It is not that the history of our nation is not taught in our public schools. It is more the lack of interest from many young students today. They very accurately depict the adage of you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. As a now retired teacher, many students do not even make a show of interest to learn (insert w…
It is not that the history of our nation is not taught in our public schools. It is more the lack of interest from many young students today. They very accurately depict the adage of you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. As a now retired teacher, many students do not even make a show of interest to learn (insert whichever subject you please) especially to keep as knowledge beyond the next test. Nor do many, (not all) parents create the expectation for nor the standards/goals of learning for their children.
I taught years ago, and that was a problem then too, but not of the size it is now. I taught at an upper middle class high school in the Bay Area, near Stanford, so most parents well educated. But I heard from colleagues in other schools around the area about problems. It’s been a while since I was involved in public education—my youngest is 45—but I certainly didn’t have to “teach to the test” nor did my kids have to “learn to the test.”
But whoever’s fault it is, education has sunk into—well, a generation (or more) of trumpites—and the drain on funds for “school vouchers” isn’t going to help. Nor are restrictions on what teachers can even SAY in a classroom about mundane things like (for history) “what happened.”
It is not that the history of our nation is not taught in our public schools. It is more the lack of interest from many young students today. They very accurately depict the adage of you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. As a now retired teacher, many students do not even make a show of interest to learn (insert whichever subject you please) especially to keep as knowledge beyond the next test. Nor do many, (not all) parents create the expectation for nor the standards/goals of learning for their children.
My parents had that goal since they had been denied it. It was never ok to get in trouble at school. All 8 listened, some slower than others.
I taught years ago, and that was a problem then too, but not of the size it is now. I taught at an upper middle class high school in the Bay Area, near Stanford, so most parents well educated. But I heard from colleagues in other schools around the area about problems. It’s been a while since I was involved in public education—my youngest is 45—but I certainly didn’t have to “teach to the test” nor did my kids have to “learn to the test.”
But whoever’s fault it is, education has sunk into—well, a generation (or more) of trumpites—and the drain on funds for “school vouchers” isn’t going to help. Nor are restrictions on what teachers can even SAY in a classroom about mundane things like (for history) “what happened.”
"Teaching to the test" isn't teaching, as a late friend and good teacher told me ten yeas ago.