Is Rational Thought Being Taught About Schools?

There are some stories that just make you wonder what people are thinking. In this Sunday's Tribune for instance, there was an article titled "Even teachers debate course of social studies." This article discussed how some social studies teachers were opposed to teaching high school students about current events in a way that might put the United States in a bad light. Now, even suggesting something like this seems somewhat odd to me, but there are many things in American culture that I find somewhat odd and usually I let it go. Unfortunately, this is one I couldn't let go -- here's the part that got me, and I quote:

" ..an outspoken group of social studies teachers around the country say such classroom scenes breed cynical, anti-American attitudes. High school students, they argue, simply are not mature enough to engage in critical thinking."

Simply not mature enough to engage in critical thinking. Hmmmm. Interesting. I don't know about you, but I was all about critical thinking (by which I assume is synonymous with 'questioning society') in high school, and I think it would have been better if there was more of it among my peers -- especially since they were only a few years away from being able to vote. I wonder if these 'outspoken group of social studies teachers' think that you mystically gain critical thinking abilities at 18. But then again, there's a different mindset at work here: one that says that it's clearly not useful to democracy that students be taught to think critically. Much better for them to just act all sheep-like, right?

Unfortunately, it didn't stop there:

"Conservative social studies teachers were pushed 'over the edge' by the council's cautious response to Sept. 11 -- including pleas for tolerance on behalf of Arab-Americans and others."

Cause you know, you wouldn't want tolerance. Better to hunt them down and string them up while the passions are high. When was the last time you were at a good lynching? Gotta miss those days.

So are you wondering what exactly conservative teachers think should be taught? Here's a quote:

"The conservatives say a citizen focuses on the positive aspects of American history and tends to minimize the negatives in light of the bigger picture. As [James] Lemming said: 'Kids need a clear, attractive image of our country. A lot of kids coming out of a unit on slavery will say, 'Wow, that was really bad'' He said they should instead frame their thoughts on the incredible achievements of the Constitution and how the United States was the first nation to abolish slavery."

Before I begin I have to point out one thing. The United States abolished slavery in 1865 following the Civil War. But that event was preceded by the British colonies in 1834, France in 1848 and even Cuba in 1860. One would hope that regardless of whether you think what is being taught is positive or negative, at the very least it would be factually correct.

Now, it's clear that there are many 'good' things that happened in the course of American history. But to minimize the bad things only creates a culture ignorant to its own failings, which in the long run could be much more damaging since, as Santayana so famously put it, 'those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' It would be far better for the citizenry of a country to be fully aware of and understand their historical mistakes as a representation of the continuous progress or society, both historically and presently.