Harry Potter and the Lost Art of Teaching Americans Our Own History
- From: Florida <demeter547opine@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 31 May 2007 07:10:03 -0700
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/28/AR2005072800213.html
washingtonpost.com
Harry Potter and Our Forgotten History By David S. Broder
Thursday, July 28, 2005; A25
Along with millions of others, my granddaughters Lauren, Nicole and
Julia eagerly tore open the boxes containing "Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince" as soon as the books arrived at the airport near
the cabin where they were on vacation. They then disappeared into
their rooms -- barely to reappear for the next 24 hours, while they
were devouring the sixth in the best-selling series.
And thereby they proved David McCullough's point. Late last month, the
prolific historian had said in a Senate hearing that his examination
of school history textbooks had shown a disquieting trend. Over the
years, he said, he has noticed that the typeface in those books is
growing larger, the illustrations are more lavish and the content is
shrinking. The authors and the teachers using these textbooks "seem to
assume that students don't like to read," he said, "and then Harry
Potter comes along and blows it all away."
McCullough, whose latest volume, "1776," is a nonfiction bestseller,
was the star witness at a hearing convened by Sens. Lamar Alexander
and Ted Kennedy to air their concerns about what they called "U.S.
History: Our Worst Subject?"
Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, noted that "according to the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly referred
to as 'the nation's report card,' fewer students have just a basic
understanding of American history than have a basic understanding of
any other subject which we test -- including math, science and
reading."
Charles Smith, the executive director of the NAEP governing board,
spelled out what that means. In 2001, the last time the American
history test was given, 57 percent of 12th-graders scored "below
basic" in the subject.
"This means," he said, "that the majority of 12th graders did not
know, for example, that the Monroe Doctrine expressed opposition to
European colonization in the Americas at the early part of the 19th
century; how government spending during the Great Depression affected
the economy; and that the Soviet Union was an ally of the U.S. in
World War II."
Kennedy added that the historian emeritus at his brother's
presidential library in Boston had reported that nine states have no
standards for teaching American history and 22 others have standards
he regarded as weak.
Alexander said, "Our children don't know American history because they
are not being taught it," adding that the Florida Legislature had
recently passed a bill permitting students to graduate from high
school without taking a single U.S. history course.
McCullough said that the problem starts with the training that
teachers receive. "Too many have degrees in education," he said, "and
don't really know the subject they are teaching."
"It is impossible to love a subject you don't know," he said, "and
without a passion for history, the teaching of history becomes a
matter of rote learning and drudgery."
Without personal knowledge of history and enthusiasm for the subject,
"you're much more dependent on the textbook," and, with rare
exceptions -- he mentioned the great one-volume American history text
by Daniel Boorstin, the late librarian of Congress -- "you read these
texts and ask yourself, 'Are they assigned as punishment?' "
McCullough, who is nothing if not passionate about the subject, added:
"Amnesia of society is just as detrimental as amnesia for the
individual. We are running a terrible risk. Our very freedom depends
on education, and we are failing our children in not providing that
education."
The schools, he said, are also denying them "a source of infinite
pleasure," a pastime that can enrich them throughout their lives. "I
think we human beings are naturally interested in history. All our
stories begin, 'Once upon a time . . . .' To make history boring is a
crime."
Just as Harry Potter's extraordinary success demonstrates young
people's hunger for a compelling narrative, other factors suggest ways
that history can be made vivid. A Smithsonian Institution official
testified that its program last year offered 57,000 teachers an
opportunity to work shoulder to shoulder with scholars doing primary-
source research work -- an experience they can then share with their
students.
And McCullough gave enthusiastic support to a suggestion from
Alexander and Kennedy that the hundreds of national historical sites
scattered around the country be used for seminars in which teachers
could visit the places where signal events of the past occurred and
fill themselves with the stories the well-informed guides can provide.
"I am very optimistic about what can be done," McCullough said, if the
nation just decides to recapture its history.
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© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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