"Teaching Against the History Textbook" Wiki Project Invitation

categories: Education and Technology, Teaching Ideas and Resources

Published May 21, 2009 @ 07:04AM PT

I just posted this project invitation for history and social studies teachers on the National Council for the Social Studies Community Network ning. If you're interested in joining, please go there, join, and we can start planning for next year.

* * *

Any fans of James Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me will be familiar with the thinking behind the idea I'm about to propose, which is this:

We create a single wiki, "A Critical Supplement to Major History Textbooks," and create a page on it for each textbook we're using, in whatever class.

In our classrooms, we assign student teams to tackle each section of the textbook by identifying any perceived biases, coverage emphases and de-emphases, omissions, errors of fact, and so forth, in that section, and publish their findings on that textbook's page on the wiki.

The project would have value in a number of ways:

1. Students would have to know the material in the textbook in order to identify what is not in it, so the project would not conflict with learning the course content objectives.

2. Students would learn to read the textbook critically and skeptically, and their discovery of the inevitable biases, assumptions, omissions, under-representations of certain classes/genders/races/religions etc in the texts would surely go far in developing their critical thinking skills and their stance toward authorial authority. The dangerous naivete and blind trust in the written word so common among the young (and not-so-young) would be remedied by such an experience to a considerable degree after a year of such study.

3. The wiki itself would be a resource of lasting value. Over time, other teachers and students would surely discover it, and find it useful as a supplement to their textbook.

4. Students would be practicing research and, done well, internet literacy as they searched for more information about material covered in each section of their textbook. (Wikipedia would be an obvious place to start, but not to finish, in this research - particularly the external links and citation footnotes at the bottom of each page.)

5. History would obviously come alive more by being turned into a field of controversy in this way, rather than remain the dull grind of memorizing stuff that turns so many students off of history.

Parting shots:

I'd love to brainstorm how to set this up with any interested parties.

If you'd like to read more on the idea, I've blogged about it here, here, and here.

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Comments (12)

It sounds like a great idea. I think you should expand it however, especially if it is successful. Science class could benefit significantly from the critical thinking that this would drive. Especially useful for kids in states like Texas where their educations are otherwise being sacrificed at the alter of Christian Fundamentalism.

Posted by Damon Ballard on 05/21/2009 @ 01:59PM PT
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Damon, I agree completely. I'm not a science teacher, though...but I guess it would be easy enough to create and promote a space for science textbooks as well, and see if any science teachers bite.

Interesting suggestion....

Posted by Clay Burell on 05/22/2009 @ 09:42AM PT
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A post by another edublogger I follow, Carla Beard, has some interesting insights on how the creation of textbooks is dominated by the wrong kinds of forces that you might be interested in.

Posted by Jodi Rice on 05/22/2009 @ 10:48AM PT
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Thanks, Jodi. Great lead. So was the Edutopia article she linked to.

A lot of it is territory covered exhaustively in Loewen's Lies My Teacher Told Me.

Posted by Clay Burell on 05/22/2009 @ 10:00PM PT
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Perhaps a solution to the textbook and possibly the Federal education regulation problem is this.

At the federal level, create a panel of experts in a given field who will create requirements for what is to be included in all text books. Much the way states make requirements, in other words take it out of the hands of the states. The states then get to chose the textbooks, based on those federal standards.

This panel would be selected at random and be comprised of 8-10 public university professors, no private universities allowed since private schools can make their own book selections.

Once the standards are completed, any public school must use a book based on those standards. This creates a higher level of uniformity in education and access to information, because even if a state like Texas doesn't want to teach the biology sections, its still there and the students have the chance to read it themselves.

Or maybe I'm talking out my backside.

Posted by Damon Ballard on 05/22/2009 @ 09:51PM PT
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Damon, I'd say your talking out of your very sensible word-hole, but the education politics world is too head-up-a$$ to sensibly follow the suggestion. I posted about an academic attempt to write national history standards that crashed against the shoals of ideological stupidity here.

Posted by Clay Burell on 05/22/2009 @ 10:02PM PT
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So I see. What a horrible travesty for our children.

Posted by Damon Ballard on 05/22/2009 @ 10:38PM PT
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Sounds great - - count me in

Posted by John Stephens on 05/23/2009 @ 05:15AM PT
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Great, John. See you on the NCSS Ning, linked in post?

Posted by Clay Burell on 05/23/2009 @ 05:40AM PT
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John, FYI, I just found your history website and your C.V., and man, we have some stuff in common - particularly reviving beautiful old cars and taking them on tour.

Be sure to let me know if you join that Ning. One thing I like about the wiki idea is that it seems to avoid a lot (possibly all) of the high maintenance that comes with collaboration across time zones.

Posted by Clay Burell on 05/23/2009 @ 06:07AM PT
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Clay, this is a brilliant idea. I'm a big fan of both of Loewen's books, although I don't think I've read him since college. If I taught social studies instead of art... or used a textbook at all with my classes (which I'm glad I don't have to)... I would be in. Instead, I'll pass the info on to any social studies teacher who will listen.

Posted by david gran on 08/05/2009 @ 11:19PM PT
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Hi David,

All comers are welcome at any and all times. I'm not sure I'll be able to get this off the ground until later in the semester, but I'm hoping to. A handful of other teachers on the NCSS ning have expressed interest, so I hope its something we can slowly grow.

Take care :)

Posted by Clay Burell on 08/07/2009 @ 03:35AM PT
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Author

Clay is an American high school Humanities teacher, technology coach, and Apple Distinguished Educator who has taught for the last eight years in Asian international schools. According to law, he's married to his wife. According to his wife, he's married to his Mac.