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Eastern Illinois University

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

2013

Curriculum and Instruction

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Examining Historical (Mis)Representations Of Christopher Columbus Within Children’S Literature, John H. Bickford Jul 2013

Examining Historical (Mis)Representations Of Christopher Columbus Within Children’S Literature, John H. Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Effective teaching, while supplemented by best practice methods and assessments, is rooted in accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content. As a foundation for history content, elementary educators rely strongly on textbooks and children’s literature, both fiction and non-fiction. While many researchers have examined the historical accuracy of textbook content, few have rigorously scrutinized the historical accuracy of children’s literature. Those projects that carried out such examination were more descriptive than comprehensive due to significantly smaller data pools. I investigate how children’s non-fiction and fiction books depict and historicize a meaningful and frequently taught history topic: Christopher Columbus’s accomplishments and misdeeds. Results …


Examining Historical (Mis)Representations Of Christopher Columbus Within Children’S Literature, John Bickford Jan 2013

Examining Historical (Mis)Representations Of Christopher Columbus Within Children’S Literature, John Bickford

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Effective teaching, while supplemented by best practice methods and assessments, is rooted in accurate, age-appropriate, and engaging content. As a foundation for history content, elementary educators rely strongly on textbooks and children’s literature, both fiction and non-fiction. While many researchers have examined the historical accuracy of textbook content, few have rigorously scrutinized the historical accuracy of children’s literature. Those projects that carried out such examination were more descriptive than comprehensive due to significantly smaller data pools. I investigate how children’s non-fiction and fiction books depict and historicize a meaningful and frequently taught history topic: Christopher Columbus’s accomplishments and misdeeds. Results …