The purposes of school history
Some
criticisms of the ‘school history to develop national pride’
approach:
|
‘Textbooks
in American history stand in sharp contrast to the rest of our
schooling. Why are they so bad? Nationalism is one of the
culprits. Their contents are muddled by the conflicting desires
to promote inquiry and indoctrinate blind patriotism… The
difference begins with their titles: “The Great Republic”,
“The American Way”, Land of Promise”, “Rise of the
American Nation”. Such
titles differ from all other text books students read in high
school or college. Chemistry books are called “Chemistry or
“Principles of Chemistry”, not “The Rise of the
Molecule”.
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James
W. Loewen (2008) Lies my
teacher told me, introduction: 3. |
| ‘None
of the facts is memorable, because they are presented as one
damn thing after another. While they include most of the trees
and all too many twigs, authors forget to give readers a glimpse
of what they might find memorable, the forests.
Textbooks stifle meaning as they suppress causation.
Therefore students exit them without developing the ability to
think coherently about social life.’ |
James
W. Loewen (2008) Lies my
teacher told me, introduction: 3. |
| ‘It
would be nice if Mr Kenneth Baker recreated a more truthful
patriotic history. If we just go back to national
self-glorification, to painting the map red, history will be in
danger of becoming a plaything of party politics, to be changed
with a change of government. A little self-examination is in
order.’ |
Christopher
Hill (1989) Guardian,
29 May. |
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