Textbooks: too heavy, too long, too dense, too expensive,
too heavily relied upon. These are only some of the criticisms that you’re
bound to hear when discussing textbooks. And you don’t have to be an educator
or a student to know that they are consistent and serious issues. What’s worse
is that they are all completely valid claims. It seems that at younger and
younger ages, students are being forced to purchase expensive and sometimes
comically oversized textbooks to ensure that they will learn what they need to
in order to pass that all-important end of year standardized test. And therein
lies the problem: textbooks DO NOT ensure that students will learn. The only
thing that ensures learning takes place in a meaningful and consistent manner
is the teacher. How then, do teachers facilitate real learning without that
paragon of academic learning, the textbook?
The
first and most important step, but perhaps also the most difficult is to reduce
the reliance on textbooks that has become so commonplace in schools across the
country. The fact is that textbooks are too long, not comprehensive enough, and
written too formally for students to really get anything out of them. We expect
students to read five or six textbooks practically cover to cover over the
course of a year and are surprised when they don’t retain the information.
Sure, textbooks can be useful for drilling dates, definitions, names, places,
formulas, and other facts into students’ heads, but this is not what real
learning looks like. Real learning entails the recognition, understanding, and
analysis of larger and more impactful concepts. When students are able to
understand and discuss things that affect everyday life, then real learning has
taken place. Textbooks alone cannot teach these things, and so educators must
learn to greatly reduce their dependence on them and start to incorporate
reading materials from other disciplines, genres, and styles into their
teaching.
Even
though I do not yet have my own classroom, I am confident in saying that my
biggest concern as an educator will be encouraging critical and independent
thought among my students. I think this is something that I’ve always placed a
premium on, so it worries me when teachers (especially history teachers) rely
mostly or solely on a textbook to do a majority of the teaching. For the most
part, textbooks cannot and will not encourage students to think for themselves.
They will present information as hard and indisputable fact that should not be
questioned. Granted, for subjects such as math and science which are inherently
fact based, this is acceptable, or at least more so than in some other
subjects. But even then, there needs to be some room allowed for students to
question what they are learning without the fear of reproach or ridicule. Curiosity
and healthy skepticism are the foundation for conscious, critically, and independently
thinking adults. Students need to know that there are multiple angles from
which all things can and should be considered. I think my favorite passage from
these two chapters is the following: “Whether it is intentional or not, it is
unacceptable for schools in a democracy to teach young people that only one
view is sufficient…” (Daniels and Zemelman, 56). This accurately captures the
very essence of why I want to become a teacher. And the way that young people
are taught that only one view is sufficient is by having them read textbooks
page by page and having them memorize and recite facts back to you. This is a
wholly unacceptable way of teaching, and something I resolve never to do in my
career as an educator.
