Changes to AP U.S. History due to Conservatives

[Ali]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/0 ... y-classes/

The college board made some changes to AP U.S. History due to demands from Conservatives. In 2014, it focused on too many negative aspects of U.S. History and will now include American Exceptionalism.

The part that scares me the most is that Texas will no longer include Ku Klux Klan or Jim Crow laws in history textbooks. Many United States textbooks come from Texas.

[Toothfairy]

My daughter took APUSH a few years ago. What's the point of learning us history if you're not going to show both sides. America has and still has a fucked up past. What's next AP Biology creationism. Our future kids are going to be dumb going into college.

[RandomTrivia]

Shit, I was hoping the College Board would resist the insanity. Those who ignore history (or try to cover it up) are doomed to repeat it.

[DowntownAbbey]

Fucking Conservatives, I swear. Do they not fucking realize what happens when some of these students find out the truth? They feel fucking lied to, distrustful. They feel LESS patriotic about American than they probably would if you'd teach them the real truth.

I had a teenaged coworker talk to me about learning that "Columbus was actually a really bad guy" awhile back. She felt betrayed by her country. She expected the truth, not sugar coating, from her history classes. She was starting to consider majoring in history in college so that she could find out what else she might have been lied to about.

I have no problem with historians, textbook writers, or politicians coming at an issue with certain biases as long as they are self-aware of it. But don't uses those biases to purposefully hide facts and evidence from the record, especially since there is often not an absolute truth to be reached at through historical study.

[VelociRapture]

I hate people.

That is all.

:auto-dirtbike:

[sparkles]

If my daughter was in public school today (she graduation HS in '08), I would definitely be pulling her out in favor of alternative education.

If we keep going the way we are, at least educationally, this country is going to be the laughing stock of the world.

[ADoyle90815]

If my daughter was in public school today (she graduation HS in '08), I would definitely be pulling her out in favor of alternative education.

If we keep going the way we are, at least educationally, this country is going to be the laughing stock of the world.

In some ways, we already are the laughing stock of the world, but it's going to get worse thanks to these extremists who want to cover up the negative aspects of US history. It's getting to the point where I'm embarrassed to be an American citizen.

[greycat]

:snooty:

So stupid. Aren't we supposed to learn from history so we can avoid mistakes made before?

[louisa05]

If my daughter was in public school today (she graduation HS in '08), I would definitely be pulling her out in favor of alternative education.

If we keep going the way we are, at least educationally, this country is going to be the laughing stock of the world.

I have said a million times that if I had a young child, I would homeschool at least until 3rd grade. Primary education in my area is nothing but drill and skill and test prep now, all in the name of keeping the almighty test scores up. And I see it up close and personal as a sub.

As for high school, a lot is dependent on the teachers and curriculum decisions for what is used beyond the text. It is true that the American history and government texts I taught from did not include much substance about topics like the Civil Rights Movement/Jim Crow or what happened to native populations in the 18th and 19th centuries, but that didn't mean it was not an important topic in my classroom through all sorts of outside sources. Some small lessons and some carefully constructed units--such as having all of our students read Melba Pattillo Beals' memoir of integrating Little Rock Central High School. I also think that a conscientious parent could supplement what is learned in school with extra books, trips to historical sites, etc...but, obviously, the resources to do those things are not available to all families.

[princessmahina]

I felt like my history classes were somewhat whitewashed. I took US history in tenth grade. The first semester was all the political philosophy the founding fathers based our government on. I like the idea, in theory, but I felt like too much emphasis was placed on philosophy, and not the actual events. Moreover, all we really covered in any depth was the eighteenth century. We never covered the Civil War, WII, Vietnam, Korea, or really...much else. We only ended up studying WWI because we read A Farewell to Arms in literature. This was at a private school- the public school I would have gone to otherwise was far worse. I wouldn't have known much about American history at all if I didn't read so much. I majored in history in college, and was interested to learn more about what things were really like.

[zebra #13]

I think one of the greater gifts I got from my parents, at a very young age, was skepticism. What is printed in a book is simply something printed in a book. It's up to me to discover how true that is. Same goes for any person or media. Google has made that process infinitely easier (or, I guess for some, more difficult).

My kids went to public schools, but I watched like a hawk what they were learning.

That said: this is a damn shame. One might hope that the purveyors of knowledge wouldn't bow so easily before the almighty buck.

[DGayle]

I also think that a conscientious parent could supplement what is learned in school with extra books, trips to historical sites, etc...but, obviously, the resources to do those things are not available to all families.

It would also take a parent having the knowledge in the first place, and a lot don't.

[louisa05]

It would also take a parent having the knowledge in the first place, and a lot don't.

Knowledge is also a resource.

But it doesn't require you to know everything. It would require you to have the ability to seek out good sources and sites and discern what is valid information. (Which is, btw, one of the greater challenges of teaching history today when everybody can make a website about their favorite era or pet conspiracy theory--students need to be equipped to judge the merit of sources).

[FloraKitty35]

It would also take a parent having the knowledge in the first place, and a lot don't.

And don't want to.

[freejingerbeth]

Three very conservative school board members were elected in school district that my kid's attend. They have been trying to implement the same changes to our AP History curriculum, as well as make changes to Life Science. All hell broke loose. The teachers, parents, and kids staged several protests, throughout the last school year, and three parents, who are attorneys, initiated a recall petition. The petition was handed in, this last Tuesday. Over twice as many signatures as needed, were obtained. So, a recall for all three members will be put to a vote, this November.

[freejingerbeth]

By the way, I live in Jefferson County, Colorado.

[teacherjane]

this makes me want to scream. I already don't use a textbook most of the time when teaching--I teach French and the textbooks are so outdated/racist/xenophobic it's disgusting. The history in those textbooks is already so whitewashed, and it isn't even American history.

Probably what makes me want to scream more is the makeup of the textbook writing and adoption committees. It's so political and biased, especially in Texas, where most of the books come from.

:angry-banghead:

[DGayle]

Knowledge is also a resource.

But it doesn't require you to know everything. It would require you to have the ability to seek out good sources and sites and discern what is valid information. (Which is, btw, one of the greater challenges of teaching history today when everybody can make a website about their favorite era or pet conspiracy theory--students need to be equipped to judge the merit of sources).

Lots of parents don't have the time between 2 jobs and not alway having computers and internet. If they didn't get taught how to use resources if they have them, then how will they know so they can teach? It's easy for us to say it's easy. We have enough time to bullshit around on a forum called FreeJinger. There are tons of people right here in the US without the basics. A school near me is having a problem about how to teach kids technology when a lot of the kids don't have access at home and aren't going to learn well with just 25 minutes of computer time at school. How can they learn how to tell good websites from false? How can their parents who don't know teach them?

[GeoBQn]

I'll be interested to hear my dad's take on this. He is the only Republican public school teacher I know, and his main subject was history. (Granted, he is Jewish, so he wouldn't support embellishing the role of Christianity in American history or things like that.) We got into some interesting discussions when I first read Lies My Teacher Told Me for APUSH. His opinion is that children below a certain age aren't ready to hear the "real truth" about history, so it's better to present a cleaner version of it. Obviously, any information taught should be age-appropriate, but there has to be a better way. I also felt lied to when I found out about things like the treatment of Native Americans, etc.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

As a foreigner I'm very worried by this news. Maybe because I live in a country where the word "patriot" sounds nearly like an offence (I'm not proud of it, it's simply a fact) and nearly every citizen loves to recall all our governments's wrongdoings of the last 50 years (at least). Here history as a subject is mandatory from first grade to high school. However I just can't get how it can be dangerous letting children to know that America (btw at school I would have earned a bad mark for calling the USA America, 'cause America is a continent and the United States are only a part of it) is not perfect and that its history is marred by a variety of atrocities and wrongdoings. On the contrary I think that a pervasive lack of knowledge about these important topics can lead to a distorted understanding of your own home policy and of your foreign politics. Most of all since USA tend to think themselves as the good ones, the most developed country, the self appointed Sheriff of the world while the truth is much more complicated. But how can people understand that when they are denied the possibility to know that there is a variety of historical "truths" and that much depends on who gets to tell his side of the story? What if one day your history books won't tell all about the catastrophe of Vietnam or the failed Bush's wars because it would put America in a bad light? Do you really think that this wouldn't have big consequences on your politics (both home and foreign) and how they would be perceived and accepted by the masses? What I'm trying to say is that this move won't diminish only your children's education but also their civic conscience (I don't know if it is the correct word, I translated literally a concept that I hold very dear) and their possibility to change things for good in your country and around the whole world.

I apologize in advance for any mistakes I made writing in your language.

[GiggleOfGirls]

Absolutely terrifying.

And this is why there's an ever-growing group of homeschoolers who homeschool for academic, not religious, reasons.

[Guest]

I'm student teaching this year and the class that I am teaching is American History. This is really bad news, since I'm an evil Liberal who went into social studies education because I felt like we don't tell students the truth about history, and I wanted to teach the truth. I live in Kansas, which has become a laughingstock for many reasons, and I know I could get in big trouble if I say certain things... I'm really annoyed that I can't just TEACH. Teachers have to wear many hats during the day, but if there is one thing I didn't want to do when I decided to enter the field, it was censor myself and my lessons.

[louisa05]

I'm student teaching this year and the class that I am teaching is American History. This is really bad news, since I'm an evil Liberal who went into social studies education because I felt like we don't tell students the truth about history, and I wanted to teach the truth. I live in Kansas, which has become a laughingstock for many reasons, and I know I could get in big trouble if I say certain things... I'm really annoyed that I can't just TEACH. Teachers have to wear many hats during the day, but if there is one thing I didn't want to do when I decided to enter the field, it was censor myself and my lessons.

Yet you will find yourself doing it all the time...

And you will likely find you can't win. In 2008, I was accused (by different parents) of having a bias toward both presidential candidates. I took the accusations to mean I was doing a better job talking about them equally than I thought I was, anyway. But some of the reasoning was ridiculous. Some of the irrational accusations I got that fall:

*I gave McCain a bump in the polls after the Palin announcement to influence the kids to be Republicans.

* I allegedly "messed with the polls" one weekend in order to swing the projections on the 270towin site to Obama.

* I favored Obama by showing his convention speech to the government class first.

* I favored McCain by showing his convention speech to the government class last.

(Note: I showed each the day after it happened...this led one parent to, in total seriousness, ask "why did you schedule the conventions in that order?" I nearly answered, "yes, you outed me, I am the random person in charge of scheduling nominating conventions for both major parties")

*I favored McCain because there was a McCain bumper sticker on the class bulletin board.

*I favored Obama because there was an Obama bumper sticker on the class bulletin board.

(Note: They both were on the bulletin board. They were displayed side by side so one was not higher than the other to suggest a bias).

And my favorite complaint that came after the election:

For an ongoing assignment on the election, kids had to track specific events related to it and collect articles and information. In the original requirements for the assignment, given to them in mid-August, it said they had to have three items about the winner--including the electoral map and material about his acceptance speech--and one item about the loser's concession. A parent came flying in to my room two days after the election in a rage that I wanted them to include three things about Obama and only one about McCain which clearly showed the assignment was intended all along to favor Democrats.

[Guest]

Yet you will find yourself doing it all the time...

And you will likely find you can't win. In 2008, I was accused (by different parents) of having a bias toward both presidential candidates. I took the accusations to mean I was doing a better job talking about them equally than I thought I was, anyway. But some of the reasoning was ridiculous. Some of the irrational accusations I got that fall:

*I gave McCain a bump in the polls after the Palin announcement to influence the kids to be Republicans.

* I allegedly "messed with the polls" one weekend in order to swing the projections on the 270towin site to Obama.

* I favored Obama by showing his convention speech to the government class first.

* I favored McCain by showing his convention speech to the government class last.

(Note: I showed each the day after it happened...this led one parent to, in total seriousness, ask "why did you schedule the conventions in that order?" I nearly answered, "yes, you outed me, I am the random person in charge of scheduling nominating conventions for both major parties")

*I favored McCain because there was a McCain bumper sticker on the class bulletin board.

*I favored Obama because there was an Obama bumper sticker on the class bulletin board.

(Note: They both were on the bulletin board. They were displayed side by side so one was not higher than the other to suggest a bias).

And my favorite complaint that came after the election:

For an ongoing assignment on the election, kids had to track specific events related to it and collect articles and information. In the original requirements for the assignment, given to them in mid-August, it said they had to have three items about the winner--including the electoral map and material about his acceptance speech--and one item about the loser's concession. A parent came flying in to my room two days after the election in a rage that I wanted them to include three things about Obama and only one about McCain which clearly showed the assignment was intended all along to favor Democrats.

What. I can't. I just can't.

Some people will find anything to complain about, and often use teachers as scapegoats.

Also, you must have some really magical powers in elections. :roll:

[louisa05]

What. I can't. I just can't.

Some people will find anything to complain about, and often use teachers as scapegoats.

Also, you must have some really magical powers in elections. :roll:

People are told that social studies teachers are going to "indoctrinate" their children and they are looking for it. Add in that kids don't ever tell the whole story and parents will find something to whine about. As an example of that, one parent who called to complain that there was an Obama bumper sticker on my bulletin board had not been told by her kid that there was a McCain one next to it. And she did back down when I told her that. But she (and her teen) were looking for something to fuss about. Sadly, in many ways (not just social studies and politics) our culture has created a mentality where parents believe teachers are the enemy out to hurt or damage their kids.