General Discussion

kiva

(4,373 posts)

41. Because the time allotted to "social studies" or "history",

Mon Mar 4, 2013, 12:12 PM

Mar 2013

depending on the school system, has shrunk to almost nothing.

Because history is in high school is often taught by coaches who need to teach a second subject and math is too hard and they don't know science and English is too picky, so let them teach history, it's just a collection of names and dates and places, right?

Because parents in K-12 complain if the curriculum doesn't match their preferences, and administrators cave.

Because some students don't want to discuss, read about, hear about or know anything that won't be on the test - and these people and events aren't on the test.

Because by the time students get to college in many states - including mine - they can get a degree without taking a single history class.

So yeah, there are many cool things in history that students never hear about.

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Why are certain prominent and significant people written out of US History? [View all] Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 OP

When I've subbed in history, I'm always amazed at what's glossed over. knitter4democracy Mar 2013 #1

Or the REAL reason TX fought for independence from Mexico hobbit709 Mar 2013 #3

I'm not a history buff, kentauros Mar 2013 #13

I know several teachers who teach by the connections. knitter4democracy Mar 2013 #26

And I think I learned (not to mention retained) more kentauros Mar 2013 #34

Wars are easy to teach. Dates, names, battles, etc. Recursion Mar 2013 #33

I would think teaching peace-history would be more inspiring to students, too. kentauros Mar 2013 #35

except there's not that much "peace" history to teach about... nt msongs Mar 2013 #58

Sure there is! kentauros Mar 2013 #59

Even politics: what if Clay, Calhoun, and Webster got as much time as the Civil War? Recursion Mar 2013 #73

That's true. kentauros Mar 2013 #76

"Peace" history could be incredibly fascinating Benton D Struckcheon Mar 2013 #97

Debs, Norman Thomas, and many others. hobbit709 Mar 2013 #2

I think this is gonna be a good thread. Ron Green Mar 2013 #4

Kind of accidental if it is. Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #7

Oliver Stone had the movie rights to Butler's story, but hasn't produced it. leveymg Mar 2013 #5

P.P.S. - For more background on Oliver Stone's aborted Butler film project, please see: leveymg Mar 2013 #10

History is a discipline and the fact is that there are few who actually possess that discipline. Cary Mar 2013 #6

Butler, at least, is pretty famous Recursion Mar 2013 #8

That is an incredible misrepresentation of what happened. leveymg Mar 2013 #12

Oh, it's clear MacGuire, Bush, and Du Pont would have liked to have done it Recursion Mar 2013 #22

Committee report found that a number of major financiers and industrialists signed on. leveymg Mar 2013 #31

Don't leave out Prescott Bush, HW's father and W's grandfather. brush Mar 2013 #39

Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker were involved in financing Hitler, not this plot. leveymg Mar 2013 #61

Yet another group of fascists during the '30s? brush Mar 2013 #63

The DuPonts and Morgan Bank interests were at the heart of the '34 plot. Bush/Walker worked at leveymg Mar 2013 #64

BBC fellah found a box of stuff in Washington... Octafish Mar 2013 #87

Yes it is. Are you surprised? Egalitarian Thug Mar 2013 #27

Well... not so fast: Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #14

Isn't that from "War is a racket"? Recursion Mar 2013 #16

News to me if it is. *Marines* are assigned this? n/t Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #19

Well, a biography of him that included it. We also read Che Guevarra Recursion Mar 2013 #21

House Speaker McCormick maintained his committee's conclusion the "business plot" was real. leveymg Mar 2013 #20

the whole Native American history is only told rurallib Mar 2013 #9

That is a *given*. Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #18

That's why I try to cover what I can in my classes. knitter4democracy Mar 2013 #29

Is it a good movie? kwassa Mar 2013 #88

It's an excellent movie! knitter4democracy Mar 2013 #94

To be fair, they didn't exactly build enormous libraries documenting their history (nt) Nye Bevan Mar 2013 #37

"War is the Health of the State" Great essay by Randolph Bourne villager Mar 2013 #11

"Following the death of Christ, there was a period of readjustment that lasted FSogol Mar 2013 #15

Going to a history museum in Mexico City was very eye-opening. Starry Messenger Mar 2013 #17

There's a theory that that unit was where the term "Gringo" came from Recursion Mar 2013 #25

I went to the same museum about 20 years ago and remember thinking.... Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #62

That would be an amazing film. Starry Messenger Mar 2013 #65

Right about now it would catch *fire*. (In more ways than one.) Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #72

Here's some more folks and things kids should be taught about in U.S. schools: Ken Burch Mar 2013 #23

Centralia Massacre... nt Bigmack Mar 2013 #30

That's a hard one Recursion Mar 2013 #36

Are we thinking about the same Centralia massacre? Hayabusa Mar 2013 #45

Oh, I guess not Recursion Mar 2013 #46

I didn't know about the WA, one. Hayabusa Mar 2013 #50

Wiki describes it as a "massacre" not as a shootout. The account reads more like self defense. Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #70

You skipped the part where the Wobblies shot three unarmed Legionnaires with their rifles Recursion Mar 2013 #71

Didn't skip it. Included it: Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #75

Sorry, I missed that. The bloodstains were in the center of the street Recursion Mar 2013 #78

And those at Everett and Ludlow as well. Ken Burch Mar 2013 #91

And Denmark Vesey. nt raccoon Mar 2013 #43

Good one. Ken Burch Mar 2013 #90

I don't think Nat Turner or John Brown are glossed over at all RZM Mar 2013 #48

I probably would not include Nat Turner hfojvt Mar 2013 #67

You could use Turner as an example of what something like slavery does to the human mind. Ken Burch Mar 2013 #92

The Civil Rights folks would have been massacred. Benton D Struckcheon Mar 2013 #95

Yes, they would have-that wasn't my point, though. Ken Burch Mar 2013 #98

There's plenty of people who are forgotton for a number of reasons el_bryanto Mar 2013 #24

Louis Armstrong was integral to music in general.Without him and Bing Crosby, there was nothing. graham4anything Mar 2013 #28

And he's also easier to teach - he pandered to a white audience. el_bryanto Mar 2013 #32

Why not teach all 3 of them. Bing Louis Duke graham4anything Mar 2013 #40

That goes back to my original point el_bryanto Mar 2013 #44

I was also referring to actual recording history itself-see 3rd paragraph. graham4anything Mar 2013 #53

Until you get to college (and even then it depends on the professor)....... marmar Mar 2013 #38

You got that right. nt raccoon Mar 2013 #107

Because the time allotted to "social studies" or "history", kiva Mar 2013 #41

Our high schools no longer teach pre-1900 American History Nevernose Mar 2013 #42

I think that some aren't even teaching post-WWII history. DearHeart Mar 2013 #93

And that was the case until recently Nevernose Mar 2013 #99

Since I don't have kids, I don't know what they're teaching in high schools DearHeart Mar 2013 #108

I'm an English teacher, actually Nevernose Mar 2013 #109

It does seem like some people are trying to turn the schools into little factories. DearHeart Mar 2013 #110

Basically, there is only so much time in the school day and the school year. SheilaT Mar 2013 #47

Good point RZM Mar 2013 #51

You might be interested in Smedley's role in blowing the whistle on this.... OldDem2012 Mar 2013 #49

What I noticed was the treatment of Smedley Butler in the National Museum of the Marine Corps Nay Mar 2013 #52

My point exactly. Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #56

These two: Ephram Squire and Edwin Davis...sorta my heroes... Tikki Mar 2013 #54

How many humans have lived just during recorded history? One_Life_To_Give Mar 2013 #55

Good points. Excellent post. JDPriestly Mar 2013 #105

The labor movement is pretty well glossed over. Blue_In_AK Mar 2013 #57

I dunno. I remember learning about Gompers, Debs, and Lewis, plus Haymarket and the Bonus army Recursion Mar 2013 #80

That may be true, Blue_In_AK Mar 2013 #85

Oh, me too, definitely Recursion Mar 2013 #86

I don't remember ever getting much past WW II Blue_In_AK Mar 2013 #96

Whole swaths of labor history nadinbrzezinski Mar 2013 #60

It (they) conflicts with the narrative of US exceptionalism Spike89 Mar 2013 #66

And pretty much anything that happened in large swaths of the country before the Anglo-Americans Retrograde Mar 2013 #68

U.S. history and actual historians have not so done. U.S. school textbooks are a different issue. WinkyDink Mar 2013 #69

Every day there is more "history", and school boards decide SoCalDem Mar 2013 #74

Given how much military worship is ingrained in us from childhood Blue_Tires Mar 2013 #77

Helen Keller was a Socialist. Manifestor_of_Light Mar 2013 #79

AND... a Wobblie: Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #83

Isabella Baumfree aka Sojourner Truth. Cleita Mar 2013 #81

Lucretia Mott Skittles Mar 2013 #103

Malcolm X KamaAina Mar 2013 #82

Malcolm is well known to my generation. Smarmie Doofus Mar 2013 #84

We read "The Autobiography of ..." in high school English class. kwassa Mar 2013 #89

The history I've read is quite broad and comprehensive. Guess the difference is . . . Journeyman Mar 2013 #100

Glaringly absent from history in the US is the way we treated Native Americans sabrina 1 Mar 2013 #101

On a different, local level, in LA, we have the fascinating JDPriestly Mar 2013 #102

First name that comes to mind is Nellie Bly. Neoma Mar 2013 #104

The Rockefellers and other oligarchs, and, woo me with science Mar 2013 #106