A Textbook Example of What’s Wrong with Education | Edutopia
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Saved by 36 people (0 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-04-08
- Davempowers on 2009-07-11 - Tags textbooks , textbook , publishing , opencourseware , opencontent
- Cburell on 2009-05-22 - Tags textbooks
- Uandeal on 2009-05-21 - Tags no_tag
- Johnfaig on 2009-05-21 - Tags teacher , improve_education
- Teacherman79 on 2009-05-21 - Tags education
Public Sticky notes
Who writes these things?" people ask me. I have to tell them, without a hint of irony, "No one." It's symptomatic of the whole muddled mess that is the $4.3 billion textbook business.
Textbooks are a core part of the curriculum, as crucial to the teacher as a blueprint is to a carpenter, so one might assume they are conceived, researched, written, and published as unique contributions to advancing knowledge. In fact, most of these books fall far short of their important role in the educational scheme of things. They are processed into existence using the pulp of what already exists, rising like swamp things from the compost of the past. The mulch is turned and tended by many layers of editors who scrub it of anything possibly objectionable before it is fed into a government-run "adoption" system that provides mediocre material to students of all ages.
Highlighted by ruthhoward
Highlighted by ruthhoward
Public Comment