More Trouble with Textbooks

Stephen M. Kirby

 

What if a textbook was presenting religious beliefs as historical facts to some of the students in a classroom, while presenting that same information as only religious beliefs to the other students in that same classroom?  This could be the case if those students were using the textbook History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, published by the Teachers’ Curriculum Institute (TCI).

Our attention was first drawn to this textbook when Mark Tegels, Chairman of our Textbook Committee, read a critical report by William J. Bennetta about History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond.1   Bennetta cited numerous examples in his report, with corresponding page numbers, where this textbook was presenting Islamic beliefs as historical fact.

Mark knew that this textbook was being used by 7th graders in the Johnston Community School District (JCSD), in Johnston, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines.  He obtained a copy of that textbook from JCSD and we compared it with the statements provided in Bennetta’s report.  We were quite surprised to find that in the textbook we examined, those particular statements were actually qualified by the phrase “according to Islamic teachings,” instead of being presented as historical facts as indicated in Bennetta’s report.  After corresponding with Bennetta, I went to the JCSD middle school and the principal provided me another copy of the textbook. In this textbook I found the particular statements mentioned in Bennetta’s report, but without the qualifying phrases we had seen in the first JCSD textbook we had examined!  It was also interesting to discover that the textbook to which Bennetta had referred in his report, and both of the textbooks we had obtained from JCSD, had the same International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 1-58371-376-X.

The ISBN is a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies a book.  The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a title and is unique to that title. A revised edition would require a new ISBN.2   We noticed that on a face page of the textbook that we had first obtained from JCSD, with the qualified statements, the numbers 9 10-WC 09 08 were below the ISBN.  Below the ISBN on a face page of the textbook I later obtained from the principal of the JCSD middle school were the following numbers: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -VH- 09 08 07 06 05.

Through e-mail correspondence with TCI I learned that the numbers 9 10-WC 09 08 indicated that particular textbook was a second printing, and I was advised that the “changes that are made from print run to print run are generally slight editorial changes.”

Here is some information about the two print runs of the textbook and the “slight editorial changes” (underlined in bold) we found in the second printing:

 

First Print Run (1)

History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond

ISBN 1-58371-376-X

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -VH- 09 08 07 06 05

Copyright 2005

Second Print Run (2)

History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond

ISBN 1-58371-376-X 9 10-WC 09 08

Copyright 2005

Page 83

 

1. “Muhammad was living in Makkah when he experienced his own call to prophethood.”

 

1. “According to Islamic teachings, Muhammad was living in Makkah when he experienced his own call to prophethood.”

 

 

Page 86

 

1. “In about 610 C.E., Muhammad went to pray in a cave in the mountains. It was there that he received the call to be a prophet, or messenger of God, whom the Arabs called Allah.”

 

1. “In about 610 C.E., Muhammad went to pray in a cave in the mountains. It was there,  according to Islamic teachings, that he received the call to be a prophet, or messenger of God, whom the Arabs called Allah.”

 

Page 86  (caption of photograph)

 

1. “The Hira Cave is where Muhammad was first visited by the angel Gabriel.”

 

1. “The Hira Cave is where, according to Islamic teachings, Muhammad was first visited by the angel Gabriel.”

 

Page 87  (caption of photograph)

 

1.  “As-Akhar rock is thought to be where Muhammad ended his Night Journey to Jerusalem and was led to heaven.  An eight-sided, domed monument now marks the spot over the rock.”

According to this caption, Muhammad’s Night Journey and trip to heaven are historical facts; the only thing in question was the location where the Night Journey ended. This caption was found in the first printing after we had returned the copy of the second printing. We were not able to determine if the second printing had qualified this statement of Islamic belief.

Page 89 (after Muhammad died)

 

1. “Abu Bakr became the first caliph, or Muslim ruler. He and the three leaders who followed him came to be known as the ‘rightly guided’ caliphs. These caliphs followed the Qur’an and the example of Muhammad.”

 

1. “Abu Bakr became the first caliph, or Muslim ruler. He and the three leaders who followed him came to be known to a large group of Muslims as the ‘rightly guided’ caliphs. These caliphs were said by this group of Muslims to have followed the Qur’an and the example of Muhammad.”

 

These changes made in the second printing with regard to Muhammad’s successors appear to have been a belated acknowledgement that there is a centuries-long disagreement between the majority Sunnis and the minority Shiites about whom Muhammad had actually appointed to be his immediate successor; the Sunnis believe it had been Abu Bakr, while the Shiites believe it had been Ali.

In the first print run, Islamic beliefs are stated as historical fact, and Muslims are presented as a monolithic group when the subject of Muhammad’s successors is presented.  In the second print run we find that these same Islamic beliefs are now qualified as only religious beliefs, and there is a hint about the split among Muslims over Muhammad’s successors.  These are significant changes found just in the section of the book dealing with Islam; one can only wonder what other changes were made to other parts of the textbook prior to the second printing.

R.R.  Bowker is the ISBN Agency in the United States, responsible for assigning ISBNs as well as providing information and advice on the uses of the ISBN system to publishers and the publishing industry in general.3   I sent an e-mail to the R.R. Bowker agency asking that if there was a second print run of a textbook that included changes to the content, would that second print run require a new ISBN?  The e-mailed response was

Yes.  This would require a new ISBN, because the new book is not the same as the original.

In one of my e-mails to TCI I pointed out some of the changes noted above and asked why a new ISBN had not been used for the second printing. The only response I received was that if the two versions were causing a problem in the classroom, TCI would gladly replace the earlier version.

In spite of TCI’s willingness to replace copies of the first printing, there are a number of issues to be considered:

 

1. Why would TCI originally present Islamic beliefs as historical facts?
2. Why would TCI initially ignore the fundamental disagreement over Muhammad’s immediate successor that lead to an early, major division among Muslims that exists today?
3. Considering that the second printing made substantive changes from the first printing, why did TCI not assign a new ISBN to that second print run?
4. What other changes were made to the substance of the textbook prior to the second printing?
5. How many school districts are currently using both versions of the textbook in the same classroom, and if so, how much time will be required of school district personnel to resolve the matter?

I recently met with Dr. Bruce C. Amendt, Executive Director of Academic Services for the Johnston Community School District. We discussed History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond, and the fact that two versions of that textbook appeared to be in use in his school district.  He appreciated the information about the differences between the two printings and the possibility that one classroom could be using both books at the same time.  He said he would be looking into the matter.

Is History Alive! The Medieval World and Beyond being used in your school district?  Are both versions being used in the same classroom?  It is time to follow the example of the Johnston Community School District and find out.

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1                How a Public School in Scottsdale, Arizona, Subjected Students to Islamic Indoctrination, William  J. Bennetta, (Petaluma, CA: The Textbook League, November   2005), www.textbookleague.org/tci-az.htm.

2                https://www.isbn.org/Standards/Home/isbn/us/isbnqa.asp#Q5

3                https://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp

 

 

Thanks to Dr. Stephen Kirby!