Attention Georgia Authentics

[JGraybill]

A close friend of mine, who teaches history in the Henry County School system, has advised me of a very disturbing piece of legislation. It seems that State School Superintendant Kathy Cox is trying to push through a change in the states high school history curriculum. If it passes the state school board, ALL high school history classes will start their studies after the year 1877. According to state officials, it is getting tougher to teach history (due to it being created with each passing day) and there is just not enough time to cover "early american" history at the high school level. Students will get a 3 week "overview" of American history prior to 1877. After that they will spend the majority of their time on late 19th and 20th century American History. They will have a writing emphasis placed on writing a 1920's style "radio program" and will discuss such subjects as what was a day like in the "roaring 20's". Such important events as the Christopher Columbus, The American Revolution, The War of 1812, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, western expansion, the War with Mexico, and of course the American Civil War would be paid no more than lip service. As a teacher and an authentic living historian I would like to spread the word to my fellow Georgians who, like myself, frequent this site. Please contact your state legislators, and the State School Superintendants Office and let your voice be heard on this important issue. For remember that, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Thanks for your time fella's.


John Graybill

[SGulley]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Horowitz speaks of this happening in Alabama in the late 90's. Looks like others are following suit :(

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Ain't this the same ol' gal who last month was trying to delete geology and the theory of evolution from Georgia's curriculum because they were too controversial?

Tom

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

"not enough time to cover "early american" history at the high school level."

This seams to be a reoccuring theme within the Anarchist, Communist, Leftist leaning people within education these days. It is ímportant to people of these leanings to forget or gloss over anything glorifying the original American forfathers contribution to modernday society and the greater good that their efforts have given us today. They would much rather point out the works of Gramsci.

Sorry if my post is of a modern political leaning.

[Delhi Rangers]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

I am a principal in the state of Alabama (Grades 9-12) and my history teacher teaches a unit on the War Between the States. In fact, I go in and present a program for the class every year. I have participated in many educational programs at the elementary and high school levels. Yes, we even wear our uniforms. I will participate in educational programs at schools during the month of April. April is Confederate Heritage Month in Alabama. I have found that the teachers and students are very interested and appreciative. Alabama history has been taken out of the high school curriculum, but the Civil War is covered in other grades, because as I mentioned before, I have done programs for the lower grades as well. I would encourage anyone that has the opportunity to present a quality program to students to do yourself a favor and go. I think that you will enjoy it greatly and will be pleasantly surprised as to the amount of interest that the students have.

[County Militia]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Sounds like something my district would do.

As I am still in schooling, I have to endure this...stuff....in my History class. We have the entire year to cover American history from 1776-Present, and all our teacher alots for sudies on the Civil War is two weeks. Two weeks! (and only three days of the week, for 45 minutes, at that!)

She spends more time talking about how the South was a cruel, despotic land more than the actual meat of the war. And when she does actually talk about the war, her materials are incorrect. For example, the sheet she was reading to the class had several errors, such as it saying that "General George Pickett's brigade were the only Confederate troops that made the assault in Pickett's Charge." So, that leaves out the fact that there were more troops from A.P. Hill's Corps that participated. In the two paragraphs that were devoted to Gettysburg, there was absolutely no discussion of how the battle went along, other than Pickett's Charge and a very brief passing mention of how "Union cavalry accidentaly encountered Confederate infantry on July 1st" so beginning Gettysurg. No mention of the second days' fighting in the Peach Orchard, Devils Den, or Little Round Top, and no mention of the assaults on Cemetery Hill or the assaults on Culp's Hill. As for other major battles, they are worse than the Gettysburg example. There was absolutely no discussion on Cold Harbor, Spotsylvania, the Wilderness, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Nashville, and Stones River etc. In fact, nothing was discussed of the war west of the Mississippi. Not a single solitary thing. When I asked why we were not discussing the war west of the Miss, she replied, "We don't have enough time." The only attention paid to leaders were to Lee, Grant, McLellan and only a little bit about Sherman. No talk of Meade, Burnside, Hooker, Pope, McDowell, Thomas, Lyon, Schofield, Longstreet, Jackson, Hood, Hill, Johnston, Bragg and others. She expects us to learn from her unit, but nothing is being gained by the other students who know little about the war. And, to top the thing off, she shows us this cute little made-for-t.v. movie that has absolutely no educational value. Instead, it has a cute little kid who travels from Georgia to Washington to visit his wounded Confederate soldier brother. There is no discussion of any events during the war, except for a very small bit on Gettysburg. More importance is put on Lincoln's Gettysburg Address than the war itself. In our district, in my year, it is standard for the students to be shown Glory. Okay, it may not be the most accurate of movies, but it teaches the students a little along the way. Now the teacher tells us we may not even get see that. No, instead, she has to show us some horribly inaccurate made-for-t.v. movie about a little boy visiting Washington.


To give you an example of just how pitiful her efforts were, by the very end of the unit, students were still asking which side Grant and Lee was on.


Pretty soon, no attention to facts and details will be made. It'll be all one political correctness gone wild type of affair.


I'm sorry for going on so long, but it's this type of thing that makes my blood boil.

[James Masson]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

All you need in high school is a general overview of American history, just like you get a general overview in all the other history classes you've taken. They don't have time to spend a month on any specific time period, they're job is to cram the curriculum in your head. The state doesn't care how they teach it, they only care that they teach it and that you pass your required aptitude tests. When you get to college you can take American History 1 and 2. You can also take classes that just talk about the Civil War in general. Most state schools will also offer The South 1860-65. There's probably 20 seperate ACW related classes at my school. So there's no shortage of classes you can take when you graduate.

James

[MuddyTrowsers]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Agreed, many high school history classes are considerably watered down. My father is a high school history and advanced placement history teacher. He is also a living historian. I know he would love to spend a great deal of time on the Civil War, but it simply isn't feasible given the fact that he needs to cover so much history over the course of the school year. A teacher on a time line cannot alot more than a few days to the study of even the most important aspects of American history. Also to consider is the fact that many high school students don't care as much about history as they do other subjects. It's sad, but I witnessed it for four years myself not too long ago.

And I have to agree with James. If you want to specialize your study in one particular area, namely the Civil War, college is the place to do so. Where as in the high school setting there is only time to briefly cover the general setting of American history, in college one can dig deeper into the material and really get your nose dirty. I am currently taking a class on the era of the Civil War. I must say we have gone into great detail already, and the class is only two weeks old. We spent a couple days simply reading about and discussing the historiography of Civil War study (which in and of itself could be a college course). In colleges there is the opportunity to read and study scholarly works on the Civil War. All the history professors I know are highly knowledgeable in their subject, and they love imparting that knowledge to students.

Just my two cents...

[Eric Burke]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Like Jack, I'm also a student, and am also victim to the horrible treatment history recieves regularly. I've approached my principal and teachers multiple times wondering why early American history is simply omitted, and moreover, why "World History" only relates to the Mediterranean region up until the formation of America and the conquest of Mexico?

Ugh, the times we live in ...

[tenfed1861]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Eric,Jack,where do I join the club at?I my history book for thw 10th,Pickett's Charge was only a sentence.They spent most of the chapter on life at home and poloitical stuff,which wasn't to good either.Heck,in the chapter on WWII,D-Day was only a paragraph,and the Holocaust was a page.Back to C. War,no metion of Andersonville,little on Shiloh,none on Stones River.One girl asked me acouple of weeks ago when was the Civil War.In fact,I heard that there is a school district trying to stop teching about the Holocaust for the students,"It never happened".Oh boy how I LOVE our public education system.
Cullen Smith
Bluegrass Rifles

[DougCooper]

Teaching history

Smart teachers who want to create a spark in the minds of their students certainly don't use the textbooks to do that...and it is a special program that can somehow empasize history and critical thinking in our math and science-centric educational system.

...call your local elementary, middle and high schools and help those teachers get through to the kids with a one hour presentation they will remember long after a watered down few weeks on the period. Work hard on this and perfect your technique...like any other teacher. You may find it is the most rewarding thing you do in the hobby. We are after all, teachers.

"Why" is even more important than what and how - ask questions, back up the teacher's efforts by supporting his or her lesson plan.

Knowing that Pickett lead a division vs a brigade is trivia...but as you stand up there in front of the class and ask them to think about what it means to be a 17 or 18 year old soldier in 1861...watch their minds start to work.

Oh, did I mention recruiting?

[Kate Vogel]

God Bless the Public Schools of America

Watering down of history education isn't exactly limited to geographic regions. We spent approximately two and a half weeks on anything pre-reconstruction in my honors American Humanities block sophomore year. The rest was devoted to the 20th century and that was that. My school only offers one AP history class (European) which flip flops teachers every two and a half years, so no one ever knows what is going on as far as the curriculum is concerned. AP US History isn't even offered. You can do it on your own time and with your own money, but don't expect any help from the faculty.

Yet, there are six other AP math and science classes offered with four upper level (none-AP) math and science courses available. The school district has had parents and teachers alike lobby to have these courses offered, but other history electives (namely semester courses of colonial and 19th c. history) are killed during curriculum development. We haven't been able to figure out why it's such a priority to shoot down anything that doesn't involve fancy lab equipment, but I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation.

In a district hell bent on being the biggest and most technologically advanced in the state, a lot gets left behind, namely, English and History. A friend of mine can teach the AP Calc class, but can't write a paper worth beans and sure couldn't explain the Bill of Rights if he tried.

Katie Vogel
looking forward to college

[srmitchell]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

I have to agree with Doug here. My dad is a history teacher and they give him only a year to cover American history up to the Civil War. They also require that he begin with pre-history, the Aztecs, Mayans etc. Then through Spanish exploration and finally English colonization into the revolution and the forming of our nation. He has always been very encouraging of my presentations at his school, and his kids are 90% of the time very interested and attentive. Many kids today seem to be disinterested in history because it's presented to them dry and dust and usually at mach 5. Given the chance to watch it come alive, many of them respond very well. It just takes a little thought to make it interesting. If you aren't trying it now, contact your local school district and talk to someone about it. You'll find it's one of the most rewarding things you can do in the hobby.
Regards,

[Hairy Nation Boys]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

I understand the concerns about teaching the Civil War for only two weeks. When I taught junior high (as we call it here in Iowa City) we spent a month and a half. Here in Iowa as an 8th grader you study from colonial times to 1900. As a freshman 1900-present. That is a lot of history to cover in a very short time. I currently teach at the high school level in the same school district.
Next year I am teaching a junior/senior level Civil War course. This is the first time we have ever offered any other history electives. The other history course is about local history. The response for my Civil War class has been incredible! I have had so many students come up to me and tell me they are excited about the class. Many were excited when I told them that I am working on a trip to Shiloh a year from now.
For some of the posts if you have concerns about what your teachers are teaching meet with them afterschool. All teachers have areas of strength and weakness. Also, if you think you could do better go to college, major in education and apply for a teaching job. That is what I did. I didn't whine because my teacher left this or that out. I went home read and told myself that when I am in that position things will be different.

Nathan Hellwig
Hairy Nation Boys

[Jim of The SRR]

Re: Attention Georgia Authentics

Let's take this discussion up a notch. First, we are ALL to blame for this situation. We have not been vigilant over our government's power. The NEA (National Education Administration) has pushed thru their leftist curriculum on public schools for many years now. The fact our kids will not understand history or basic civics will lead to adults who won't ever challenge what their government does (perfect for a governement that already views our Constitution as a cafeteria menu). Back in the early 90's I was a political activist who called for the NEA to be abolished. The knee-jerk response I got was..."You are against education?!" (which just shows their ignorance on the subject). I urge each of you to contact your state and local representatives to support the following:
- Abolish the NEA and it's stranglehold on public school curriculum.
- Push for school vouchers.
- Push for more local control of funds and curriculum in your schools.

I believe that one benefit of being a reenactor is that you influence your children and hopefully a handful of other kids to be interested in history.
Also, in addition to John's observations, I read that part of GA history lessons will include making your own Jazz show! So the history of Jazz is now more significant than the Revolutionary War, Civil War and WWII?!

Regards,
Jim Butler
The SRR