I am reading a very interesting book called "Lies my Teacher Told me " which isnt really about "teachers lying" but rather the fact that our textbooks keep out many details on purpose. It speaks about how texts (refering to mostly just history textbooks) turn normal people into heroes. They call this heroification. Herofivation is when a text turns flesh and blood individuals into perfect creatures without conflict.
Our job as teachers is to educate children, not lie to them. If we are going to cover up the truth, and simple feed them portions of the truth, we are doing a great disservice. In fact, i believe we are putting them at a deficit instead of an advantage.
The book makes a point of Helen Keller. Helen Keller was a women who was born deaf and blind, and with the help of a caring teacher successfully overcame those obstacles. She actually even graduated college. This is a truly remarkable story, and most people know of this. What very few people know is that later in her life she became a radical socialist. If we are going to prepare these children for the world, we never want them to be put in a situation were they seem naive, or ill informed and that is what these textbooks do. Helen Keller sang praises to a communist nation. Now, this may not look wonderful on her, and it may well sully her good name, but we are in the business of providing the truth.
Where this ties in with the class is that if we have technology in our classroom, if we have a media friendly, and internet ready classroom; we will never run into something like this. The world is at our finger tips. If a student feel something is incorrect they can post it on their blog and other can discuss it. If they want to learn more about a certain person, they can serf the net. We are in the business of fully educating our students with a wealth of knowledge, and the internet provides a limitless field. And with the addition of e-books different authors of "textbooks" will emerge (or at least i feel). Technology in the classroom is a wonderful thing that is changing every way we look at school. It is revolutionizing everything, and making it better.
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4 comments:
Phil,
I completely agree with your post. I have not read the book you mentioned in your post, but we discussed it in a history class I took at Cortland. I think that a lot of the time teacher limit the information they provide students with because they are afraid that the administration will come down on them. However, not exposing students to the truth only leaves them ignorant.
I think that technology in classrooms would be a great way for teachers to expose students to the truth. Because there is so much information on the web, students could find it in class or use the skills they learn about technology to do research on their own.
Phil,
One of my history professors told me thaton a college level teaching history is harder than any other disipline because college hisotry professors have to re wire their students minds to what actually occured. This, as you pointed out, would not have to be done with online discuisions of subject matter
I actually own a copy of this wonderful book.
I have to agree with you, limiting, leaving out, or ignoring information about parts of history, or whatever the subject that students are exposed to is wrong. Sugar coating our history is actually creating a nation of ignorant citizens. In other words citizens that can be easily led by those in power. We are, in some instances, becoming a flock of sheep that are told when we are hungry, tired, and sleepy.
As Bridget points out, the internet is a great tool for allowing our students to dig deeper and to learn what has been "left out" of the picture. Treating our students to parts of the truth is unknowingly buying into the system of thought control. I realize this may sound a bit radical, but when we are told only a part of the truth, it is almost like we are being controlled and conditioned to think in a specific way. We are not being encouraged to look at other options, this in turn encourages students, adults, whomever, to think on a narrow scale. It doesn't allow for a shift in thought processes, which is one of the reasons I find the internet and technology so promising (despite its downsides). It has the ability to allow people the freedom of not just speech, but the freedom of communication, the freedom of creation, and more importantly the freedom to combine all of these freedoms. Wow, what a concept.
Finally, I just want to say that giving my students all the information, is important. I want my future students to be able to think critically about any topic and to have a better ideal of why they are thinking in this way. Sound decisions can't be based on whim and partial information, but rather these decisions should be based on all the correct information, as given from all sides or perspectives. In this way we will help students to help themselves.
point well made phil. if kids are inherently taught to rely on themselves to become educated then there will no longer be false pretenses about what famous people are really like.
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