We actually discussed this briefly in Talon today! I find it interesting that people actually want to blot out history, and only present the parts they feel are good enough to show off to the world. Were the people who advocated this liberal or conservative? (I'm thinking conservative? Not sure...) It's great that students are taking this matter very seriously though, and aren't just taking part to ditch school. Are we/will we be using the new version of the APUSH curriculum?
Claire -- I think the article said that the more conservative school board wanted to change the curriculum, while the students were protesting against it. So I guess the students were more liberal. I thought it was interesting that this would happen in Colorado, since it's considered a "purple" state (conservative on some issues, liberal on others). A lot of times we see stuff like this happen in Texas or other very conservative places.
Hey! In response to what you guys were saying, I absolutely agree with Analisa. I feel that it is a more conservative idea to censor students from controversial ideas or events. I think that it is also very liberal to stand up for these rights to learn about a more "untainted" version of history.
That being said, there is always a bit of censorship going on here and there, as clearly shown by the articles we read before school started about the textbooks that "skewed" the information one way or another. No matter where we are, there will be a bit of bias that will find its way into writing. Almost every time this censorship is used by government in order to maintain a bit of hold over the people. I'm sure everybody has heard several conspiracies correlating the US government and the sudden quietness of the Malaysian airline fiascos.
The part that I'm struggling to figure out is the perspective of the teachers trying to make these changes. Especially as history teachers, in particular of an AP level curriculum, it seems strange to me that these people would want to try to create a more limited view of history to teach to the students. I feel that history is taught in part to teach past mistakes, as told by the adage "History repeats itself." I'm curious to know what would cause a history teacher to want to take out a crucial value in learning history.
Hey guys! This is a really interesting topic and conversation. I don’t know if anybody has been keeping up, but just an update on what’s going on…
A board member Superintendent Dan McMinimee has announced that he will propose to the school board that they appoint students to the next review committee. Unfortunately for the students, “there’s no sign conservatives want to back off… although the latest proposal omits some of the more controversial language.” Additionally, the history class was the first (of many) to be reviewed. The student Ashlyn Maher says “she doesn’t want the board to move on next to reviewing curriculum of other classes, such as AP Literature, and deciding which books students can read.” Side note, an interesting part of this article is the quote, “Teachers upset about the history proposal as well as a merit-based compensation package they consider unfair.” An interesting thing is that the teachers are also protesting the new plan, “staging sick-ins, where they call in sick and force school to be canceled some days.”
We actually discussed this briefly in Talon today! I find it interesting that people actually want to blot out history, and only present the parts they feel are good enough to show off to the world. Were the people who advocated this liberal or conservative? (I'm thinking conservative? Not sure...) It's great that students are taking this matter very seriously though, and aren't just taking part to ditch school. Are we/will we be using the new version of the APUSH curriculum?
ReplyDeleteClaire -- I think the article said that the more conservative school board wanted to change the curriculum, while the students were protesting against it. So I guess the students were more liberal. I thought it was interesting that this would happen in Colorado, since it's considered a "purple" state (conservative on some issues, liberal on others). A lot of times we see stuff like this happen in Texas or other very conservative places.
ReplyDeleteHey! In response to what you guys were saying, I absolutely agree with Analisa. I feel that it is a more conservative idea to censor students from controversial ideas or events. I think that it is also very liberal to stand up for these rights to learn about a more "untainted" version of history.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there is always a bit of censorship going on here and there, as clearly shown by the articles we read before school started about the textbooks that "skewed" the information one way or another. No matter where we are, there will be a bit of bias that will find its way into writing. Almost every time this censorship is used by government in order to maintain a bit of hold over the people. I'm sure everybody has heard several conspiracies correlating the US government and the sudden quietness of the Malaysian airline fiascos.
The part that I'm struggling to figure out is the perspective of the teachers trying to make these changes. Especially as history teachers, in particular of an AP level curriculum, it seems strange to me that these people would want to try to create a more limited view of history to teach to the students. I feel that history is taught in part to teach past mistakes, as told by the adage "History repeats itself." I'm curious to know what would cause a history teacher to want to take out a crucial value in learning history.
Hey guys! This is a really interesting topic and conversation. I don’t know if anybody has been keeping up, but just an update on what’s going on…
ReplyDeleteA board member Superintendent Dan McMinimee has announced that he will propose to the school board that they appoint students to the next review committee. Unfortunately for the students, “there’s no sign conservatives want to back off… although the latest proposal omits some of the more controversial language.”
Additionally, the history class was the first (of many) to be reviewed. The student Ashlyn Maher says “she doesn’t want the board to move on next to reviewing curriculum of other classes, such as AP Literature, and deciding which books students can read.”
Side note, an interesting part of this article is the quote, “Teachers upset about the history proposal as well as a merit-based compensation package they consider unfair.” An interesting thing is that the teachers are also protesting the new plan, “staging sick-ins, where they call in sick and force school to be canceled some days.”
https://news.yahoo.com/history-fight-coming-head-suburban-denver-052309695.html