Online educational resources present imperialism in a positive light, involve students in inappropriate discussions
Teachers are increasingly turning from print textbooks to online materials to teach their courses. But when tasked with finding information online, they can encounter questionable or unreliable material.
Recent research from the University of Kansas reveals that many commonly used online educational resources (OERs) for teaching social studies, particularly concerning imperialism, present a biased perspective. Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Teaching Anna Yonas and Associate Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Stephen Jackson studied 46 sets of these materials and found that 85.7% of primary sources were recorded by colonizers, with minimal representation from colonized peoples.
The study, published in Social Studies Research and Practice, highlights the prevalence of a "balance sheet" approach in these OERs, which asks students to weigh the pros and cons of imperialism, often leading to inappropriate discussions involving young students. This approach, used by C3 Teachers resources and some from OER Project and PBS, raises concerns about appropriateness for students and the quality of historical analysis.
Written by urgent.news from Phys.org's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
