The State of American History Education
Samuel Wineburg's Why Learn History (When It's Already on Your Phone) is a consideration of the various aspects of teaching American history at the elementary and secondary levels. He looks at various topics including assessments designed to test knowledge of American history, attempts by the federal government to improve history education, Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, and using both vertical and lateral reading when using internet sources. He concludes the book with a look at the changing pantheon of American historical figures. I have two take-aways from this book. The first one is to use the triage approach to teaching; we cannot possibly teach everything we want kids to know so we need to prioritize what is most important and essential. Second, using historical context is a must when looking at the past; Wineburg asserts this in the chapter about Howard Zinn. I did find this book quite useful, relevant, and well-written; I recommend it to anyone who teaches American history at the elementary or secondary level.
