I believe that textbooks are not all bad. They are a good jumping off point and they provide quick information for example a time or a place. In addition, textbooks can give valuable information to those how learn well through the use of textbooks. I was able to do well and be successful throughout my high school experience because of textbooks. When I was younger I simply used textbooks and worksheets provided by teachers to learn. The problem is I simply memorize facts and figures but did not learn the information till college. It was then a big set back for me in college because I had to learn how to learn on my own.
However, I do believe that textbooks are not enough in the classroom. Textbooks only offer a glimpse into each subject area, in particular history. There needs to be outside sources, more information and interaction in the classroom than is simply available in a textbook. In terms of history, my content speciality primary sources such as newspapers, letters, journals, writings or documents would assist in students understand of the content. It has been my experience that students I am currently working with gain a great deal of knowledge from outside sources which supplement the textbook well.
Textbooks are a building block for starting students learning process about a topic. On that foundation other aspects of the content need to be addressed so that students are able to learn.
2 comments:
To your second sentence and your last paragraph, I say "atta boy!" I couldn't agree with you more. The textbook is an excellent resource to use as a stepping stone toward further research and understanding. The authors, editors, and contributors have scoured over countless forms of information and have condensed it into a simpler form. The detail may be lacking, but the basics are usually there. Using the text as a reference for initial background data on a particular subject is a good idea. From there, a student may look into other types of resources to dig deeper into a topic.
My style of learning was similar to yours. I relied strongly on the textbook for memorization and recall. When the time came for writing papers, we again went into other types of reference materials. I did utilize some primary documents, recorded interviews, and the like, but the textbook always seemed to be there at my side. By the way, was the internet even around when I went to high school?
Anyway, you see where this is going. You would agree that the textbook is great for maps, charts, graphs, timelines, glossaries, and general concepts and data. However, it must not be the sole source of information for our students.
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