After hearing the discussion in the classroom setting, I honestly can’t say that I favor a conservative leaning over a liberal standpoint in textbooks. I would however, like to make note that some of the problem comes from the textbook companies’ willingness to appease the school boards for monetary gain. They have direct control over what is written into the history books and consequently influence the subject matter that students learn. These companies should be a little more concerned with what students are being taught rather than how they can sell their books.
There were points in the discussion that stood out and influenced my viewpoint on the matter. It was pointed out that we may be reading and studying history based on liberal views, and that Texas is just trying to restore balance. It was also noted that our generation can’t say what is right and wrong because we weren’t there during past events in history. These comments helped me shape my own thoughts on the subject.
I don’t have a problem with the Texas board of education adding more to the curriculum, but they shouldn’t be removing anything. They also shouldn’t let political alliances corrupt the information feed in schools. In my opinion, everything in history is important, good or bad; it helps us learn from our mistakes and thereby improve on our shortcomings. I now believe that in order to have a fully balanced and unbiased history book, textbooks must include every aspect of every historical event, no matter how it was influenced by politics. An unadulterated record of history would let people see a more truthful story of human relations.
I agree with your point about how the textbook companies are so willing to listen to the curriculum boards in order to benefit financially. Ultimately textbook companies have the final say in what students learn in the classroom. Even if teachers want to teach their own standards, they still use the textbooks as references. Therefore, I do agree with your point that textbook companies should be more concerned about the text in their books rather than their sales. I also disagree with the removal of curriculum by the Texas board of education. It is important for them to include a broad range of historical figures and events. They should not by any means narrow down the standards. With the removal of curriculum students do not see both the good and bad sides of history and they do not get as strong of a feel for what our nation has experienced. Teachers do have a limited amount of time to teach all the requirements, but there should be no more cutting out of historical events.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that everything in history is important whether it is good or bad. No matter what happened it will forever be history and we can all use the knowledge from the result to help us with problems we may face in the future. I also feel that every aspect of a historical event should be included. By having as much as you can in the history book people can have a better understanding of all the historical events and not just a general overview that is about a sentence long about the event. This would give people a much better understanding of the situation and provide them with different views of it.
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