What do we put in history books? What do we leave out? What IS history? There are so many things that have influenced our country, but not everything is able to be written down in a collected source. There comes a point when you have to pick and choose what goes in the books to be studied. There will always be a discrepancy between publishers but nothing will ever satisfy everyone.
During the high school years students are taught to learn all about the subject they are studying, memorize it, and then regurgitate it for the tests. This does not allow for true learning. So, in that case what does it matter what is put in the books if it is just being used to pass a test? If someone is really passionate about a subject they will research it further. This would be knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Because everyone has a specific area that they flourish in everyone will have knowledge of different things and together we can learn a lot more than we ever could on our own.
But if it does not matter what we put in history books is it even important that we know our history? The answer to this question is yes, of course. If we don't know what has happened in the past how can we prevent it from happening again? It is important to know our nation's history even if we don't know every single event that has happened.
So my overall point is that it is impossible to include everything in history books. The things that cannot be included are still out there and odds are that someone knows enough about them to share their wealth of information with you.
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Hello Ariel!
ReplyDeleteI think your blog is super duper... Anyways, I completely agree with what you had to say about "If we don't know what has happened in the past how can we prevent it from happening again?" That makes complete sense. People are always saying that history repeats itself, so we should be aware of what has happened in the past. I also agree with the fact that we can't include everything in the history books... that would be like a gazillion encyclopedias worth of stuff.
Sorry about the confusion on my blog as well. I was being pretty sarcastic about the whole "living in a world like that in 1984." I definately wouldn't like to live in a place like that. Sometimes it's kind of hard to come across as sarcastic in writing, and it ends up sounding pretty sincere. My apologies :)
Ariel (:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you when you said that high school students are just taught the material for the tests and then they can just throw it on the back burners, and basically we could be learning about pointless information.
And your also right that without history we could have already repeated some of the mistakes our country has already made.
I enjoyed reading your blog (:
Thanks guys!
ReplyDeleteOhh! Got it Kaitlin. no worries. :)
Hey Ariel!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your point. What you said about students having to regurgitate information for earning a grade - rather than to actually learn it - is very relatable. That subject has actually been on my mind for quite some time. I believe in attending school to learn life lessons and experience new things; not to sit in a classroom and frantically fill in bubbles while praying for an A.
I also agree with you in that history is all a matter of perspective. It is very important that we know what led up to the present day; it should pretty much be a priority for us to know what we come from. I think it doesn't matter exactly how we study history because there is no right way to tell the story of our past. There will always be different accounts!
Anyway, I loved your ideas, Ariel. Very creative thinking! Keep it up, girl! :)
thanks Carly!!
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