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The Desk.
A Dignified Countenance, and a little bit of Soul.
Friday, September 08, 2006
The response to my letter to NCDPI (see last post):
"I think you have to understand that high school is hopefully a
culmination of the standard course of study in social studies that has
been implemented across a student's career. Students learn about
exploration in their 4th grade history class when they study NC; they
study US History in 5th grade beginning with the explorers and the
Indian tribes; they study NC History in the US in 8th grade...all before
high school.
The US History curriculum used to include exploration to the present.
It led to history being taught as a series of dates and events - a mile
wide and an inch deep. We have found that the only way to engage
students is to teach less scope but in more depth. Like you I am a
history major and learning about all of it is important to me.
Students having only 3 courses in high school just doesn't lead to a
student's being proficient in all time periods.
Rebecca Garland"
Apparently elementary level social studies courses are supposed to suffice in teaching all the length and depth of the most important period in American history. She wants to talk about the lack of time for depth, but what kind of depth do you think they get in 4th grade? Nevermind the complex social forces and relationships present leading up to independence, let's just leave it at wooden teeth and cherry trees. They'll get a basic timeline and an overview of some of the more prominent figures, in a manner that amounts to rote memorization of names and dates (which by the way is why people think history is boring, is because of how they teach it in elementary school). It serves as an introduction, yes, and I agree that students should have a basic understanding of some of the dates and facts prior to high school, but that doesn't mean you can leave it at that. I also understand that some things have to be skimmed past or skipped over, but it's a problem across all subjects and all grade levels that there isn't enough time to cover every single piece in detail, so that is not an excuse to leave something out totally, especially something paramountly important. But if you're going to drop something, why that, why not something less signifigant? It is ultimately up to the teacher's discretion as to how much emphasis and time is spent on any given topic, and not the state's, whether it's in the SCOS or not, and I'm willing to bet that every teacher in the state still teaches on these topics. Because they understand that the rest of the story can't be told without them. And even if students aren't held accountable for it on the end of grade tests, and teachers aren't held accountable for teaching it, nine out of ten teachers don't have the conscience to deprive their students of their history, even if the state thinks an elementary level understanding is sufficient for our citizens. And just as a side note, the US history part of the naturalization and citizenship testing process is harder to pass than the EOC for US history.
|And the Lord spake unto the masses@ 5:36 PM|
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