It seems that one of the biggest problems with the way history is taught to
most children is the emphases on names and dates. Many kids think that is
all history is, a bunch of names and dates. Taking history beyond a
greatest hits list is a relatively new idea. Look at an older history
book. It reads first this happened, then this, and then this. Now however,
at least in the college level, teachers are talking more about why these
events happen, (i.e. socio-economic, etc.). I am still in Library school
and so my full time job is working in an after-school program and what I see
the kids bring in is still the same old who, what, when; but not why, or
how.
On 3/9/06, Joseph, Stephanie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> History….according to who?
>
>
>
> Historians and teachers are at fault for not telling the entire story.
> They tell the story from their perspective and are not willing to let others
> give their perspective. Others like ethnic minorities (the Native American)
> or women, etc. How many of you can remember in grade school hearing the
> story of the first Thanksgiving and how Indians and Pilgrims share their
> food and gave thanks together? Nobody tell the other side of the story of
> how the Indians helped the Pilgrims from starving to death and how the
> Pilgrims actually destroyed native population and culture. History has also
> been written by men, totally leaving out the contributions of women. History
> is also divided by class. Wealthy men and women (usually not ethnic
> minorities) had no opportunity to write because they didn't have time too
> and because their stories were not deemed as "important" by others. Look at
> our archives. Whose stories are there? Definitely not the working class,
> Native American and some others. History, archives and museum still continue
> to be bias (with some exceptions).
>
>
>
> If teachers and historians would work to teach all perspectives, maybe
> students would be willing to listen and learn about what really happened and
> why things are the way they are.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *Stephanie Joseph (**White Mountain Apache) *
>
> *Reference & Instruction Librarian*
>
> *University of Iowa Libraries - Main Library*
>
> *319-335-5427 Office Phone*
>
> *520-548-1025 Cell Phone*
>
> ____________________________________
>
>
>
> *If I were a Dead Russian Composer, I would be Sergei Prokofyev. I was*
> *born in the late 19th century and was a child prodigy, composing at a**
> very young age. I kept this talent up, earning myself quite a name and
> fully exploiting the bragging rights. I was disliked by Stalin,
> however, and I died the same day he did. My most famous work is
> "Peter and the Wolf."*
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On
> Behalf Of *Sokolow, Daniel
> *Sent:* Thursday, March 09, 2006 9:46 AM
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Subject:* Teaching History
>
>
>
> Allow me to disagree. I don't think teaching social, socialist, or
> marxist history is the key to awakening historical interest. While these
> are valid areas of history, it is often the method of teaching that's at
> fault rather than the specific subject matter. You can teach people all you
> want about Eugene Debs, but if you can't make it interesting, no one will a)
> remember, or b) care enough to learn more on their own.
>
> Let me say that I'm not blaming this exclusively on the teachers, though I
> think enough of them are at fault. The educational system does not
> encourage in depth study, as I think someone earlier mentioned. Parents do
> not seem to have a ton of interest either. Popular culture has very little
> interest in history, and very little on education in general. What's
> disturbing is that history can be interesting and exciting, if taught
> properly.
>
> And frankly, I disagree that people can get a good grasp of history
> without great men, great deeds. If you choose to add the story of regular
> people, regular deeds that's fine, but I fail to see how you can truly grasp
> what happens without understanding the role of the big players. You can
> certainly learn a lot from the experience of the average Civil War soldier,
> but skipping the role of Abraham Lincoln, R.E. Lee, and U.S. Grant is not
> my idea of teaching the history properly.
>
> Before I go completely Cassandra on everyone, I think for all it's "All
> Nazis, All the Time" programming, the History Channel and some of the
> Discovery Channel history programs are a wonderful boon to the study &
> promotion of history. It may be that we as history professionals are in a
> niche, but at least we have these outlets in the popular culture.
>
> DS
>
> ______________________________________
> Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
> David Taylor Archives
> North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
> 155 Community Drive
> Great Neck, NY 11021
> mailto:[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]<[log in to unmask]>
> ]On
> Behalf Of Hempe, Andrew - HPL
> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 10:31 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Early Friday Funny
>
>
>
> This is an important question, and deserves discussion. It is no accident
> that the general level of historical knowledge in the US is extremely
> poor.
> When historical education consists of teaching a string of events that
> have
> no relation to the day-to-day reality of people's lives, people will
> naturally consider history to be trivia that really doesn't need to be
> bothered with.
>
> How many people know why Labor Day is celebrated in the US, rather than
> May
> Day? If you know the answer to this, you've gone a long way toward
> knowing
> why the average American's level of historical knowledge is so low.
>
> To quote Rosa Luxemburg, the famous German Marxist, "Historical
> consciousness is an essential component of class consciousness." The fact
> is, a great deal of history has been deliberately suppressed. Who knows
> about the uprising of 1877? Or the Seattle General Strike? Who has heard
> the names Eugene Debs, Emma Goldman, or Walter Reuther? Until history is
> taught in a way that emphasizes class structure and relations, and that
> the
> contributions of ordinary people are important, rather than history as
> something that is made by "great men", there will continue to be a lack of
> interest in the general public in historical matters.
> _____________________________________________________________________
>
> The information contained in this electronic e-mail transmission
> and any attachments are intended only for the use of the individual
> or entity to whom or to which it is addressed, and may contain
> information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from
> disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this communication
> is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible
> for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, you
> are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, copying
> or disclosure of this communication and any attachment is strictly
> prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please
> notify the sender immediately by telephone and electronic mail,
> and delete the original communication and any attachment from any
> computer, server or other electronic recording or storage device
> or medium. Receipt by anyone other than the intended recipient is
> not a waiver of any attorney-client, physician-patient or other
> privilege. Thank you.
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the
> Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of
> participation, please refer to
> http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To
> post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> A
> posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the
> Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of
> participation, please refer to
> http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To
> post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
*or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>