The Miseducation of the West: How Schools and the Media Distort Our Understanding of the Islamic World

(Hardback)

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Citizens of Western societies have been consistently miseducated about the Islamic world and its peoples. The Miseducation of the West examines the ways in which educational institutions such as media and schools have shaped Western views of Islam. The nature of these messages tells readers as much, if not more, about Western self-images as they do about Islam and Islamic peoples. A perspective emerges of Islam as the "other", which provided Western powers with an easy justification for the colonial conquest of many Islamic lands. In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries Britain, France, and Russia colonized much of the Muslim world, with the U.S. entering the picture after World War II. Economic colonization, the oil business, and interference with various governments and the way these events and people are represented in the formal curriculum of schools and the informal curriculum of the media are central dimensions of this work. The contemporary expression of these images is found in the efforts of the Bush administration and its conservative allies to teach the "true meaning" of 9/11 and Islamic terrorism. In various reports, conservative organizations with close ties to the Bush White House present forceful views of what historical concepts should be taught in U.S. schools. At the same time, Hollywood movies and the mass media consistently portray Arabs and Muslims as terrorists and fanatics. As Joe L. Kincheloe states in his thoughtful and sensitive introduction, these efforts "represent a return to a 1954 view of America as the bearer of the democratic torch to the anti-democratic forces of the world. A critical education must counter such tendencies and work to conceptualize 9/11 in a variety of contexts." The essayists in this book write with different voices from diverse viewpoints, contributing to a discussion that will not end for years to come.

Reviews

"Ten articles, all professors or graduate students of education, examine commonly held misconceptions forged by negative portrayals of Islam and Muslims....[s]hould receive a wide audience."-Curriculum Connections/School Library Journal
[D]iscusses how the view form the Right about European colonialism, Middle East conflicts, history as patriotic narrative, Hollywood movies, and a 24-hour media increasingly projects one point of view.-Foreword This Week
[P]rovides an excellent introduction and overview of a number of critical topics that require attention if Muslims and non-Muslims want to make sense of the post-9/11 disorder that we live in.-Muslim World Book Review
Graduate, research, and professional collections.-Choice
Ten articles, all professors or graduate students of education, examine commonly held misconceptions forged by negative portrayals of Islam and Muslims....[s]hould receive a wide audience.-Curriculum Connections/School Library Journal
"Discusses how the view form the Right about European colonialism, Middle East conflicts, history as patriotic narrative, Hollywood movies, and a 24-hour media increasingly projects one point of view."-Foreword This Week
"Provides an excellent introduction and overview of a number of critical topics that require attention if Muslims and non-Muslims want to make sense of the post-9/11 disorder that we live in."-Muslim World Book Review
"[D]iscusses how the view form the Right about European colonialism, Middle East conflicts, history as patriotic narrative, Hollywood movies, and a 24-hour media increasingly projects one point of view."-Foreword This Week
"[P]rovides an excellent introduction and overview of a number of critical topics that require attention if Muslims and non-Muslims want to make sense of the post-9/11 disorder that we live in."-Muslim World Book Review
"Graduate, research, and professional collections."-Choice

Author Bio

Joe L. Kincheloe is Professor of Education at the City University of New York Graduate Center and Brooklyn College, where he has served as the Belle Zeller Chair of Public Policy and Administration. Shirley R. Steinberg is Associate Professor Education at Brooklyn College. She is the senior editor of Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education.