Chapter 10 Teachers, Schools And Society (3)

Front 1

Spirituality

Back 1

A personal and pluralistic view of life’s meaning, is broader than any particular religion. It encompasses many ideas common to all religions; activities that renew, lift up, comfort, heal, and inspire both ourselves and others. P. 341

Front 2

Standards-based education

Back 2

Education that specifies precisely what students should learn, focuses the curriculum and instruction (and perhaps much more) on meeting these standards, and provides continual testing to see if the standards are achieved.

Front 3

stealth or self-censorship

Back 3

(Also called stealth censorship. ) To avoid possible problems and parental complaints, some educators quietly remove a book from a library shelf or a course of study. Teachers practice the same sort of self-censorship when they choose not to teach a topic or not to discuss a difficult issue.

Front 4

textbook adoption states

Back 4

States, most often those in the South and West, that have a formal process for assessing, choosing, and approving textbooks for school use.

Front 5

Saber-Tooth Curriculum

Back 5

Teaches that a curriculum should preserve the past, but not be limited by it. ######################################################

Front 6

In Colonial America

Back 6

Reading and religion were central ############################################################################################

Front 7

Present Curriculum

Back 7

Spurred by international test scores, the emphasis is now on standards and highstakes testing. ########################################################################################

Front 8

Seven Forms of Bias

Back 8

Invisibility, stereotyping, Imbalance and Selectivity, Unreality, fragmentation and isolation, linguistic bias, cosmetic bias

Front 9

Invisibility

Back 9

What You Don’t See Makes a Lasting Impression. The most fundamental and oldest form of bias in instructional materials is the complete or relative exclusion of a group.

Front 10

Stereotyping

Back 10

Shortcuts to Bigotry. Perhaps the most familiar form of bias is the stereotype, which assigns a rigid set of characteristics to all members of a group, at the cost of individual attributes and differences. Some typical stereotypes include-- Men portrayed as assertive and successful in their jobs, but rarely discussed as husbands or fathers. Women as caregivers, Jews as rich

Front 11

Imbalance and Selectivity

Back 11

A Tale Half Told. Curriculum may perpetuate bias by presenting only one interpretation of an issue, situation, or group of people. Such accounts simplify and distort complex issues by omitting different perspectives. A text reports that women were "given" the vote, but does not discuss the work, sacrifices, and even physical abuse suffered by the leaders of the suffrage movement that "won" the vote. Literature is drawn primarily from western, male authors. Math and science courses typically reference European discoveries and formulas.

Front 12

Unreality

Back 12

Rose Colored Glasses. Many researchers have noted the tendency of instructional materials to gloss over unpleasant facts and events in our history. By ignoring prejudice, racism, discrimination, exploitation, oppression, sexism, and inter-group conflict, we deny students the information they need to recognize, understand, and perhaps some day conquer societal problems. Examples include-- Because of affirmative action programs, people of color and women now enjoy economic and political equality with (or superiority over) white males. The notion that technology will resolve persistent social problems.

Front 13

Fragmentation and Isolation

Back 13

The Parts Are Less than the Whole. Did you ever notice a "special" chapter or insert appearing in a text? For example, a chapter on "Bootleggers, Suffragettes, and Other Diversions" or a box describing "Ten Black Achievers in Science." Fragmentation emerges when a group is physically or visually isolated in the text. Often, racial and ethnic group members are depicted as interacting only with persons like themselves, isolated from other cultural communities. While this form of bias may be less damaging than omission or stereotypes, fragmentation and isolation present non-dominant groups as peripheral members of society.