Textbook Fail & Finesse Effective leadership unexplained Learning Target: I can describe the influence of the Roman Empire on the Ancient World and subsequent civilizations.

Context 9th grade Foundations of World History covering the migration of Man out of Africa, up to about 500 AD. This is a required course for all students of every ability level and is fully integrated. As such I have every kind of student from accelerated learners, to those who function with a para-educator. The overall reading and writing level of the class is at 9th grade or above. This is an affluent and education minded district. However some of my readers are very low, either due to language acquisition, or other delays.

The Fail Last semester, in our Rome unit we were to discuss the legacy of Rome in the western world. A major feature of our discussion was on the reforms and good leadership of Augustus which led to the Pax Romana. The text gave a list of reforms and described the Pax Romana, but shed no light at all on Augustus strengths as a leader or actual situations where that could be seen. The students were very confused and their questions immediately made it clear that they had no idea what things like a “civil service” or a policy of public famine relief meant. This was an immediate red flag to me as in the next two units we would be asking the same questions about the great Chinese emperor Wu-di, and the Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta. Clearly the textbook would need a supplement. And who better to explain the leadership of these men than themselves or close friends. For this I would need primary sources.

This is literally everything on Augustus as a leader.

Student Feedback The failure of the textbook was immediately apparent from the questions and discussion in the class. The students were able to regurgitate a list of Augustus’ reforms and the end result of the Pax Romana. But they obviously had no idea what the reforms meant and what the significance of the Pax Romana was. The more tangible evidence was on their guided notes for the day. The boxes they were to fill in on the reforms and leadership of Augustus simply had one world bullet points from a power point slide or the textbook. They gave no context, depth or analysis of these answers. Sadly I cannot show you any of these note sheets because they were returned last semester, and the solution to this textbook fail was fully used this semester. The supplemental reading was good enough that they did significantly better this semester.

Supplemental readings As a solution to this fail, and as scaffolding for two units immediately to follow the Rome unit, I used three primary source texts to create a leadership comparison between the three major leaders we were studying. The texts are example of leadership values of not only Augustus, but Wu-di and Chandragupta Maurya as well.

Proof it Worked This, and the next slide, are a typical example of student work analyzing the leadership ability of the three emperors after the fail was fixed second semester. This is side 1

Proof it Worked This is side 2

The Lesson for Me The obvious lesson here is never to trust the textbook as the foundation of instruction. However it takes the experience of teaching to identify when a textbook is an appropriate aid and when it will fail. This textbook fail was an example of listening to student questions and responding with deeper content. Though I generally know not to use the textbook as the primary source of information for students, it is hard to tell when and how much supplementary material they will need. I did not expect the textbook to be so completely unhelpful as it was on this occasion. My hands are tied in my current internship concerning the use of the textbook as a the primary teaching tool. However in my own future as an educator, unless I run into a truly spectacular textbook, I will try to use them as little as possible. They are too generic, shallow, and lack specific appeal to the interests of students. A thoughtful teacher can do much better with a little research.