As a History major, I may be a bit defensive in this argument but, I don’t agree with author on many of his points. The author wants to dazzle us with statistics and first hand accounts from students about how people aren’t interested in History. Statistics don’t lie but, statisticians do. I’m here to tell you that everyone in interested in History whether they know it or not.
First, no matter what line of work you pursue in the future, you will serve an apprenticeship where you will study the history of the career that you wish to attain. If you’re reading this blog, your probably studying to eventually become a teacher. Your reading about teaching techniques and putting them into place to become a master teacher. You may not realize this but, you are reading a history book. Every line of work uses history as a frame of reference.
Second, the argument about books is dated. History is all around us. We have a television channel dedicated to it. The internet has put everything at your finger tips. The author use a statistic that 5/6 of all people never take a history course after high school. Oh my God, that is horrible! The horrible part is that the author would use a completely false statistic to make his point. How is this statistic even arrived at? I’m calling shenanigans!
Third, We are all living history. We all have a distinct history from our family to our culture to our religion. We sit around and talk to our family about our own history all the time. We sit around the dinner table and eat foods that are distinct to our culture. The luxury of living in the United States is that we have the opportunity to enjoy a multitude of restaurants and festivals from other culture as well. We practice our religion as well as being able to learn about religious alternatives. According to the author, 5/6 of us don’t go to church after high school. Aren’t the Bible, the Koran, and the Torah considered history books? The shenanigans continue.
Finally, We need to stop apologizing for the textbooks and find ways to overcome this mindset. Teachers need to challenge themselves. Malcolm Gladwell writes about stars and systems. Most organizations that rely on stars fail while those that have a solid system in place tend to produce at a much higher level. I propose that you need both because no system works at 100 percent efficiency and neither do stars but, with a combination of both we can maximize our fullest potential. Teachers need to take on the star roles while being part of a system in search of the ultimate solution which is their students’ success. Textbooks don’t hold students back, bad teachers do.
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