[DOWNLOAD] "Textbooks and Their Impact on Education (Essay)" by Journal of African Children's and Youth Literature " Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Textbooks and Their Impact on Education (Essay)
- Author : Journal of African Children's and Youth Literature
- Release Date : January 01, 2007
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 184 KB
Description
Textbooks are as much a part of today's educational system as classrooms, crowded halls, and teachers. From elementary school on, children are taught to look to textbooks for instruction, knowledge, and answers. As a result, children quickly learn to trust the information presented therein. In a very real sense, this information forms the basis of their education. Children learn from the text and teachers reiterate it in an effort to reinforce the integration of the material. With all of the emphasis placed on the text, one is left to wonder what happens if the textbooks are biased, full of errors, or inadequate. In these cases, it could very well be stated that the things we think we know are wrong. Over the years, debate has raged over whether and how textbooks need to be revised, rewritten, or simply replaced. Critics maintain that many of the textbooks in use in recent years have been woefully inadequate. In some cases, information has been omitted or presented in a biased manner, teaching children stereotypes or incorrect information. How many of us remember being taught that Thanksgiving was a time when Pilgrims and Native Americans sat down at the same table and shared a meal in friendship? Typically, this myth is perpetuated all through elementary school, and it is only in later years that we discover the friction and violence that actually existed between the settlers and Native Americans. These kinds of errors, which typically present a "rosy" picture in order to hide certain atrocities or present a picture that is politically correct, adversely affect a child's education by basing it on fiction rather than on historical truth. As a result, children are forced to "relearn" history while questioning the validity of much of what they were taught (Carnine, Long, Stine, & Suen, 2001).