What do you think students in the United States should learn about their country’s history?
How schools teach U.S. history has been the subject of fierce debate in recent years. What do you think students in the United States should learn about their country’s history? Should social studies education focus on the positive accomplishments and contributions the country has made to the world? Or should it reveal the uglier sides of the country’s history, such as persistent racism and economic inequality? In other words, what do you think is the purpose of teaching U.S. history in schools? Is it to foster patriotism? To prepare active and informed citizens? To create change makers? Or something else? What do you think should be the purpose of teaching U.S. history in schools? Did reading the interactive and hearing the teachers’ views change your thinking? The text states that since last year, 17 states have imposed laws or rules to limit how race and discrimination can be taught in public school classrooms. How do you feel about that? How have these laws and debates affected your schools, teachers and classrooms? Ms. Sanders says that “there’s a large misunderstanding of what teachers are actually doing in the classroom.” Do you agree? What do you make of fears about the “indoctrination” or “brainwashing” of students? Ms. Nakatsuka says, “It’s the job of a history teacher to tell the full, complex story of U.S. history.” What does that mean to you? Do you think you have learned the “full, complex story of U.S. history”? If not, what do you think has been missing? A law passed in Texas last year said that slavery and racism should be framed as deviations from the country’s founding principles. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, who signed the law to ban the teaching of “critical race theory” in the state’s public schools, said “they’re trying to rewrite history and redesign the future of the United States” and “undermining the very values and core of what America stands for.” How persuasive is his argument? Are teachers and educators rewriting history, or is the law rewriting history? Mr. Hjort says that the new Texas law might make “teachers that have felt like their job was to be more activists” aware that they went “too far.” Do you agree? Are laws like the one in Texas good for the teaching and learning of American history? Or will they have a harmful and chilling effect on teachers and classrooms? Tell us about your experiences learning history in and out of school. Do you like history? Is it one of your favorite subjects? Why or why not? Do you think your teachers have done a good job of teaching you history over the years? Have any of your teachers made the past come alive? How could teachers make history more engaging and meaningful to you? What do kids in other countries learn about America?
I'm watching Stephen Fry in America, so it just got me thinking about what other countries are taught about us. How do you learn about your country's history in school?
Global
I was just curious to hear what you guys learn about your own history and at what time periods you start and end. I'll give my own experience as an American: In sixth grade, which was when I was about 11, we did a year of American history starting with Columbus's discovery in 1492 (I think we also covered some of the Pre-Columbian civilizations like the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, but very briefly). Then we zoomed through the Spanish/Portuguese stuff in the 1500s, reaching the early English colonizations in the 1600s and the Revolutionary era in the 1700s. We spent a lot of time on the Revolutionary War, obviously, then we went through early America, the Industrial Revolution, second war with Britain and war with Mexico, and we ended with the American Civil War in the 1860s and the ending of slavery. Then in tenth grade (I was about 15 years old then), my high school also did a year of American history, covering most of the same stuff but more in-depth. This time though, we made it past the Civil War, going through Reconstruction and the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, then World War I, the Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, and we ended with World War II. There was a class in 11th grade about U.S. since 1945, but that was an elective and not required (I think that class ended with 9/11 and the War on Terror). What important events/periods in your own country's history are rarely taught in schools? Growing up in England I was taught the big parts of history (Tudors, English Civil War, etc) but there's often very large gaps in what we learn, am I to assume that very little happened in those times? Also intrigued what other countries would have, because the history of other countries is even more rare to hear. I'm American and have come to realize how little public education taught me about anything but American history. Every year of public school but one was something related to America. Even major world events like World War 2 focused on America. What did we do that "protected democracy". At age 16 there was a a year of European history. That covered ancient Greece to The Berlin Wall. So, entire civilizations were discussed for a few weeks at most. When they were it mostly about how it relates to America. Greece only matters because they invented the democracy we improved on for example. The class went, Greece, Rome, The Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, world wars, rise of the USSR. The teacher wanted to spend more time on the subjects but there was no time. To compare at age 10, 13, and 15 there was 3 month periods devoted to the American Civil War. A 4 year period that does not matter much outside America. But, Europeans seem to know about half of the same history I learned. Certainly the most important parts that mean anything to the rest of the world. The only reason I know anything about the history of Europe is seeking it out on my own. How much of a connection do you feel with your country's history? I study history but I don't feel any pride or connection to it except that I respect that its why my life is the way it is for the most part.
But I don' feel like a long history makes anyone better than anyone else. What did you learn about in your history classes?
For example, one year could have been mainly centered on the history of Europe or specifically your country, maybe you studied world history altogether, etc.
I'm watching Stephen Fry in America, so it just got me thinking about what other countries are taught about us. How do you learn about your country's history in school?
Global
I was just curious to hear what you guys learn about your own history and at what time periods you start and end. I'll give my own experience as an American: In sixth grade, which was when I was about 11, we did a year of American history starting with Columbus's discovery in 1492 (I think we also covered some of the Pre-Columbian civilizations like the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, but very briefly). Then we zoomed through the Spanish/Portuguese stuff in the 1500s, reaching the early English colonizations in the 1600s and the Revolutionary era in the 1700s. We spent a lot of time on the Revolutionary War, obviously, then we went through early America, the Industrial Revolution, second war with Britain and war with Mexico, and we ended with the American Civil War in the 1860s and the ending of slavery. Then in tenth grade (I was about 15 years old then), my high school also did a year of American history, covering most of the same stuff but more in-depth. This time though, we made it past the Civil War, going through Reconstruction and the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century, then World War I, the Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, and we ended with World War II. There was a class in 11th grade about U.S. since 1945, but that was an elective and not required (I think that class ended with 9/11 and the War on Terror). What important events/periods in your own country's history are rarely taught in schools? Growing up in England I was taught the big parts of history (Tudors, English Civil War, etc) but there's often very large gaps in what we learn, am I to assume that very little happened in those times? Also intrigued what other countries would have, because the history of other countries is even more rare to hear. I'm American and have come to realize how little public education taught me about anything but American history. Every year of public school but one was something related to America. Even major world events like World War 2 focused on America. What did we do that "protected democracy". At age 16 there was a a year of European history. That covered ancient Greece to The Berlin Wall. So, entire civilizations were discussed for a few weeks at most. When they were it mostly about how it relates to America. Greece only matters because they invented the democracy we improved on for example. The class went, Greece, Rome, The Renaissance, Industrial Revolution, world wars, rise of the USSR. The teacher wanted to spend more time on the subjects but there was no time. To compare at age 10, 13, and 15 there was 3 month periods devoted to the American Civil War. A 4 year period that does not matter much outside America. But, Europeans seem to know about half of the same history I learned. Certainly the most important parts that mean anything to the rest of the world. The only reason I know anything about the history of Europe is seeking it out on my own. How much of a connection do you feel with your country's history? I study history but I don't feel any pride or connection to it except that I respect that its why my life is the way it is for the most part.
But I don' feel like a long history makes anyone better than anyone else. What did you learn about in your history classes?
For example, one year could have been mainly centered on the history of Europe or specifically your country, maybe you studied world history altogether, etc.
