Textbooks flunk test

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ^ | March 28, 2004 | George Archibald

[neverdem]

Social studies textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools are mostly a disgrace that, in the name of political correctness and multiculturalism, fail to give students an honest account of American history, say academic historians and education advocates.

"Secondary and college students, and indeed most of the rest of us, have only a feeble grasp of politics and a vague awareness of history, especially the political history of the United States and the world," says Paul Gagnon, emeritus professor of history at the University of Massachusetts.

[WhiteyAppleseed]

The Underground History of American Education

[WhiteyAppleseed]

Remember the assembly programs you attended while you were in school? I do. Headed west this spring, apparently, is a man who visited local schools (Upper Peninsula of Michigan) a year ago, a travelling evangelist pushing fashionable ideology:Walkin’ Jim Stoltz

[VOA]

Wilfred M. McClay, humanities professor at the University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga, said that when graduates of Harvard and other great universities
"are not learning the basics of American history, it is safe to assume that almost
no one is,...

I suspect that the good professor might be in for a nasty shock if he actually checked
this out as places like Hillsdale College or lots of colleges/universities affiliated
with more conservative churches.

But as a prof at a public University, teaching reak history with a consider of
religion at the same time...is no teaching at all.

[WhiteyAppleseed]

If multiple choice is the mode, then provide choices:An alternative

[I still care]

As a homeschooling mother and librarian, I love to check out History textbooks.

The ones used in public school are as pathetic as the article claims- they are such a mass of political correctness that the truth cannot get through.

For instance, take a look at the "Mayflower Compact" in your child's SS text. Most companies will not print it out in entirety, because it mentions God.

If you want to learn or teach Economics, try the Christian Abeka text. It's great- it emphasizes private property ownership and entrepreneurship.

An excellent book on this subject is The Language Police:How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, by Diane Ravitch

[I still care]

My cousin is mentioned in that book - she gave me it for Christmas!

By the way, the concept of doing away with texts, among homeschoolers it is a Charlotte Mason concept called using Living Books.

Instead of reading a text about the Civil War, for example, they will read Grant's Memoirs. To keep it mentally in order they plot on a timeline every book they read. I have a friend that uses it exclusively, her son is way ahead in history.

[SpyGuy]

"It is as if they were designed to kill anyone's interest in history"

Bingo - we have a winner! The Leftists who control the education indoctrination system in this country know that weak minds are the most pliable. And history provides the foundation for society, culture, and values. Eliminate history and you can fragment society, destroy culture, and pervert values.

[SpyGuy]

"It is as if they were designed to kill anyone's interest in history"

Bingo - we have a winner! The Leftists who control the education indoctrination system in this country know that weak minds are the most pliable. And history provides the foundation for society, culture, and values. Eliminate history and you can fragment society, destroy culture, and pervert values.

[GeronL]

These publishers are not on our side.

[LdSentinal]

Something you will never read in a contemporary school texbook.

Which American President put hundreds of thousands of Japanese-Americans into concentration camps?

Answer: Liberal icon and hero Franklin D. Roosevelt

[WhiteyAppleseed]

My cousin is mentioned in that book - she gave me it for Christmas!

When I purchased a copy, I received a cassette tape with the book. The cassette was titled something like "A short angry history of American education". Mr. Gatto was speaking to an audience in Colorado. Not only does he write well, but he is an excellent speaker, too.

On what page is your cousin mentioned?

[Lyford]

bump

[dawn53]

We followed a literature based approach to history when we homeschooled (Beautiful Feet offers wonderful study guides for different periods of history).

It worked marvelously.

I know history textbooks stink, but I also place some blame on parents. We have "talked history" in our home and I believe it has had a big impact.

For parents of boys (not boys exclusively, as I guess some girls would like this approach too) here's another suggestion. One year, we worked our way through an overview of each war that the US has been involved in as a way of studying American history.

[JOE43270]

We can't stop fighting this revisionist history. It is done by socialists who want to tear down America "One nation under God with Liberty and Justice for all".

[MarkL]

"... and most were not sure whom we fought in World War II."

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

"Eight years of college, shot to hell!"

Mark

[MarkL]

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. I grew up in the 1960's and 1970's, and I went to an excellent private grade school. Starting in 8th grade, I went into the public school system in Kansas City, MO. I graduated HS in 1980, and then went back to college in 1986. One of the classes I took was an American history class. The first part of the semester, I read about 1/2 of the reading assignments, and attended fewer than 1/2 of the classes. On the mid-term, I scored an A-. I never went to another class or bothered reading any of the assignments. I scored a B on the final, giving me an A- for the entire course.

Everything that was covered in the class, I remembered from things I learned in grade school!

Mark

[mewzilla]

So do many of the parents of public schoolers. Ask some you know what they know about their kids' textbooks. Most parents I know have never even looked at their kids' books.

[SamAdams76]

Textbooks were a major problem even back when I went to high school back in the 1970s. Those generic textbooks would make every subject so dry and boring. Then you had those annoying sidebars on many of the "modern" textbooks that always espoused some liberal cause or another (such as "people in Africa are starving and what-are-we-fat-and-happy-Americans-going-to-do-about-it").

Once I got out of high school, I discovered reading for pleasure and suddenly subjects that I had previously considered "boring" as a result of those horrible textbooks became alive for me. I started reading history books on my own as well as books on astronomy, physics and works of literature. It's amazing how much fun reading good literature can be when you don't have to come up with some pointless and phoney-baloney 5-page essay on it.

I don't know why textbooks have to be so dull and uninspiring. There are a lot of great writers out there who can make subjects such as history and science come alive. For example, the "historical novels" of James Michener are great for teaching history in a meaningful way. Had I read Michener books such as "Poland", "The Source" and "Centennial" in high school, I would have had a much better grasp of history. It's much easier putting historical events such as World War II or the American Revolution in context when you have a basic understanding of the overall flow of history. As well, reading "contemporary" books on physics and astronomy by authors such as Asimov and Feynmann, helps one to understand the finer points of each subject as they are taught in the classroom. I cannot understand why these books are not made available in our classrooms.

[ladylib]

It might be a good idea to also check out the offerings in the school library, as well as peruse the "required" reading lists.

I bet some parents would be mighty surprised at what their tax money is paying for.