History Discussion 13

As we suggested when I pointed out that you are taking this class at least in part because you are legally required to do so to get a degree from a public college in Texas, history is often tightly intertwined with the idea of the nation and the identity of its citizens. This means that disputes over what it means to be American can become disputes over what we teach in History classes.

 In Texas, we’ve seen disputes like this play out very publicly and very controversially, in particular as they concern what we teach students in middle school and high school about the American past. Because Texas is a very large state with a large share of the market for textbooks, the Texas Board of Education (an elected body) can put pressure on textbook companies to present a history of the United States that fits what they want Texas’ children to learn about our country.

 In the YouTube clip below, for example, you can see a snippet of a member of the Texas Board of Education questioning a textbook company representative about how they might be able to eliminate what she sees as “negative” aspects of American history that appear in the book they are discussing.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfdz7b8jNnc

This news clip from MSNBC gives a bit more context. Note that the host has a very obvious political and ideological bias. I chose this clip so you could hear what his guest, the Dean of the College of Education at SMU in Dallas has to say.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUbCXSiZTho

So for this discussion forum I’d like to know what role you think history has to play in shaping our ideas of who we are as a nation? And, also, what role you think our high school and middle school history classes should play in that process?

 Responses should run between 200 and 400 words. 

 For full credit, be sure to provide a substantive response of at least 100 words to someone else's post after you have posted your response. In these responses you want to fully explain why you agree or disagree with what the person has said.

A grading rubric for these discussions is available in the content section of this Blackboard site.