5 ms·

Why kind of effed up country votes on history?

falcor84 8y ago
This sounds very strange to me too, but I assume that in other countries history teachers also have to follow a curriculum given to them by some central authority, no?
krapp 8y ago
Politicizing history and the teaching of history is hardly an American-only problem, particularly where that history is contentious.
tonetheman 8y ago
The US. https://www.jacksonville.com/news/national/2017-08-22/how-civil-war-taught-school-depends-where-you-live https://www.jacksonville.com/news/national/2017-08-22/how-ci...
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znahz 8y ago
As the two world wars have shown us, history is written by victors. That also applies to democratic votes.
SteveGregory 8y ago
Just wait until you hear about science.
evgen 8y ago
Every country does, it is just the case that in most of them you do not vote on the people who set curriculum standards directly. Who decided what would be in your history textbook and how it would be presented? I can promise you that some politician is at the top of that food chain. In some ways the UK is far worse because it is carefully hidden behind layers of ossified class hierarchy and centuries of a toxic mix of arrogance and prejudice.
z3phyr 8y ago
People look for legitimacy in history, ofcourse it plays a huge role.
Bulkington 8y ago
This is very much a state-by-state issue. Of note, however, because Texas is so large and orders so many textbooks, and because publishers don't want to customize their titles for all 50 states, the Texas version winds up elsewhere. And in Texas, successful candidates for the state Board of Education are often right-wing ideologues. "How Texas Inflicts Bad Textbooks on Us" https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/06/21/how-texas-inflicts-bad-textbooks-on-us/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/06/21/how-texas-inflic...
ardy42 8y ago
> Why kind of effed up country votes on history? Would you prefer the history curriculum be overseen by an unelected group of party cadres? Voting is a lot better than many systems currently in use. If there's an issue, at least you have the chance to influence things for the better.

This sounds very strange to me too, but I assume that in other countries history teachers also have to follow a curriculum given to them by some central authority, no?

krapp 8y ago

Politicizing history and the teaching of history is hardly an American-only problem, particularly where that history is contentious.

tonetheman 8y ago

The US. https://www.jacksonville.com/news/national/2017-08-22/how-civil-war-taught-school-depends-where-you-live https://www.jacksonville.com/news/national/2017-08-22/how-ci...

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znahz 8y ago

As the two world wars have shown us, history is written by victors. That also applies to democratic votes.

SteveGregory 8y ago

Just wait until you hear about science.

evgen 8y ago

Every country does, it is just the case that in most of them you do not vote on the people who set curriculum standards directly. Who decided what would be in your history textbook and how it would be presented? I can promise you that some politician is at the top of that food chain. In some ways the UK is far worse because it is carefully hidden behind layers of ossified class hierarchy and centuries of a toxic mix of arrogance and prejudice.

z3phyr 8y ago

People look for legitimacy in history, ofcourse it plays a huge role.

Bulkington 8y ago

This is very much a state-by-state issue. Of note, however, because Texas is so large and orders so many textbooks, and because publishers don't want to customize their titles for all 50 states, the Texas version winds up elsewhere. And in Texas, successful candidates for the state Board of Education are often right-wing ideologues. "How Texas Inflicts Bad Textbooks on Us" https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/06/21/how-texas-inflicts-bad-textbooks-on-us/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2012/06/21/how-texas-inflic...

ardy42 8y ago

> Why kind of effed up country votes on history? Would you prefer the history curriculum be overseen by an unelected group of party cadres? Voting is a lot better than many systems currently in use. If there's an issue, at least you have the chance to influence things for the better.