The Texas Textbook
Controversy is an important issue to understand because of competing viewpoints
between the liberals and conservatives. The term refers to how a group of
people under the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) controls what
information is to be included in textbooks in the Texas public education.
Arguably, this has brought arguments from both liberals and conservatives as each
one treats the application and instruction of history in a different manner. In
seeking to understand the different arguments between both parties, it is
essential to point out that conservatives continue to promote specific
limitations to instruction while liberals try to ascertain an objective view
that opens up different perspectives on how to teach history in Texas.
Looking closely,
the main stance of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) is to maintain a
conservative stance on how history is taught to students. In particular, they
want to promote American Exceptionalism and highlight the importance of
capitalism and free market as critical in helping expand the identity of the
nation. Phyllis Schlafy (2010), a known Texan conservative, argues that “it's
no secret that the people who control public schools are at war with our
nation's history, culture and achievements. Since taxpayers foot the bill, it
is long overdue for a state board of education to correct many textbooks myths
and lies about our magnificent national heritage and achievements” (p.1). Arguably, the main component of the Texas Textbook
Controversy is the conservative’s stance to maintain the ability of Texans
students to understand history in a way that is not misleading or inappropriate.
On the other hand,
critics of the Texas Textbook controversy are from the liberal faction. Their
main argument concerning the control of the SBOE of teaching history is that
the process of educating students becomes politicized. This means that instead
of allowing students to learn history based from varying viewpoints and
perspectives, these are influenced by people who wanted to establish a level of
control of what information should be included in their textbooks. Arguably,
this limits the ability of students to appreciate the content of the lesson
because they only receive information that is specifically structured by a
group of people sitting in the Texas State Education Board.
Another argument
against the control of Texas textbook information is the related impact it
creates to students and their ability to engage in academic discussion.
Academic discussion means that students are able to find ways to connect
different ideas and specific viewpoints that would shape a deeper understanding
of history. Ron Briley (2010), a professor, contends that “the history of
Western settlement may differ depending upon whether the story is told from the
point of view of a pioneer or Native American. In fact, it seems to be
the concept of multiple perspectives that most frightens those seeking to
impose absolute standards upon the schools” (p.1). This clearly goes to show
how difficult it is to have an absolute perspective in teaching history because
it undermines the role of other groups that continue to shape American history.
Overall, the Texas
Textbook Controversy highlights the influence of the Texas State Board of
Education (SBOE) in the development of the curriculum in history. From the
point of view of conservatives, there clearly is an absolute way of teaching
history and should never be changed. However, liberals contradict this stance
and highlights how this exercise is futile because it undermines the academic
ability of students to be critical about American history and engage in further
understanding of what happened from varying perspectives. These varying
viewpoints split the public particularly in shaping public education which
heavily relies on public spending for the use of its textbooks, a key source
for information and learning.
References
Briley, R. (2010). The Texas State Board of Education and History Standards: A Teacher’s
Perspective. History News Network. Retrieved from http://hnn.us/article/124806
Schlafy, P. (2010). Phyllis Schlafy: Texas Kicks Out Liberal Bias From Textbooks. Eagle
Forum. Retrieved from http://hnn.us/article/124642
No comments:
Post a Comment