ERIC Number: ED167337
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1979-Feb
Pages: 25
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
How Communities and American Indian Parents Can Identify and Remove Culturally Biased Books from Schools.
Robbins, Rebecca
Removal from the schools of educational material objectionable to American Indians is a matter of concern to teachers, parents, Indian communities and organizations, and educational decision makers. To appeal to a wider market, publishers often produce materials favoring the interests of the predominant society. Thus, textbooks and other curricular materials too often portray Indian people and institutions in an inaccurate, limited, and unfair manner, thus perpetuating a distorted historical view. Indian youth and adults must attempt to eradicate such historical and cultural misinformation and bias in instructional materials. One way in which unsatisfactory instructional materials can be identified is through the use of the Project MEDIA evaluation catalog developed by the National Indian Education Association. Community members can also identify and evaluate materials by asking specific questions such as "Does the material generate a pride of heritage in Indian students?", and by obtaining Indian students' reactions to the materials. Comprehensive and well-organized requests for curriculum material removal should be presented to appropriate school decision makers and authorities, which differ with the type of school involved. The many Indian and non-Indian organizations involved in efforts to improve the education of Indian children can assist in such efforts. An alphabetical list of such organizations is included. (SB)
Descriptors: American Indian Education, American Indians, Bias, Community Responsibility, Cultural Context, Curriculum Evaluation, Curriculum Problems, Evaluation Methods, Instructional Materials, Parent School Relationship, Racial Discrimination, Social Bias, Textbook Bias, Textbook Evaluation
National Educational Laboratory Publishers, Inc. 813 Airport Blvd., Austin, Texas 78702 (EC-071; $4.00)
Publication Type: Guides - Non-Classroom; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Las Cruces, NM.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A