The first was a student that was failing American History survey.  She
> did
> not know what World War 2 was or when it was or even where it occurred.
> Trying to help her memory, I said well what about the Holocaust.  She
> gave
> me a blank look and I said you know Hitler, the Jews, etc.  Her only
> reply
> was "What's a Jew?"  She was an education major.
>

I have enjoyed reading these posts and finally I have to weigh in after seeing many thoughts on what we think is wrong. This post says a lot to me. I am a historian, and also for many years have done Living History/reenactment programs for the public in the time periods of Civil War, WWI and WWII. Many of my fellow reenactors are history teachers in middle school and high school, and let me tell you  --- their classes LOVE history because the teachers KNOW it and can do indepth fun things to teach it. The story above about the education major's gnat brain adequacy says it all! THEY DON'T KNOW ANY HISTORY, SO HOW CAN THEY TEACH IT!!!

 

Also, by giving programs I see a scary level of knowledge (or lack thereof) in the general public, and again, the stories on this thread just bear out typical stories I can give you. It really is disheartening. But on a more optimistic level, I get lots of homeschooled and private schooled kids at our programs who are delights to talk to. They know more than any public school teacher I can name. So there are enthusiastic kids out there, who are getting the love of history and getting the knowledge from some place. Like little gems, they make my day.

 

Mauriel Joslyn