Flaws in History Textbooks

741 Words2 Pages

The overall, topic for this week’s reading is Social Studies Textbooks and what is there point of view. In Loewen’s book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, the author makes the point that books show one-sided viewpoint of historical figures, fail to show conflict happening today, and fail to present multiple sides of an issue. The second article by David Tyack, Monuments Between Covers, talks about the idea to show that our past was full of right moments and if anything that was immoral was a small part and no big deal. Tyack points out the constant influence from political groups with different agendas fighting to influence and control what textbooks tell our countries’ children. In the last reading History Lesson by Dana Lindaman talks about the view point of American History throughout the world’s public schools’ textbooks. Overall, each of the countries diminished the role their nation played in terrible events and criticized other nations for their actions.
In Loewen’s book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, talks about the real point of view of textbooks in the classroom. Many textbooks create this idea of Heroification, were people from the past are perfect creatures without conflicts and pain. The idea is to influence the students to strive for great things and become like these people. However, by showing only the good side of people or events is misleading. We need to show both sides- the good and the bad in order to show a complete picture of the past. Another, thing textbooks do is hid events or makes them more simplistic. Many textbooks show the idea that racism is over, and hid the fact that society is still dealing with racism. The textbook companies do this because they want not to have students have the tough conversations. The la...

... middle of paper ...

...ced because of the alliances with the allied powers. My favorite was that Great Britain said it was a hard choice to go to war. I completely disagree with that statement, because needed to defend the sovereignty of Belgium and the connection with the Hanoverians in Northwest Germany.
Overall, we see the textbook companies being pulled in multiple directions fearing influence from powerful lobby groups to create bland textbooks, which have limited multiple viewpoints, and controversy. Loewen, talks about only the good traits of historical figures like Woodrow Wilson, instead of showing both sides. Tyack presents a similar viewpoint, that textbooks are all about American Acceptualism and that we as society did no wrong. Lastly, in the Lindaman piece, each nation does the same thing in order to show their nation is good light or limit the dirty laundry of their past.

Show More
Related

  • Misconceptions in Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm, and in the Article, The Nazi Origins of the Olympic Torch Relay

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    Few books exemplify the consequences of misconceptions more than Farenheit 451. The book speaks of a world in which in citizens think they are living in a utopia, when in fact their world is constantly devoloving into a place where no human could ever flourish. This delusion along with the misconception that books are thing to be feared is the precise reason that the general populace is so easily controlled. The reason behind the propaganda campaign against books is so the people do not realize that their lives are unsatisfying and dull. In other words, this, misconception propagated by the governing force, fuels the illusion of a perfect world. The myth that the world...

    Read More

  • Huckleberry Finn in High Schools

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every one hundred years dialects change and what is considered “politically correct”, or socially acceptable, changes. “David Bradley argues that ‘if we'd eradicated the problem of racism in our society, Huckleberry Finn would be the easiest book in the world to teach’” (Zwick, Jim. “Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned?”). If we, as a nation, make it a point to rule out all books that could possibly offend students, then every hundred years or so our library of American Literature will be completely different. Even today, modern day authors use vulgar language, lurid sexual content, and racial slurs to get their point across. If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken off of required reading lists across the country, then that could create a never-ending cycle of books being taken off of school shelves every time words and ideas become unacceptable. If this is the way that American society is turning then something must be done, and the Superintendents, Deans, and Principals of every High School around the country must take it upon themselves to do it because the students will not.

    Read More

  • Not All Textbooks Recall the Events of History the Same

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people do not care for history due to the simple fact some of the readings in the textbook are not all interesting or true. Not every textbook is the same, not every textbook has accurate information, but most history classes require you to read and learn everything from the textbooks. As you read this essay, you will learn how a couple of different texts discusses the finding of Virginia and about the Indians. Each of these texts are not written in the year so there will be some discussion on the years each was written. Just remember, not all textbooks are the same, in fact, most of them have different facts that may not be all accurate.

    Read More

  • David Mccullough's Essay Knowing History And Knowing Who We Are

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    History has many examples of these three themes, and to record them all, you would need to write a book. The three themes discussed in this paper have been used to inform and teach young students that history is important; Therefore, it is important to know your history; if you don't learn from history, then you are doomed to repeat

    Read More

  • Human Nature in Bartholomae and Petrosky's Our Time, Theft, and Music of the Swamp

    3114 Words  | 7 Pages

    Why should college students read the stories that are assigned in English courses? Other than to satisfy the professor, what is the purpose of reading these difficult writings of people we don't know or care about? Many of these students find themselves asking, "What is this writer talking about?" Confused, some quickly give up trying to understand the story and make reading something just to get through, diminishing both their understanding and their grade. Knowing what these writers are trying to explain makes their stories much easier to read. Throughout history, we humans have tried to understand why we do the things we do. To aid in our understanding, many storytellers throughout literary history have written fictional and non-fictional stories about human nature to help others, as well as themselves understand. Human nature is what the writers of Our Time, Theft, and Music of the Swamp, three excerpts from the anthology Ways of Reading edited by David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky, often read in English courses, are trying to explore. My personal story, Chinese Food Can Save Your Life, written for my English composition course is also an example of this exploration. The human nature in these stories is to blame other people, places, or situations for failures and general unhappiness. Most readers can probably relate to this since at one point or another, they have thought that, if they just had some extra money, a better job, a different lover, a new home, or a better childhood, they could be happier. To assign the blame to other people and things is easier than to point the finger at ourselves. Although a few things individuals are not responsible for do exist, such as ethnicity and hereditary characteristics, most of the things good or bad that happen to us are a result of choices we have made. In these stories, this human compulsion to obsess for what we (supposedly) don't have destroys any possibility of obtaining the particular possession.

    Read More

  • Merle Curti Intellectual History

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    A key part in the history of America’s schools involves clashes over culture and religion, as well as racial and ethnic conflicts. The struggle for power between different aspects in our educational history has shaped the way we learn today.

    Read More

  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    To accurately determine what an educational institution should do with a book that contains some degree of cultural or moral shock is to analyze what the purpose of these institutions actually is. “Some parents brought the town’s segregated past and their dissatisfaction with the present into the discussion about the book” (Powell, 1). It is true that people from areas where slavery once ran rampant will be emotionally distressed with books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This may be understandable, but ultimately, schools are not purposed to dampen the discomfort of specific students and their families. Education Assistant Professor Jocelyn Chadwick states, “‘you have to remind them you are there to defend the text and not solve social issues’” (Powell, 1). Alleviating the cold reality from members of the community is neither a responsibility of educators nor a pedagogical concern. For the teachers and professors, the education of students, through whatever methods and textbooks, should far outweigh any of the culturally or morally shaky backlash that could follow. However, some disagree with this. “The CHMCA officially objected to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the grounds that ‘the prejudicial effect of the racial characterizations outweigh any literary value that the book might have’...

    Read More

  • 1890-1910 American Imperialism

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    “History never says goodbye. History says see you later” (Eduardo Galeano). History teaches us valuable lessons from the past, which can be used for the present time, yet our leaders usually overlook these lessons and repeat previous mistakes. I have recently immigrated to the United States and since in my home country history classes are not a place to really discuss the history, I was amazed by the way that this history class challenged every event and fact. I have learned that history is told by bias, so we should be able to think critically and question what we are taught. History is usually written by the dominant group of the society, so if we are looking for the truth, we should study each event from different resources and different

    Read More

  • Banning Books

    4607 Words  | 10 Pages

    Miner, B. (1998). When reading good books can get schools in trouble. An Urban Educational Journal, 12, 1-10

    Read More

  • Analysis in James W. Loewen´s Lies My Teacher Told Me

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s of the Americas, what was their life like, and how did it change when Columbus arrived ,’ wrote a student of mine in 1991. ‘However, back then everything was presented as if it were the full picture,’ she continued, ‘so I never thought to doubt that it was.’” Most students after high school, fail to analyze controversial issues in our society. What citizens know about our past is what they have learned in high school history courses.

    Read More

  • Censorship In Schools Essay

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    The censoring of books and other literatures in schools by parents is a common thing, even in the United States, where the freedom within the law protects the educator’s judgment of their professional standards, meaning schools should be trusted to practice their rights to choose which materials may or may not be used in children’s learning environment. Schools already censor materials that are deemed not suitable for young students; school books should not be used to push ideological positions, they should be used to teach children the truth and expose them to ideas that will expand their knowledge, not by influencing them, but by making them understand.

    Read More

  • The Treaty of Versailles as a Cause of WWII

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    The coalitions brought by the Versailles Treaty contributed greatly to starting WWII. The Treaty was responsible for the formation of the Allies. However, when made, these alliances were based on promises from the superpowers, particularly France. This ensured that Germany would not have support from the smaller countries in Europe (Document B). Belgium had aligned itself with France previously, and it continued to do so, but Czechoslovakia and Poland...

    Read More

  • History Book Analysis

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    As the first chapter in this long analytical book, chapter one serves as the foundation for the rest of the novel, with a basic premise that “history textbooks make fool out of the students.” It shows how portrayal of historical figures and events in the best light for the reputation of United States leads to biased and distorted historical education.

    Read More

  • The Coddling Of The American Mind By Greg Lukianoff And Jonathan Haidt

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 60’s and 70’s, people have thrashed out with their words and each other. This caused some awareness in schools due to the offensiveness of the matter. During the 80’s schools began on focusing on preventing this kind of speech on their campuses. Since then, students have become more and more sensitive in a negative way. The authors used an example of a kid shouting “Shut up, you water buffalo” at an Israeli born student. That incident made national news, just for calling another kid a “water buffalo.” Another example is when a university found a student guilty of racial harassment for reading a book honoring student opposition to the Ku Klux Clan. The picture on the cover of the book offended one of the student’s co-workers. Just because the student was reading a book, minding his own business, the student was punished from the university. Never said anything or hurt anyone physically, and his education was ruined by someone taking offense to a book he was reading. The authors used this extreme example to prove that accepting the fact that student are fragile and letting them be fragile is not the right way to go and the past can prove

    Read More

  • The Challenges Of Textbook Selection And Adoption

    2350 Words  | 5 Pages

    At the same time as the publishing industry was developing in the USA, the states enacted legislation controlling the adoption of textbooks and the provision of free textbooks. In Kordus’s (2000) article, it was found that legislation standardizing procedures for adopting textbooks arose during the mid-nineteenth century in each state in response to the development of graded organization requiring uniform textbooks for formal schooling in classes. Initially, uniformity was practiced at the local level through laws requiring each local school board to adopt a list of textbooks, which parents were required to supply over a given period of time.

    Read More

More about Flaws in History Textbooks

Open Document