ETEC540: Text, Technologies – Community Weblog

We’d like to invite all of you to take a look at our ETEC540TalkingBooks research wiki at https://etec540talkingbooks.wikispaces.com/.

Due to the audio nature of our research topic, we have also created this podcast, which sums up the major points of our wiki, as a companion piece to the written component of this research project.

Nicola Einarson & Marie-Hélène Bacon

Introduction

The development of written Chinese has a long history but remains the only ancient writing systems that have never been converted into an alphabetic system (Hessler, 2004). To this day it remains a logographic system, where each word unit represents an object or an idea but does not necessarily represent the sound of the word. Evidence of Chinese writing date back 6000 years ago to Neolithic signs found on excavated pottery. These signs are primitive and have not been considered as a writing system. However it is not until the Shang dynasty, from 1766 BC to 1122 BC that record of a “mature” writing system developed (Li et al., 2000). This type of writing was found on and preserved in oracle bones (animal bones). The origin of these oracle bones and its implications for reading and writing will be examined. I will also hypothesis why the culture of the time required such a writing technology and how written Chinese today has been impacted by this writing technology.

Oracle Bones History

The majority of oracle bones were found in the Shang dynasty (1766 BC to 1122 BC). The Shang Chinese prepared turtle shells and plastrons and cattle scapula to inscribe questions for a divine being and heated these for answers to their question (Keightley, 1987, p. 5). The heating cracked the bones and the ancient Chinese interpreted these resulting cracks as resembling Chinese characters and were believed to be the intervention of a divine being. This was likely the main use of oracle bones as evidenced by the fact that the majority of oracle bones found today bear inscriptions of this purpose. However, oracle bones have also been found with records of tribute payment, calendrical events (Li et al., 2000) and measurements and accounting needs (Lu & Aiken, 2004).

The use of oracle bones reflected the common ancient belief of a power greater than human kind, divination (Flad, 2008). It was a desire to seek supernatural advice (Chou, 1979). And it was a direct result of the Chinese cultures belief in worshipping ancestors, God and other lesser divinities (Li et al., 2000). Those are believed to be the major uses of oracle bones. However, counting records and tribute payment also necessitated a recording system. This has also given us insights into the organization of these ancient societies and the daily lives of the people of that culture.

Oracle Bones and Chinese Language

The Shang Chinese used this consistent system of logographic script on oracle bones and is really characterized as the first literate civilization east of the Indus (Keightley, 1987, p. 6). Analysis of these oracle bones showed that the main principles of composing Chinese characters appears to have already been established, which showed that there must have been earlier development (Boltz, 1986). Prior to the development of oracle bones, evidence of writing on pottery included numbers and names (Chou, 1979). But the writing on oracle bones followed the simple sentence structure still used today containing subject, verb and object (Li et al., 2000). During the Shang dynasty, 4000 Chinese characters were developed and many of those can be traced to characters in later forms of writing and up to ones still in use today (Li et al., 2000). The style of writing, which moved from top to bottom and from right to left remained the rule until recently (Boltz, 1986).

These characters would also have provided a challenge for the scribe to carve on to the oracle bones. The number of oracle bones is difficult to estimate but by 1979 there has been well over 100 000 pieces discovered (Chou, 1979). The first oracle bone was discovered in 1889 and prior to that oracle bones were grinded and often used as medicine (Chou, 1979). This means that the use of oracle bones was a popular practice. Evidence showed its use to ask questions regarding childbirth, weather and illness (Hessler, 2004). The procedure and technology developed to create it though is complex and the skill sets required have not been successfully duplicated (Keightley, p. 12-27).

The Implications on Chinese Language Development

A further look into the characters developed at the time of oracle bones shows that they can be classified as pictograph, ideograph and variations and combinations of them (Li et al, 2000). The Chinese written language has a unique problem not found in many other languages in that the gap between written and spoken language is large. This is due to the pictograph and ideograph nature of the written language versus the alphabetic system found in many other languages. There are many dialects in Chinese that often pronounce the same word in vastly different ways. Therefore for some dialect speakers, to become literate could mean first learning a new language (Hessler, 2004).

Ong (1982, p. 86-87) describes the overwhelming number of Chinese characters in existence and the number of years it takes to master these characters. He believes the complexity of written language will eventually lead to a simplified alphabetic system. Attempts of this nature have been made, including the current simplified Chinese introduced in the 1960s. The long existence of this written form suggests a desire to keep the tradition. Written Chinese in the past was elitist and was not meant for the general population (Ze, 1995). To become a civil servant in those days required extensive learning of these characters that took many years to master.

Conclusion

The use of oracle bones to ask for divine answers was its primary purpose in the Shang dynasty. The process of preparing these oracle bones was not a simple one and literate scribes would require extensive skills in the process. Writing may have been regarded as mystical and therefore was used to communicate with supernatural beings. Features of this well established writing system was carried into later writing. It has retained its complexity and remains a difficult written language to master. However, perhaps because of the characters mystery, rich tradition and history it has been rigorously learned despite these challenges.

References:

The rise of education in Canada is highly connected with its societal changes, economic needs and political agendas of the time.   In the 17^th century, children were educated through apprenticeship training.  Skills from the family were passed down from one generation to the next.  Adults were disgruntled with child labour in the workplace due to the fact that children were taking jobs away from adults.  The industries rationale behind child labour was for cheap pay and compliancy.  Eventually, nationwide compulsory education was put in place and the transformation of children in the work place to the school system was in hopes that children would conform to the type of worker that was compliant and productive.  The industrial revolution initiated the rise in textbooks and embraced a type of knowledge that was linear in thinking.  The education system taught values and concepts that led students beyond the ability to challenge ideas.  Textbooks separated concepts thus doing little to connect teaching across subject areas.

During the 18^th and 19^th century, informal education within the family home made its transformation into a more formalized educational setting. During the initial development of the Canadian schools, there was a large wave of British immigration, which brought about British spellers in schools as well as imported textbooks from the US and from the Irish National School series. “The British government looked to education as a way of promoting cultural identification with Protestantism, the English language and British customs” (History of Education, 2012). Closer to the 19^th century, school promoters such as Egerton Ryerson, Jean-Baptiste Meilleur, as well as John Jessop worked together to design our public education system.  The Canadian Encyclopedia (2012) reports that school promoters believed that mass schooling would encourage appropriate modes of thought and behaviour into children not just academic knowledge.  “School systems were designed to solve a wide variety of problems ranging from crime to poverty, and from idleness to vagrancy”. (History of Education, 2012).

Over the years, textbooks have provided educators with a resource that created a set design of subjects, which has helped to establish what was appropriate for education.  At the time, it offered a new perspective on the way that concepts were transmitted to the young and served to bring about a uniformed curriculum.  The pressure of the textbook on educators and what was being taught and developed within the curriculum played an essential role on what was defined as important thus affecting what was passed on through our culture.

“Little is left to the teachers direction as [the education system] becomes even more intrusive into the kinds of knowledge that must be taught, the end products and goals of teaching and the ways it must be carried on” (Apple, 1986, p82).  Textbooks have instilled values into our society through the study of geography, history, economics and moral teachings, but whose values have we decided to follow?  Have we taught our students not to dream by making sure they learn in a particular way, meet a specific expectation and follow a set guideline of facts that are ‘certain’ to be true?  The Industrial Age has permeated our culture and continues to do so today.

Textbooks have a significant role in our education because they are the “primary vehicles for delivering content knowledge, for determining in large measure what goes on in a class” (Lebrun, Lenoir, Laforest, Larose, Roy, Spallanzani & Pearson, 2002).  So what then constitutes a quality textbook.

Our views on education have changed radically in the last century, but how about the resources we use to drive our learning? Along with new social practices and new literacies, our textbooks have remained quite linear in their thinking and their purpose has remained stagnant. Textbooks “are processed into existence using the pulp of what already exists, rising like swamp things from the compost of the past. The mulch is turned and tended by many layers of editors who scrub it of anything possibly objectionable before it is fed into a government-run “adoption” system that provides mediocre material to students of all ages.” (Ansary, 2004).  We no longer require that students meet a particular mold as ‘assembly line workers and conformists’, so why then are we still providing them with resources that contribute to this type of learning?  Textbooks today are still broken up into subjects and provide educators with a resource that is rarely used in classroom learning.  For educators who are still solely using these resources, are they enabling a child’s experiences to extend past the book itself?  Can they deviate past the confines of the curriculum?

If textbooks drive our education and prepare us to take hold of our dreams then they should represent the present as well as the future.  “Education has failed to take into account how much of the world has changed during the information technology revolution. It proceeds as though the world is the same as before just somewhat more technologized” (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003).  If textbooks do not meet our current standards of learning then in the end, it’s all in the way that the educator chooses to use them.

No longer do textbooks drive learning as once before.  Nowadays, students are in control through the discovery of ideas and applying these ideas to new situations.  But for educators, teaching without a text in mind requires more prep time and an increased amount of technology and manipulatives in the class.  It will take time and extra funds in order for educators and students to learn how to facilitate learning outside of the ‘text’.

We as a population are the resource and the knowledge.  The community and political leaders must also support this idea.  The limitations of the printed book call for a new way of thinking not just within the education system, but also as a society. Although print is still needed, other resources and connections must now accompany it.    Students need technological resources to extend further and search independently while drawing their own conclusions. Textbook developers should be creating resources not only associated with print but resources to extend the lessons within the book.  Resources such as board games, e-readers that provide hypertextual links, multimedia extensions of real life connections or even linked lessons on the SMARTexchange site for SMART boards.  These types of additional tools will help to drive our learning and push us past our limitations to new heights of understanding.

References:

Apple, M. (1986). Teachers and texts: A political economy of class and gender relations in education. New York, NY: Routledge.

Ansary, T. (2004, November 10). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/textbook-publishing-controversy

Anyon, J. (1981). Social class and school knowledge. Curriculum Inquiry, 11(1), 3-42.

Lankshear, C., & Knobel, M. (2003). “Changing knowledge and classroom learning.” Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Lebrun, J., Yves, L., Larose, F., Larose, L., Laforest, M., Gerard-Raymond, R., Spallanzani, C., & Pearson, M. (2002). Past and current trends in the analysis of textbooks in a quebec context. Curriculum Inquiry, 32(1), 50-83. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-873X.00215/abstract

Ontario Ministry of Education (2006). Guidelines for Approval of Textbooks. Retrieved October 12, 2008 from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/trilliumlist/guide.pdf

Provenzo, E., Shaver, A., & Bello, M. (Eds.). (2011). The textbook as discourse: Sociocultural dimensions of American schoolbooks. New York, NY: Routledge.

The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2012). Historica Foundation. In History of Education.                   Retrieved October 20, 2012., from                   http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/history-of-education.

The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2012). Historica Foundation. English Language Book Publishing.  Retrieved October 20, 2012., from             http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/englishlanguage-book-            publishing

 

 “Hyperlinks”

Egerton Ryerson:

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/egerton-ryerson

Jean Baptiste-Meilleur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Meilleur

John Jessop:

http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=40928&query=

Figure 1: Copying in a Victorian Classroom from Vaughn J, Nelson’s New Drawing Class

http://www.ucc.on.ca/podium/default.aspx?t=204&tn=David+Holt+-+Art+in+Context%3A+from+Religious+Practice+to+Design+Thinking+-+UCC+Spring+Art+Assembly%2C+April+14%2C+2011&nid=704818&ptid=118985&sdb=False&pf=pgt&mode=0&vcm=False

Introduction

Impelled by “social, economic and political demands” (Feather, 1986, p. 16), Johannes Gutenburg adapted existing technology (Jennett, 1958) to invent the moveable type printing press, transforming the way books were produced. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, printing presses had been established in every key town in Europe (Eisenstein, 1979).  Modern historians, (as well as contemporaries of Gutenburg) have hailed the invention as a “revolutionary innovation” (Dittmar, p. 1135), “an epoch-making event” (Eisenstein, 1969, p. 19), and “God’s highest and extremest act of grace” (Luther as cited in Loach, 1986, p. 135). Although printing did not immediately change the physical form of the book (Bolter, 2011; Boreau et al., 1989; Eisenstein, 1970), Gilmore (as cited in Eisenstein, 1970) remarks that it impacted “every department of human activity” (p. 736). For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the “department” of religion during the transitional years (1300-1600) from scribal to print culture (Eisenstein, 1969), although it is recognized that this short paper can only act as a broad survey rather than an in-depth examination.

Scribal Culture

In order to recognize and compare changes, one must first look to the past (Eisenstein, 1970).  Until the advent of printing, books took on the form of codex manuscript, painstakingly copied by monks secluded in scriptoria. Literacy was primarily the purview of the upper class with content and availability stringently controlled by the church (Keep, McLaughlin, and Parmar, 1993-2001). The emergence of university centers in the twelfth century precipitated a move away from monastery scriptoria to university copying houses in order to keep up with the demand for books (Febvre & Martin, 1976; Raven, 2008). To facilitate speed of production, books were broken into quires (sections), in an efficiently organized pecia (loan) system.  Separate sections were rented out upon request without tying up a single book in one location. According to Eisenstein (1979) however, by the early fifteenth century scribal culture was enjoying a revival and this practice had subsided due to “anarchic” conditions (p. 14).

Religious Culture

Pater noster (A)

On the eve of print, only the Roman Catholic Church existed in Western Europe. The Bible, available in Latin,was hand-copied, owned, and strictly controlled by the church. A sharp dichotomy existed between clergy and laypersons. The illiterate masses were expected to access the Bible, and knowledge through priests, and by “reading” the art and icons housed within the cathedrals (Bolter, 2011, p. 1). Universities, largely controlled by the church, followed the ecclesiastically approved learning domains: “liberal arts, theology, medicine and law” (Bazerman, 2012, p. 25). Existing texts were predominantly religious and written in Latin (Febvre & Martin, 1976). Reformers such as Martin Luther were beginning to criticize the church calling for change in the way religion was understood and controlled. Vernacular handwritten versions of the Bible began to appear, and the Church stepped up control through bans, and book burning (Newman, 1985, p. 97).

The Church’s Response to Print

The Catholic Church welcomed the age of print, considering it a “divine art” (Loach, 1986, p. 135). Papal bull 1515 declared printing “uniquely advantageous ‘to extending the glory of God, to the increase of the faith, and the diffusion of the arts and sciences’ (as cited in Loach, 1986, pg. 135). The church readily adopted the new technology for its own purposes, producing leaflets to garnish support for an anti Turkish campaign (Eisenstein, 1979), and materials to instruct and help clergy in their care of the laity (Loach, 1986).

Vernacular Issues

The Church, believing in its divine right to “guide, discipline, and control,” (Newman, 1985, p. 104) was agreeable to the distribution of approved printed texts. Marian authorities considered only educated priests capable of teaching the congregation (Loach, 1986) and consequently most of the works were aimed at clergy.  However, the advent of printing generated a plethora of unapproved vernacular texts.  Of particular concern was the direct access that the masses now had to the Bible in their own language, which was considered “casting pearls before swine” (Loach, 1986, p. 138).  Jesuit Edmond Auger (as cited in Raven, 2008) declared that, “God does not want to declare his secrets to a bunch of menu people” (p. 229). However, printing did not cause the problem; rather it empowered a movement (the Reformation) that was already developing. The circulation of vernacular texts, and particularly the Bible, had already begun before the advent of the press (Eisenstein, 1979).  Gutenburg was driven by his belief that the church’s binding hold on the Word grieved God. His invention then would “break the seal” by offering a machine that didn’t tire like copyists, and cut down on production cost (as cited in Grey, 2009, para. 6).

Protestantism and the Reformation

The start of the Reformation is generally attributed to Martin Luther (Gilmont, 1990). He sharply criticized the established church, calling for an understanding of salvation through grace rather than by works imposed by the church. This understanding would come, he believed, when the common man gained personal access to the Bible (Dittmar, 2011, p. 1161). His famous 95 theses posted in 1517 and written in Latin, were not unique for his time. Handwritten propaganda against the Pope had appeared before printing, but always with limited and short-lived effect (Eisenstein, 1979). What was unusual was the speed with which his ideas were disseminated, first in German and then in other vernacular languages, made possible by the press (Dittmar, 2011; Eisenstein, 1970).

A reciprocal Impact

The success of the Reformation (1517-1648) has commonly been attributed to the printing press, and its ability to diffuse information and ideas (Dittmar, 2011). Eisenstein (1979) views printing as both a “precondition” and a “precipitant” of the Reformation (p. 310). However, what she fails to recognize is reciprocity at work here. “Religious sentiment” (Dittmar, 2011, p. 1161) already percolating, fostered a demand for print. Affordable religious and humanist works, along with Protestant calls for personal study of scripture both advanced literacy and created new “norms favoring exchange of ideas” (Dittmar, 2011, p. 1137). The religious pressures of the day created a ripe environment for the invention and success of the printing press.

The church responded by commissioning a council of translators to produce a new credible Catholic translation of the Bible. George of Saxony banned the printing, selling, and purchase of Luther’s Bible in his district (Raven, 2008), and contraband books were at times burned. Furthermore, the Church introduced the practice of adding fixed illustrations (Boureau et al., 1989; Raven, 2008) to printed texts in in a bid to impede the radical movement from “image” to “word culture” (Eisenstein, 1979, p. 67), and to control the interpretation of the common man. They could not however arrest the swelling movement.

A Faustian Bargain

Postman (2008) states that “all technological change is a trade-off, a “Faustian bargain” (para. 4). Catholics and the Protestants both embraced the printing press as a tool, expedient for their respective uses. However there was a cost to this new technology. Eisenstein (1969), speaking of printing, states, “it arrested textual corruption fixed texts more permanently, and enabled them to accumulate at an accelerated rate” (p. 24). While fixity and acceleration seem evident, there is suggestion of an upsurge in textual corruption (Raven, 2008).  The printing press generated fast production but inaccurate copies, and printers were described as “hasty, negligent, and above all interested in profit (Raven, 2008, p. 229). This was of particular concern to both Church and Reformers alike. Erasmus (as cited in Raven, 2008) complained of religious works being published by greedy men “so ill educated that they couldn’t even read (p. 110).  After a hasty printing of his New Testament followed by pirated editions, Luther bemoaned the fact that he didn’t even recognize his own work (Newman, 1985, p. 110). In response, the Abbot of Sponheim urged monks to continue hand-copying in order to preserve error free texts (Eisenstein, 1979; Raven, 2008).  Issues of authorship, plagiarism and textual corruption along with a move toward viewing texts as individual works would eventually lead to the passing of the first copyright law in 1710 (Feather, 1986).

Conclusion

Eisenstein (1970) implies that a study of the effects of printing will lead to an understanding of “the main forces that have shaped the modern mind” (p.734). This paper has shown that the printing press did contribute to the breaking of the power and authority of the religious institution of the day. It increased literacy and made possible through the dissemination of vernacular texts, personal devotion and understanding of Scripture, which is the predominant way of thinking of most Christians today. Print also contributed, through the agency of the Reformation, to new exchanges of ideas, which though treasured by today’s world, were uncommon at the time. However, as has been discussed, the printing press was not fully responsible for these changes, as it was invented in response to demand and, in turn, facilitated those demands.

References

Bazerman, C. (2011). Church, state, university, and the printing press: Conditions for the emergence and maintenance of autonomy of scientific publication in Europe. Languages of Science in the Eighteenth Century, p. 25.

Bolter, J.D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2^nd edition]. Routledge: New York, NY.

Boureau, A., Chartier, R., Ducreux, M.E., Jouhaud, C., Saenger, P., Velay-Vallantin, C. (1989). The Culture of print: Power and the uses of print in early modern Europe. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Dewar. J. A. (1988). The information age and the printing press: Looking backward to see ahead, RAND Paper 8014: Santa Monica, CA. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P8014

Dittmar, J.E. (2011). 
 Information technology and economic change: The impact of the printing press. The Quarterly Journal of Economics (126), pp. 1133–1172. doi:10.1093/qje/qjr035.

Eisenstein. E. L. (Nov., 1969). The advent of printing and the problem of the Renaissance. Past and Present, 45, pp. 19-89. Accessed October 8, 2012
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/650048

Eisenstein. E.L. (Feb., 1970). The advent of printing in current historical literature: Notes and comments on an elusive transformation. The American Historical Review (75) 3. pp. 727-743. Accessed October 1, 2012 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1854527

Eisenstein. E. L. (1979). The printing press as an agent of change: Communications and cultural transformations in early-modern Europe. Vol. 1.  Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

Feather, J.P. (Winter, 1986). The book in history and the history of the book. The Journal of Library History (1974-1987), (21)1. Libraries, Books, & Culture I. pp. 12-26. Accessed from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25541677

Febvre, L. and Martin, H.J. (1976). The coming of the book: The impact of printing. NLB: London.

Gilmont, J.F. ed. (1990). The Reformation and the book. Ashgate Publishing: Brookfield, VT.

Grey, J. (2009). The role of the printing press in the reformation. Accessed from http://janegrey.hubpages.com/hub/The-Role-of-the-Printing-Press-in-the-Reformation

Jennett, S. (1958). Pioneers in printing. Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited: London.

Keep, C., McLaughlin, T., & Parmar, R. (1995). The electronic labyrinth. http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0262.html

Loach, J. (Jan., 1986). The Marian establishment and the printing press. The English Historical Review, (101), 398, pp. 135-148. Accessed from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/571324

Postman, N. (March 28, 1998). Five things we need to know about
technological change. [PDF document]. (Talk delivered in Denver, Colorado). Retrieved from http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~rogaway/classes/188/materials/postman.pdf

Raven, D. (1999). Elizabeth Eisenstein and the impact of printing, European Review of History: Revue europeenne d’histoire, (6) 2, pp. 223-234.

Rubin, J. (2011). Printing and Protestants: Reforming the economics of the Reformation.
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1742523

The Invention of the Science Textbook

What is a Textbook?

Textbooks are an educational tool that became popular after the printing press was invented in the 15th century. A textbook is an organization of knowledge used to study a particular area or subject. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a textbook is a “book used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject; now usually one written specially for this purpose” (Oxford, 2012). The textbook revolutionized the way that subject matter is taught to children. Reynolds writes on the first 200 years of textbooks in America. In his paper, he claims that only the teacher and perhaps a chalkboard and writing materials are found as universally as the textbook in classrooms (Reynolds, 1976). The dissemination of textbooks has occurred throughout the world and increased student knowledge in particular areas. This paper will discuss science textbooks from the 19th century and their impact on science education and literacy.

The material found in a textbook is designed to give an authoritative pedagogic version of an area of knowledge (Stray, 1994). Textbooks “present the consensus overview of a field and are vetted by peer-review, assets that set them apart from many other learning resources,” (Bierman, 2006, p.2). We can expect educational textbooks to declare factual and unbiased information, particularly in the sciences. While presenting a workshop, Bierman claimed that “for decades, the printed textbook has been the means by which factual knowledge is both organized and distributed to students in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines” (Bierman, 2006, p.1). The information produced in textbooks is sanctioned and considered reliable to students and has been for hundreds of years.

The printed book allowed for people to economically produce many books throughout the 16th and 17th centuries (Hamilton, 1990). As education gained importance in culture, there was a drive to produce educational materials to assist teachers. As Reynolds states, “the textbooks utilized by the schools of a nation generally reflect the values and essential priorities of that society” (Reynolds, 1976, p.274). As a culture, standardized texts were produced to assist with equitable education, not just education for elitists. Textbooks soon became the source for authoritative information. Bolter claims that “both as authors and as readers, we still regard books and journals as the place to locate our most prestigious texts” (Bolter, 2001, p. 3).

Early Textbooks

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the purpose of most textbooks was to pass on religious information to students (Reynolds, 1976). The first widely-used textbook was the New England Primer (Rillero, 2012). It was designed in the 18th century to aid with early reading instruction and theology for American colonies. According to Reynolds, “the New England Primer, the hornbook and the catechism were included in the curriculum of the schools in order that the early colonists could propagate their religious teachings” (1976, p.274). McGuffey readers (textbooks) were other popular textbooks in the 18th century. They targeted specific grades and “placed emphasis on achievement and success through industry, sobriety, thrift, punctuality, and other essential virtues” (Reynolds, 1976, p.274). These early texts were meant to teach the importance of hard work to the youth of America. However, the books were not very student-centered and although students developed reading skills, they were only learning what a few selected writers deemed to be important information.

Early Science Textbooks

In the early 19th century, science was not taught as a separate subject to younger children. Instead, children were exposed to school science through their reading textbooks (Rillero, 2010). For most students, this limited science information was the only formal training of science that they would receive. The early textbook writers published any new work available. There were no copyright laws for the first biological texts and there was a lot of informal, shallow, and superficial text produced (Reynolds, 1976). It was found that “the importance of textbooks was due in part to the large number of untrained and poorly educated teachers in the classrooms (Elson, 1964; Nietz, 1961 cited Rillero, 2012, p.277). Teachers were required to know a large body of information. With the onset of textbooks, they could rely on the teachings of the textbook instead of their own informal training. Whether or not they were teaching factual information is another story. One downside of early textbook use was that there were virtually no suggestions for pupil activities until the 1850’s. Textbooks contained basic text features such as table of contents, illustrations, notes, etc., and did not require much student activity except for memorization and the formal application of rules (Reynolds, 1976).

Impact of Science Textbooks

Science textbooks advanced the learning process in a number of ways. Firstly, science information was delivered to many people because of the efficient and economic distribution of textbooks. Since formal school training became compulsory in America, textbooks provided convenient teaching methods to reach the majority of learners. Regardless of whether science was distributed within other textbooks or if it was contained in its own textbook, scientific information was available to young readers. Secondly, science was presented in a variety of ways in early textbooks such as straightforward facts, within dialogues between adults and children, or in poetic form (Rillero, 2010). “In some lessons, science was united with literature, morality, or religion lessons” (Rillero, 2012, p. 280). Students could improve their understanding of both literature and science simultaneously.

As the field of science grew, more and more textbooks appeared. “The 19th century was a period of great scientific achievements, professionalization of scientists, and popularization of science,” (Rillero, 2012, p.281). This meant that more and more publications were created. As scientists could compare multiple texts themselves, they could endeavour more studies and publications to advance science education. Children who used textbooks could study on their own without the help of a teacher or their parents. The emergence of science as a discipline created a generation of learners who read more because of their strong interest in the subject. Students who would otherwise be disengaged with their learning were gaining important literacy skills due to their curiosity with science and science textbooks.

Educational Practices

Educational practices were designed around the textbook in the 19th century. Rillero states that “textbooks were not only the curriculum but they were the mode of instruction,” (2010, p.277). The forms of thinking that early science textbooks invited were that of memorization. Student-centered inquiry was not encouraged in early science textbooks. Bierman states that “textbooks and their prescribed and encyclopedic style of presentation would appear to stand in contrast to advances in pedagogy strongly supported by educational research,” (Bierman, 2006, p.1). Questions about the use of textbooks arise in current discussion of pedagogy. For example, Bierman questions how inquiry-catalyzed instruction with assignments in a textbook can be done (2006).

Today’s educational system still revolves mostly around textbook instruction. Although students can access more than one textbook or Internet source and research further information, the teacher’s instruction will decidedly influence a student’s learning. The information in a textbook doesn’t go away very quickly. As Ong claims in Orality and Literacy, “a text stating what the whole world knows is false will state falsehood forever, so long as the text exists. Texts are inherently contumacious” (1982, p.79). In a world where scientific advances are continuously occurring, outdated information can be problematic. The cost of printing and purchasing new textbooks for many students is very high. Therefore, there is a lag between the time that new information is discovered and when it shows up in classroom textbooks. Using only a textbook for instruction in today’s classrooms is not necessarily the best mode of instruction.

The printed book changed the way we read into a linear format. “Linear writing is appropriate to print technology, both because the printed page readily accommodates linear text and because our culture expects that printed prose should be linear,” (Bolter, 2001, p. 21). When information in the computer and Internet age can be accessed in many non-linear ways, such as through the use of hypertextual environments, the linearity of a textbook may be becoming outdated. This did not pose such a large problem in the 1800’s, but it is an area of concern for current students.

Conclusion

The invention of the textbook led to many educational changes. Science education was affected with the onset of textbooks, particularly because interesting and new information became accessible to students. The use of textbooks is still very common in many classrooms today; however, traditional textbooks should be used in conjunction with other resources. Today’s students access information non-linearly and it is detrimental if teachers do not place emphasis on this. Inquiry-based models of instruction are found to be pedagogically beneficial and factual textbooks that encourage memorization do not promote this student discovery. Also, scientific advancements are abundant and students need access to this information. A combination of textbook learning and non-linear learning encourage life-long learners, literate in today’s society.

References:

Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Bierman, P. (2006). Reconsidering the textbook [Workshop summary]. Retrieved from http://serc.carleton.edu/files/textbook/summary.pdf

Hamilton, D. (1990) What is a Textbook? Paradigm, 3. Retrieved from http://faculty.education.illinois.edu/westbury/Paradigm/hamilton.html

“text-book, n” (n.d.). In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/view/Entry/200006?redirectedFrom=textbook#eid

Ong, W. J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the World. New York, NY: Routledge.

Reynolds, J.C. Jr. (1976) American textbooks: The first 200 years. Educational Leadership. 274-276. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/SearchResults.aspx?s=textbooks%20reynolds&c=1&n=10&p=0

Rillero, P. (2010). The rise and fall of science education: a content analysis of science in elementary reading textbooks of the 19th century. School Science & Mathematics. 110 (5) 277-286. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=bf8ecc0f-a391-4858-923b-aa1200dc38cd%40sessionmgr13&vid=6&hid=16

Stray, C.(1994). Paradigms regained: towards a historical sociology of the textbook. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 26 (1) 24.

Near Extinction of Aboriginal Heritage Languages in North America

Of the 50 First Nation, Inuit and Métis languages spoken in Canada, only three of them are considered to be viable to continue to be in use in the long term, and this is only if concerted revitalization efforts are made (CanWest Digital Media, 2004).  Added to the knowledge that in the past 100 years or so, 10 of Canada’s aboriginal heritage languages have become extinct (Norris, 1998), we see that study of the causes of the decline of these languages is warranted.  This paper will discuss historical and contemporary reasons for the decline of aboriginal languages and offer a perspective on the importance of the preservation and revitalization of such languages.

A traditional belief is that the primary contributor to the decline of aboriginal languages in Canada was the decades of mandatory attendance at Indian Residential Schools during their 165 year existence (1831 – 1996) where, among other atrocities, students were prohibited from communicating in their heritage language upon risk of facing severe corporal and emotional punishment as they were taught to think and act the manner of the domineering Caucasian social class within an educational system that was rife with assimilation, colonialism, racism superiority and ethnocentrism (Myran, 2008).  While residential schools were largely successful in extinguishing heritage languages from their students, there are notable, exceptions to this approach (Clifton, 2008) where students were permitted to keep their language.  Additionally, not all students who attended residential schools resided at them full time; in which case, those students were able to return home regularly and converse in their normal environment using their traditional language.

Canada’s policy of assimilation enacted through the Indian Residential Schools failed to effectively integrate and empower First Nation people (Grant 1996), and instead left them “a people crippled by assimilative and colonial policies of the past [in] a dismal state of dependence”  (Bennett, Blackstock, & De La Ronde, 2005).  As such, many First Nations people are left with seemingly no way back to a traditional ways of living and speaking and, out of necessity, turn to the dominant system for survival.  The resulting attempts at integration, however successful, further contribute to the decline of heritage languages (Hinton 2010).

A speaker’s first and second languages have a degree of economic value that is largely determined by the primary language used in the society in which the speaker interacts. Thus, in North America, English is a hegemonic language making all others “economically irrelevant” (Smolicz, 1994).  From this economic perspective, First Nation languages are a possible first language, but unlikely to be a second language that non-native speakers learn in order to seize economic opportunity, which is a primary driver in the acquisition of new languages (King 2007).  Nowhere is this more apparent than in the United States where one time House Speaker, Newt Gingrich drew cheers from the crowd as he addressed the National Federation of Republican Women and “described bilingual education as teaching ‘the language of living in a ghetto’” and warned of the “ ‘long-term dangers to the fabric of our nation’ and that ‘allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous’ ” (Hunt, 2007).  Canada’s political system and views may differ from those of the United States, but its economic systems are not and Churchill, Dunn and Tinker (2005) describe in their notable book, Kill the Indian, Save the Man: the Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools, Canada and the United States have a parallel and comparable history in terms of First Nations history and relations.

Toward Revitalization

Despite the economic power of English and the historical impact of Indian Residential Schools combining to decimate or extinguish most First Nations languages in North America, efforts to revitalize many are taking place that include both First Nations speakers and non-First Nations speakers.  Expectantly, the impetus behind these revitalizations is not at all economic, but more personal and is primarily one of finding belonging (Hinton, 2002 & 2010; King, 2007).  In describing their reasons for reclaiming their heritage language, many First Nations speakers comment on the links between language and identity, culture and spirituality (Hinton, 2010) thus it can be interpreted that First Nations speakers often look to reclaim heritage languages before revitalizing them; whereas the same cannot be said for non-First Nations speaker whose language it is not to be “reclaimed” but can be learned and revitalized (for many of the same reasons as First Nations speakers).  Additionally, there is a history of linguists, anthropologists and sociologists documenting endangered languages in an attempt to preserve them.

Revitalization of a language requires that new speakers use it for communication and in order for communication to occur, speakers generally need to be taught the language in either a formal or informal setting.  Although informal language learning (through unstructured conversation with a fluent speaker) seems an inefficient approach; it is arguably the more holistic one as it is the natural way for language learning and incorporates the contextual and authentically cultural aspects of the language.  In the context of learning an endangered language, this inefficient approach has additional challenges.  None may be more significant than the simple lack of fluent speakers from whom to learn the language.  There is also competition for this limited resource coming from the scholars wishing to study and document the language (Grounds, 2007) who, somewhat ironically, also contribute to the decline of the language anytime they use English as the primary mode of communication between themselves and their consultants.  Also unexpected, is the role that some bands and tribes play in taking strict control of their language as intellectual property and occasionally dissuade those who are not card-carrying members from learning or using the language (Hinton,2010).  This purist approach further restricts access to fluent speakers.

Formal approaches to education in endangered languages have been successful in working toward revitalization with immersion programs having particular success (Wilson and Kamanā, 2000).  Formal language teaching programs utilize one or both of two categories for instruction.  The first focuses on literacy (reading, writing, and grammar), and the second focuses on orality and situated/situational learning.  The second of these methodologies is the most ideal of the two; however, in respect to First Nations languages it suffers from the same constraints as informal language learning; most notably a lack of native speakers to teach and model the language.  The first of these methodologies is potentially easier to facilitate, yet is arguably less effective in that it takes the language out of context, segregating it from its oral context and the cultural dynamics so closely tied to orality.  This is particularly problematic in the context of North American Aboriginal languages that are almost exclusively oral.  Where no script exists, one needs to be developed or borrowed from another language before an orthography can be developed.  It is at this point that the work of linguists documenting languages for preservation plays a role in the revitalization (Hinton 2010), particularly when there are no first language speakers anymore.

Conclusion

The extinction and near extinction of numerous aboriginal languages in North America and worldwide has resulted in a great loss of culture, identity and spirituality, particularly for those whose language has been lost.  The causes of extinction are not entirely malevolent as in the case of the Indian Residential Schools, but also economic in the perception that these languages are “economically irrelevant” for those marginalized speakers seeking to regain power. Through high quality documentation, linguists and other scholars have provided the foundations for second language learners to acquire and use aboriginal heritage languages, however, a literacy approach to language learners deprives the new speakers of the cultural and spiritual aspect of the language being learned.  If language revitalization in the truest sense of the term is to be successful, a methodology of instruction combining formal and informal, literacy and orality is required.

References:

Bennett, M., Blackstock, C. & De La Ronde, R. (2005).  A literature review annotated bibliography on aspects of aboriginal child welfare in Canada.  Winnipeg, Manitoba: The First Nations Research Site of the Centre for Child Welfare. Retrieved from http://www.fnctcs.com/docs/LitReviewIntro.pdf

CanWest Digital Media. (2004, October 25). Aboriginal languages in Canada facing extinction? 7. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/353844701?accountid=14656

Churchill, W., Dunn, W., & Tinker, G. (2004). Kill the Indian, save the man: The genocidal impact of American Indian residential schools. San Francisco: City Lights.

Clifton, R. (2008, May 31). Residential Schools. National Post. A25. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/330633021?accountid=14656

Grant, A. (1996). No end of grief: Indian residential schools in Canada.  Winnipeg, Manitoba: Pemmican Publications Inc.

Grounds, R. (2007). Documentation or implementation? Cultural Survival Quarterly. 31(2). 28.

Hinton, L. (2002) Keeping your language alive: A common-sense approach to language teaching and learning. Berkeley, CA: Heyday Books.

Hinton, L. (2010) Language revitalization in  North America and the new directions of linguistics. Transforming Anthropology, 18(1), 35-41. doi: 10.1111/j.1548-7466.2010.01068.x

Hunt, K. (2007, April 1). Gingrich: Bilingual classes teach ‘ghetto’ language. The Washington Post., A05.  Retrieved from http://washingtonpost.com

King, J. (2007). Eke ki runga i te wake: The use of dominant metaphors by newly–fluent Maori speakers in historical perspective. Ph.D. thesis, University of Canterbury.

Myran, S. (2008). The educational experience of first nation people in the Indian Residential School system in Canada. Ph.D. thesis, The University of North Dakota.

Norris, M. (1998). Canada’s aboriginal languages. (Cover story). Canadian Social Trends, (51), 8.

Smolicz, J. (1994) Australia’s language policies and minority rights: A core value perspective. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas & R. Phillipson (Eds.) Linguistic human rights: Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination. (pp. 235-252). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter & Co.

Wilson, W., & Kamanā, K. (2000). Mai loko mai o ka ‘i’ni: The ‘aha puhana leo connection in Hawai’ian language revitalization. In L. Hinton and K. Hale (Eds) The green book of language revitalization in practice. (pp. 147-177). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Please visit my blog on the Invention of the Telegraph to learn more about the history of the telegraph, as well as its implications for business.

Deborah