I am a happy camper. We get to read a portion of a book that I have had on my shelf for several years for class the week after Labor Day. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen is an indictment of the textbook industry, lazy history teachers (not ALL history teachers), and textbook adoption committees in the misinforming of America's youth about their own past. I had the benefit of amazing teachers who utilized works beyond the text to teach me about shared historical experience, but this work showed me the degree to which most students are shortchanged when it comes to learning not only the actual facts of history, but how to interpret and analyze those events and apply that analysis to other historical events, and even their current lives and situations.
Not that the author doesn't have a bit of a skewed perspective. He has had experience in writing an award-winning history textbook on the history of a state and having that textbook rejected. Whether or not the rejection was valid, that would sour a person on the process and perhaps be enough to start the mission he began of carefully examining 12 different U.S. history textbooks and finding their shortcomings and inaccuracies. The results were interesting. He also gives an overview of the process of textbook adoption as a chapter in the book.
As I said, I discovered this book a while ago and now we get to discuss a portion of it in one of my classes. *content sigh* Of course, I like his follow-up book even better, Lies Across America, which shows how history has been portrayed on our historic markers and suchlike. The contrasts between markers put up by different interest groups (Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of Confederate Veterans, etc.) and the time period in which the markers were put up sometimes make for interesting historical interpretations!
P.S.--I promise I won't only write about school--I think I'm just excited and overly mentally stimulated right now, so my brain is saying, "Hey, let's put this all out here right now!" Pretty soon I won't even have anything left to write for my papers. I'll have to turn in blog entries. I'm not completely sure how that would go over. Maybe if I make the photos REALLY interesting...
1 comment:
I have that book on my shelf too. It was a required book for a class I took in undergrad called, "Sociology of Education". I loved the class. I haven't read most of that book though. That's why I kept it and didn't sell it back at the end of the semester. So, now I should read it! But, the guy's second book sounds more interesting (judging by your description). It almost sounds like a book you could've written since you have such an affinity for historical markers!
I hope your paper writing doesn't mean you have to stop blogging! I'm always happy to see you have a new one in my Google Reader.
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