This is my second blog for my ELA class, on the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me".
To start off, I must say I was really surprised and interested to hear Columbus' true story. Having been a part of the American educational system, I know that Loewen is dead-on when he says that textbooks tend to leave out much of history's details, which, coincidentally, tend to include some of the more important facts. I can just imagine some of the excerpts Loewen uses in this book to have been in the history textbook that I used too! Now that the author mentions it, the stories of Columbus' journey do tend to be fantastical, with a sort of "the going was hard in the beginning, but perseverance and willpower won out" theme going on. Though this may easily have been the situation then, according to Loewen's sources, it simply was not! I believe this is where bias comes in, the textbook authors unconsciously altering the hard facts with assumptions and ideals of their own. Of course Columbus would seem more heroic after a tiring, dangerous journey; but it seems apparent, according to Loewen, that this was just not the case! To tell the truth, as someone who received an American education glorifying Columbus and other "heroes", I am a little dissapointed. As Rab said, only by looking at something from "outside" of it, can you criticize it. I suppose I can consider myself lucky because I have taken a look at American education from within and without(?).
Naturally, if one were to "heroify" Columbus and other historical figures who have two sides to their story, one would only write about and accentuate the points generally thought to be good. However, I believe that in doing so, much of history is stashed in the shadows, which can only lead to misconceptions and untruths in the future. If Columbus was indeed the man responsible for the vanquishing of numerous tribes and their enslavement, so be it! This is history, and what took place should be taught properly to all. How else can we humans learn from our past mistakes?
Wednesday
"Lies My Teacher Told Me" - Ch.1 (Heroification, questioning authority)
This is Blog 1 for "Lies My Teacher Told Me", the book we're reading in Rab Paterson's Stream 1 ELA class.
As soon as the book mentioned the word "Heroification" towards the beginning of the first chapter, I felt like I knew what the author, James W. Loewen, was trying to say about American History textbooks. I lived in the States for 10 years, and have read my fair share of boring, back-breaking heavy textbooks. So when the author brought out the word "Heroification", I could understand what he was trying to say, to some extent. I remember four or five years ago, when I was a middle school student in the States, being taught about Helen Keller, Woodrow Wilson, and other such iconic American figures.
What I don't remember are the stories of Helen Keller going on to become a socialist radical, or Woodrow Wilson turning out to be an extreme white supremacist. These facts just might have been worth mentioning. Just might.←
Unfortunately, when I hear that American textbooks tend to glorify their historical figures, I'm not so surprised; America has always loved its heroes. Now that this book mentions it, there might have been quite a lot of things that I read back then that could have used a little more clarification/correction. Of course, that's not to say that America doesn't have any real heroes; the country has been mother to many many admirable people throughout history. However, its textbooks' tendency to glorify certain people's certain actions, and on the other hand leave out certain "unnecessary" details, is a shame; it's also impossible to tell if the facts are hidden at times.
On a final note. "Fish cannot possibly understand the water around them, because they are constantly in it, always swimming around in it. Only by being outside of the water for the first time is it possible to understand what water is." This is a rough translation of prof. Kobayashi of Environmental Studies talking about fish and critical thinking, and how to think outside the box, so to speak haha. I thought it insightful.
As soon as the book mentioned the word "Heroification" towards the beginning of the first chapter, I felt like I knew what the author, James W. Loewen, was trying to say about American History textbooks. I lived in the States for 10 years, and have read my fair share of boring, back-breaking heavy textbooks. So when the author brought out the word "Heroification", I could understand what he was trying to say, to some extent. I remember four or five years ago, when I was a middle school student in the States, being taught about Helen Keller, Woodrow Wilson, and other such iconic American figures.
What I don't remember are the stories of Helen Keller going on to become a socialist radical, or Woodrow Wilson turning out to be an extreme white supremacist. These facts just might have been worth mentioning. Just might.←
Unfortunately, when I hear that American textbooks tend to glorify their historical figures, I'm not so surprised; America has always loved its heroes. Now that this book mentions it, there might have been quite a lot of things that I read back then that could have used a little more clarification/correction. Of course, that's not to say that America doesn't have any real heroes; the country has been mother to many many admirable people throughout history. However, its textbooks' tendency to glorify certain people's certain actions, and on the other hand leave out certain "unnecessary" details, is a shame; it's also impossible to tell if the facts are hidden at times.
On a final note. "Fish cannot possibly understand the water around them, because they are constantly in it, always swimming around in it. Only by being outside of the water for the first time is it possible to understand what water is." This is a rough translation of prof. Kobayashi of Environmental Studies talking about fish and critical thinking, and how to think outside the box, so to speak haha. I thought it insightful.
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