There were 11 confederate states, not 12. The United States entered World War I in 1916 not 1917.
No one could care less at this point, and most definitely not the students who are required to memorize these facts. However, these trivial facts led to a controversy over fourth grade textbooks that had printed erroneous information about the Civil War.
The Five Ponds Press, one of the known, fairly cheap textbook publishers, published textbooks written by Joy Masoff, who is not a trained historian. It began in October 2010 when a historian Carol Sheriff first brought up a question regarding information in Masoff’s textbook.
The old saying goes, “Do not cry over spilt milk,” and in this case, the spilt milk has angered several historians.
As a history teacher John Hawes so eloquently put it, “We’re Americans, not Virginians,” and that fact holds the truth.
When students or individuals venture out into the world, it is most likely that they will not identify themselves as Virginians. Rather, they will refer to themselves as Americans which is perfectly fine.
But in reality, who really cares? According to the state government, Virginia is required to teach Virginian history, but not even Jonathan York, who teaches the US-VA History, does not focus on our state. Instead of jamming factual information into the hard heads of fourth graders, schools need to introduce ideas and allow students to look beyond the materials in textbook and effectively learn, for once.
Textbooks are merely used for facilitating a discussion. Doting on the information and using it as the primary source of learning only makes the schools go in a downward spiral in teaching. Students will never learn from history textbooks, as better resources can be utilized for teaching about the Civil War or history in general.
For example, in the IB History of Americas class, instead of learning everything from the textbooks, students are given two other books that are filled with historical narratives which provide a different and more engaging view of the Civil War and a number of other historical events that were otherwise brushed upon in a regular textbook.
Hawes mentioned that schools should stop purchasing textbooks altogether. As a teacher, he voiced that he rarely ever uses a textbook. He takes articles from newspapers, studies and books that challenge the reader while sparking interest in students.
Studies show that in the past several years, textbooks have reduced the difficulty of the wording and content which serves to be problematic for students each new school year. Studies also indicate that as each year progresses textbooks are made easier which denies the student the information and challenge needed to move up. Students now are finding it hard to read articles that are geared toward their supposed reading levels, and as the years progress it will only get more difficult.
Nevertheless, this “scandal” is in fact a glitch in the educational system and should be an indication for schools to stop relying on textbooks and find another effectual way of getting lessons across.
