Real Teachers Use the Textbook

Of all the sections in the book, the 3 page section entitled "Real Teachers Use the Textbook" stuck out to me the most. In fact, my first reaction to reading this section was, "Ummmmm...I don't think so". As a black studies major and a history/ social studies teacher I have a very strong distrust of textbooks. In my experience, most textbooks (especially US History textbooks) are kind of racist. And by kind of, I mean that I have yet to find a comprehensive textbook version of history which I'm truly comfortable with. Although I wish it wasn't race and racism are still a defining part of American culture, but history textbooks try to paint a color-blind image of history which inevitably leaves out the stories and histories of a wide variety of Americans. I'm not fooled by the sectioned off paragraph about "minorities and women" which comes at the END of an entire section about the 20s, the Great Depression or WWII. And I hate the manner in which topics such as the Civil Rights Movement are told from a perspective which may highlight one groups accomplishments (blacks) without conveying how other groups (whites) really made it difficult. Saying, "For many years blacks faced discrimination" is true, but hardly expository when it comes to the history of discrimination in this country, and following a lackluster description of this "discrimination" prior to the civil rights chapter, the history becomes extremely muted.

So as you can see, I pretty much hate textbooks. Especially when I feel like using them prevents me from teaching my students their own history. Textbook writers prefer easy half-truths to difficult whole truths and teaching them kind of makes me feel like a sell-out. Needless to say, Rubinstein has a point when he says that textbooks are in some ways necessary.  In just a few weeks of teaching I've learned the hard way that you CANNOT independently research the history of anything and then try to fit it into a 50 minute lesson plan. I spent hours and hours of time on websites trying to re-educate myself on "the Holocaust" or "The New Deal" only to find that I had too much information to deal with and organize. It was impossible to break down everything that I read into a format that could be easily digested by kids. I've learned that although the textbook is in no way perfect, it at least breaks down the key aspects of historical events. If i read the textbook and get a feel for what I'm supposed to be teaching, I can delete or add sections that I feel are necessary while saving myself about 3 hours of reading. And I also understand what Rubinstein means about student's perspective on the textbook. I hope that I will never rely on my textbook to teach my students, but I understand that many students rely on their textbook to inform their own learning. So I will undoubtedly be forced to use my textbook for my student's sake, although sparingly. Real teachers do use the textbook. Because real teachers can distinguish between when the textbook does a good job, and when it's completely full of shit, and ultimately there's a huge difference between using a textbook and relying on it. 

Read and post comments | Send to a friend