In my opinion, there are many things we can do about the “textbook issue” that would make textbooks unbiased. I believe that when a story or event is told in a history book, both sides of the story should be included. For example, if there was a passage about a war in history, we could include what took place and the opinions of both opposing sides. Instead of having trouble deciding what to include and what not to include in the books, I think we should just put anything that was documented about that particular event in it. There should be no elimination of any parts of history, including the “not so important” facts. It does matter what you include in the history books because it is what our youth is learning today. There should be nothing but facts. It is not fair to have everyone learning about one specific person’s opinions. What is included in the books is also important because I believe we need to know exactly what has happened in our history, that way we are able to learn from our mistakes and take pride in the country we are today by reflecting on our past.
When discussing the aspect of including the minority voices in our history books, I believe in both sides. I believe that everyone should have a say if they wish; however, having each and every individual’s opinions heard and documented would make things a lot more complicated and chaotic in the books. The textbooks would be nothing but quotes from different people about what went on. In a way, that would be useful information because all of the sides to the conflict would be mentioned, but I think only the facts are necessary.
I believe that the way history is taught does in fact affect the way it is learned. All my life, or at least my high school career, I have been taught history the exact same way. All that has been given to me are specific dates and events that I am supposed to memorize for a specific amount of time in order to pass the test. After that, it disappeared from my mind. I agree with the article when it says that the content in a history class should be taught in a way that analyzes the information more. That way the information sticks in students’ heads and helps them know what actually happened and the reasons behind it.
I pretty much agree with everything you said, and I think most people would too. I think history books should only have the facts: what exactly happened, where, when, and why. It seems as if things are not taught fairly, and we all have certain opinions about things that we might not have if we were taught differently. I also agree that if we knew everything that happened, we would be able to learn from our mistakes and not dwell on them. I think I said something in the discussion about agreeing that the way history is taught affects how we learn it. I'm horrible at history, probably because we have never been engaged in it or really analyzed it. It seems like all we have done is memorize, pass the test and then forget it. I definitely think that history classes should be more involved with the information, so we might be able to understand it better instead of simply memorizing things from the book.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything. It just makes sense that the books and materials should include both arguments, that way there is no bias, just facts. Kids and their teachers could learn so much more if there were just an objective book that included both sides with no sugar-coating.
ReplyDeleteYour blog tops the discussion we had in class. For example there is a purpose and your thoughts flow well... not like other people. Ashley brought up a good point in saying that when we know our past, we can avoid mistakes. This is ultimately important so that we do not have major mess ups like the civil war for example.
I also love the fact that you brought up the act of information regurgitation. This is relevent because in order to actually learn the lesson, there needs to be either analytical thinking or some sort of engaging activity. for example I still remember the Oregon Trail project I did in fifth grade but it is hard to remember history from sophomore year.
KNEE-WHOLE-AY!!!! Well since i didn't experience the enlightening Socratic circle, I will comment on your ideas about the "textbook issue." Anyways i think you bring up a great point in saying that we should included all sides history and include only the facts. that's great, but who determines what the facts are? Just a little question for ya'll. Also wouldn't those history books be quite large haha :)! But then you bring up the point of assimilating all of the minorities into one swirl of history, which is exactly what i think the point is. that all are represented, but not in a way, like you said, that is chaotic! well anyways great ideas! Think imma go to sleep now...you know what that means...
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