Putting history on the back burner

Education Week/drawing

 I have watched Firing Line on PBS for as long as I can remember. It gives me food for thought and allows me to see what other opinions are, even when they don't agree with mine.

I was watching Firing Line this morning and was very interested in some of the ideas of  Admiral William McCraven, who is a retired, 4 star Admiral. I have just completed 15 hours of professional development on American Foreign Policy and was curious about his thoughts. He discussed several issues, including the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the election of the new leader in Iran but then, when asked "what is the most serious national security threat that President Biden will face in the next few years?" The Admiral's response, "K-12 education." You can view the program here.

I have been saying this for the past several years. Unfortunately, the decline in the teaching of history and what that entails makes for very poorly educated adults. Open any social media outlet and read the kind of historical garbage the people post. Many of these sites are posting legend or supposition, with no facts to back it up. It is like a dream world. I want this to be true, so I will type it out, put a photo on it, and post it on some social media site with a name that looks legitimate. 

History education in many areas has become the red headed, unwanted stepchild of the educational field. So much emphasis has been put on technology, math, science and other subjects that history, and those who teach history are relegated to the basement. 

The students don't know who to believe. We have Representatives quoting Thomas Jefferson on the House floor in Congress when it was actually a John Adams quote. There is another story floating around Facebook which says Dwight Eisenhower's mother was Mulatto although in no historical documents is this proven. Could it be true? Sure, Is it? Who knows?

I have students who have no idea what the continents of the world are. They don't really know how we won our independence, what either world war was about or even Vietnam. I have them for 180 scheduled days and many miss 1/3 of those due to absenteeism. Many don't have internet at home, and may have the ability to text on their phone but nothing else. They watch highly fictionalized movies about some historical fact, with a multitude of fictional scenarios, just to make it more interesting and believe it all.

"Is the Constitution Newtonian or Darwinian?", I asked my students once. Is it static or does it change? I had an adult call and begin yelling at me because he didn't teach his daughter those things. He had no clue even what that meant. 

There is so much required of teachers today in the lower levels that never used to happen that by the time students reach upper levels of school, they have no interest. But let's add more Flag Day discussions, or classes on character. History can take a back seat. 

We have allowed politicians to continue to tear apart our education system to use it as a spring board to get parents riled up about what is being taught. How about you politicians let teachers teach facts and research and debate and discourse? How about you stop politicizing the education of students so they can grow and flourish and become adults. 

I will continue to teach history on facts, not opinion and will teach my students how to distinguish between them. I know my students leave with a better understanding of history which is what teaching is supposed to be about.