EDS/Soc 126: Topic # 6THE DEBATE OVER CURRICULAR

REFORM (The Canon Wars)

US History in High School

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Functions of Education in Historical Context

Updated

1787 1865 1983

Democratic

Technical<ReproductionDebate

Reform

History is a Narrative

• History is a story well told—it connects events, actions, people into a coherent pattern– with actors, actions, places, morals, – often antagonists and protagonists

• A historical narrative is usually told in temporal order• History is not a neutral instrument for providing an

accurate account of the past• It is an active political instrument to shape the

thinking, emotions, and actions of people toward their country and others

The US Historical Narrative: The Narrative of Progress

• Material progress—improvements in standard of living due to technological improvements and scientific discoveries

• Civil progress—Religious Freedom → Abolishing Slavery → Civil rights

• Emphasizes the contributions of European ancestors, Judeo-Christian traditions and values

• Celebrates the accomplishments of individual heroes more than collective actions

The Debate Over Textbook Curriculum

Textbooks

The Cultural LiteracyPosition

The MulticulturalEducation Position

The Critical Pedagogy Position

Cultural Literacy or “Core Curriculum” Position*

• Critique/Complaint– Students lack knowledge about US history and

values; this is a sign that American students are losing respect for America;

– this lack of respect is blamed on the permissiveness of the '60s; Dr Spock's child-rearing; anti-war sentiment; and the emerging multicultural education position

– relativism: civil rights, "situational ethics" that emphasize circumstances rather than an absolute standard; the celebration of diverse cultures

* Bloom, Hirsh, Bennett, deSouza, Lynn Cheney

Cultural Literacy: Proposed Solutions

A Centralized, Unifying Curriculum• teach students important dates, events, people: to

restore people's faith in America• return to "The Canon" (History/Literature):

– 1) in Literature: teach classics--especially those that teach morals and virtues

– 2) in History: teach material that celebrates America's progress, special place in the world

The Multicultural Education Position*

• Critique/Complaint– The “voices” of minorities are missing in

the “canon”--in History and Literature– The contributions of minorities are

overlooked in “the narrative of progress”– (US Literature anthologies in 1982: 98 writers: 65 white men,

16 white women, 10 black men; only 4 black women, 2 NA, 2 Latinos)

– * James Banks, Christine Sleeter

The Multicultural Position

• Proposed Solutions• -celebrate African, Iberian, non-Western influences on US • -add missing contributions to historical narrative• -study alternative narratives• -teach history as a narrative but with many points of view

• What will students learn?• --the contributions of many peoples• --respect for cultural diversity• --positive cultural identity

The Critical Pedagogy Position

• Complaints/Critiques• "cultural literacy" doesn't produce thinkers,

democratic citizens; DOES produce arrogance, ethnocentric perspective

• MCE: doesn’t deal enough with politics; reduces cultural actors to “cultural tourists”

The Absence of Political Agency in Historical Narratives

• Mission Era (California A History, 1965)– “Indians helped the settlers and the settlers helped the Indians.The

Indians had better food and clothing than they ever had. They were more comfortable than they had ever been.” Once in a while a mission Indian had to be punished for something he had done. Sometimes such Indians ran away. Some of them took gunms with them. Sometimes they took horses with them too. The runaway Indians taught the wild Indians how to steal animals and other things from the missions. Once in a while soldiers had to protect the missions from an Indian raid.”

– “The Indians of the missions ate more regularly than when they were wild. The Padres took care of them in many ways. They learned to do many things as the Spaniards did. They learned many new skills.”

Adding Political Context to Textbook History

• Oh, California! (Houghton Mifflin, 1991: 78-79): “Although some Indians were content on the missions, many others were unhappy with this new way of life. By living at the missions the Indians gave up their own culture, the way of life they had known in their tribal villages. They could only leave the mission grounds with permission from the padres. They were not free to hunt and pick berries.

• Mission Indians were not allowed to return to their tribes once they agreed to take part in mission life. Some ran away. But the soldiers usually brought them back and sometimes whipped them. Others wanted to revolt. They wanted to rise up against their leaders, the Spanish padres and soldiers at the mission communities

• Sometimes Indians revolted violently. Six years after its founding, San Diego mission was attacked by Indians. They set the mission on fire and killed one of the padres. Many Indians died of diseases brought by the Spanish. When crops failed, Indians didn’t have enough to eat. Some became sick from the change in their diet on the missions. By the end of the mission period, the California Indian population was half the size it had been when Father Serra raised his first cross at San Diego mission.”

The Absence of Agency in Historical Narratives (Con’t)

• Building the East-West Railroad– “Chinese laborers completed the most dangerous and difficult work. They

worked 12 hours each day, 6 days a week. The Chinese laborers lived in tents, even in the bitter cold. Some lived in tunnels dug beneath the deep snow” (Oh California, 174)

– [as if workers worked 6 days a week and lived in tunnels by choice!]

• Immigration to the US After Vietnam War– “The Hmong left their country, Laos, to escape violence and destruction.

War had torn apart their region, and many people had lost their homes”

The Nash-Cheney Debate

• The Participants:• Gary Nash: Professor of History, UCLA; social historian; Chair of National History Standards Project• Lynn Cheney: Chair, National Endowment of Humanities, Reagan Administration; Proposed the National

Standards Project that Nash directed

• Guiding Questions• What “counts as” history• How is history to be taught?• What are students to learn?

The Critical Pedagogy Position

• Proposed Solutions

• --Replace the "narrative of progress" with a different narrative—e. g., "struggle for justice and civil rights"

• --Teach explicitly about inequality, injustice, stratification

The Critical Pedagogy Position:the Meaning of History

• What is History?– --History is Perspectival & Constructed, not fixed & "natural"– (History is written by winners: “To the Romans, Carthage

was vanquished; To the Carthageneans, Carthage was sacked” [Sartre])

• "Columbus Discovered America"

• US Frontier: "Westward expansion" vs. "trail of tears”

• Iraq: “liberation? “invasion and occupation”?

The Critical Pedagogy Position:Curriculum and Instruction

• How to Teach History (Instruction)– --reject "transmission" model,

– --advocate inquiry, critical thinking

– --study original documents, essays, conduct simulations, and mock trials

• What Students are to Learn– --to think critically; to interpret history

--to understand the contingent, perspectival, constructed quality of (historical) knowledge

Continuing Controversies

• Creationism, intelligent design and evolution in science courses

• Social Justice in Social Studies• Phonics vs. whole language in literacy

and reading courses• Inquiry vs. memorization in math• Standardized tests vs. portfolio

assessments