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You won't pull it up if you don't know it exists. You must have an overall sense of history and literature and in the culture of your own country.
I just talked to a college professor whose kids (American born in their late 20s) had never heard of the Great Depression in the US. Many don't know that the US used atomic bombs on Japan- I am NOT joking. This is the same generation who might like Bernie Sanders but who have never studied Socialism and know nothing about it.
All the information is at their fingertips and they are too indifferent and too tied to facebook to ever access it.
Even worse, my post baby-boom generation were given inaccurate textbooks on U.S. History. The Civil War is prime example, of which were written by the winning side. I guarantee you will not see Abraham Lincoln's racist election bid speech in 1858 against Stephen A Douglass in any 20th century textbook.
Even worse, my post baby-boom generation were given inaccurate textbooks on U.S. History. The Civil War is prime example, of which were written by the winning side. I guarantee you will not see Abraham Lincoln's racist election bid speech in 1858 against Stephen A Douglass in any 20th century textbook.
I have read the 1858 Charleston speech and, while one might call it racist by today's standards, it was well within the bounds of political discourse in the 1850s and was consistent with positions taken in Lincoln's other speeches. He never wavered in his opposition to slavery, even if he thought the black race inferior in some respects.
So, it is not inaccurate to portray Lincoln as he is conventionally portrayed, just incomplete. And no high school-level coverage of Lincoln can possibly be complete.
It's Douglas, not Douglass if you want to be "accurate."
I have read the 1858 Charleston speech and, while one might call it racist by today's standards, it was well within the bounds of political discourse in the 1850s and was consistent with positions taken in Lincoln's other speeches. He never wavered in his opposition to slavery, even if he thought the black race inferior in some respects.
So, it is not inaccurate to portray Lincoln as he is conventionally portrayed, just incomplete. And no high school-level coverage of Lincoln can possibly be complete.
It's Douglas, not Douglass if you want to be "accurate."
His words if spoken today would label him a white supremacist, and probably would be placed on a government watch list.
Our generations textbooks led us to believe slavery was a major moral issue in his decision to free them. The reality is, outside of the Harper's Ferry incident it was a non-issue until 2 years into the war. Lincoln only freed the slaves to punish the south for waging war.
Thank you for the grammatical correction, I failed English having deemed it another worthless subject.
Just a thought (after memorizing my map for a short trip today)........for a world that believes in "just look it up".........I wonder how good their memories are when they do have to know something.
Non existent because they just look it up. Fortunately, they carry the capability to just look it up in their back pocket. Otherwise they'd be lost.
It will be interesting to see how the work world adapts to them. It will have to or not have workers.
Non existent because they just look it up. Fortunately, they carry the capability to just look it up in their back pocket. Otherwise they'd be lost.
It will be interesting to see how the work world adapts to them. It will have to or not have workers.
There is always the argument for both. I go hiking all the time, and I'm in places where cell phone coverage is spotty at best. I learn the map of the area before I go, download the map to my phone, and carry a paper map with me.
I think it is important to know things that one needs to on a daily basis or for their job. I'd personally rather have more extensive knowledge about a specific subject and less knowledge about subjects that aren't used. I'd prefer mastery vs "jack of all trades" or "well rounded". Many individuals lend themselves more for the aptitude of being well rounded, and there are plenty of careers out there for that.
I understand that from a cultural perspective, being well rounded allows individuals to communicate and interact with the rest of society. But honestly, I think much of this is left to the individual outside of Academia to learn as they wish. And in many ways its always been that way. When it comes to many of the STEM majors, including my own Engineering Degree, how much more I'd understand and have learned about Engineering if I had an extra year of Engineering classes vs some of the liberal arts classes I was required to take.
There is always the argument for both. I go hiking all the time, and I'm in places where cell phone coverage is spotty at best. I learn the map of the area before I go, download the map to my phone, and carry a paper map with me.
I think it is important to know things that one needs to on a daily basis or for their job. I'd personally rather have more extensive knowledge about a specific subject and less knowledge about subjects that aren't used. I'd prefer mastery vs "jack of all trades" or "well rounded". Many individuals lend themselves more for the aptitude of being well rounded, and there are plenty of careers out there for that.
I understand that from a cultural perspective, being well rounded allows individuals to communicate and interact with the rest of society. But honestly, I think much of this is left to the individual outside of Academia to learn as they wish. And in many ways its always been that way. When it comes to many of the STEM majors, including my own Engineering Degree, how much more I'd understand and have learned about Engineering if I had an extra year of Engineering classes vs some of the liberal arts classes I was required to take.
Much as travel broadens the mind so do those apparently derided liberal art subjects allow one a better perpsective on dealing with other cultures.
Much as travel broadens the mind so do those apparently derided liberal art subjects allow one a better perpsective on dealing with other cultures.
But not Dante's Inferno.
I have found that all of those subjects I had to take to be well rounded taught me to think about the subjects I mastered in different ways. I didn't think so at the time but I have come to appreciate that EVERY class I took had value towards my life and my career.
I tell my students that every subject they study teaches their brain to think in a different way and they will use the brain they grow learning those subjects every day of the rest of their lives. Education isn't about just learning to do a job. It's about growth and you get the most growth by stepping outside of your comfort zone.
I wonder if broadening college access plays any part in this professor's perception. I doubt your typical automobile factory worker of fifty years ago was some great philosopher compared to today's kids.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hollytree
This is the same generation who might like Bernie Sanders but who have never studied Socialism and know nothing about it.
If baby boomer voters are any indication, prior generations don't know anything about Socialism either, except as a liberal boogeyman used to scare good little conservatives into voting for Wall Street bankers' tax cuts.
I wonder if broadening college access plays any part in this professor's perception..................
What do you think? I taught high school for 32 years and taught way fewer concepts in a lot shallower depth at the end than I did at the beginning.
When I cleaned out my files last summer when I retired I pulled out some of the old tests that were in the back.
They were (for general Psych), in some cases, as difficult as the ones I was giving to AP Psych the last year I taught.
The same was true for the US History and World History tests. The older ones were much more difficult than the ones I was using at the end.
Having said that, the later tests came from Curriculum and Instruction, not from my generating them or using tests supplied with the text.
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I have found that all of those subjects I had to take to be well rounded taught me to think about the subjects I mastered in different ways. I didn't think so at the time but I have come to appreciate that EVERY class I took had value towards my life and my career. 
