I want to start out with I normally do not agree with Trump (as seen from me calling him Lord Dampnut in other articles, I do this for many reasons). Then he said “The radical view of American history is a web of lies, all perspective is removed, every virtue is obscured, every motive is twisted, every fact is distorted and every flaw is magnified until the history is purged and the record is disfigured beyond all recognition” (Strauss). This has been a conversation that has been on going. In Colorado it has been a topic that we are just teaching our students how to pass standardized exams and not actually teaching them what will be useful to them in the real world.
I agree that right now we are destroying history. We are not adding to the story with research, publishing, or using archaeology to dig American sites. We are actively destroying historical sites. Both sides are doing this. Trump for the boarder wall and Liberals the monuments they do not like. This means that students are not only being taught wrong in the classes, but they are learning destruction from the adults they are supposed to look up to. If you are also interested in this subject I would recommend you read Whose America? By Jonathan Zimmerman. Zimmerman goes into a lot of detail about how even text books are impacted by these fights
Personally I believe that there should be a list of subjects that need to be covered at each grade level, but that teachers need the freedom to teach these subjects in their own way. Even if there is a base curriculum that school districts want covered, teachers should be free to pull in outside resources. There are a lot of free open source material and most teachers could research to find peer reviewed journals. Some colleges will even give alumni access to their library material upon request. I know what you are thinking. This could mean that what students are taught could have bias in it. This is why if each teacher is allowed to control their curriculum, students could also get access to different voices and not just the one voice of the district or school has. Each grade level should also enforce research projects. As part of this they should also learn how to research their source material.
I recently ran into someone on nextdoor who though they had all the answers, but when I asked them to cite their sources they gave 2 and both had a political slant that would support the opinion of their political party. This is why I encourage people to do research. We need to teach our children this so that they also do not just believe what the adults in their lives tell them. I think this is why I am the way I am. I dig into everything.
As to Trump…I do agree that what/how students are taught is toxic. Not in the exact way he does, but in a way that I see change is needed. This is because the views they are taught are limited. They need to hear all voices to see why some are wrong and some are right. They need this exposure to see why people say that certain things are wrong or right. Education reform is needed in the US. Let’s just hope that it happens sooner than later.
Strauss
does not see that right now most education even at the college level is mostly impacted
by a Democratic or liberal view. Those that work in the field know this. It is
a struggle to even aim for neutral. As a registered Democrat and education
professional, I will not deny this. I think that more voices should be heard
and that there is bias currently that has infected all parts of it. The ones
that support these views will even be openly hostile to ones that do not share
these views and people with different thoughts are forced out of education.
Most move to the business world that is more accepting of middle ground to Republican
to conservative views. These voices are being erased in the education system. I
find myself more as a moderate. I have views on both sides of party lines, but
have picked my party based on overall principles. I do not agree with all
Democratic views and I believe that politics need to be removed from most areas
of our lives because it just creates anger and hatred.
Strauss, Valerie. “Analysis | Trump's
Newest Assault on America's Public Schools: They Teach Kids to 'Hate Their Own
Country'.” The Washington Post. WP Company, July 5, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/05/trumps-newest-assault-americas-public-schools-they-teach-kids-hate-their-country/.
Additional sites to check out:
https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Biden-tells-teachers-their-profession-is-the-15387362.php
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