In normative multilingual ESL/EFL contexts like India, non-dominant cultural and ethnic representations are absent or superficially represented in English textbooks. For learners from linguistically disadvantaged groups, English has to be negotiated through an unfamiliar dominant language. In this article, I argue that appropriate inclusivity…

Scholars often define historical reasoning as constructing defensible interpretations of past events. Drawing on critical theory, this article suggests that it also entails consciously framing one's topic of inquiry. The article examines an instructional unit that aimed to foster this expanded view of historiography. Forty students, ages 14-15,…

Neal Frey reads textbooks for a living, a job he finds singularly fulfilling. For more than two decades, he had labored on behalf of Educational Research Analysts, a conservative Christian textbook-reviewing organization in Longview, Texas, founded by the famously outspoken husband-and-wife team of Mel Gabler and Norma Gabler. Since the early…

The abysmally low representation of women writers in standard freshman textbooks (7-8 percent) scarcely does justice to the literary achievements of women. (Author/NL)

Stresses the importance of critical reading skills for high school students in social studies courses. Suggests that educators develop social studies materials dealing with critical reading and that they undertake research to develop better methods of instruction in critical reading. (DB)

This book presents an overview of the treatment of the Holocaust in the textbooks used in the Federal Republic of Germany, Israel, and the United States. Selection of these three countries was based on historical, political, and state administration criteria. All three countries are democratic but vary in terms of history, heritage, and…

The contents of this book, about the impact on the values of young people which textbooks and other books designed for them from preschool through twelfth grade have by the way they depict black people in the United States, include the following articles: (1) "Storytellers and gatekeepers," J. Janis and P. Franklin; (2) "Black vs. Negro history:…

Argues that oftentimes simple parallel constructions and choice of examples reflect an unconscious bias in history textbooks. Reveals a number of these, particularly related to the United States' treatment of minorities in World War II. Advocates using strategies to identify and challenge biases in history textbooks. (MJP)

In compliance with the Social Studies Textbook Act of the State of Michigan, 18 elementary, junior high school, and high school level social studies books were examined to determine the extent to which they adequately reflect the multi-racial, multi-ethnic and pluralistic nature of American society, both past and present. A group of 27 educators,…