A recent review of world history textbooks offers a scathing critique of the job that publishers are doing in providing a framework for teaching about Islam.
The report by Gilbert T. Sewall, is available from the .
The has posted a to the American Textbook Council report.
The report, by the American Textbook Council, has struck a nerve as the nation braces for a possible war with Iraq and weighs warnings of new al-Qaida attacks. It has generated a flurry of media attention, as well as a backlash from advocacy groups and scholars of Islam.
鈥淚slam and Textbooks,鈥� released this month, charges that lessons in school textbooks too often provide a misleading, excessively benign portrait of the religion and its history, while presenting more critical views of Western culture.
鈥淥n controversial subjects, world history textbooks make an effort to circumvent unsavory facts that might cast Islam past or present in anything but a positive light,鈥� concludes the report by Gilbert T. Sewall, the president of the New York City-based organization that reviews content in history and social studies textbooks. 鈥淲orld history textbooks hold Islam and other non-Western civilizations to different standards than those that apply to the West.鈥�
But some experts are crying foul, branding the report as an unfair attack on the religion and the groups that have sought to promote coverage of it in schools.
鈥淲ith the limited opportunity for texts to address [Islam], it鈥檚 easy to criticize that they don鈥檛 do it in depth,鈥� said Charles C. Haynes, a senior scholar at the Arlington, Va.-based First Amendment Center who has studied how state and local academic standards treat religion.
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Gilbert T. Sewall has come under fire for his analysis of how U.S. world history textbooks represent Islamic religion and culture. |
鈥淏ut all of the religious groups are presented in a fairly favorable light, given the time [textbooks] have to address religion and the age appropriateness of the material,鈥� he said.
No Longer Ignored
Teaching about Islam has gained urgency in the past year and a half as teachers seek information in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States by Muslim extremists.
But presenting the religion鈥檚 rich heritage along with its sometimes violent and controversial past and present continues to challenge even the most seasoned teachers. The subject has also fueled heated debate among scholars and commentators.
The new report is among a series of textbook reviews conducted by Mr. Sewall and his organization over more than a decade. In that time, he has gained recognition from historians and K-12 educators for shedding light on the deficiencies in U.S. history textbooks, which he has characterized as colorful, fact-filled tomes that fail to provide historical context or compelling narrative.
The reports have also targeted multiculturalism that aims to expand the presentation of previously disenfranchised groups at the expense of the great events and historical figures that traditionally have dominated the study of American history.
Mr. Sewall started the textbook council after a lengthy career as a history and journalism teacher, researcher, and writer. The council, launched in 1989, receives financial support from several private foundations.
Mr. Sewall鈥檚 latest project is a review of world history textbooks. The report on how Islam is represented in seven of the most widely used texts for grades 7-12 is the first of several analyses he expects from the study.
Textbook coverage of Islam鈥攁 topic once all but ignored in American schools鈥攈as improved, offering students an outline of the origins and tenets of the religion as well as Islamic contributions to art, science, and medicine, the report says.
But 鈥渙n significant Islam-related subjects,鈥� it says, 鈥渢extbooks omit, flatter, embellish, and resort to happy talk, suspending criticism or harsh judgments that would raise provocative or even alarming questions.鈥�
The report focuses on several key themes that it says characterize much of the coverage of Islam in the texts, including jihad, the treatment of women, and slavery.
Some textbooks, the report says, describe 鈥渏ihad"鈥攁 term that has become commonly translated as 鈥渉oly war"鈥攕olely in terms of a spiritual or nonviolent physical struggle over evil.
On women鈥檚 issues, it says, textbooks describe the increased status of women under Islam without addressing current issues surrounding oppression of females in some Muslim countries.
And the texts, according to Mr. Sewall, present slavery as a predominantly Western institution, failing to describe adequately the slave trade throughout Muslim society over several centuries.
Influences on Texts
Some experts who have praised Mr. Sewall鈥檚 previous work were surprised by the harshness of the latest analysis, and they questioned its fairness.
鈥淗e uses this moment in history, when attacking Muslims has become common sport, ... to say Islam is inherently evil,鈥� said Mr. Haynes, who has worked closely with the Council on Islamic Education, an organization of scholars that seeks to improve coverage of religion, particularly Islam, in schools.
鈥淚n this kind of climate to suggest there is a conspiracy to present Islam in a falsely positive light is irresponsible,鈥� Mr. Haynes charged.
Overall, he and others say, teaching about any religion in public schools is rife with problems. Deciding what to teach, how to teach it, and when can be daunting. And questions about how to teach sensitive subjects鈥攆rom the caste system in Hindu India to the sex-abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church鈥攃omplicate the issue even more.
But Mr. Sewall argues that because of the current political climate and the threats levied by groups aligned with Islam, presenting the history of the religion in what he describes as a largely benign fashion can be dangerous.
鈥淭hese lessons and the process by which they are put into America鈥檚 classrooms raise serious concerns about the integrity of world history as a subject,鈥� Mr. Sewall writes.
While teachers are urged to teach the flaws in U.S. history, they tend to rely on 鈥渢hemes of tolerance and apology鈥� when addressing issues related to non-Western cultures, he adds. 鈥淪uch sentiment may be a commendable aim in itself, but in the case of Islam, perhaps more so than other areas of social studies, these are lessons that skirt the reality of international affairs and threats to world peace.鈥�
His supporters say the report tackles an important problem in textbooks.
鈥淢r. Sewall has been an incisive and responsible critic of textbooks,鈥� said Chester E. Finn Jr., the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.
鈥淭he benign version of this is that Muslims in the U.S., like every other racial and ethnic group, have decided to work on textbooks ... as one of the ways of making themselves look good,鈥� said Mr. Finn. 鈥淏ut this one I worry about. ... If you can persuade Americans that everything about Islam is hunky-dory and admirable, then Americans will let their guard down.鈥�
The American Textbook Council report attributes much of the content that has made its way into textbooks to the influence of the Council on Islamic Education, located in Fountain Valley, Calif.
The organization has written guidelines for publishers for presenting the history of Islam, and regularly reviews textbook content before publication. The group also provides research on Islamic history, publishes pamphlets and lesson plans for teachers, and lines up Muslim guest speakers for K-12 and university classrooms.
Mr. Sewall criticizes publishers for accommodating what he says are the organization鈥檚 demands.
Publishers acknowledge that interest groups push hard for positive coverage of their respective constituencies. But they say such lobbying does not affect the balance or accuracy of such portrayals in the final product.
鈥淎ll of Mr. Sewall鈥檚 concerns we address head-on in our textbooks,鈥� said Collin Earnst, the director of media relations for Houghton Mifflin, whose Across the Centuries text is among the most popular nationwide and is a target of the report鈥檚 criticism.
鈥淎ll interest groups would like to see their group depicted in a positive light in the textbooks,鈥� said Mr. Earnst. 鈥淭hey will be very vocal, and we will listen to their feedback, but we will not necessarily react to it.鈥�
The Houghton Mifflin text was approved by the Texas state school board last fall. In a state known for its heated public hearings over the details and tone of textbooks鈥攊ncluding perceived anti-Christian bias鈥攏o complaints were lodged about the text鈥檚 coverage of Islam, Mr. Earnst said.
Shabbir Mansuri, the founder and director of the Islamic education council, said Mr. Sewall鈥檚 report reflects little understanding of his group鈥檚 efforts to encourage more thoughtful discussion of all religions in the curriculum.
One scholar of Islam suggested that the report was based on questionable scholarship.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite clear that there鈥檚 a historical attitude that identifies Islam with extremist fundamentalism, which then convicts Islam of guilt under a series of blatant, stereotype charges,鈥� said Carl W. Ernst, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 鈥淭his is a very destructive approach to take.鈥�
