{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"45728138","dateCreated":"1320624191","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"rmd326","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rmd326","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/45728138"},"dateDigested":1532760301,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Rachel, Ryan, Erin, Kim, Eunji","description":"Hi everyone! What did you think about these chapters?
\nI wasn\u2019t excited to begin reading because I honestly hated Social Studies so much in high school. In my eleventh grade history class (the last history class I ever took) the entire class, even the teacher, knew that I was going to be napping and that they shouldn\u2019t disturb me. I guess I was just tired of learning and memorizing fact after fact and all these dates that just seemed to blend together. I didn\u2019t see the point. There seemed to be only one perspective, only one right answer.
\n These chapters opened my eyes to things I had never known. First of all, I could not believe the section on Woodrow Wilson. I had no idea that many of those things actually happened. I found it interesting that the book explained that American textbooks seem to \u201cheroify\u201d these American figures in order to reflect favorably upon what America has done as a nation. I agree with the book that by only describing one side of Wilson, or leaving out a majority of Helen Keller\u2019s life, almost dehumanizes these heroes and makes them almost impossible to relate to. I think this may have been one of the reasons why I was never interested in history \u2013 I saw these important people as just figures of the past and never really saw them as human beings who did absolutely incredible and sometimes horrifyingly unbelievable things.
\n The same goes for the chapter on Christopher Columbus. Although I knew more about the horrible things that Columbus did, I\u2019m shocked about how much information is left out of history textbooks. I think it\u2019s easier for textbooks to beat around the bush and create Columbus as this type of hero who discovered the land we live on today. I was most impressed by the chart that showed all the people who had discovered the Americas prior to Columbus (and like, centuries before). I began to wonder, \u201cWhy wasn\u2019t I taught this in school?\u201d Why aren\u2019t kids being taught this today? Those people shaped the world as well and to leave them completely out of the picture just seems wrong. I think by leaving out critical and key components of history, and by not showing multiple perspectives of history, social studies quickly becomes a boring topic that is just necessary to memorize in order to pass a test.
\n I\u2019m interested to read what you all thought of the chapters!","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"45734134","body":"Ryan, you did a great job highlighting some important points from the chapters. Something you wrote particularly struck me because I couldn't agree more:
\n
\n"I agree with the book that by only describing one side of Wilson, or leaving out a majority of Helen Keller\u2019s life, almost dehumanizes these heroes and makes them almost impossible to relate to."
\n
\nI knew very little about Hellen Keller prior to reading these chapters. Granted, I can't remember the last time I discussed her story in class, but I certainly remember her being painted as the near perfect student for disabilities. Her story seemed impeccable and her personality seemed....bland. Textbooks do some major historical figures a dishonor by not telling their story for what it really was. What are we teaching our students if we say it's ok to adjust history as long as it suits us?
\n
\nI also found it interesting to reflect on how history textbooks portray Europe and the Western culture. I'll blatantly admit that I do think America is superior. Is it because we're smarter? richer? have better technology? I don't know. Now as I reflect on this belief it seems absurd that I should feel this way. As I read Loewen's ideas on page 37, I couldn't help but wonder if I've been influenced by this textbook teaching. Loewen writes,
\n
\n"Textbooks don't identify or encourage us to think about the real causes, "we're smarter" festers as a possibility. Also left festering is the notion that "it's natural" for one group to dominate another."
\n
\nUntil reading the text, I never thought of things this way. The controversy of domination was never an issue discussed in my elementary classes. Yet, while reading Loewen's text I couldn't help but feel that it's an ESSENTIAL topic to discuss, especially during a unit on the age of exploration! I started thinking of ways I would discuss this with my class. I know it\u2019s a controversial point but one thing I\u2019ve learned from this course so far is that avoiding controversy serves NO ONE justice.
\n
\nLooking forward to hearing your opinions!","dateCreated":"1320629804","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Raradiaz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Raradiaz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"45737162","body":"I totally agree with Ryan and Rachel on the point of dehumanizing people like Wilson and Helen Keller. This book has opened my eyes to so many of my own misconceptions. It\u2019s really quite shocking to me that I have carried so many false ideas about American history and such biased opinions about significant figures. For example, I never knew Woodrow Wilson was such an adamant racist or that he intruded upon so many foreign affairs for his own benefit (20). I also never knew that Helen Keller was a socialist, or such a strong devoted, advocate for that matter (13). How is it that these details can be left out of our history textbooks? Is it really because being a racist and a socialist might taint our views of these supposed heroes? There is no doubt that these two individuals are extraordinary, but I feel as though I have been tricked into believing something much more grandiose and was thus blinded from the truths. While I don\u2019t view Socialism negatively, I do view racism in a very negative light. However, I don\u2019t think that I would have discredited Woodrow Wilson for his accomplishments had I known about his racist viewpoints. In fact, I think I would have learned that he was human- if we studied his mistakes, we might be more apt to prevent the perpetuation of similar mistakes in the future, especially his stance on our involvement in foreign affairs.
\nEven more interesting, and again shocking, was the second chapter of Loewen\u2019s text that discusses Christopher Columbus. I knew that our typical depiction of Christopher Columbus was flawed, but I never realized just how much our history books were stretching the truth. In all honesty, I thought that my social studies teachers failed to explain that Columbus brutally annihilated the Native American population- I didn\u2019t know that there was so much more that is untrue, exaggerated, and simply untold to protect the image of \u201cAmerica\u2019s discoverer.\u201d What an injustice this is on so many levels. Firstly, I had always imagined that history is unbiased and objective. How then can it happen that only one side of the story is told and the voices of all Native Americans are ignored and essentially painted as dishonest? Secondly, it is a huge injustice to students who are learning about American history in that they are told false facts. I was shocked to learn that Columbus' own records tell a completely different story than the dramatized text in our history books. Why don't we credit the Phoenicians and the Egyptians for their discoveries and innovative exploration and travel techniques from which Columbus was influenced? Why is he given all the credit? (42). While I believe he played an influential and immensely significant part in the development of the Americas, we need to step back and look at the greater picture that includes so many more historical moments and significant individuals. Teachers shouldn't focus on painting a specific picture of one individual, but should simply tell the facts from all sides so that we may learn the unbiased and truest accounts of our nation's history. In addition, I find it to be really surprising that we don't even know what Christopher Columbus looks like, yet there are so many different depictions of him in textbooks. Page 49 of Loewen's text shows a t-shirt that pokes fun at the many faces of Christopher Columbus that all look completely different. Our history textbooks literally paint a different picture of Christopher Columbus in many instances.
\nThis text greatly relates to the African Burial Museum trip we participated in last weekend. There is so much untold history that can change our understanding of how our country was established. To be frank, I didn't know that there were slaves in the 'New England' colonial region. In retrospect, I feel quite embarrassed and shameful that I didn't even think about such a monumental and significant part of NYC's past. I had always been taught that slaves worked on plantations in the Southern Colonies, and I taught that same material to a fourth grade class where I student taught. Looking back, I feel like I really let the students down. Why hadn't I known about the African Burial Memorial site? I could have taken the students there instead of to the American Revolution Museum that simply reinforced everything we discussed in class. I want my future students to question and ponder the events, outcomes, and possible consequences of events in our history, but I can't adequately prepare them for this type of inquiry without guiding them through a history that provides all the facts and viewpoints of each party involved.
\nI look forward to reading more of "Lies My Teacher Told Me." I also am a bit nervous to find out more things that I hadn't been aware of. The more I read, the more frightened I am of the things I have learned, and actually have not, learned. These feelings have motivated me to create a history curriculum in my future classroom that does not perpetuate lies, but provides truth and insight.","dateCreated":"1320632235","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"KimKonopka","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/KimKonopka","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"45737814","body":"Hey everybody! I am really loving this book so far - it is totally eye-opening and I am learning so much. I agree with both Rachel and Ryan\u2019s and Kim's points so far. I was particularly struck by how I did not know the majority of Helen Keller\u2019s life. I knew she was the \u201cblind and deaf girl who overcame her physical handicaps, as an inspiration to generations of schoolchildren,\u201d but I did not really know much else about her (and did not realize that were was SO much more to actually know about her) \u2013 such as the fact that Helen Keller was a radical socialist and that she championed women\u2019s suffrage. I was really intrigued by Keller\u2019s past after learning this and I couldn\u2019t help but think WHY history textbooks would want to leave this important information out! Aren\u2019t we trying to inspire our next generation to overcome handicaps and become activists rooted in social change? I agree with Rachel\u2019s point \u2013 \u201cWhat are we teaching our students if we say it's ok to adjust history as long as it suits us?\u201d
\n
\nFurthermore, I had no clue that Wilson had a complete other side to him \u2013 that he was an outspoken white supremacist who believed that black people were inferior. I appreciated the quote, \u201cTextbooks that present him (Wilson) as a hero are written from a white perspective,\u201d (20). I feel that students would benefit from learning the true story of the Wilson era, that there is a connection between racist presidential leadership and the like-minded public response. Instead, textbooks whitewash these details and underplay or excuse many of his interventions and behaviors.
\n
\nI found this discussion very interesting because as Lowen points out, \u201cWe particularly seek to avoid conflict in the classroom.\u201d (28). Textbooks seek to maintain the same melodramatic attitude of awe, reverence and respect about our \u201cnational heroes.\u201d Yet, this is probably why students find history so boring, and perhaps a contributing factor to why Ryan particularly hated social studies. The textbook authors are leaving out the problems, unfortunate character traits and the mistaken ideas of the \u201cheroes.\u201d But, if we continue on this path of stability with lack of confrontation about our sticky American past, how will we learn from our mistakes and expose students to the truth?
\n
\nWill students ever learn the truth or will they be blinded? As a future teacher, I would want my students to challenge what they read and become inspired by true heroes who rock the boat and stand up for social justice. It is crucial that we find the right sources to help our students do this, and these must be sources that do not glorify Columbus or Wilson as heroes and saviors!!!","dateCreated":"1320632681","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ErinFitz509","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ErinFitz509","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"45741574","body":"Hi guys.
\nAlthough this will sound like everyone's echo - I also really agree with what everyone is saying about this book!
\nEspecially similar to Erin, I also was very shocked to realize that I knew very little about Helen Keller's life. This really disturbed me because I've always admired and loved Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan (her teacher). Just like Loewen predicted, all I could think of about Keller was that she was a deaf and blind girl who overcame her disabilities and even went to college. I had no idea about any of her adult life achievements. I was shocked to realize that Helen Keller, "who struggled so valiantly to learn to speak, has been made mute by history."
\n
\nI was most troubled by the three taboos in textbook publishing that Loewen outlined in her book: sex, religion, and social class. Although sex is probably inappropriate to discuss with elementary students, the other two are not only important but play a huge role in every day life of the students.
\nIt is as if history is constructed to avoid conflict and discomfort.
\n
\nI think Keller's quote nailed it: "People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant."
\nThe education system is taking away all the elements of our nation's patriots that might make them controversial, that might cause us to rethink about their achievements. It is ironic, that we ask the students to learn to think critically, and yet do not give them the full picture in history to cause them to think critically and reflect.","dateCreated":"1320636605","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ejs412","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ejs412","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46196462","body":" The Chapter titled, \u201cThe First Thanksgiving\u201d was eye-opening and quite sad in many respects. To know the true history behind what really happened to those living in America prior to European invasion shed light on our nationalistic and egocentric viewpoints that have been perpetuated generation after generation. Loewen cited an example of the same type of European annihilation that occurred as recently as the early 1990\u2019s to miners and loggers in northern Brazil and southern Venezuela. Again, this is yet another event in history that I have been unaware of, even 20 years since its occurrence. It\u2019s shocking to me that we have been so adamant about preserving the image of Europeans throughout history. Events have occurred that should be spoken about- by ignoring these parts of history, we are essentially saying they never happened. In fact, \u201cour popular history of the Pilgrims has not been a process of gaining perspective but of deliberate forgetting, Instead of these important facts, textbooks supply the feel-good minutiae of Squanto\u2019s helpfulness, his name, the fish in the cornhills, sometimes even the menu and the number of American Indians who attended the prototypical first Thanksgiving\u201d (91).
\n I found it interesting that textbooks often greatly underestimate the number of American Indians that were in fact living in America before Europeans arrived. However, Loewen makes an interesting point when he writes, \u201cThe problem is not so much the estimates as the attitude. Presenting a controversy seems somehow radical. It invites students to come to their own conclusions. Textbook authors don\u2019t let that happen. They see their job as presenting \u201cfacts\u201d for children to \u201clearn,\u201d not encouraging them to think for themselves. Such an approach keeps students ignorant of the reasoning, arguments, and weighing of evidence that go into social sciences\u201d (80). Here, he points to the idea that teachers aren\u2019t encouraging students to analyze events of the past or think about what has happened. They are simply memorizing facts for the sake of \u2018learning.\u2019
\n Another point that I found to be really shocking was the fact that no one actually knows why the Pilgrims landed in the Cape Cod area. To think that it may have been due to the fact that the Dutch bribed the captain of the Mayflower to sail north so the Pilgrims would not settle near New Amsterdam is certainly an interesting concept that should not be hidden from students. It is in this uncertainty that history comes alive and true. Loewen writes, \u201cIndeed the Mayflower may have had no specific destination. Readers might be fascinated if textbook authors presented two or more of the various possibilities, but as usual, exposing students to historical controversy is taboo. Each textbook picks just one reason and presents it as fact\u201d (82).
\n The enslavement of American Indians is another important concept that often goes unspoken about in classrooms. I had very little knowledge about the enslavement of American Indians, and thus, learned a great deal of information from Loewen\u2019s \u201cRed Eyes\u201d chapter. What struck me most was the amount of knowledge Europeans gained from the American Indians. Teachers typically ignore this fact and simply discuss what the Europeans brought to the \u201cuncivilized\u201d natives. Loewen writes, \u201cIn all textbooks that I have surveyed, discussion of any intellectual influence of Native Americans on European Americans was limited to a single caption in one book\u201d (111). So distributing- I look forward to making changes in the future as a teacher myself now that I am armed with this knowledge!","dateCreated":"1321215603","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"KimKonopka","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/KimKonopka","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46197184","body":"Hey Everyone! Hope you've all enjoyed the weekend
\n
\nI'm so glad we chose to read "The Truth about Thanksgiving" chapter. I can safely say I've learned more about REAL history in this book than I ever did in any of my classes.
\n
\nI noticed that in our last discussion we had a lot of repetition of ideas, so I'm going to keep my post centered around Chapter Three and some major questions I had related to how to teach this information to students.
\n
\nI suppose I'll start with the fact that I wasn't aware of just how many cultures were present in the US prior to the pilgrims. Honestly, it's upsetting to me as a 21 year old student to just be uncovering these facts now. Does anyone else feel that they were gypped of some really interesting history classes and discussions as a child? As I read about the Spanish and their attempted conquest, then the plague that struck the Native Americans so hard (this was by far one of the most interesting subjects of both chapters for me), I felt that history textbooks are really eliminating some historical\/cultural\/and emotional knowledge. I imagine that in an upper grade elementary class (something around 4-6th graders) would find some sort of connection with such an emotional and content rich story. I would love to teach this aspect of the first thanksgiving to my students. I think teaching students to write a diary as a Native American before and after the pilgrims arrived would be such an interesting assignment.
\n
\nA prominent theme throughout both chapters three and four was ethnocentrism. As I read the ways which textbooks have portrayed America as the only idealistic nation in the world, I again found myself asking, WHY are we teaching this to our students? One of the first ethical lessons I learned as a child is that respect isn't just given, it's earned. As a student teacher, I still abide by this rule with my students. If they respect me as a teacher then I will respect them as diverse learners. This way we are working towards bettering each other. That being said, I feel incredibly hypocritical teaching lessons where Native Americans aren't done justice. We teach children, blatantly, that Native Americans were inferior to Americans, but the details we use to support this statement are weak. Loewen points out that history textbooks RARELY quote any journals or diaries from historical periods of time. Yet, we teach children that primary resources are the most reliable. So why aren't textbooks' portrayal of historical information prioritizing REAL quotes, maps, and other primary source resources?
\n
\nI'll end my post here for now but I NEED to mention, was anyone else shocked about how the Dutch purchased Manhattan?! I mean honestly now, I'll never be able to look at\/walk on Wall Street the same!
\n
\nCan't wait to hear what everyone has to add!","dateCreated":"1321216435","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"Raradiaz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Raradiaz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46209736","body":"Hi all,
\n
\nSo a really wonderful conversation started here, but you needed to have your conversation in the discussion group on the page you created for your group.
\n
\nDid you do that yet?
\n
\nwiki making page<\/a>
\n
\nLet me know if you need help with that.
\n
\nEdwin","dateCreated":"1321230796","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"emayorga","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/emayorga","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1229182769\/emayorga-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46210922","body":"Hey guys!
\n
\nRachel just to respond quickly to how the Dutch purchased Manhattan, I didn't know that either! That is totally something I would share with my students while doing a study on New York City.
\n
\nThis book is a bit frustrating to read honestly because, as you said Rachel, I feel like i was completely GYPPED of a real social studies education. It shocked me to learn that illness and disease were one of the major factors as to why there wasn't as much Indian resistance. They were completely helpless and a lot of their population was decimated by disease.
\nKim, I was also saddened that I had no idea about the Miners and loggers in Brazil. It's crazy to think that that happened while we were alive.
\nI'm glad that we read about "The First Thanksgiving" because I feel as though Pilgrims have been glorified and turned into heroes. I remember this picture that was shown to me when I was in elementary school of Indians and Pilgrims sharing a huge feast with a giant turkey. They all had smiles on like they were one big united happy family. I remember having to color it (like coloring would actually teach me about these people) and I got a smiley face sticker. I feel like I say this a lot during these posts, but I think that by teaching one perspective of a situation students will not fully understand it. I seriously thought that Thanksgiving was a tradition brought by the Europeans and am kind of embarrassed to just be learning now, as a 21 year old, that it was a tradition observed by Eastern Indians.
\n
\nBoth chapters focused on situations from the perspectives of Native Americans, which I really enjoyed. Unlike American textbooks, Americans and Europeans weren't glorified just to make some picture perfect recount of history. Europeans were glorified at the time, and everything seemed to be God's will. I feel like American history has just been based around this notion and has completely ignored the people who were on this land before. To learn their history is just as important as learning what happened after. Now that I am aware of parts of history I never knew about, I am adamant to share these ideas with my students. As a teacher, I want to be able teach my students about the lives of Native Americans before the Europeans arrived, and the truth behind what it took to claim the land we live on.","dateCreated":"1321232136","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"rmd326","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rmd326","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46210976","body":"Hi everybody! I have enjoyed reading Rachel and Kim\u2019s posts so far, and I too was particularly struck by the \u201cTruth about the First Thanksgiving\u201d chapter. I am putting this on my list of potential topics for a curriculum unit (maybe this is because Thanksgiving is around the corner and I can already taste the turkey in my mouth\u2026.) but nonetheless, I think teaching children the proper and correct story behind the First Thanksgiving is essential, especially when reflecting on the quote: \u201cConsidering that virtually none of the standard fare surrounding Thanksgiving contains an ounce of authenticity, historical accuracy or cross-cultural perception, why is it so apparently ingrained? Is it necessary to the American psyche to perpetually exploit and debase its victims in order to justify its history?\u201d
\n
\nGoing off of this quote, I found the discussion about American exceptionalism very compelling because I believe that it is one of the driving forces behind American actions. There is this notion that the United State is different from, and better than, all other nations on the planet. I agree with Rachel in her comment that, \u201cAs I read the ways which textbooks have portrayed America as the only idealistic nation in the world, I again found myself asking, WHY are we teaching this to our students?\u201d Indeed, American textbooks are teaching children that America is exceptional, as Woodrow Wilson writes, \u201cAmerica is the only idealistic nation in the world.\u201d This is partially why textbooks often depict a pious treatment of the Pilgrims, blatantly omitting the significant facts about the plague, the possible hijacking and their Indian relations. But , why do we feel so superior to Native Americans?
\n
\nTo be honest, I had very little knowledge about the extent of the plague that effected the Native Americans. I was shocked to learn that within three years the plague wiped out between \u201c90 to 96%\u201d (pg. 75) of the inhabitants of coastal New England. Native societies literally lay devastated and wiped out. Robert Cushman described the tragedy: \u201cOnly the twentieth person is scare left alive.\u201d This was a record death rate unknown in all previous human experience. Moreover, it did not stop once the Pilgrims settled in! During the next fifteen years, additional epidemics, struck repeatedly (such as smallpox). While European Americans did contract some of these diseases as well, they usually recovered, whereas Native Americans usually died. As a result, the English, for their first fifty years in New England, faced no real Indian challenge. These were some compelling facts I learned as a 21 year old. I hope that our children will learn this history sooner.
\n
\nAlso, I agree with Kim that this egocentric viewpoint has been perpetuated generation after generation \u2013 I, too, had no idea that this European annihilation occurred as recently as 1991 \u2013 miners and loggers recently introduced European diseases to the Yanomamos of northern Brazil and southern Venezulea, killing a FOURTH of their total population. I am shocked and horrified by these numbers and I continue to wonder why we are not teaching these real stories to our students. Like Kim, I look forward to making changes as a teacher and I would definitely advocate for some type of textbook reform!","dateCreated":"1321232209","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ErinFitz509","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ErinFitz509","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46223914","body":"Hey guys.
\nI just read your posts and also saw Edwin's about the page...I guess we'll talk about that tomorrow in class!
\n
\nI was also very struck by the Thanksgiving chapter. I think the fact that Thanksgiving today is such a happy, celebrated family holiday is so ironic because it is a holiday that wiped out 95% of the families of the "Indians" due to plagues and diseases.
\n
\nKind of like what Kim said about the textbooks, I thought the following Loewen's statement was very powerful, and in fact, disturbing: "Readers might be fascinated if textbook authors presented two or more of the various possibilities, but, as usual, exposing students to historical controversy is taboo. Each textbook picks just one reason and presents it as fact."
\n
\nTextbooks are such powerful tools in shaping children's minds, and the fact that they omit details seems so manipulative.
\nJust recently I watched a short documentary film about how more and more people believe that the Holocaust did not happen. Many of them never heard of the name "Adolf Hitler" before. I was shocked.
\n
\nWhen textbooks omit details, they are not only leaving out facts, but are actually changing the facts.","dateCreated":"1321246026","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"ejs412","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ejs412","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"45708984","dateCreated":"1320597054","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"smarositz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/smarositz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/45708984"},"dateDigested":1532760301,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Ashley, Dawny, Stephen, Francesca, Jasmine- Book Group","description":"Hey group! Not really sure if this is the proper place to start this thread, but it is a space nevertheless! =)
\nFor this week what struck me the most was the absence of truth in social studies education. On page 42 in the Columbus section the author writes, "Should textbooks therefore leave them out? Is impace on the present the sole reason for including an event or fact?" Lowen was discussing this in terms of the general disregard for Viking exploration in history education, but that sentiment can be applied to any topic in American history. As noted on page 87, "What do most books leave out about Squanto?" Clearly there is a disconnect. My question for this week is...what role does censorship play in education? What I am wondering is, if we know the "truth" or at least a more comprehensive presentation of the facts as shown by Loewen's work, why does historical falsehood still drive American history education. Thinking in terms of social justice and multicultural education, to what extent does this relate to the 'reading a European history of the world'?
\nJust some questions I had when reading. Can't wait to see what you think.
\n
\nStephen","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"45723122","body":"Stephen, I was thinking a very similar thing as I was reading these chapters. My thoughts were along the lines of, "Why is it that children aren't thought to be able to handle the real truths in history (as with the realities of the Pilgrims vs. Jamestown settlers), and adults have to be re-taught about what actually went down?"
\n
\nNothing good comes of censorship in education. What is the point of going through the motions of teaching about something that is clearly incorrect? It is such a waste of time, energy, and effort. Part of me thinks that this cycle perpetuates because the curriculum has already been developed, resources are at the ready, and it's simply easier to stick with "the norm", especially with early American history. The other part of me thinks it is because teachers truly don't know that they are not teaching the truth. They have never been given the opportunity, nor shown the interest, in challenging what they were taught as elementary schoolers. These people may even firmly believe that they are teaching the truth! This is one of the many times, I'm sure, that we will have to be pioneers for our generation in setting the records straight.","dateCreated":"1320618528","smartDate":"Nov 6, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"AshAndo","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/AshAndo","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1316883377\/AshAndo-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46202704","body":"Those are good questions Stephen--I think I was thinking along the same lines as I was reading Chapter 2. What I think is that censorship plays a similarly damaging role in the classroom, just like it plays out with omissions of historical "truths" in textbooks. A teacher who is "colorblind," and does not speak about or create discussions about racism, prejudice and how to treat peers fairly--is sending an equally loud message to her students: that it is not important enough to talk about. Omission of information, facts, and history is just as damaging as failing to bring up uncomfortable but equally as qualitative subjects in the classroom and our history books. What is the point of paving our paths as educators, if we do wish to educate? What are the points of textbooks if they erroneously censor some facts, and altogether fabricate others? It is a waste of our students' time to read them and a waste of ours to streamline a curriculum according to an irrelevant history, based on Anglo-Western ideals.
\n
\nIt seems to me that the reason why historical falsehood still drives American history education is, as the book states, that the world or at least our Western scope of the world is still comfortable regenerating testaments that our 'literary ancestors' of sorts perpetuated according to pro-Christian and anti-Islamic Western standings. It is sad that this has such a long-time historical grasp over our society that it even trickles down to the teachings of our youth in the present day. It seems publishing textbooks (texts derive predominantly from publishers in Texas; not a coincidence) is the largest proponent of this as well. Teachers regurgitate without research, and they may be at fault only to a point if they unknowingly expose these fictitious facts to their students. But it is still their responsibility in the end to educate themselves.","dateCreated":"1321222926","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"dawnyaddicted2life","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/dawnyaddicted2life","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1318117565\/dawnyaddicted2life-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46209850","body":"Hi all,
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\nI was just writing to Dawny about your discussion group.
\n
\nSo a really wonderful conversation started here, but you needed to have your conversation in the discussion group on the page you created for your group.
\n
\nDid you do that yet?
\n
\ngo to this page for help wiki page making<\/a>
\n
\nLet me know if you need help with that.
\n
\nEdwin","dateCreated":"1321230935","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"emayorga","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/emayorga","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1229182769\/emayorga-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"46218364","body":"Thanks for your response Edwin
\nWe did it!
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\n
\nhttp:\/\/integratingculture-at-nyu.wikispaces.com\/DASJF+Wiki+Page<\/a>","dateCreated":"1321239510","smartDate":"Nov 13, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"dawnyaddicted2life","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/dawnyaddicted2life","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1318117565\/dawnyaddicted2life-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}