THE HIDDEN OBJECTIVE OF TEXTBOOKS:
SHAPING THE BELIEFS OF STUDENTS
By Dr. Glen Schultz
I
HAVE READ hundreds of textbooks throughout my
educational journey, both as a student and a teacher. I
have reviewed textbooks for use in my classes and been
part of a review team for various subjects at Christian
schools. Textbooks are essential tools that were neces-
sary for me to learn the important information required
to achieve my vocational calling. As a teacher, I also
needed textbooks to give my students understanding of
the various subjects I was teaching.
All textbooks have stated objectives they desire to
achieve in the educational process. Here are some of the
more common objectives one can find when reviewing
almost any textbook:
• Factual, up-to-date information on a given subject
• Academic rigor that promotes critical thinking
• Engaging presentation and learning activities
These objectives are very important and must be part
of any textbook that is used to help influence student
learning. Without these types of objectives, a text-
book would have little, if any, value to the teaching and
learning process.
However, as I pored over thousands of pages of
written material, I soon discovered another objective
found in every textbook that has ever been written
and published. Although you will not see this objective
mentioned in any of the information describing a text-
book, this hidden objective has the greatest impact on
how students think and act.
Authors and publishers fully understand there is
something that impacts the minds of students much
more than just the facts presented in these books. The
hidden objective could be stated like this: The materi-
al presented in this textbook is done so in an effort to
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