Loewen: Chapter 6

Reflection:

"The insanity with which historians have charged John Brown was never psychological. It was ideological."                                                   – Loewen

"Ideas are more important than battles."
                                                                       – Charles Sumner, 1865, abolitionist senator

        In chapter six, Loewen continues his analysis of history in school textbooks. This chapter specifically looks at the typical historical treatment of John Brown and Abraham Lincoln. John Brown is generally portrayed as a fanatic, "deranged," "gaunt," "grim," and "terrible." Loewen purports that historians charge of his "insanity" is not psychological, but ideological. (Loewen, 177) To the degree that John Brown is controversial, Abraham Lincoln is unchallengeable. Lincoln's words and actions are  portrayed as sound and pure.
     Let's reconsider some of the words used to describe John Brown the "extremist" and run them through what Loewen calls the "Walt Disney interpretation" to describe "Honest Abe". If people say that Brown was a fanatic, they might say that Lincoln was passionate. He would not be deranged, but single-minded for his cause. Lincoln was very thin, perhaps gaunt, but let's call him bony. If Brown was grim, Lincoln was steely. Not terrible, but shocking. What are they really describing here, these mens emotional constitution or their ideology? The author argues it is their ideology.
     My biggest take-away from this chapter is that ideas are more important than actions. Yet, typically, history has been stripped down to actions not ideas. What happened in 1492? Columbus set sail, but why? What was his ideological motivation? I applied this line of thinking to Loewen's argument that a majority of textbooks do not include the text of the Gettysburg address, or they do ever so briefly. One of the most important speeches in American history and students cannot read it. If they do read parts of it, the ideology of the one who spoke it is not discussed. Here we are, stranded, looking "at the battle" and not the idea. The battle here is the what. The idea is the why. Once again we see it is much cleaner to share bland, non-arguable facts rather than to pollute the stream of content with messy ideologies and questionable convictions!
 
Big Question: How has historical content been influenced by: political correctness, racism, and bias? As a secondary teacher, how can we make anti-racism visible in our classrooms?

Source: http://knowgoodwhitepeople.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/calling-a-few-adventurous-anti-racists/#comments

Link: http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm

     This interactive site is about the topic of race. My intention in visiting this site is that students would better comprehend racism and anti racism to gain a greater understanding of the ideological motivations in race relations.

Cantù: Chapter 6 & 7

Reflection:

     "Creativity is as important as literacy"                       –– Sir Ken Robinson

     "It is important to realize how much technology has dramatically changed the learning environment over the past generation alone."                                          –– Cantù

     My head and heart were swimming after these two chapters! At the beginning of chapter six it was inspiring and interesting. Near the end of the chapter six I was feeling oppressed and overwhelmed. What is ISTE, and who gave them the right to attempt to foist their standards upon today's educators!!How are we as teachers supposed to attend to so many competing standards and methods?! Content–primary, secondary, engaging, standards focused, Lesson Plans–simple, sequential, brain-based, social, metacognitive, Standards–state, national, ISTE, Common Core, all while incorporating technology, student-centered, collaborative, creative, 21st-Century methods that are culturally diverse, socially sensitive, differentiated, inclusive, challenging and relevant!! For the sake of focus, let me reflect on this weeks topics of creativity and technology integration.
     The speakers who talked about creativity sparked my imagination and stretched my paradigm of public education. I have heard of the idea that public education was implemented to create and train people to be good citizens and employees. I had never heard someone in an educational capacity clearly lay it out. yet, here I am nearing the end of my preparatory training to become a professional teacher, what am I supposed to do with this knowledge? Sir Ken Robinson asked the question, "Do schools kill creativity?" I think a fair assessment is general is yes, they do. School curricula is not created to cultivate creative thinking near as much as it it to create a common understanding and base of knowledge. The argument that is not taken up is whether this is wrong or not, it is assumed to be.
     The chapter on integrating technology was less frustrating for me content-wise. Yet, it was  a bit overwhelming for me because of the sheer volume of digital platforms available for the modern educator. I am still working on proficiency in my content domain and delivery method. Now I am having to think about how to use technology. Following is a list of a few digital platforms that I think I will actually use regularly as a teacher:
     • Timetoast Timeline Creator- This can be real handy for creating an heuristic
     • Netvibes- Very cool. I am going to set-up an account very soon, helpful professionally and personally
     • Google Docs
     • Educational Wiki- I have used wetpaint before
     • Wurdle Wordcloud- Another good way to identify key themes in passages in a visual way
     • Jing- Looks like a great way to pull info off the internet, and put it into a format that can be used in other platforms, i.e.: Ppt, Prezi, blog, wiki, etc.
     • Prezi- Already use it now
     • Rubistar- With a greater need to do formative and summative assessments, rubistar appears to be a great resource 

Big Question: As teachers, and only beginners at that, with there being a greater stress than ever on standards and student achievement, and less public monies for programs, how can we affect educational reform that focuses on incorporating less "important" subjects and encouraging creativity ? As a theory it sounds grand, as a reality is it even possible?

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/fleep513/opensim-a-new-alternative-to-second-life

Link: http://www.drawastickman.com/#

     This is an interactive link to stir up student creativity.

Loewen: Chapter 5

Reflection:

"Race is our 'American obsession'"                                   – Studs Terkel

"Mr. Jefferson's remarks respecting us have sunk deep into the hearts of millions of whites, and never will be removed this side of eternity."
                                                                                          – David Walker, 1829

"What is identified as the problem determines the frame of rhetoric and solutions sought."
                                                                                         – James Loewen


    Gone With the Wind, we watched that film in our 7th grade history class. It was long, but we thought it was great, perhaps not because of the content but the freedom from class lecture. We got to eat snacks to boot! Little did we know while eating Cheese-its and Handy-Snaks we were also ingesting the Magnolia myth, and the Confederate myth of Reconstruction. I think Loewen does not overstate when he writes, "The struggle over racial slavery may be the predominant theme in American history."(Loewen, 137) Slavery may be finished in our land, but what of the mindset that allowed and even approved of slavery?
     The terms 'social structure' and 'superstructure' are introduced in chapter five. Slavery as the social structure has been abolished, but the superstructure of white superiority and black inferiority is still alive and well in many places! Racism still manacles the 'inferior' black person politically, socially, economically, and mentally. How will racism be abolished? How do we dismantle the superstructure of white superiority in America?
     The author of the book proclaims that in his survey of modern history textbooks, not one of them connected history and racism. Instead of exposing racism, textbooks model it! (Loewen, 145) In this point, Loewen is really starting to hit close to home. The issue of Columbus and the discovery of America is important, but not in people's daily lives. The issues concerning our treatment of and history with native Americans hits closer, yet most Americans are still not confronted with American indians on a regular basis. But, this last issue of black/white history and race relations hits home for almost all Americans. If we are not in contact with African Americans in some way, it is most likely because of our own choosing, precipitated by racist thinking.
     As a white American, I have had African American friends tell me that they still feel prejudice and oppression. At first, I thought they were being oversensitive. They told me that I could not see it because I was in the majority, and was not experiencing prejudice. Over time, I have become more aware and begun to notice at times the manner and ways in which I have been received by people and the way my African American friends have been treated by the same people. Yet, I also noticed that my friends were not always themselves around certain people either. It's as if the prejudice of some people causes others to react in the way they expected.
     I am a product of mainstream American education, and I did not see my own prejudice. Because racism is made invisible in history, those in the majority don't notice it, or worse, believe that it exists today. We, white Americans, only see the social structure and say, "Hey man, slavery is abolished, get over it!" Yet, the African American population and other minorities are still experiencing and feeling the affects of the superstructure which is still in place. What a mess we have inherited! :(
   
   

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Freedman's_bureau.jpg

Big Question: In what ways has the superstructure of American culture been formed by Thomas Jefferson and other early founder's words and actions? If what is identified as the problem determines the frame of rhetoric and thought, how do we teach our students and ourselves to identify the correct problems?

Link: http://teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/reconstruction/

     This site is an interactive page split into two parts, the South before Reconstruction and the South after Reconstruction.

Cantù: Chapter 4

Reflection:

"Integration of graphic organizers into the teaching and learning process is one of the most effective instructional strategies available to social studies teachers."
                                                                                                              –– Dr Cantù

     This chapter is focused on mental scaffolding, effectively blending the instructional phase of the teaching and learning process in order to establish a strong foundation of knowledge for students to build upon and to further develop their skill sets (Cantù, Chapter 4, Section 1).  Seven learning theories and teaching strategies are listed and defined: experiential learning, direct instruction, social learning, problem-based learning, constructivist instruction, thematic instruction, and multiple intelligences. Section three gives twelve examples of strategies to extend student thinking. Next, there are a glossary and table of teaching strategies. Next in the chapter are listed thinking skills and reasoning processes that we as teachers are asked to learn and add to our pedagogy. The end of the chapter defines and discusses "habits of mind" and graphic organizers.

     I am a visual learner; the graphic organizers that are shown are just the types of things that most helped me in school. Teachers just lecturing on, like the one in the video clip in the introduction, tend to lose me quick. Even if we are doing hands-on activities but I have not been given a visual representation and ordering of what we are doing I get lost. Thankfully for me and my students, according to the author, integration of graphic organizers into teaching and learning is one of the most effective instructional strategies! I plan to use them a lot! I found a useful thought in not only learning and teaching by way of graphic organizer, but also assessing and evaluating. In my novice class last week, my cooperating teacher had the students write out the vocabulary words and definitions, and then their partner drew a picture to represent the definition. I think this is brilliant. Why not have this as an option on tests as well. I could draw together multiple intelligences in test assessment if I offered several ways to complete a question: write an essay, outline key themes, or draw a picture to demonstrate understanding.

Big Question: How can educators who are not visual learners, or good with graphic organizers, grow in this area? As well, with so many learning theories and teaching strategies, how can I grow and implement those which I am weak in, or should I capitalize upon the few I am strong in?

Link: http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm

     This is not interactive, but an excellent resource for teachers. Downloadable graphic organizers!

Loewen: Chapter 4

Reflection:

"Old myths never die––they just become embedded in textbooks"
                                                                                    –– Thomas Bailey

"In the fateful year 1492, probably no more than 4 million Native Americans padded through the whispering, primeval forests and paddled across the sparkling virgin waters of North America."
                                                                                     –– Excerpt from The American Pageant

     In this chapter, Loewen turns a corner in his argument. Not only are textbooks telling half-truths and misinformation, many times they are continuing the mis-history even when it has been clearly shown to be wrong. The excerpt I quoted above is a clear case of this; the author states that this information was shown to be false when it was first written in 1956. He estimates that there were well over 20 million Indians in North America alone. As well, most Indians in the time of Columbus were farmers. So, why are these stories continued? Upon reflection, I believe Loewen hits on several key reasons. I will share on two of them.
     First, the author wrote, "Textbook authors still write history to comfort descendants of the "settlers" (Loewen, 95). I think this is an interesting idea that seems true from my experience with textbooks. I will keep this in mind as I review textbooks in the future. What he means by this is that the way stories and "history" is presented is with a view to make white Americans feel better about themselves. I feel bad to say, but when I read the escaped slave notice on page 103, I felt sympathy for the slave-owner and a twinge of annoyance with the enslaved Indian. When the slave owner wrote that his slave had a guilty countenance, I immediately had a visual of a typical indian from many older movies. Yet, what would an American Indian feel if he read this in a textbook. How would he/she feel if this topic were coldly and unemotionally discussed in a school classroom. Most likely, the American Indian would go away red-eyed, and the white American would go away cross-eyed!
     Second, Loewen wrote, "All of the textbooks are locked into the old savage-to barbaric-to-civilized schools of anthology dating back to L.H. Morgan and Karl Marx." This has been something I have noticed and been frustrated about for several years. I was surprised to find out that this is Marxist thinking; and equally surprised to see how modern this view is yet how pervasive it is in academia. In America we have historically resisted Communism and Marxist thought, yet this way of thought does not seem to have been challenged in American education.
     I feel that this kind of thought is strongly influenced by evolutionary theory. If evolution is true, than it would make sense that earlier people were ignorant, crude, and less humane than today. In this case, the savage-to barbaric-to-civilized model makes perfect sense. Yet, if there is another explanation, such as humans having been created by God, then it could be possible to think that in the distant past people might have been smarter and more advanced than today. Without making a definitive statement on this issue, I believe as educators we need to offer up more than one viewpoint and let the students work through them. This leads to my final thought of not making history so neat and clean with THE right answer given.
     I really like Loewen's call for giving students multiple theories, and letting them do the research to seek out truth. This is a perfect intersection between this book and teaching history! We need to spark the fires of interest in our students for ferreting out answers for themselves. So, in the case of American Indians, I would like to start with the present and work backwards, seeking to understand real historical Indians. I would like to have the class pick one modern Indian tribe, research about them, then work backwards: how did they arrive where they are, what is their history, what has been their historical interaction with the U.S. government, what is the earliest known story in their culture, etc. If possible, I would want my students to be able to talk with real Native Americans and hear their story. We could use Skype, e-mail, video, or a field trip. Why do this? I believe that the only way to truly know and understand another is to talk with them.

Big Question: How can we as social study teachers effectively remove old myths and promote real history in the short amount of time that we have with our students?

                                     http://media.photobucket.com/image/Native+Americans+/chitownladyj/Native%20American%20Indian/Native%20American%20Political/native-americans-fighting-terrorism.gif

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg310/Mayberry_08/COLONELHARVEY.jpg

Link:http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/multimedia/series/VideoStories/joseph-bruchac.aspx

     This site is an interactive way to learn more about Native Americans through video, story, and music.

   

Cantù: Chapter 3

Reflection:

"The curriculum should utilize relatively large quantities of data from a variety of sources to study a relatively small number of topics."

"The topics of episodes to be selected should be those with the greatest potential for encouraging thinking, or even controversy, about matters or fact, or about matters of historical interpretation of events in the past, or about alternative resolutions to social problems in the present."

                                                             ––Extracted from Engle and Ochoa’s Guidelines for Social Studies Curriculum Development

     Chapter 3 of Cantù's book discusses lesson and unit planning in the social studies classroom. For me, as a teacher in the modern digital age, it is imperative that I understand my classroom goals and objectives, have them aligned with state and national standards, and plan my lessons to include the three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. The author simplified these three domains as: head, hands, and heart. 

     At first, this sounded complex and difficult to understand, but reflecting at the end of the unit, it's really quite simple and natural. I would also define these domains as: what, how, and why. (What) For example, the term cognitive, or head, merely means that students are receiving and processing information, knowledge. (How) Cognitive is the lower ordered thinking, the first two tiers of Blooms Taxonomy, which is merely the receiving and understanding of information. Psychomotor, or hands, merely means that students get hands-on learning. (Why) Affective is the upper four tiers of Bloom's taxonomy concerned with higher ordered thinking such as: interests, values, emotions and biases. In this domain the question is: Why does this matter to me?

     Andrew Church has revised Bloom's Taxonomy for the digital-age, and it is quite brilliant. I think his adaptation is practical, useful, and will help those who employ it to use technology in a way that moves beyond novelty into real meaningful learning. Many times I feel that technology in the classrooms is more of a gimmick, a way to try to capture students interest and respect. Yet, in my opinion if we seek to incorporate the educational research and strategies in the digital milieu, we will see technology used in such a way as to promote mastery learning and ensure that we advance students knowledge AND digital savvy. Instead of using technology to teach and learn the information and methods of the 20th century, we will be pushing our students into 21st century education.

     Mind Maps. Why was this included in this chapter? It was interesting, and I really enjoyed Bach's cello suite by Yo Yo Ma, but I failed to make the connection. How do mind maps help me incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy, or write a dynamic lesson plan? To tie things together, let's return to my opening quotations and the topic of unit and lesson plans.

     Cantù wrote in chapter 3, section 3, "A unit plan is a set of related lessons centered or clustered around a coherent theme/focus, and focused on all three learning domains: cognitive, process, and affective." On top of this I really resonate with Engle and Ochoa's guideline that, "curriculum should utilize relatively large quantities of data from a variety of sources to study a relatively small number of topics." I think we try to cover too much material in our history classes. In my class, I hope to narrow down what is necessary, add a bit more of what I find interesting, and then go deep. Dr. David McMullen drew an analogy in ETE 371 regarding summative assessments. He said that multiple choice and true/false questions are like skipping a rock across a pond to judge the width while essay questions are like dropping a rock into the pond to determine it's depth. I will tailor this analogy to unit and lesson planning: covering many topics in social studies is like skipping the stone, but focusing on several key events and going deep with primary sources and higher order thinking is like dropping the stone. 

Big Question: In reality, how can I utilize technology in my unit/lesson plans to increase learning and higher order thinking without it becoming a distraction to students due to: advertisements, other links, and/or student inactivity?

   
Link: http://www.res.rcs.k12.tn.us/teachers/leonardl/blooms_pyramid.html

     This is a great page; it lists different sites that demonstrates different levels of Blooms Taxonomy. Added bonus, merely clicking on the icon takes you to the site!

     

Loewen: Chapter 2

Reflection:

"In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue"               ---Anonymous

"In fourteen hundred and ninety-three, Columbus stole all he could see"           --Bartolomé de las Casas

     Chapter two of Loewen's book, entitled The True Importance of Christopher Columbus, discusses further ways that the teaching of history is untruthful. Specifically in the common teaching about Christopher Columbus, he is regarded as a hero, a bold discover who found the "new land", one who was an innovative thinker (i.e. the earth is NOT flat, and he was going to find a new path to the Indies), and one who was a christian taking truth and light to savage lands. Yet, the untold facts are that he was not a kind person, he enslaved natives, stole land, harshly punished "offenders", and was primarily motivated by greed. Why have these facts been neglected? What are we trying to avoid, or perhaps what are we trying to advance through our historical telling? 

     The author asks a poignant question on page 37, "If crude factors such as military power or religiously sanctioned greed are perceived as reflecting baly on us, who exactly is 'us'?" Are we attempting to understand history, or are we attempting to provide and bolster a certain national identity? How would the real teaching about Columbus affect our nation, or our perception in the worlds eyes. I think white Americans would be shocked and offended. I think minorities and other nations would be shocked but in another way. I think they would be shocked by our honesty, and actually have more respect for this country. As well, white Americans could actually begin to see the world more like minorities and underprivileged people do, we might become more humble and more sensitive.

     I was very surprised, even as a history major, to discover how little I truly new of the "Discoverer"! I was unaware that Columbus was so brutal and apparently money driven. As well, I was surprised to see the long list of ante-Columbian explorers to America.
     As well, more and more I am beginning to recognize Eurocentrism in American history. For example we all learned about the renaissance in middle school. Supposedly Europeans began to be awakened to Roman and Greek culture and the arts, politics, and religion all experienced a rebirth. Yet, it was not until college that I learned how the Europeans were exposed to the Greek writings, through Muslim interpretations from Greek to Arabic to Latin! Wow! So we owe in part our Renaissance to the Muslims?! That changes things. Especially in todays world, how could this kind of information facilitate and forward Muslim/American relations? The emphasis is clearly on the "brilliance" and innovation of the Europeans leading to their own rebirth, while the impetus to that renaissance is neglected. Eurocentric!

Big Question: What really drives the narrative of education in America, and how can we extricate ourselves from the quagmire of traditional history to clearly see and tell the stories?

Link: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/columbus-makes-landfall/
 
     This short video shares the story of Columbus' arrival to the "new land". It is rather cliché, thought the end alludes to the real motivations why he was there. Could be a great discussion starter afterwards to discuss his motivations in exploration, etc.

Cantù: Chapter 2

Reflection:

     "Our kids aren't smarter than they were three years ago, it's just that our expectations are higher for them."                                                                                             -Arne Duncan

     This chapter was media rich, but well worth the time spent. In President Obama's 2008 speech on education, he defines his approach and suggested solutions for education in America. There are two points I will comment on.
     First, I like what he said about training for the future: If we want to outcompete the world tomorrow, we out-educate the world today. Granted, out-educate is not the best English grammar, the point hits home. Even as we are learning in this class, with the enormous changes in technology, global interaction, and knowledge, the educational methods and curricula of last century will not suffice. 
     Second, he asked a question that I did not hear a sufficient answer to, "Why is our dropout rate among the highest in the industrialized world?" This was an alarming thought. How is it that we can have so much knowledge, resources, creativity, etc. and yet our youth are seemingly not interested and do not utilize them to the full? He did mention having highly qualified teachers, funding schools that are excelling, and digitizing the classrooms, but are these changes going to affect the dropout rate, or is there other factors that are affecting student motivation?
     The third video in this chapter was a very interesting take on education from a completely different viewpoint, namely that it is a monopoly and should not be administrated by the government. From this viewpoint, the reason that education is failing is because the government is not equipped nor designed to fulfill this role. There are many salient points in this video, especially when they speak of parental duties and religious functions being stripped away by strangers employed by the government.
     I can see the dilemma that we are presented with in this country. On one hand, I believe that private, free-market, excellent education would be one of the best forms of education. Yet, on the other hand, how many children's parents would not be able to afford or choose such an education for their children. This could create a new feudal age in America. As well, though government schools can dictate and indoctrinate America's youth with nationalistic ideals and obedience, they do bring a common knowledge and dialogue to our nation that can be very healthy for understanding and working with one another.

Big Question: How can we as educators and future leaders in education craft a system that draws on the strengths of government education and private education in a way that provides the best, most adaptable education and significantly reduces the dropout rates of our schoolchildren?

Link:  http://nces.ed.gov/

            This is a link to the National Center for Education Statistics