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Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Student and Teacher Editions of Secondary Christian American Literature Textbooks

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Title: Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Student and Teacher Editions of Secondary Christian American Literature Textbooks
Language: English
Authors: Agiro, Christa Preston
Source: Journal of Research on Christian Education. 2012 21(3):211-234.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Physical Description: PDF
Page Count: 24
Publication Date: 2012
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Intelligence, Teacher Education, Secondary Education, Discourse Analysis, Social Class, Critical Theory, Textbooks, Educational Change, Christianity, Comparative Analysis, High School Students, Publishing Industry, Race, Ethnicity, Gender Differences, United States Literature, Content Analysis
DOI: 10.1080/10656219.2012.733557
ISSN: 1065-6219
Abstract: This article discusses the comparative application of critical discourse analysis to student and teacher editions of the two most widely used high school American literature textbooks by Christian publishers, examining them through the lens of critical theory. The study examined all parts of the student and teacher editions, excepting literary works, for messages about race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and physical and mental ability. The study found that both textbooks contained significant discrimination and omission concerning human difference. (Contains 10 tables.)
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 40
Entry Date: 2012
Accession Number: EJ987199
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0083864878;gmh01sep.12;2019Feb21.14:27;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0083864878-1">Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Student and Teacher Editions of Secondary Christian American Literature Textbooks. </title> <p>This article discusses the comparative application of critical discourse analysis to student and teacher editions of the two most widely used high school American literature textbooks by Christian publishers, examining them through the lens of critical theory. The study examined all parts of the student and teacher editions, excepting literary works, for messages about race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and physical and mental ability. The study found that both textbooks contained significant discrimination and omission concerning human difference.</p> <p>Christian schools base their teachings on God's truth, the Bible, as the moral authority for academic pursuits. If Christian schools desire to be guided by the Bible, those schools will have a concern for the oppressed and the socially outcast. Christ himself chose to spend his time meeting temporal needs of all kinds of people—including, people who were oppressed. James advises against favoritism of the rich over the poor (James 2:1–4); Paul writes that in Christ, "there is neither slave nor free, male nor female, Jew nor Greek" (Galatians 3:28), that Christ does not distinguish among persons because of their social identities. If a Christian education seeks to prepare young persons to lead lives that are Christ-like, then that education will carry a deliberately anti-bias imperative.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-2">LITERATURE REVIEW</hd> <p>Throughout their educational experiences, students are subjected to values that are byproducts of schooling; interactions with teachers or parents, texts, and other students are not purely academic, and therefore cause students to experience "educationally significant" learnings outside of official curriculum (Vallance, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref1">37</reflink>], p. 11). These messages emerging from hidden curriculum may have varying degrees of intentionality but are generally not overtly identifiable by the teacher or the student (Vallance, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref2">37</reflink>]). However, it is widely accepted that the written word has influence over the thoughts of readers, and since textbooks in the United States, historically and currently, have been found to contain biased material concerning minorities, there is power in biased publications to shape the general public's perception of underrepresented persons (Loewen, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref3">23</reflink>]; Ruitenberg, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref4">30</reflink>]; Tyack, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref5">35</reflink>]). Hall ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref6">19</reflink>]) speaks of members of society as both producers and consumers of culture, establishing a cycle of hegemony that is often perpetually reinforced by those it harms. Hall ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref7">19</reflink>]) describes the "horizon of the taken-for-granted" (p. 44) as those ruling ideas that are not necessarily established by the dominant class but that dictate how the majority of people perceive and act in the world. Textbooks, like any other product of a society, reflect the values that already exist in that society, and inherent in this reflection are that society's biases and a reinforcement of existing hegemony (Tyack, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref8">35</reflink>]).</p> <p>Students use textbooks during 80% to 95% of classroom time, and teachers design pedagogy based mostly on suggestions from teacher editions of textbooks (Fan & Kaeley, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref9">14</reflink>]; Starnes, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref10">31</reflink>]; Woodward & Elliot, [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref11">40</reflink>]). However, the task of developing competencies in students cannot be solely borne by textbooks. Since adolescents rarely notice hegemonic influences without being taught to see them (Tyack, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref12">35</reflink>]; Apple, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref13">6</reflink>]), teachers can give students skills of detecting and fighting against bias. Many students are aware that tensions surround topics of multiculturalism, and many of them desire the tools to navigate what they realize is a complex world. While students can be resistant at first to identifying and discussing injustices, they respond more compassionately when they are taught to see power structures (Appleman, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref14">7</reflink>]).</p> <p>Textbooks written in both the past and present are repudiated to under-represent or misrepresent nondominant groups (Arnowitz & Giroux, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref15">4</reflink>]; Loewen, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref16">23</reflink>]; Tyack, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref17">35</reflink>]); both critics of and proponents of textbook reform agree that more recent depictions of non-dominant groups in textbooks are improvements over more dated versions (Ravitch, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref18">28</reflink>]; Spring, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref19">33</reflink>]). Dominant Christian textbook publishers have, however, lagged behind on anti-bias textbook revisions. Fleming and Hunt ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref20">16</reflink>]) found that the social studies curriculum for the School of Tomorrow/Accelerated Christian Education (Peabody, MA) was politically biased. Paterson ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref21">26</reflink>]) analyzed elementary, middle, and high school Christian social studies curriculum materials and found them to be discriminatory against many people groups. Agiro ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref22">2</reflink>]) found that textbooks used in Christian schools are significantly more discriminatory of racial, ethnic, gender, class, and ability minorities than textbooks used in public schools; this article reports selected findings from that unpublished dissertation. Christian parents have opined that messages in public school curriculum and the media can harm children; based on this argument, if subtle negative messages are in Christian school curriculum, these could also have the potential of influencing students' thinking; "one cannot argue logically that sex and violence in popular culture affect children and then argue that bigotry and intolerance in textbooks do not" (Paterson, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref23">26</reflink>], p. 2). Paterson ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref24">26</reflink>]) further posits that resentment and denigration toward persons and policies in Christian school textbooks could "cause profound alienation and disaffection" (p. 184) in readers.</p> <p>The largest textbook companies in the Christian school sector that provide texts for most Christian schools are Bob Jones University Press (Greenville, SC) and A Beka Books (Pensacola, FL). According to personal communication with sales representatives from dominant Christian textbook companies (Bob Jones, A Beka, and Text Word) and organization representatives from the largest Christian school organizations (Association of Christian Schools International and American Association of Christian Schools), A Beka and Bob Jones clearly dominate the market of Christian school texts. A Beka Books was founded in 1954 by Pensacola Christian College and works to develop texts that contain "absolute truth and sound scholarship" (A Beka, 2012, para. 12). Bob Jones University Press was founded in 1973 by Bob Jones University and aims to help "users to become more Christ-like in their thinking and ... represent Christ well before the world" (BJU Press, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref25">8</reflink>], para. 3). As the oldest Christian textbook publishers, A Beka and Bob Jones have dominated the Christian textbook market since the Christian school movement began to spread. Both Fleming and Hunt ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref26">16</reflink>]) and Paterson ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref27">26</reflink>]) found textbooks written for Christian schools to include a considerable amount of noncontroversial material (e.g., facts, historical texts) blended with religious and political didactic commentary, without differentiation between fact and opinion.</p> <p>Though Paterson ([<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref28">26</reflink>]) often equates Christian schools with the textbooks that they use, not every Christian school decides to adopt a Christian text (Miller, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref29">24</reflink>]; Edlin, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref30">12</reflink>]), and Christian schools do not base their school doctrine on the textbooks they adopt but in the community of Christians that found the school (Miller, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref31">24</reflink>]). Still, a school's curriculum is, to a degree, influenced and limited by its textbooks (Loewen, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref32">23</reflink>]; Tyack, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref33">35</reflink>]), and most Christian schools adopt texts from Christian publishing companies (Edlin, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref34">12</reflink>]; Ferguson, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref35">15</reflink>]). Organized groups protesting textbook content are ultimately the most influential over mainstream textbook content, which is adjusted to avoid offending usually the most ideologically extreme protest groups that could negatively affect textbook markets (DelFattore, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref36">11</reflink>]). The most dominant Christian school publishers are ideologically similar and enjoy significantly less competition.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-3">CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK</hd> <p>This article compares high school American Literature texts from the two most dominant Christian publishers for representations of diverse persons belonging to one or more disempowered groups that have been or are being discriminated against based on social constructions (limited in this study to race, class, gender, and physical and mental ability). In order to identify biases in the content of curriculum materials, this study encompasses the student and teacher editions of the textbooks in order to include the text and illustrations for students as well as the textbook authors' pedagogical direction to teachers. This purpose of this article is to resolve the following questions for research: Comparatively, how do student and teacher editions of Christian high school American literature textbooks represent race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and physical and mental ability as each text:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. includes or excludes pieces, authors, or themes?</item> <p></p> <item> 2. influences students' understanding through learning guides and questions?</item> <p></p> <item> 3. suggests pedagogical approaches surrounding history and literature? and</item> <p></p> <item> 4. frames philosophies, historical eras, themes, or specific pieces?</item> </ulist> <p>Since critical theory uses textual analysis to emphasize the elements of worth within societal institutions while critiquing the injustices inherent in given traditions (Williams, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref37">39</reflink>]), this application of critical theory to dominant Christian textbooks can affirm the values in Christian schooling while critiquing possible injustices within it. Critical theory was derived to change society through consciousness resulting from the critique of its ideology and social functions (Horkheimer, 1972); stakeholders in Christian schools, through developing a critical consciousness about ways that Christian textbooks handle persons who are traditionally underrepresented, can determine the congruence of the textbook with their interpretation of the gospel of Christ. Critical theorists believe that textbooks should facilitate students' understanding of power structures, how diverse peoples fit into those structures, and how to empower traditionally suppressed voices (Arnowitz & Giroux, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref38">4</reflink>]; Freire, 1968).</p> <p>This article employs critical discourse analysis (content analysis that applies critical social analysis to a discourse) (Fairclough, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref39">13</reflink>]). Critical discourse analysis employs content analysis to answer research questions by systematically coding themes of a discourse, employing qualitative judgments about content in order either to quantify occurrences of themes among the data or to assert inferential statements about a discourse based on prevalent themes found among the data (Carney, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref40">9</reflink>]; Holsti, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref41">21</reflink>]; Neuendorf, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref42">25</reflink>]). Weber ([<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref43">38</reflink>]) defines <emph>content analysis</emph> as employing both quantitative and qualitative modes of analysis. The goal this of critical social research is to examine societies to evaluate how those societies deny or grant fulfilling existences to people and to evaluate how negative effects of societal power structures can be mitigated (Fairclough, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref44">13</reflink>]).</p> <p>Though research bias is unavoidable, and while it is often undetected by the writer, it is also important that the writer strive, through reflexive questioning and examining of the self, to overcome subjectivity (Cunningham, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref45">10</reflink>]). However, Hayward ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref46">20</reflink>]) identifies a problem of modern science as denial of the humanness behind statements, asserting that in order to explain the phenomena being observed, "the active role of the observer <emph>has to be included</emph>" (p. 16). Fairclough ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref47">13</reflink>]) notes, "There is no such thing as an 'objective' analysis of a text" (pp. 14–15). Neuendorf ([<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref48">25</reflink>]) posits that if the accuracy of a study can be judged by its freedom from bias, it may be nearly impossible for any study to arrive at accurate inferences. Rosaldo ([<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref49">29</reflink>]) claims that "dismantling objectivism ... enables the social analyst to become a social critic" (p. 181).</p> <p>Therefore, the author of this article will state her presuppositions and experiences that will affect the trajectory of this study. Her faith in the deity and redemptive power of the risen Son of God and in the Bible as God's spoken Word has and continues to shape the way that she views the world. She believes that understandings of the Bible and of critical theory are both important, and that, in many ways, the Christian faith and critical theory intersect in Christ's desire to deliver the oppressed (Thurman, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref50">34</reflink>]). She attended Christian schools for her own K-12 education and taught in a Christian school for 5 years and completed programs at a Bible institute, a Christian liberal arts university, and a state university. She now speaks at Christian school conventions and teaches university courses in education and multicultural competence.</p> <p>Hall (1988) theorizes that people do not passively receive meaning from a text but that they must negotiate meaning, and that negotiation is filtered through their own cultural backgrounds and understandings, causing each reader to interpret a text differently. Therefore, since the results are a combined function of critical theory, the texts, and the researcher, a different researcher examining the same discourse could arrive at a somewhat different set of conclusions. Since critical discourse analysis studies possible interpretations, and since any number of possible interpretations exists for any one statement (Fairclough, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref51">13</reflink>]), this analysis often notes how passages could be interpreted, and at times offers several possible interpretations. Since this article applies principles from the social sciences to works of literature and the arts, this critical analysis is informed by the guidelines for avoiding bias in language as dictated by both the American Psychological Association and the Modern Language Association (APA, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref52">3</reflink>]; Gibaldi, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref53">18</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-4">METHODOLOGY</hd> <p>This article examines the most recent versions of the student and teacher editions of each of these American literature textbooks: the 2003 A Beka edition and the 2010 Bob Jones, edition (updated for corrections of minor errors in the 2003 version). General a priori coding categories are race, ethnicity, class, gender, physical and mental ability, and multiple combinations of these categories. While the data collection and analysis are exhaustive (including every word, every picture, every page count, every student guide, and every pedagogical suggestion in both student and teacher editions), this article notes only the most significant findings. The literary pieces themselves are the only parts of the textbooks that are not included in this critical discourse analysis, as these were not written by the authors of the textbooks; however, the selections of literature are indicative of textbook authors' intents, which, in this article, are interpreted according to what the textbooks suggest, declare, or inquire about the literary pieces, authors, historical events and eras, literary themes, or instructional guidance.</p> <p>The first portion of the critical discourse analysis noted quantitative characteristics of the textbooks' treatment of diverse persons; data about images, biographies, and page allotments were entered in SPSS 15.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY) for comparisons and calculations of means and standard deviations. Qualitative critical discourse analysis was implemented by reading and viewing every page with para-literature, content. All implicit or explicit reference to content concerning race/ethnicity, gender, social class, or physical/mental ability were recorded and analyzed exhaustively. Agiro ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref54">2</reflink>]) presents an exhaustive analysis of every piece of quantitative and qualitative data; this article discusses selected portions of that data.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-5">RESULTS</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-6">Comparative Statistics by Race, Gender, Class, and Ability</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-7">PICTURE CONTENT</hd> <p>This analysis examined every distinguishable person or part of a person in every pictorial depiction. The A Beka textbook has the highest ratio of White persons to persons of color pictured. While both texts pictured more males than females, the Bob Jones text had the fewest images of women for every man pictured. (Table 1).</p> <p>TABLE 1 Frequencies of Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Pictures</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Persons of color</td><td>Persons who are white</td><td>Ratio of persons who are white: persons of color</td><td>Males</td><td>Females</td><td>Ratio of males: females</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>49</td><td>320</td><td char="." charoff="50">6.5 : 1</td><td>227</td><td>103</td><td char="." charoff="50">2.2 :1</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>23</td><td>131</td><td char="." charoff="50">5.7 : 1</td><td>134</td><td>39</td><td char="." charoff="50">3.4 : 1</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>The Bob Jones text has the greatest number of pictures of close-up full-color depictions of attractive young women. Incidentally, the only picture in the textbook of an unattractive woman is caricatured by a double chin that extends below her arms and largely portrayed next to two thin and tall men; she is shaking her fist, and radiating out from a stern face, eyebrows pointed sharply in, are stress lines. In the introduction to this story, the reader is told that in the story, a "timid and seemingly ineffective man ... maintains his position against the challenge of a loud and domineering woman" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref55">32</reflink>], p. 636). The implication could be read that a woman who asserts herself before a man is unattractive. Of the 154 persons pictured in the Bob Jones text, no persons with the appearance of a physical or mental disability are shown. The invisibility of disability could create a perceived abnormality of persons with disabilities.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-8">AUTHORS INCLUDED</hd> <p>There is no author included in either of the textbooks who is noted as experiencing lifelong physical or mental disability. Table 2 depicts the percentage of authors who are members of minority groups, according to biographies. The Bob Jones text includes the smallest percentages of authors of color and authors who are women. A Beka does not mention that any authors lived in poverty. To categorize all authors of non-White race or ethnicity into one category is exceedingly non-specific and could imply that all non-white races and ethnicities are equal, have similar lived experiences, or sustain equal amounts and types of discrimination; therefore, it is important to note the race/ethnicity group with which each author identifies. The Bob Jones text includes the least racial and ethnic diversity, including only two authors who are African American, and the A Beka textbook represents nine authors from four non-dominant racial/ethnic groups (Table 3).</p> <p>TABLE 2 Minority Authors in Textbooks</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Race/ethnicity</td><td>Gender</td><td>Class</td><td>Physical ability</td><td>Mental ability</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>8%</td><td>18%</td><td>—</td><td>3%</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>3%</td><td>13%</td><td>14%</td><td>4%</td><td>4%</td></tr><tr><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>TABLE 3 Races and/or Ethnicities of Authors or Groups of Authors</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Races/ethnicities</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>6 African Americans1 Appalachian1 Cherokee1 Russian103 Not Mentioned</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>2 African Americans69 Not Mentioned</td></tr><tr><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0083864878-9">PAGE QUANTITY</hd> <p>Numbers of pages devoted to each author were counted to include biographies, literary pieces, pedagogical strategies for the authors and their pieces, and follow-up questions and activities about those pieces. Table 4 compares the mean page quantities devoted to authors from racial and/or ethnic and gender groups. Both textbooks devote a significantly smaller mean number of pages to authors of non-dominant race/ethnicity than to the dominant, and both also devote fewer pages to authors who are women. The Bob Jones text has the most significant difference between pages devoted to authors of non-dominant race/ethnicity and gender.</p> <p>TABLE 4 Mean Page Quantity by Race and/or Ethnicity and Gender</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Non-dominant race/ethnicity</td><td>Dominant race/ethnicity</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td><td>Female</td><td>Male</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td char="." charoff="50">4.4</td><td char="." charoff="50">6.4</td><td char="." charoff="50">.34</td><td char="." charoff="50">5.7</td><td char="." charoff="50">6.4</td><td char="." charoff="50">.12</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td char="." charoff="50">4.5</td><td char="." charoff="50">8.7</td><td char="." charoff="50">.59</td><td char="." charoff="50">7.2</td><td char="." charoff="50">8.8</td><td char="." charoff="50">.23</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Table 5 compares the mean page quantities devoted to authors who are from and not from the working class, as well as those authors with and without disabilities. Table 5 also contains a breakdown of page numbers devoted to persons from different types of social classes. The A Beka textbook does not mention that any authors ever belonged to the working class. However, significantly, the Bob Jones textbook devotes a considerably larger mean number of pages to authors who are from the working class. The Bob Jones textbook also devotes a greater mean number of pages to authors who have disabilities than to authors who do not have disabilities, while the A Beka textbook devotes far fewer pages to authors with disabilities.</p> <p>TABLE 5 Mean Page Quantity by Class and Ability</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publishing company</td><td>Working class</td><td>Class not noted</td><td>Wealthy</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td><td>Physical or mental disability</td><td>No physical or mental disability</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>N/A</td><td>6.3 pp.</td><td>5.0 pp.</td><td>N/A</td><td>3.7 pp.</td><td>6.4 pp.</td><td char="." charoff="50">.46</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>12.3 pp.</td><td>7.9 pp.</td><td>8.3 pp.</td><td>.61</td><td>12.5 pp.</td><td>8.2 pp.</td><td char="." charoff="50">.60</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0083864878-10">PICTORIAL SIZE</hd> <p>Table 6 denotes the mean measurements of pictorial depictions of authors by race and/or ethnicity and by gender. The A Beka text had the most significant difference with the mean picture sizes of authors who are non-White being significantly larger than the pictures of authors who are White. Conversely, the Bob Jones text pictures authors who are White significantly larger than authors of color. Both texts picture authors who are men more prominently, though the Bob Jones text has a larger gender pictorial size gap.</p> <p>TABLE 6 Mean Sizes of Author Depictions by Race/Ethnicity and Gender</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Size racial/ethnic minority</td><td>Size white</td><td>Size difference in standard deviations</td><td>Size female</td><td>Size male</td><td>Size difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>1.3 in.</td><td>0.9 in.</td><td>.35</td><td>.8 in.</td><td>1.0 in.</td><td char="." charoff="50">.18</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>1.3 in.</td><td>1.6 in.</td><td>.22</td><td>1.1 in.</td><td>1.7 in</td><td char="." charoff="50">.44</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Table 7 illustrates the mean measurements of pictorial depictions of authors by class and ability. Both texts picture larger depictions of wealthy authors. The Bob Jones text contains larger pictures of authors with disabilities than authors who do not have disabilities.</p> <p>TABLE 7 Mean Sizes of Author Depictions by Class and Ability</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Working class</td><td>Unknown</td><td>Wealthy class</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td><td>Mental disability</td><td>Physical disability</td><td>No Mental or physical disability</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>N/A</td><td>1.0 in.</td><td>1.3 in.</td><td>N/A</td><td>N/A</td><td>.8 in.</td><td>1.0 in.</td><td char="." charoff="50">.12</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>2.0 in.</td><td>1.5 in.</td><td>2.2 in.</td><td>.34</td><td>2.3 in.</td><td>2.5 in.</td><td>1.5 in</td><td char="." charoff="50">.61</td></tr><tr><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0083864878-11">BIOGRAPHY LENGTH</hd> <p>The Bob Jones textbook's mean biography size for authors of color is one third of the mean size of those for authors who were White; the A Beka book provides nearly equal biographies for authors of all races/ethnicities. Both texts provide smaller biographies for women, but the A Beka text contains biographies for women that are half of a standard deviation smaller than for men (Table 8). While the A Beka and Bob Jones texts cannot be compared on the basis of working class authors, still notable is that Bob Jones biographies for working class authors are longer than those for authors who were wealthy whose financial statuses were not mentioned (Table 9). Table 10 reveals that both of the textbooks devote a far greater amount of space to authors with disabilities than those without, the most significant being the Bob Jones text.</p> <p>TABLE 8 Mean Biography Size by Race and/or Ethnicity</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Race/ethnicity</td><td>White</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td><td>Female</td><td>Male</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>106 words</td><td>112 words</td><td>0.08</td><td>94 words</td><td>129 words</td><td char="." charoff="50">0.51</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>208 words</td><td>624 words</td><td>1.03</td><td>551 words</td><td>645 words</td><td char="." charoff="50">0.24</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>TABLE 9 Mean Biography Size by Class</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Working class</td><td>Unknown</td><td>Wealthy</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>N/A</td><td>112 words</td><td>165 words</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>853 words</td><td>562 words</td><td>676 words</td><td>0.70</td></tr><tr><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>TABLE 10 Mean Biography Size by Ability</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Publisher</td><td>Mental disability</td><td>Physical disability</td><td>No disability</td><td>Difference in standard deviations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>A Beka</td><td>N/A</td><td>135 words</td><td>112 words</td><td char="." charoff="50">0.35</td></tr><tr><td>Bob Jones</td><td>905 words</td><td>1,165 words</td><td>572 words</td><td char="." charoff="50">1.13</td></tr><tr><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0083864878-12">Content Analysis: A Beka Biographies</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-13">RACE AND ETHNICITY</hd> <p>The A Beka text consistently refers to Native Americans through the use of the outdated and non-specific term, <emph>Indians</emph>. However, one time in reference to the only Native American author included in the textbook, Will Rogers, the biography does note that his specific tribe is Cherokee. The only information that the textbook mentions about Native Americans is favorable. Roger Williams "was noted for his warm, friendly relations with the Indians. He traded with them, learned their language and customs, and witnessed to them of Christ" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref56">5</reflink>], p. 106). Phyllis Wheatley, the only included author who was a slave, is introduced as a woman brought from Africa and sold into slavery who was "unusually intelligent" so that "the Wheatleys encouraged her and gave her an education" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref57">5</reflink>], p. 126). The implication that students could derive here is that Wheatley's intelligence was "unusual" either because she was a person of African descent, a slave, or a woman; the text does not note the criminality of educating slaves. The textbook also mentions White supporters of abolition: Samuel Sewall, a White man, composed the first anti-slavery pamphlet in America (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref58">5</reflink>], p. 116); and John Greenleaf Whittier is noted as an "ardent abolitionist" (p. 193) who "believed that slavery was wrong and did everything in his power to have it abolished" (Anderson, et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref59">5</reflink>], p. 193). These two notations of abolitionists are stated as factual and without implied opinionated responses. Walt Whitman is noted as "losing a newspaper job ... because of his extreme anti-slavery views" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref60">5</reflink>], p. 235). Readers could interpret the adjective <emph>extreme</emph> to indicate that anti-slavery sentiment is radical.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-14">GENDER</hd> <p>The text consistently refers to <emph>humankind</emph> utilizing male pronouns that exclude women, ironically exemplified in the biography of Anne Bradstreet, where she, a woman, is said to write about themes that "deal with man's relationship with God" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref61">5</reflink>], p. 108). In the chapter entitled "Biography and Autobiography," three of the five writings are by and about men. One more is by a woman about a man. The other is an autobiography about a woman of color. Students may interpret that the most important lives to study are those of men. Authors who are accomplished women are sometimes, but not always, introduced by noting their relationships to men who are less famous than they. For example, Harriet Beecher Stowe, in her three-sentence biography, is introduced as "daughter of a Presbyterian minister Lyman Beecher of Connecticut, sister of writer Henry Ward Beecher, and wife of clergymen Calvin Stowe" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref62">5</reflink>], p. 169). Elinor Wylie's biography lists only accomplishments of the men in her family, her grandfather a governor and her father a solicitor general; the biography lists no facts about her life (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref63">5</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-15">SOCIAL CLASS</hd> <p>One poet is made famous by his outspokenness against injustices toward people living in poverty. Edwin Markham was "unsuccessful as a poet until he published ... his protest poem against the exploitation of the poor" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref64">5</reflink>], p. 322). His fame that resulted from writing poetry about poverty sends the message that a large constituency valued his message, thusly elevating the importance of mitigating the oppression of the poor.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-16">ABILITY</hd> <p>Concerning physical disability, the textbook uses devaluing language, as in the biography of Martha Snell Nicholson, who is said to have been "an invalid most of her life" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref65">5</reflink>], p. 306). The term <emph>invalid</emph> is outdated because of its implication that a person with a disability is <emph>not valid</emph>. Sara Teasdale "suffered a nervous breakdown" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref66">5</reflink>], p. 462). Richard Henry Dana, Jr., had "weakened eyes" (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref67">5</reflink>], p. 172). The words <emph>suffered</emph> and <emph>weakened</emph> emphasize limitations caused by disability rather than abilities that the persons had.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-17">Content Analysis: Bob Jones Biographies</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-18">RACE AND ETHNICITY</hd> <p>The Bob Jones text consistently refers to Native Americans as <emph>Indians</emph> and repeats derogatory synonyms and descriptors without commentary in phrases such as "evangelizing the savages" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref68">32</reflink>], pp. 16–17). One of the three pieces about Native Americans is Mary Rowlandson's narrative of captivity among Native Americans. The introductory text does mention the specific group of American Indians, the Narragansett, which is an important distinction that moves the reader away from generalizing about all Native Americans. However, the introduction negates that effect when it notes that Mary Rowlandson's account was "one of the most representative works of that century and it's a picture of the dangers confronting the colonists" and " their attitude toward the Indian" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref69">32</reflink>], p. 42). The text continues with an explanation of that "representative ... attitude," stating that Rowlandson "view[ed] the Indians as agents of Satan" and "barbaric in their cruelty" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref70">32</reflink>], p. 42), citing incidents of the Narragansett "killing ... many captured infants" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref71">32</reflink>], p. 42). While some colonialists viewed some Native American groups thusly, there is no commentary in the text to facilitate the resistance of generalizations. Even though there is an overrepresentation of violent Native Americans, the text does indicate that Native Americans are an integral part of the definition of the United States in Washington Irving's essays written about "genuinely American topics: ... Indians" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref72">32</reflink>], p. 149).</p> <p>The textbook includes two authors of color: Phyllis Wheatley and James Weldon Johnson. References to Johnson's race throughout his biography include "a black," "Negro," and "colored" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref73">32</reflink>], p. 606), references which either should be capitalized (<emph>black</emph>) or are outdated or offensive (<emph>Negro, colored</emph>). The Bob Jones text does mention that William Cullen Bryant and John Greenleaf Whittier were abolitionists, and exemplifies Whittier's devotion to abolition and the climate of racism by stating that he was "nearly killed twice by mob reactions to his activities" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref74">32</reflink>], p. 181). Descriptions within Thoreau's biography do, however, rank adherence to the law above social justice by referring to the Underground Railroad as "illegal" and an incident of slave revolt as "maniacal" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref75">32</reflink>], p. 209).</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-19">GENDER</hd> <p>While words such as <emph>human</emph> and <emph>humankind</emph> are used, there also is a consistent misuse of male nouns (e.g., <emph>men, fellowmen, Englishmen</emph>) and pronouns when retelling histories and expounding on commentaries about humanity. John Winthrop's biography notes that when settlers sailed to the Americas, it was "Winthrop, with a number or other well-established men" who sailed, and when they arrived, these "men organized a government for the colony and elected Winthrop their governor" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref76">32</reflink>], p. 36). This telling omits women's presence or contributions. Winthrop is noted to have written about one woman, in the "account of Mary Latham, a young woman who confessed to adultery and, with her partner, who also confessed, was put to death" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref77">32</reflink>], p. 36). His only account of a woman is of a negative behavior, and her identity is culpably emphasized while her partner is unnamed.</p> <p>In the Bob Jones text, Sarah Orne Jewett's writing career is enabled by her father. "Her gifted physician-father ... opened her eyes to the potential stories around her .... His advice shaped her own approach to writing" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref78">32</reflink>], p. 393). While he may have had a significant influence on her writing, students could interpret this report, with similar commentaries about other female authors in the text, as implying that women's intelligence ultimately originates from inspiration or affirmation of men. Anne Bradstreet's poetry is elevated because it was praised by "such prominent New Englanders as Nathaniel Ward and Cotton Mather" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref79">32</reflink>], p. 60). Phyllis Wheatley was encouraged by her owners to publish her writing. Emily Dickinson's poems were published by a male friend. These four female writers are the only authors who are women and persons of color in the first 75% of the book; a reader may interpret this representation to imply that women and persons of color require the help of men and Whites in order to succeed, and though that may have been true, there is no commentary on the historical climate that necessitated such assistance for underepresented persons. In contrast, a reader could interpret the text to show by positive example how a member of a dominant group can show concern and extend profitable assistance to persons who do not have as much access to success. This possible interpretation is reinforced through references to women and men as intellectual equals, such as the account that Robert Frost "married ... his co-valedictorian in high school" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref80">32</reflink>], p. 560). Women are occasionally portrayed as powerful agents of individuality or self-support. The text cites Edna St. Vincent Millay's mother as "a strong, independent woman who reared her three daughters alone" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref81">32</reflink>], p. 560). Also, women are referenced as occasionally influential over the achievements of men, although they are listed after men who were also influential: William Carlos Williams was said to have been "strongly influenced" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref82">32</reflink>], p. 584) by Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle; Ernest Hemmingway was "influenced" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref83">32</reflink>], p. 659) by Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. One subtle reference is made to a woman who did not adhere to traditional gender roles; Edna St. Vincent Millay is said to have "adopted a bohemian lifestyle" which "with her lyrics caused her to symbolize for many the liberated woman of the 1920s. Her spirit of rebellion suited the times" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref84">32</reflink>], p. 578). A reader could interpret her biography to equate women's rights with rebellion.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-20">DIALECT AND SOCIAL CLASS</hd> <p>The Bob Jones text addresses dialects, which are often socially related to race/ethnicity and/or socioeconomic class. James Whitcomb Riley's "travels ... helped him capture the way that country people actually spoke" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref85">32</reflink>], p. 391). The term <emph>country</emph> is unduly vague, as various types of persons could live in rural areas, and <emph>country</emph> could be interpreted pejoratively. Notably, some phrases in the Bob Jones text accurately teach students that poverty and wealth are usually derived from familial connections: John Winthrop was "born to a prosperous upper middle-class family" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref86">32</reflink>], p. 36) and remains wealthy. Importantly, the text also implies that poverty can persist despite effort; William Bradford's biography notes that the early settlers, when still in Europe, as "slowly sinking into poverty despite their hard work" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref87">32</reflink>], p. 28), and Herman Melville went on a "lecture circuit in an almost futile attempt to ease his financial woes" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref88">32</reflink>], p. 308).</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-21">ABILITY</hd> <p>The Bob Jones textbook cites three authors as having a physical disability: Sarah Orne Jewett as a "sickly child" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref89">32</reflink>], p. 393), Henry James as "[receiving] a back injury ... while fighting" (p. 432), and Fanny Crosby cited as being known as "the blind poetess" (p. 524). The text deemphasizes the disability by noting James' "receiving" of an "injury" with neutral wording. However, both the reference to the <emph>sickly child</emph> and <emph>the blind poetess</emph> semantically emphasize the disability rather than the person, since the disability is stated first. The text also cites three authors as having mental disabilities: Edgar Allen Poe as being "hampered by bouts of ... depression" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref90">32</reflink>], p. 241); Emily Dickinson as having "suffered a nervous breakdown" and becoming "confined to her bed" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref91">32</reflink>], p. 404). Words such as <emph>hampered, suffered</emph>, and <emph>confined</emph> focus attention on the limitations caused by the disability. Ezra Pound, who was noted as being anti-Semitic and tried for treason during World War II, was acquitted when he was "declared insane by a board of mental examiners" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref92">32</reflink>], p. 583). Pound's being "declared insane," is a neutral statement of fact. Incidentally, the reference to Pound's anti-Semitism is the only allusion to Jews in any of the author biographies.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-22">Content Analysis: A Beka Learning Guides</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-23">RACE AND ETHNICITY</hd> <p>Early in the teacher edition, in the introductory section entitled "America for Me," the text suggests that teachers "stress the fact that America is called the 'melting pot' of the world" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref93">27</reflink>], p. 2). The text expounds: "In a melting pot, individual identity is lost, and the contents are strengthened by loss of impurities" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref94">27</reflink>], p. 2), framing individual identity as problematic, or "impure," and assimilation as ideal. The students are not given a biography on the "melting pot" author, Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, but the teacher's edition speaks of his retelling of incidents of "families fleeing from an Indian massacre" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref95">27</reflink>], p. 3), which, with the other negative references to Native Americans in the students' editions, reinforces negative stereotypes of Native Americans as barbaric. The text does not ever make note of why the Native Americans became aggressive, nor of any violence against Native Americans.</p> <p>One small section, "The People Speak," lists a page of quotes; 22 of the 23 figures quoted were males, and 23 were White. The text does not feature any literature by Native Americans about themselves, though it features a page of humorous quotes about "American Life" by Will Rogers, an author who was part Cherokee (Anderson et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref96">5</reflink>], p. 31). However, there is literature written by White men about the Native Americans. After the account that John Smith, a colonizer in the 17th century, gives of his being saved from death by Pocahontas, the text poses the question, "What strange Indian customs are mentioned here?" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref97">27</reflink>], p. 30), to which the teacher guide offers the answers, "The Indians paint themselves red, deck themselves with the white down of birds, and wear a great chain of white beads. They also bring Smith feathers with which to dry his hands" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref98">27</reflink>], p. 30). The term <emph>Indians</emph> is an inaccurately generalizing reference, and referring to Native American customs as <emph>strange</emph> further alienates students from this specific culture rather than encouraging them to value human difference. After a story by James Fennimore Cooper, an author who is a White man, the text poses the question of whether Cooper's "portrayal of the Indians is realistic" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref99">27</reflink>], p. 63), to which the recommended reply is that the portrayal is unrealistic because the "Indians ... have no distinctive Indian characteristics and seem no different from white men" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref100">27</reflink>], p. 63). The text encourages teachers to teach that Native Americans are fundamentally different from White settlers, which could lead students away from empathy or toward dehumanization.</p> <p>The A Beka text does include voices of persons who were enslaved, but the text leads teachers to teach students that these slaves were generally happy and content; the text never mentions the problems of racism or oppression. After a poem by Phyllis Wheatley, who was captured in Africa, brought on a slave ship, and sold into slavery, the follow-up question asks students to identify her poem's theme. The answer that the teacher's text gives is "thankfulness for being taught about God and Christ, for being able to be a Christian, and for living in America" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref101">27</reflink>], p. 38). The second poem by Wheatley is a poem about a dead baby and the "advantages of the baby's death" in that "he was spared a life of sin and that he was able to go directly to heaven" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref102">27</reflink>], p. 39). The introduction to this poem suggests that the teacher "mention the poet's ability to see the good in every circumstance" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref103">27</reflink>], p. 38). While these points may have been the themes of her poems, Wheatley is one of the two former slaves who are given voice in this text. Therefore, one of the students' most significant exposures to the voice of slavery is gratefulness for the opportunities that slavery has provided. The other former slave included in the text is Booker T. Washington. One of two questions about "Up From Slavery" asks students, "According to Booker T. Washington, what is the secret of progress for Black Americans?" to which it offers the answer "to work hard and make important contributions" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref104">27</reflink>], p. 106). This answer not only reinforces the often inaccurate stereotype that if persons of color only work hard enough, they will progress, but it also places all of the responsibility for that "progress" on the shoulders of the oppressed and none on the shoulders of the racially privileged. The text vaguely alludes to the suffering of the slaves by noting that a dominant theme of the slave-composed Spiritual songs is "to ease the burden of their work" and "to bring them hope in the midst of tribulation" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref105">27</reflink>], p. 100), but there is no notation of the details of that suffering; that omission contributes to the invisibility of oppression.</p> <p>The text includes a story by Harriet Beecher Stowe, an author who is a White woman and is noted as the author of a novel that is "a sympathetic portrayal of slaves" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref106">27</reflink>], p. 69). The teacher edition summarizes Stowe's story in which St. Clare, a White man, buys the slave, Topsy, for his cousin. Reading questions and suggested answers are:</p> <olist> <item> Describe Topsy. What kind of education had she had? What could she do? <emph>Topsy was a very black, goblin-like, slave girl ..., had shining eyes, brilliant white teeth, and wooly hair braided in little tails. She had no education, but she could sing and dance</emph> ... 2. How did Topsy answer Miss Ophelia's questions concerning her mother? How is her answer both amusing and sad? <emph>Topsy answered ... by saying that she had never had [a mother]. It is amusing because it shows her complete honesty and naiveté, but it is sad that she was so ignorant and that her life had been so pitiful.</emph> 3. How does the writer gain the reader's sympathy for Topsy? <emph>The writer gains the reader's sympathy for Topsy by portraying her hard, pitiful, ignorant existence</emph>. (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref107">27</reflink>], p. 69)</item> </olist> <p>The physical description of Topsy reinforces stereotypical caricatures of slaves. Topy's situation (being beaten and sworn at), while terrible, is a softened version of what many slaves suffered historically. In response to Topsy's statement that she had no mother, the question encourages students to consider two emotional responses: humor and sadness. The suggestions may steer students' emotional responses to the slave owner practice of family division away from outrage or empathy, instead guiding teachers to lead students toward noting her "naiveté and ignorance" (p. 69). The text does encourage students to feel sympathy, but it steers students' attention toward what the writer is doing to cause them to feel sympathy for Topsy, which could make students think that they are being coerced into pity. Many of the problematic portrayals could be attributed to the era in which the piece was written; however, the editors chose to portray slavery through <emph>Topsy</emph> instead of choosing from the thousands of other stories by and about slaves. Also, the questions miss the opportunity to guide students toward a critical evaluation of slavery. The final suggestion for a written response is: "If you were Miss Ophelia, in 'Topsy,' how would you plan to educate Topsy?" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref108">27</reflink>], p. 69), inviting students to theorize about how they would educate a slave if they had one.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-24">GENDER</hd> <p>One question following the story of "Ben-Hur" was, "Compare Esther with Iras, the Egyptian woman. Which would be better suited for Ben-Hur? Why?" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref109">27</reflink>], p. 135). The teacher's edition answer was, "Iras, the daughter of Balthasar, was beautiful and passionate, however, Esther, the daughter of Simonides, was just as beautiful, but younger, more childlike, and more tender. Esther would be better suited for Ben-Hur because she was a Jew" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref110">27</reflink>], p. 135). The two women are named by their relations with men, their fathers, and evaluated based on their beauty, passion, youth, and tenderness. There is no reference to the women's intelligence or distinctive characters. Also, the suitability of the match between Jews could be read to imply that interracial marriages are not as appropriate, though readers could assume that the reference to Jews marrying one another was related to religious suitability.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-25">SOCIAL CLASS</hd> <p>The text encourages students to take responsibility for the care of the poor. Sarah Orne Jewett's "The Town Poor" review questions ask students how the town poor were cared for and if the students can think of a better way to care for the poor, offering the answer that "perhaps a better method would be for the church to take care of the poor. Christians are given the responsibility to help others in need" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref111">27</reflink>], p. 20). The text emphasizes negative stereotypes about the poor. After a portion of Ben Franklin's biography, a question reads: "According to Franklin, why would a poor person sometimes be inclined to give money away more rapidly than would a richer person? What character trait does this reflect? Is that trait good or bad?"(Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref112">27</reflink>], p. 145). The text answers, "because the poor person fears being thought poor. This reflects the bad character trait of pride" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref113">27</reflink>], p. 145). The implication is that a poor person is likely only egotistically generous, possibly prompting students to classify all persons who are working class as incapable of positively motivated giving; also, a poor person is emphasized as being in danger of pride, which could exclude the self-reflection of those with more resources or guide students away from critiquing pride in those who have means. It also implies that being poor is a state about which to be embarrassed.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-26">DIALECT</hd> <p>Several pieces in the text employ regional or ethnic dialect, and the text consistently diminishes the cultural integrity of home languages by teaching the students to view differences in speech patterns as humorous. After defining dialect as "words and pronunciations which are peculiar to a people in a certain section of a country or a certain class of people" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref114">27</reflink>], p. 8), Artemus Ward is said to "[use] regional dialect" and "faulty logic, faulty coordination, immature, choppy sentences ... in his writings for a humorous effect" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref115">27</reflink>], pp. 8–9). Josh Billings' writings are also "funny" in part because of their "poor grammar" and "incongruous diction" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref116">27</reflink>], p. 9), and James Russell Lowell's poetry is "humorous because of its use of dialect" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref117">27</reflink>], p. 129). Thus, the text encourages teachers to approach what should be treated as valid and culturally distinct modes of communication instead as objects for amusement. Joel Chandler Harris' stories were "told in the dialect of the slaves on the Southern plantations" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref118">27</reflink>], p. 139); the text notes that some believe that his tales "represent slaves surviving the hardships they faced in the old South" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref119">27</reflink>], p. 129); the text records the author's response to be that he "thought of his tales as trifles" (Pendley, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref120">27</reflink>], p. 129); the text does not provide commentary on the downplaying the significance of the voices of oppressed slaves.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-27">Content Analysis: Bob Jones Learning Guides</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-28">RACE AND ETHNICITY</hd> <p>The text includes three poems by Roger Williams that the teacher's edition notes as "contrast[ing] ... the Englishman and the pagan Indian, with the Indian often emerging superior to the Englishman" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref121">32</reflink>], p. 59). A follow-up question to the poems asks how Williams' opinion of the Native Americans differs from those of other Puritan writers. The answer given by the teacher's text is that Williams saw the "Indians as being 'by birth as good' as the English" noting that he calls Native Americans "'as wise, as fair, as strong, as personal'" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref122">32</reflink>], p. 60). The answer key then notes that other Puritan writers saw "Indians as barbarians" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref123">32</reflink>], pp. 60–61). This approach emphasizes Roger Williams as the only author in the textbook who values Native Americans. This emphasis makes the barbaric stereotype the norm, framing an affirmative attitude as an exception.</p> <p>The only direct addressing of slavery or race occurs in two passages in the teacher's answer key to reading questions. One notes that Wheatley's belief that God "has graciously brought her from a land of darkness to a new land" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref124">32</reflink>], p. 134), portraying her enslavement as a gift and Africa as a place from which to be rescued. The other notes her poetic allusions to the color of her skin: "Wheatley uses a metaphor to say that some people compare the color of black to a 'diabolic dye.' In her allusion to Cain, she uses the simile 'black as Cain.' Since all men who have not experienced Christ's redemption are in spiritual darkness, the phrases 'benighted soul,' 'our sable race,' and 'black as Cain' may apply to them" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref125">32</reflink>], p. 135). Rather than addressing how negative cultural associations of evil and the color black affect persons of color, the text encourages the teacher to draw out a metaphor between the "diabolic dye" of skin with spiritual darkness, and in so doing, associates sin with skin color.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-29">DIALECT</hd> <p>James Whitcomb Riley's poem, "When the Frost is on the Punkin," is written in "a rural dialect" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref126">32</reflink>], p. 391). In the analysis portion of the teacher's text, the poem is noted as "fun to read" but "its light tone and dialect, however, tend to keep readers from regarding it as anything but an entertaining poem (though the very same topic treated in a different manner might be taken as a serious statement of life values)" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref127">32</reflink>], p. 393). While the text admits that the poem communicates a valuable truth, students are encouraged to view anything in a non-dominant dialect as entertainment. Here the text misses the opportunity to discuss the stereotype of non-standard dialects as incapable of profound meaning.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-30">Content Analysis: A Beka Textbook Organization</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-31">RACE/ETHNICITY AND GENDER</hd> <p>The A Beka text has no introductions to or exposition about historical eras. The lack of historical context when reading literature negates the social, political, and philosophical roots from where the thoughts originated (Tyson, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref128">36</reflink>]). A Beka begins with four introductory chapters on genre before beginning a chronological listing of authors. In the introductory chapter entitled "America for Me," one of 9 authors is a woman, and the rest are White men with no other stated minority identity. In the other three literary genre introductory chapters, one of the 14 authors is a woman and one is a Native American. The text does not include Native American authors as part of the early literary tradition of the United States.</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-32">Content Analysis: Bob Jones Textbook Organization</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0083864878-33">RACE AND ETHNICITY</hd> <p>The Bob Jones textbook offers introductions to thematic units and historical eras. Like the biographies, these introductions expound most extensively on theological and philosophical issues; there is moral commentary, but there is an absence of moral commentary on power and privilege. The text describes the early country as an "untamed wilderness" that changed to a "bustling nation of nearly ten million people" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref129">32</reflink>], p. 2). This "untamed wilderness" changing to "people" erases the existence of possibly a million people who lived in that "untamed wilderness" (p. 2). One paragraph addresses the "disappear[ance] ... of the frontier" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref130">32</reflink>], p. 336) rather than referring to the oppression of Native Americans, whom the text paints as troublesome: "by 1880 the last rebels among the Western Indians ... finally surrendered to the army" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref131">32</reflink>], p. 336). The text notes in a tit-for-tat fashion that as "the mighty Sioux nation ... massacred" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref132">32</reflink>], p. 336) General Custer's army, the "last rebellious remnant of the Sioux nation was itself massacred" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref133">32</reflink>], p. 336) at Wounded Knee. There is no further commentary on the genocide of the Native Americans.</p> <p>The textbook devotes two paragraphs to discussion of the Civil War, which, according to the introduction, was instigated by "regional diversity" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref134">32</reflink>], p. 138) rooted in "economic, political, social, and historical differences" which "provided a rich diversity of American culture" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref135">32</reflink>], p. 138). This description of "rich diversity" seems to imply that the clash of ideas that escalated into the Civil War were amoral; there is no commentary on the morality of slavery, although it is named as one cause of the war. The escalating issues named by the text were "economic security, slavery expansion, and political leadership" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref136">32</reflink>], p. 138), none of which were further discussed. The text does, however, implicate an abolitionist-led "terrorist" uprising as a root of the war: "Fear increased following the terrorist acts of the radical abolitionist John Brown" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref137">32</reflink>], p. 138); acts such as these were noted as the root of the strife that ultimately escalated in what the text notes was "called the Civil War in the North and the War Between the States in the South" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref138">32</reflink>], p. 139). There is no commentary about injustice or emancipation. The war was said to have left "huge sections of the South devastated" and "grim wounds of bitterness and hatred that would take years to heal" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref139">32</reflink>], p. 139).</p> <p>In the five paragraphs documenting events of World War II, the Bob Jones text does not mention Jews or the Holocaust, nor is there any record of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States. The text mentions the atomic bombing twice, both times in the passive voice so that who dropped the bomb is indecipherable, except for the subtle reference that the United States "no longer holds a monopoly on [atomic bombs]" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref140">32</reflink>], p. 536). The United States was noted as "generously helping its former enemies to their feet" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref141">32</reflink>], p. 536); there is no account of the actions of those enemies. The text only notes Germany and Japan as "two of America's most important allies" (St. John et al., [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref142">32</reflink>], p. 536).</p> <hd id="AN0083864878-34">DISCUSSION</hd> <p>Misrepresentation and underrepresentation of minorities can be subtle, and hegemonic norms have hidden themes about oppression in plain view. However, the results from the comparison of the A Beka and Bob Jones American Literature students' and teachers' editions demonstrated that both texts contain significant discrimination in their treatments of human difference. Publishers of Christian texts could use language that is not outdated or discriminatory. Also, Christian textbooks could integrate more factual exposition when discussing issues concerning diverse others so that both teachers and students can develop multicultural competencies. Consumers of Christian textbooks should implore Christian publishing companies to develop curriculum that teaches students to speak to and about people from various groups in respectful and informed ways, thereby demonstrating Christ's love to all of God's children.</p> <p>By its nature, critical discourse analysis is never complete, and this study represents only one researcher's attempt to report significant findings on the treatment of human difference in these textbooks. To bring the phenomenon into greater focus, more researchers need to perform critical discourse analysis on these and other subject area textbooks. The results of this study, as well as future studies, should inform the work of Christian textbook publishers. Even though their discrimination may be unintentional, Christian textbook companies have a responsibility to self-monitor in order to guide a vast readership not only to speak compassionately and honestly about human difference, but also to participate in the Christ-like uplifting of the oppressed.</p> <ref id="AN0083864878-35"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> A Beka Book. (2012). Our foundation. Retrieved from <ulink href="http://www.abeka.com/OurFoundation.aspx">http://www.abeka.com/OurFoundation.aspx</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib2" idref="ref22" type="bt">2</bibl> <bibtext> Agiro, C. P. (2009). A comparative critical discourse analysis of teacher editions of secondary American literature textbooks adopted for use in Christian and public schools. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from OhioLINK Electronic These and Dissertations (ohiou1251483565).</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib3" idref="ref52" type="bt">3</bibl> <bibtext> American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (), 5th ed.. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib4" idref="ref15" type="bt">4</bibl> <bibtext> Arnowitz, S., & Giroux, H. A. (1991). Textual authority, culture, and the politics of literacy. In M. W.Apple & L. K.Christian-Smith (Eds.), The politics of the textbook (pp. 213–241). New York, NY: Routledge.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib5" idref="ref56" type="bt">5</bibl> <bibtext> Anderson, J., Hicks, L., & Pendley, C. (Eds.). (2003). American literature: Classics for Christians, vol. 5. Pensacola, FL: A Beka Book.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib6" idref="ref13" type="bt">6</bibl> <bibtext> Apple, M. W. (2004). Ideology and curriculum. New York, NY: Routledge.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib7" idref="ref14" type="bt">7</bibl> <bibtext> Appleman, D. (2009). Critical encounters in high school English: Teaching literary theory to adolescents, (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib8" idref="ref25" type="bt">8</bibl> <bibtext> BJU Press. (2012). Introduction to BJU Press. Retrieved from <ulink href="http://www.bjupress.com/about/introduction.php">http://www.bjupress.com/about/introduction.php</ulink></bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibl id="bib9" idref="ref40" type="bt">9</bibl> <bibtext> Carney, T. F. (1972). Content analysis: A technique for systematic inference from communications. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: University of Manitoba Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Cunningham, F. (1973). Objectivity in social science. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> DelFattore, J. (1992). 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New York, NY: Herder & Herder.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Gibaldi, J. (2008). MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing (), 3rd ed.. New York, NY: Modern Language Association of America.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hall, S. (1988). The toad in the garden: Thatcherism among the theorists. In C.Nelson & L.Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (p. 44). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Hayward, J. (1987). Shifting worlds, changing minds. Boston, MA: Shambhala.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Holsti, O. R. (1969). Content analysis. In G.Lindzey & E.Aronson (Eds.). The handbook of social psychology , 2nd ed., (pp. 596–692). Reading, MA: Addison–Wesley.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Horkheimer, M.(1937[English transl. 1972]). Traditional and critical theory. In Critical Theory: Selected essays (pp. 188–243). New York, NY: Seabury Press.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Loewen, J. W. (1996). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American History textbook got wrong. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Miller, R. (1978). Implementing the Christian philosophy in textbook selection and general curriculum development. In P. A.Kienel (Ed.), The philosophy of Christian school education (pp. 125–144). Whittier, CA: Association of Christian Schools International.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Paterson, F. R. A. (2003). Democracy and intolerance: Christian school curricula, school choice, and public policy. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Pendley, C. (Ed.). (2003). American literature: Teacher guide. Pensacola, FL: A Beka Book.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> Ravitch, D. (2003). 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L.Elliot & A.Woodward (Eds.), Textbooks and schooling in the United States, 89th yearbook of the National Society for the study of Education (pp. 178–193). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0083864878-36"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibtext> <emph>Note.</emph> Dashes indicate the textbook does not include authors in these categories.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> <emph>Note.</emph> Authors' races and/or ethnicities defined as listed in textbooks.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> <emph>Note.</emph> An author is denoted as working class if that author lived as working class for any part of his/her life. The difference between the means denotes the differences between authors from the working class and all other authors. An author is categorized as having a physical or mental disability if he/she experienced disability at any point in his/her life. The difference between means refers to the difference between means for those who have had any type of disability and those who have not.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> <emph>Note</emph>. An author is denoted as working class if that author lived as working class for any part of his/her life. The differences between the means denotes the differences between authors from the working class and all other authors.</bibtext> </blist> <blist> <bibtext> <emph> <emph>Note</emph>.</emph> An author is categorized as having a physical or mental disability if he/she experienced disability at any point in his/her life. The difference between means refers to the difference between means for those who have had any type of disability and those who have not.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <aug> <p>By CHRISTAPRESTON AGIRO</p> <p>Reported by Author</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib30" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref6"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref18"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref19"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref20"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref21"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref29"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref30"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref35"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref36"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref37"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref39"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref41"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref42"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref43"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref45"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref46"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref49"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref50"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref53"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref55"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref93"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref128"></nolink>
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  Data: Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Student and Teacher Editions of Secondary Christian American Literature Textbooks
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Agiro%2C+Christa+Preston%22">Agiro, Christa Preston</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Research+on+Christian+Education%22"><i>Journal of Research on Christian Education</i></searchLink>. 2012 21(3):211-234.
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  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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  Data: 24
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  Data: 2012
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intelligence%22">Intelligence</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Education%22">Teacher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Discourse+Analysis%22">Discourse Analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Class%22">Social Class</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Critical+Theory%22">Critical Theory</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbooks%22">Textbooks</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Change%22">Educational Change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Christianity%22">Christianity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+Analysis%22">Comparative Analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Students%22">High School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Publishing+Industry%22">Publishing Industry</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Race%22">Race</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethnicity%22">Ethnicity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+Differences%22">Gender Differences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States+Literature%22">United States Literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Content+Analysis%22">Content Analysis</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1080/10656219.2012.733557
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  Data: 1065-6219
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  Data: This article discusses the comparative application of critical discourse analysis to student and teacher editions of the two most widely used high school American literature textbooks by Christian publishers, examining them through the lens of critical theory. The study examined all parts of the student and teacher editions, excepting literary works, for messages about race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and physical and mental ability. The study found that both textbooks contained significant discrimination and omission concerning human difference. (Contains 10 tables.)
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        Value: 10.1080/10656219.2012.733557
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      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 24
        StartPage: 211
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Intelligence
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teacher Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Discourse Analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social Class
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Critical Theory
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbooks
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational Change
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Christianity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Comparative Analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: High School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Publishing Industry
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Race
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ethnicity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Gender Differences
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: United States Literature
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Content Analysis
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Student and Teacher Editions of Secondary Christian American Literature Textbooks
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Agiro, Christa Preston
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2012
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 1065-6219
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 21
            – Type: issue
              Value: 3
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Journal of Research on Christian Education
              Type: main
ResultId 1