Living Textbooks: Not an Oxymoron
From Danielle Merrit-Sunseri, Curriculum Developer
Can a textbook be living? If not, why? If so, what is it that makes a book living? It seems like the decision to avoid textbooks should be pretty straightforward when Mason says things like:
“Books dealing with science as with history, say, should be of a literary character, and we should probably be more scientific as a people if we scrapped all the text-books which swell publishers' lists and nearly all the chalk expended so freely on our blackboards.” (Volume 6, p.218)
But then we go to her curriculum programmes to see what books she was scheduling instead and we notice that she was actually using textbooks in both history and science - and not just occasionally, but regularly. Here you can see samples from Programmes 94 and 92, respectively:
Samples from a few of these titles are shown below:
A Text Book of Geology by Lapworth
An Introduction to the Study of Plants by Fritsch and Salisbury
So, what’s going on here? What kinds of textbooks was she against? What made the ones she used in the curriculum living? We need to dig a little deeper. We need to form a larger picture to understand what she was actually doing and why she said the things she said.
Just like any topic where it looks like Mason is saying or doing something that conflicts, it’s very helpful to learn more about her historical context. One factor that begins to stand out is that in her time children’s literature and even science literature were only just beginning to gain traction. They didn’t have fantasy and historical fiction and narrative nonfiction and biography and all of these different genres. Consider that the first historical fiction of Sir Walter Scott and the first science fiction of Mary Shelley were only published a few decades earlier. All of these different books were just literature - and there was a lot of disagreement as to whether the topic of modern science qualified as literature at all. Another factor is that science was not a standard subject taught at school. The 1870s Devonshire report by the Royal Commission indicated that less than half of the 128 participating schools taught any science at all and even where it was taught, lessons were often meager and irregular. Science was typically seen as vocational training for lower-class boys and occasionally a hobby for some rich, eccentric men. It was unnecessary for girls and it was well beneath upper-class boys, who were expected to study the Classics. What this means is that the only practical demand made of science instruction at the time was that it was sufficient for the purpose of job training for a group of people who were considered to be too vulgar to be in need of literature (Jane Austin fans will recall Emma’s snobbish consideration of poor Robert Martin). The handful of young gentlemen who might pursue the newly established science degrees at Oxford received a different sort of preparation, of course.
Enter Charlotte Mason. Mason believed that science education was important for everyone by right of being a person. And we see throughout her programmes that a standard book that approached the subject very systematically was actually favored by her. So, it wasn’t simply those characteristics of textbooks that she had a problem with. What she was against very consistently were utilitarian books and ‘hortatory’ lectures intended to train drones rather than educate thinking persons. This was an obvious problem with those textbooks that ‘swell publishers’ lists.’ One book on health and hygiene spent seven chapters focused on drug and alcohol use; another is essentially an encyclopedia of zoological and botanical classification; still others consist of enumerated and very simple statements; and, of course, there are many that were written by well-known scientists and might be living for the few that had a special interest but would not have been appropriate for general study. We can all understand her frustration in sorting through all of these books!
Persons need ideas that are communicated well by passionate, knowledgeable minds. Can a textbook do that? As we have seen in her programmes, she seemed to think so. She chose those that focused on principles and ideas rather than vocational training, were written in language that was comfortable and relevant to her students, and shared the wonderful ideas of science directly from one mind to another. Stories and nature immersion were still vital components of science education for her even in the upper Forms, but they alone did not make a complete curriculum.
We want the textbooks and resources that we choose in our own place and time to be comparable to those that Mason selected. Whether Alveary high school students select Chemistry, Biology, Botany, or Physics, we want them to learn from passionate, knowledgeable persons who share principles and ideas in thoughtful, well-organized, and inspiring language. The Alveary team is here to guide you through these exciting high school years and we hope you will consider joining us at this year’s conference where we will dig deeper into conversations just like this one.
One easy place to begin is Derek Gillard’s Education in England. Laura Otis’ Literature and Science in the Nineteenth Century is wonderful. The dissertation ‘Victorian Ideology and Children’s Literature’ is interesting, as well. Browsing the peer-reviewed Science Education provides a fantastic view into the historical conversation from the early 20th century onward. And the annotated bibliography of Schatzberg, Waite, and Johnson is a nice resource for those with interest.
We hope this has been insightful for you! Let us know your thoughts in the comments on this week’s Fabulous Friday post!
Notes
1. Alveary+ Pre-order: Sign up early and get a free monograph! Everything you love about Alveary’s rich lesson plans will be loaded into the Syllabird scheduling tool and available on June 1. Renew your membership or head to your 2024-25 dashboard for the link to upgrade your membership!
2. CMI Virtual Tickets: Virtual Tickets are now available for purchase! For $49.99, you'll get access to all five keynote sessions, a selection of breakout sessions, a virtual swag bag, a special giveaway for virtual attendees, and more. Purchase your virtual ticket here.
3. Office Hours: Join us on Wednesday, May 8, at 3:30 p.m. EDT for a session on Modern Language Lesson Plan Enhancements with Kim Keel. Please post your questions in this Hive Event by noon on Tuesday, May 7.
4. Alveary Science Kits: Science kits are now available to order. Head to Homeschool Science Tools and get your science supplies for the year delivered to your door!
5. On the Blog: How does personhood relate to curriculum? Originally from the Spring 2020 series, we're re-releasing an interview with Dr. Carroll Smith titled Personhood and Curriculum with a new and fully-edited transcript. Check it out on the CMI blog.
6. Conference: Dr. Whiteside, Alveary Program Director, will share insights on “How Narration Can Transform Your Homeschool” at Teach Them Diligently on Friday, May 3rd. Stop by Booth 218 and say hi!
7. Alveary Open House: Our Ambassador Kit includes inspiring ideas and two encouraging videos from Dr. Whiteside, Alveary's Program Director, to help you organize a local event. Invite your friends and share the joy of Alveary!
8. Podcast: Dr. Whiteside talks with Elizabeth from Sunshine in My Nest about the love of learning. Listen here!
9. Common Place Quarterly: For only $25/year, you can enjoy digital access to all 25 back issues of CPQ, plus those coming out this year! Use code: CMIdigital25 at checkout.
10. Class of 2024: We would love to celebrate with you! Share a picture of your graduate and a favorite Alveary memory for us to highlight on social media and the Hive!
