooks today are having students picture a perfect world by censoring certain words from textbooks. A world that there is no wrong. A world that everyone is happy. A world that everyone is the same. But that is not the kind of world we live in. Textbooks are changing the way children are learning about history by omitting certain words that define our past. So are we teaching children facts or lies about our history? "Censorship distorts the history curriculum by injecting political considerations into interpretations of the past, so that schoolbook 'history' is twisted to accommodate the sensitivities of feminist groups, religious groups, racial groups, ethnic groups, and others" (Anne C. Westwater).
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Textbook Adoption
Textbook adoption is bad no matter how you look at it. Textbook adoption states are doing poorly on state assessments. Textbooks are not being judged by what's in them, but by what's not in them. They are not looking at the content of the textbook and the information in the textbooks, however, they are looking to make sure there are no words in them that would offend anyone. In The Mad, Mad World of Textbook Adoption, "The American textbook in its present form will likely not endure another generation. Now is the time for education reformers, state lawmakers, teachers, publishers, and state education officials to think about what should replace it" (Diane Ravitch, 2004). There should be federal funding that would allow teachers to be knowledgeable enough in their area of teaching not to rely on the textbook for their teaching. Or there should be funding available to help schools by textbooks that are proven to help with students achievements.
Knowledgeable Teachers
The Trouble with Textbooks: Distorting History and Religion
Fox and Friends - Trouble with Textbooks