One of the authors of "Mosaic of Thought" has apologized for mistakenly writing that Spartanburg was the scene of some violent incidents during the desegregation era.
Posted on 04/29/2008 7:30:34 AM PDT by Clear Rivers
One of the authors of "Mosaic of Thought" has apologized for mistakenly writing that Spartanburg was the scene of some violent incidents during the desegregation era.
Inaccurate college textbook slams Spartanburg Violent integration incidents occurred in another city; errors to be fixed in 2nd edition
By Linda Conley Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | Updated: 9:16 am
Picture this: A teacher is discussing with her students the violence and unrest that occurred in America when public schools integrated almost 40 years ago. The example she is using from her class textbook is the violence that occurred in Spartanburg County. The only problem with that picture is that the lesson plan isn't exactly accurate.
The information comes from a college textbook called "Mosaic of Thought: The Power of Comprehension Strategy and Instruction," by Ellin Oliver Keene and Susan Zimmermann.
No one realized that the book contained a factual error until after it was released in May 2007. A correction has been made and a revised edition will be released soon.
"It was a terrible mistake," Keene said in a telephone conversation from her home in Denver. "The story is from another Southern school district, but I got my notes mixed up."
The error involves a student recounting a story her grandmother told about integration. The student said her grandmother, a Spartanburg resident, was kicked until her legs were bloody and forced to eat outside instead of in the lunchroom. The student also said a fire was set in front of a Spartanburg school and that some students were set on fire.
While news accounts and recollections of what occurred during school integration in the 1970s confirm that there were strong emotions voiced, it didn't result in that form of violence locally.
"We grow up believing that what the school textbook says is true," said Spartanburg native Susan Dunlap. " 'Mosaic of Thought' is a textbook for teachers trying to earn their master's degrees in education, and yet the authors of the book did not bother to check their facts."
Dunlap said local schools and teachers worked hard to make sure the transition from segregation to integration went smoothly. They also had help from local black ministers and other community leaders.
"And now, teachers all over the world (this textbook is used internationally) believe that protesters burned little children in front of a Spartanburg elementary school," she said.
Dunlap is teaching an 11th-grade English class to students in El Salvador. She is also studying for her master's degree and read the error in one of her college textbooks.
"When I first saw Spartanburg mentioned in the textbook for the class on teaching reading, I was thrilled," she said. "I couldn't wait to go to my master's class the next day and tell everyone that my hometown was in the book! And then I began to read the story. I was so angry. I couldn't understand how a textbook could get it wrong."
To do research, Keene visited a class in Spartanburg School District 5 while the students were talking about a book on a homeless boy and his father living in an airport. Integration was never mentioned.
Belinda Snow, District 5 director of elementary education, was in the classroom the day Keene visited and taped the session. She was shocked when she read the book.
"I was worried she had made conclusions about this area that aren't true, and I told her the student wasn't in the classroom," Snow said. "She (Keene) humbly apologized to us. She has been here several times and is a highly respected educator."
Spartanburg remains in the new version of the book, but the story details what actually happened in the class the day Keene visited.
Nancy Breard, Converse College director of gifted education, said Keene visited Spartanburg through a professional development in literacy grant through the college. She is scheduled to visit again, but there will not be fireworks over the mistake.
"It is a good thing it is being corrected," Breard said.
Spartanburg, we have a problem.
I can’t believe that they took this out of Breaking News already.
The error involves a student recounting a story her grandmother told about integration. The student said her grandmother, a Spartanburg resident, was kicked until her legs were bloody and forced to eat outside instead of in the lunchroom. The student also said a fire was set in front of a Spartanburg school and that some students were set on fire.
While news accounts and recollections of what occurred during school integration in the 1970s confirm that there were strong emotions voiced, it didn't result in that form of violence locally.
In college I thought that oral history was kinda cool, you know getting the story from the first hand participant. It's really screwy then, when you use the story second hand through the lense of a child's recollection of what Grandma said. Hardly an origial source. Guess I have to rethink that.
Facts are a Eurocentric concept, anyway. The book expresses higher truths, so that’s what matters. ;)
If this didn't happen in Spartanburg, exactly what other "Southern school district" did this happen in? I do not remember any stories of students being set on fire.
If this story is not factual concerning Spartanburg, is there any fact to it at all?
***If this didn’t happen in Spartanburg, exactly what other “Southern school district” did this happen in? I do not remember any stories of students being set on fire.
If this story is not factual concerning Spartanburg, is there any fact to it at all? ***
I was alive at the time mentioned, and appalled by the news coming out of the south. I do NOT believe any children were ever set on fire. I would have remembered such a horror. AND THE NEWSPAPERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY WOULD HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH IT.
Converse mention Spartanburg ping
What is your present status............
You are correct, it would have been in every newspaper from here to kingdom come and would still be rehashed to this day. I don’t remember anything like that happening in the south but it seems that something similar happened in either Detroit or Chicago.
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