Nearly half of American history teachers believe it is less important that their students understand the common history, ideas, rights, and responsibilities that tie the country together as Americans than that they learn to celebrate the unique identities and experiences of its different ethnic, religious, and immigrant groups. . . .
Given that feelings trump facts in so many classrooms, is it any wonder that there has been such a precipitous decline in Americans' knowledge of their own country's history?
Think about it.
7 comments:
No surprise considering the fact that 80% of those teaching history in our public school system were not educated as history majors. The entire system is based on how to teach, not what to teach. "Certification" rules and the class room product continues to decline.
Anonymous, that's a statistic I've never heard. Can you tell me where it comes from? Called Social Studies and inclusive of History, this is a well established teaching college curriculum and I've met few "history teachers" who haven't been required to have taken it in order to qualify for a Social Studies/History teaching position in New York State.
You and I would no doubt have a lot to say in criticism of its content, however.
There is a difference in majoring in history and taking courses to the level that allows one to teach in New York. Also, New York is but one state. The staistic comes from the Lerhman Institute which sponsors summer school for history teachers to improve their knowledge. A history teacher in the Utica school system recently told me that no one, not one strudent in a senior, AP history class could define federalism.
Unfortunately, the fact that no student in a local AP history class could define federalism is not a surprise. I had a similar experience 16 years ago when I guest lectured an environmental law class at a college on Long Island and no one could tell me the functions of the 3 different branches of government.
This is the result of modern schooling that dismisses the importance of substantive knowledge in favor of subjectively judged "performance."
Acquiring substantive knowledge is like learning a language. Both allow for communication of higher-level ideas with others. Without substantive knowledge, individuals become easy to marginalize and control.
Lew Lerhman! So now he's got his own institute! I haven't heard of him since he ran for governor. And before that when he was King of the Rite Aid Drugstore Chain (I think his father started it), they bought out Daws Drug. (Remember Daws on the Busy Corner?) Old conservative Lew told each Daws employee they could come over to Rite Aid ... IF they took a Lie Detector Test! (Q-32. Did you ever steal a candy bar while on the job?) That was in '67 or '68. I'll take your word that the statistic is from them, but as you indicate, it's qualified by how one views the college curriculum. And again, we probably wouldn't be far apart in our criticism.
Welp - and I am a different anonymous - I agree that history is important and that the problems probably go back to how its being taught but keep in mind that this "problem" goes back to before World War II. I have the news articles, of people complaining that US Students do not know history and thus how will the fight the nazi's, sitting on my book shelf.
US Students have never really known US History.
Of course, it may be pertinent that writers of history have changed over the years and we should therefore expect some change in perspective, both in the texts and in the classroom. History is now written by the losers as well as the winners. Most of the history we read some years ago was authored by the sons of the wealthy. Or by the victors. None of my ancestors had the opportunity to pursue a PhD or scholarly studies. That ancestor in the portrait over the fireplace of the manorhouse of an English estate portrayed with a grandfatherly image, was in fact an avaricious cut-throat murderer who outperformed others of the same ilk to win the right to enslave most of the population, who were kept from owning their own weapons. Himself illiterate, his grandsons attended universities and wrote of homeric victories ordained by whichever god was popular on the day he was needed, worshiped by the adoring souls Grandpa ruled.
So ... when I'm told kids today are not learning the history that I learned, I'm not thrilled, but I recognize that I can't stop a changing culture. And maybe I shouldn't want to.
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