Rockville, MD Public High Schools Use 1965 Soviet History Textbook in Social Studies Curriculum

Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville MD ^ | Unknown | Social Studies Curriculum Staff

[rwfromkansas]

That is what it sounds like this teacher is doing based on his comments.

He isn't praising the Soviets, just saying it is interesting how they viewed history differently. He never said he was ditching the American book.

[rwfromkansas]

New York was originally New Amsterdam. That is common knowledge....

[rwfromkansas]

As a person studying to be a history teacher myself, I am rather disturbed at your failure to understand the need for students to gain critical thinking skills.

That is what this teacher is doing. He isn't indoctrinating kids in Soviet thought.

It is a great way to teach and much more interesting than having a kid read a textbook and call it good. That is lazy teaching. Dates are not important in most cases except for context.

There are some dates are that important: Dec. of Independence, D-Day etc. But, most are not something that people must know.

[stylin19a]

Here's the response I received from the teacher

"The reason I posted these pages was so that students of US History could compare the approach taken in their textbook and that of the Soviet version. Most, if not all, of the "facts" presented are true - the interpretations differ and that's what makes studying history so much fun.

The teachers who have used these pages have had great results discussing the Soviet viewpoint with their students. Someday I hope to have an annotated version of the document online, so that people can see how the American and Soviet interpretation of the same events differ, but for now it is merely a reproduction of a text that most people would never see."

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Right. I'm sure that text book presents the objective facts of the Ukrainian famine...just a different interpretation.

The New York Times claimed to be reporting the news truthfully and objectively in the 30's. Now we know that their work was pure propaganda for the Soviets.

The teaching of history is not supposed to be a "fun" type of mental exercise. The recording of history is to maintain a record of human events. The study of history is to come as close as we can to the truth behind those events. Propaganda is a deliberate mistruth in order to deceive.

The fact that this "teacher" is using a text generated by a regime known for its iron-handed censorship and propaganda speaks volumes about his motive in standing before a group of students who do not yet have a firm foundation of history and who are therefore not yet able to sort out fact from fiction.

[Capriole]

Sounds very ambivalent. "Differing interpretations" is a lot like failing to make value judgements--there is no black or white, right or wrong, but just "different interpretations" of history.

The teacher may be okay and may just have successfully mastered Montgomery-speak, in which we are very, very careful not to make any statement that suggests some viewpoints, people, political systems, or faiths are better than others.

[VeniVidiVici]

I understand and depending upon how he approaches it could be a quite funny part of the class.

For additional fun, go lookup the Soviet Constitution. You wonder how they could write such a document and then carry on like they did with a straight face.

[commonasdirt]

From the small amount I have read of the on-line text I was surprised to find that the facts were straightforward and true. I would go so far as to say that having been in school in the mid to late 60's, this textbook was even a damned sight better than the ones I remember using. The differance lies in how the facts are interpreted. There is a political spin put on the how and the whys of things like the American Revolution, etc. if you take away all the workers and masses bullshit, it is a pretty good history textbook.

[CaptIsaacDavis]

Let me get this straight, you are calling Marxist interpretations of U.S history examples of "critical thinking?"

This is a classic...
"Most are not something that people must know."

NET: This approach trains students to be skilled in applying dogmatic Marxist approaches to critically thinking about U.S. history -- and leaves them utterly clueless about "most" facts of U.S. history. And you are posting to a conservative web site?

[quietolong]

Yes. But being that it's from:
Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland

I can't keep from wondering which book they say is propaganda.