Only recently have school textbooks at all grade levels moved toward a higher degree of historical accuracy—and only with a large amount of pressure being put on schools and educators to do so. From sugar coated massacres to full on falsities regarding colonization, history is written by ‘The Winners.’ That means skewed documentation of it.
It’s true the changes have come about from the efforts of organized groups. Organized efforts appear to belittle the potential affects the effort of an individual may yield; it can be the most difficult thing in the world to find the motivation to take individual action when one feels the impact will hardly make a dent. Being assigned texts that are oppressive—through inaccuracy, language used, not taking into account how other social factors impact statistics or not noting that nothing occurs in a vacuum, and so on—can and will augment the feelings of frustration and perceived inability.
Individual efforts are not irrelevant. Ever.
Before initiating a dialogue with a professor, confronting of those feelings must take place—what’s making up that frustration: fear, resentment, something else entirely? This is arguably the most difficult step in addressing the course material at hand. It can be extraordinarily hard to organize thoughts without understanding the root of them, and thus even harder to express them to someone else.
Approaching an educator about a problematic assigned textbook (or other text/source/essay/article/reading) is a tall order—so know that whatever you’re feeling is valid. A continuous part of education is always learning, so more often than not teachers are open to critique, suggestions, and questions. Teachers are always learning from their students, too!
If you feel comfortable enough taking your professor aside to discuss your concerns, do so—it’s always a good idea to know or write down examples from the text illustrating your points; stating something is oppressive is vague, but having concrete indicators of where and how the oppressive factors manifest gives a solidity to the conversation that cannot be ignored. Being able to turn to page and say “look, this here is (insert –ism or –phobia)” also demonstrates to the professor or educator present that you have put time and effort into expressing your concerns, that they’re not a problem in passing and are important enough to justify any time and effort.
Many students, however, are more comfortable addressing professors through email, which is equally great. Having the ability to write and re-write concerns, fix phrasing, and pick words carefully is something potentially lacking in face-to-face encounters. Sometimes expressing thoughts in writing is a more feasible option; it can be more structured, and less anxiety-inducing. Added anxiety can impact comfort levels, which may impact the course of a face-to-face conversation. In addressing your professor through email, if one so chooses, be sure to illustrate all of the above mentioned. Instead of using page numbers to point to, exact passages can be typed out in full with annotations as to what is problematic, why it is problematic, and how to fix it.
Professors aren’t always the ones who select the texts to be used in classes; sometimes it is the school, and other times it is an outside entity. Both of which educators speak with before and after the semester. An individual effort to express concerns regarding assigned material can, and most likely will lead to those concerns being brought up in conversations between the professor and those who assigned the text—which in turn has the potential to alter it or give reason to assign a better, more accurate textbook next time around. All parties are being helped here: the professor, those to assign and approve curriculum, yourself, and future students taking the course.
And that’s way more than a small dent.
