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There is no way high school students are that dumb.
I've asked the question.
You would probably also be surprised if you asked them a simple multipication or division problem (without a calculator).
Or how about a college student who could not identify where West Virginia is on a map of the US? This was at a college in the Pittsburgh area, which is about 60 miles north of West Virginia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by randomparent
Weird. My ninth grader is studying WWII right now. My husband just called up the stairs to ask her who comprised the Axis Nations. She answered Italy, Germany, & Japan without missing a beat, and then added, "Guys, we learned that in seventh grade," complete with snarky eye roll.
I'm trying to figure out the 105th Airborne, too. My father was part of the 82nd, so I asked him thinking maybe I was missing something, but he had no idea what the OP is talking about.
Some teachers and schools do a much better job than others. At schools I've been to, they are teaching either geography or ancient history in 7th grade.
I've found that many schools don't do an adequate job of teaching history from WWII to the present. Learning about WWII becomes Rosy the Riveter and what life was like on the homefront. The 50s become Elvis Presley and hula hoops instead of learning anything about the Korean Conflict and the Cold War.
Probably because all of this information can be easily looked up, for those interested in such things.
Those interested in such things are likely to be those interested in serving in the military, which is a specific subset of the general student population. Nobody's preventing anybody from reading up on these things, if they interest them. They might even find out that there is no such thing as the 105th Airborne Division.
My husband is a Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy. I learned last night that today is the 121st birthday of the Chief's Mess. Although its establishment is assuredly a part of military history, I didn't need to be taught it as part of a high school history class. And while it's interesting information to have, our day would have gone on as otherwise scheduled had I not looked up the information online last night.
You would probably also be surprised if you asked them a simple multipication or division problem (without a calculator).
Or how about a college student who could not identify where West Virginia is on a map of the US? This was at a college in the Pittsburgh area, which is about 60 miles north of West Virginia.
Some teachers and schools do a much better job than others. At schools I've been to, they are teaching either geography or ancient history in 7th grade.
I've found that many schools don't do an adequate job of teaching history from WWII to the present. Learning about WWII becomes Rosy the Riveter and what life was like on the homefront. The 50s become Elvis Presley and hula hoops instead of learning anything about the Korean Conflict and the Cold War.
In our district, world geography is the focus of sixth grade social studies. Seventh grade language arts & social studies classes spend the last quarter of the year on the Holocaust and WWII, so I suspect that's where she got her first exposure to it. First year Humanities revolves around the 20th century with second semester focusing on WWII through the Cold War, but unless a student chooses to pursue Humanities in high school, you're probably right that the second half of the 20th century would receive short shrift. My daughter is currently writing a research paper on the Cuban Missile Crisis and has spent the last few days interviewing her grandfather, who as I mentioned before was a paratrooper/pathfinder during those years. Oddly, I think she's woefully under-informed about the Civil War, but there's so much to cover, I'm not sure how any social studies/history curriculum could manage to do it all in any depth.
Last edited by randomparent; 04-01-2014 at 01:55 PM..
There is no way high school students are that dumb.
Don't be too sure.
Remember the new way to teach History is to ignore dates and even events and concentrate on the social history of the time. That is why some of us older guys are being fast tracked to retirement, we won't totally ignore dates, events or leaders.
"Why didn't Custer call in air support or use his tanks?"
Remember the new way to teach History is to ignore dates and even events and concentrate on the social history of the time. That is why some of us older guys are being fast tracked to retirement, we won't totally ignore dates, events or leaders.
"Why didn't Custer call in air support or use his tanks?"
The comprehensive study of history is incredibly time-consuming and difficult. While your example is designed to make kids look dumb -- and it succeeds -- the memorization of dates does not ensure that a student can connect historical events. It wasn't until I was in college and taking courses in Classics that I began to understand in a meaningful way the underpinnings of our nation's founding documents, and my adult study of genealogy has increasingly made me aware of yet more world history as I've tracked my ancestors across oceans and continents. I may have briefly memorized the names of Civil War battles during high school, but it wasn't until I was searching enlistment records and casualty lists for long lost ancestors that I really began to piece things together. I have only the vaguest recollection of the names of concentration camps, while my daughter's former boyfriend, who is Jewish, can probably recite their names and locations by heart. None of this means that my high school failed to educate me, only that history (military history included) is a vast subject that is best absorbed when there is personal meaning to the learner, and personal meaning varies widely. Remember, too, that one never stops learning. What I understand as a 45-year-old far exceeds what I knew as a 17-year-old, yet you'd think the sky is falling if kids today don't have it all down pat before they take the ACT.
Last edited by randomparent; 04-01-2014 at 02:36 PM..
Seriously, the indepth study of history would and could easily eclipse the study of anything else. Lines have to be drawn somewhere. Military history is fairly specialized. Recent military history, which the OP is referring to, is even more specialized. Why not make a case for studying the history of the Peloponnesian War?
If students are fascinated by particular parts of history, there is nothing preventing them from reading and researching them on their own. An important part of school is being motivated to learn independently. I had very little exposure to ancient history in school, it wasn't a big part of the curriculum. But it piqued my interest, so I read about it on my own, and I studied in college, which is a more appropriate setting for the indepth study of specialized curriculum than the standard middle or high school setting. I continue to seek out avenues to learn, years and years post-formal schooling. I never quit being fascinated by learning. Elementary and Secondary school curriculum isn't going to be all things to all people. If you love to learn, you don't just confine it to the classroom.
As an aside, memorizing dates is not learning history, comprehending the historical significance of historical events, understanding how they affected/continue to affect society and life, etc. Memorizing dates and having a working knowledge of general timelines (as well as knowing where to look to find out where things fit on general timelines) provides important context, of course. But having dates memorized in and of itself does not make a person the quintessential student of history.
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