This topic has been on talk radio all week. I've heard it twice on two
different radio shows and then saw it on the " O'Reilly Factor"--No Spin
Zone--television program.
The initial information was reported in the Phoenix, Arizona newspapers last
Sunday--April 27, 2003,(I have the link at work and can't seem to find it
now.)
but here are others reporting the same:
http://www.usatoday.com/educate/college/education/articles/20030420.htm
http://www.suntimes.com/output/kisor/sho-sunday-kisor20.html
http://www.illinoisloop.org/textbooks.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/45580p-42789c.html
The CHILD_LIT listserv that I monitored this past week was also talking
about the impact that this would have on education and the use of materials.
Of course, I was discussing the fact that it enveloped censorship and
reduced our understanding of history and culture in the United States. I
also encouraged these teachers to take a stand against these types of
educational censorship / political correctness, since Texas, California and
Florida are the biggest textbook purchasing groups and they will dominate
the production of these types of materials.
The response that I received was that these teachers believed that textbook
committees would "have the common sense" to understand what was necessary in
curriculum selection and purchase books that represented "truth" in all
areas. However, as a former member of a textbook committee, I must state
that this is not necessarily the case. I argued against some information in
books because it was vague and did not include references for future
reading. Many individuals on the committees were either busy with other
issues aside from their duties on the committee or did not want to interject
opinions that might not be appreciated by others (political correctness
personified)?
Although supplemental library materials are useful and it seems obvious "to
us" that the use of these materials should be added to the curriculum "gaps"
found in the textbooks, there will be teachers (and schools) that do not
and cannot supplement their textbooks. My argument was that we, as teachers
and librarians, need to stand up against these types of materials being
offered as teaching tools and educate our administrators, textbook
committees, and fellow teachers of the power of the library when information
seems vague or less the informative for classroom presentation. I also
believe that we need to be a part of textbook selection committees so that
we can present to our fellow educators the value of information and how we
choose materials for a variety of individuals in our libraries---a process
that should be required of all textbook committees.
Yes, I understand that we must choose materials based upon our community
standards and the needs of our students; however, we must also make certain
that our history, culture, and future does not disintegrate because we want
to create a vanilla environment that does not offend anyone. The reality is
we, as a country, have made mistakes and we hope to teach our young that
these mistakes were made so that they do not make the same ones. We also
need to remind ourselves that although issues that we have been asked to
discuss publicly be taken to an appropriate level of political correctness,
we cannot neglect to speak about them to our children. We must swallow hard
and admit that some things have been said, done, written, and thought
throughout history by individuals who have helped to shape our nation; these
things should be spoken about, discussed, and evaluated. Otherwise, we
deprive ourselves (and our future generations) of the hope of a better
tomorrow.
Idealistic? Perhaps. But if we sit back and allow things to happen
(textbook creation, adoption and selection) without speaking out against
things that we feel might hurt us in the future (vanilla-coating of terms,
ideas and national problems), we deserve what the future gives us.
...off the soapbox.
~Shonda Brisco
Trinity Valley MS / US Librarian
Fort Worth, TX
sbrisco021@charter.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Amanda Credaro" <acredaro@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 7:31 PM
Subject: NEWS: Please tell me it isn't true ...
> The News Report at:
>
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/05/04/wpc04.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/05/04/ixworld.html
>
> discusses "Banned from US textbooks: owls, ketchup, dinosaurs and old
ladies
> with cats ...."
>
> It would be really great if someone could confirm that this is just media
> hype, and not fact ...
>
> ********************************
> ********************************
> ********************************
> Amanda Credaro
> Teacher Librarian
> Project Officer (Temporary)
> Professional Development and Curriculum Directorate
> Phone: 9266 8261
> email: abcredaro@ozemail.com.au
> *********************************
> WARRIOR LIBRARIAN WEEKLY:
> The zine for librarians who refuse to be classified
> http://www.warriorlibrarian.com
> *********************************
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