RSU takes aim at oppressive texts
A Ryerson Students’ Union executive is cracking down on oppressive material in students’ textbooks, whether the students want her to or not.
RSU VP Education Heather Kere organized a “textbook audit” last Friday in the Credit Union Lounge.
Students and faculty had the opportunity to bring forward any textbooks they felt had offensive content.
“For many classes, you read the content and you’re tested on it. There’s not much discussion about the merits of the content,” Kere said.
“These ideas are passed on when instead they should be looked at critically,” she said.
She added that this is the first initiative of its kind at Ryerson.
The idea for the audit came about over the summer as part of the Access to Education Campaign organized by the Educational Issues Committee.
First-year nursing student Liana Salvador brought the Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing text to the audit. She had a problem with a chapter in the book that listed Aboriginal health problems such as alcoholism and suicide without mentioning the historical context of residential schooling and genocide.
“One of my classmates came up to me after class and said, ‘I thought they were genetically predisposed to those problems,’” she said. “That’s the danger if you don’t explain the historical context of these issues.”
Salvador said that she would like to see each faculty have a committee of professionals assess textbooks before they are put into the curriculum.
“Even the most inclusive textbooks are going to exclude some groups, but what’s wrong with constantly trying to be better?” Salvador said. “It’s difficult to learn in an environment where you are marginalized.”
But other students aren’t sure if this initiative is a good idea.
“I think it’s an interesting exercise, but it’s more complex than a blanket audit,” said third-year arts and contemporary studies student Dianne Sora. “If something is offensive to some people, it might not be offensive to others.”
Darrell Bowden, educational equity advisor from Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Services at Ryerson said that if students have issues with their textbooks, they can voice them at their offices.
“If anybody does have a complaint, they should come forward to our office because we do take them seriously,” he said. “They’re free to come by and we may be able to help them or give them guidance as to where they can go.”
Kere plans to hold a similar event next semester and will bring the findings back to the Educational Issues Committee and discuss how to move forward. The group hopes to draft a motion to bring to the Senate.
“We wouldn’t expect all the books to change,” Kere said. “But if we could slowly address the problem we could make people aware not to take [their textbooks] as the gospel truth.”
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