Save Our State  

Go Back   Save Our State > General Forum (non official Save Our State business) > California Schools

California Schools Topics And Information Relating To California Schools

WELCOME BACK!.............NEW EFFORTS AHEAD..........CHECK BACK SOON.........UPDATE YOUR EMAIL FOR NEW NOTIFICATIONS.........
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-27-2010, 05:12 PM
REWHBLCAIN's Avatar
REWHBLCAIN REWHBLCAIN is offline
Archer
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Ma
Posts: 451
Exclamation Do American History Teachers Value Feelings Over Knowledge?

http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/20...10/focus1.html


Do American History Teachers Value Feelings Over Knowledge?
By Robert Holland and Don Soifer

Nearly half of American history teachers believe it is less important that their students understand the common history, ideas, rights and responsibilities that tie the country together as Americans than that they learn to celebrate the unique identities and experiences of its different ethnic, religious and immigrant groups.

Advocates of radical "social-justice" multiculturalism in many university schools of education — the places where most K-12 teachers are trained — continue to oppose assimilation with a common culture while instead seeking to radically transform an "oppressive" America.

A new survey of public high-school social-studies teachers done for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) indicates that they have gained a strong foothold in high schools.

Another sign of the indoctrination of this radical strain of multiculturalism was the finding that 37% of the history teachers believed it was "absolutely essential" that they teach their students "to be activists who challenge the status quo of our political system and seek to remedy injustices."

Not surprisingly, only a little more than one-third of the teachers deemed it "absolutely essential" for their students to "know facts" (such as the location of the 50 states) or dates (such as the attack on Pearl Harbor). After all, why let facts get in the way of advocacy?


While only about six in ten teachers thought it imperative for their students to (1) understand such concepts as federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances, and (2) know about the American Founding, the Civil War, and the Cold War, a whopping 76% deemed it critical for students "to be tolerant of people and groups who are different from themselves."

Given that feelings trump facts in so many classrooms, is it any wonder that there has been such a precipitous decline in Americans' knowledge of their own country's history?

While ideological indoctrination is a major concern, perhaps an even bigger one is the lack of academic preparation of prospective K-12 history teachers. Numerous studies have found that tiny minorities of history teachers have majored in the subject, and many have taken little more than a few survey courses.

A basic problem is that history commonly is fitted under the umbrella of social studies, a mishmash of everything from global studies to sociology. State certification requirements equate "social studies education" with knowledge of history, when in fact a would-be teacher may not even have studied any history, or have very little formal preparation in the subject.

Nearly a third of history teachers responded to the AEI survey that textbooks are "becoming less and less important in the classroom." When teachers are guided by little background studying history themselves, and only fuzzy state standards to guide curriculum, a parent should wonder what precisely their children are learning in American history class.

This is especially a problem in schools where state content standards for American history are regarded as weak or vague, providing little guidance about what facts, concepts and historical figures students at different grade levels are expected to know.

A survey of federal applications by school districts seeking dollars to expand their teaching of American history exposes many stark shortcomings in this regard. Such is the case in Illinois, where state officials responded to a looming shortage in qualified teachers of American history by lowering the passing score on the state certification exam. The change raised the passing rate from 56 percent of candidates to over 80 percent. Lincoln's home state also has among the nation's weakest American history standards.

The Sacramento, CA school district explained that its students get only 12 instructional minutes per day in American history. So it is little wonder that only a third of their 11th graders score at a proficient level on the state history test.

Meanwhile, the radical National Association for Multicultural Education, which exerts a strong influence on teacher training, receives a large chunk of its operating funding from taxpayer-funded contracts with schools and school districts in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

With Americans' knowledge about our country's compelling origins and ideals in steady decline, and with classroom study of U.S. history increasingly replaced by facilitated conversations about feelings and social justice, it should be a matter of urgency for policy-makers to improve both the quality and quantity of history teachers' academic preparation.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-28-2010, 11:17 AM
Jeanfromfillmore's Avatar
Jeanfromfillmore Jeanfromfillmore is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 4,287
Default

This has been going on for so many years that we have a whole generation that is completely lost when it comes to what this country stands for. Our schools are just as much of a danger to this country as any terrorist group, they don't bomb targets, they just destroy from within.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright SaveOurState ©2009 - 2016 All Rights Reserved