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I love history but I hated it in school.
How many times have you heard an adult say that phrase?
Perhaps you’ve also heard the other claim that
“history was my worst subject.”
It’s a frustrating and paradoxical
situation our nation finds itself in and the problem is only
getting worse. Adults
love history. They
watch movies about it, read books about it and even join
societies which recreate the past. Yet the children, our keepers of the flame so to speak, dread
it.
Of course you have heard this before.
You have heard about the problems with the nation’s
schools, you’ve heard about the abysmal knowledge students
have of their own history and perhaps you even remember the
political movements of the 1980’s with A Nation at Risk
and other reports on the quality of American education.
Criticism and analysis of American History education is
not new.
Why then am I writing? What can I
contribute after so many studies and so many experts have had
their say? At first, when I began my research and came across the
volumes of literature on the subject, I felt there was nothing I
could add. However,
as I continued to read and I continued to teach, I realized that
as an author of historical fiction and more importantly a
teacher in the trenches I did indeed have something to
contribute. I
realized the clarity with which I saw the problem.
More importantly, as I continue to talk with parents and
home educators, as I make speeches, presentations and book
signings, I see that despite all the literature available that
parents are still mystified, confused and helpless.
Many parents are unaware of the depth of their child’s
ignorance, others who are aware of the problem find themselves
unable to explain the reasons why and worst of all is that the
majority of parents had simply resigned themselves to the fact
that if their child is going to learn history, he or she will
have to do it on their own.
This itself is an unacceptable situation
and is more than enough reason for me to write this book.
Unfortunately, this problem is only symptomatic of a
deeper crisis that we will discuss in detail.
As Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson and many other great
leaders recognized, the cornerstone of a functioning democracy
is education. They also recognized that history education is the major
proponent of our way of life and if it fails, then so do we.
My arguments, therefore are not just directed at those
trying to protect their own child but to all American citizens
who are concerned with the future of our country.
Yes, I know that sounds melodramatic and corny, but with
history on my side, we will explore this problem in more detail
and see that it is indeed true.
The purpose of this book then is not to
rehash old news. Nor
will I attempt to insult your intelligence by providing a quick
and easy solution. However, while the solution is not an easy one, describing
the problem is. As
the book progresses, you will see first the nature of and
importance of history so that in the later part of the book you
will understand the various reasons for our problems in teaching
it. I will use my
experience as a teacher and author to try to succinctly describe
the many levels and aspects of the problem so that by the end of
the book, the solutions I present will be clear, concise and
hopefully begin the process of change that is so needed.
The solutions you will read, the problems I
will describe, have all been well documented by countless hours
of research by many of my colleagues in the education field.
Unfortunately, as we will discuss in detail, part of the
problem we have in this country is that the experts understand
the problem, while the people who are most affected by it or can
do something about it, do not.
Therefore in an effort to make this book as readable to
parents and everyday citizens as possible, I will refrain from
“Eduspeak”, fancy acronyms and repetitive statistics. Footnotes and a bibliography will be provided at the end for
those who want to learn more.
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