This summer there's been an intense debate surrounding the Confederate flag and the legacy of slavery in this country.
In Texas that debate revolves around new textbooks that 5 million students will use when the school year begins next month.
The question is, are students getting a full and accurate picture of the past?
Eleventh-grade U.S. history teacher Samantha Manchac is concerned about the new materials and is already drawing up her lesson plans for the coming year. She teaches at The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a public school in Houston.
The first lesson she says she'll give her kids is how textbooks can tell different versions of history. "We are going to utilize these textbooks to some extent, but I also want you to be critical of the textbooks and not take this as the be-all and end-all of American history," she imagines telling her new students.
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Textbooks in and of themselves are the problem. Where else in your life will you ever read something as dry and dull as a textbook? There is no story or imagination in them- no wonder kids hate history so much. Forget bias- the very existence of textbooks is proof of the failure of schooling.
ReplyDeleteTextbooks have changed over the years, not the same as when older folks were in school. Just compare the story of the first Thanksgiving, then and now. Quite different because thanks to God was always mentioned in public schools back in the day. We even prayed every morning before classes began and before eating lunch. Changes began in the rebellious 60s and have gotten worse ever since.
ReplyDeleteShe'll be canned for her thought provoking ingenuity.
ReplyDelete