What of Social Studies

The March 2016 Monthly Review is an extra length (72 page) issue on education that I think people need to read. One article that I have been thinking about is “Testing and Social Studies in Capitalist Schooling.”

Of key note: There are no Common Core(TM) standards for Social Studies. None. Zippo. So does it need to be taught? There is the old adage, if not almost a truism, those that forget history are condemned to repeat it.

Well, if you are not taught history, then what?

As a history major in college and amateur historian (I've never published), I am appalled at social studies textbooks and curriculum.

In NYS, it is almost taught as part of reading and English Language Arts in the early elementary levels. It does become it's own class eventually, but it falls into memorizing names, dates, and that type of droll information that means pretty much nothing. (anything to kill a passion for learning.)

There is a little history – the “Great Man” theory – which believes that events revolve around great people and if that person is not present, pretty much no event. We needed George Washington for the Revolutionary War. (Thomas Paine really). The “Founding Fathers” were critical to the development of democracy in our country (Really? Read the Madison Papers). And so on.

Basically we need someone to save us or do that one great thing in order for history to move on. And this someone is usually a Western European white male. On occasion a (pardon the language) “token” female, African American, Asian, or Hispanic will be mentioned, but they are (as always and in) the minority. So students learn about Susan B Anthony, Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Booker T Washington, Martin Luther King, Caesar Chavez, and others, but only in passing and without the attention of the great white male. And then what we are taught about them is so scanty and only what fits the capitalist agenda. (No one knows that Helen Keller was a socialist or that MLK spoke out against the Vietnam War.)

Another trend that I find disturbing in the writing of Social Studies books is called “literary non-fiction.” And is it sounds, it is very cheesy and is more appropriately termed “historical fiction.” They re supposed to be historical works “written in an engaging manner.” The works that I have seen (I will dig up & post the titles) all qualify as historical fiction. They are based on historical events – the authors just take liberties with the writing – adding characters to make it more interesting, creating dialogue where there is no record of what was specifically said, etc.

A friend of mine teaches Participation in Government – a senior level class. She has basically no guidelines from the state on what must be taught. She must make clear that China is bad (get ready for the next war), but other than that – nothing. On Election Day 2015 and on “Super Tuesday” she had her classes (they are ½ year classes) do to iSideWith.com and take to quiz to see what candidates the aligned up with and what parties they were similar to. The students found it interesting. Whether or not it leads them beyond the 2 capitalist parties will be interesting. (OK – one student tested very high for the Socialist Party USA & he is starting to get vocal about socialism. One of 100 something.)

But I digress from the article. The article's authors talk about how, since there are no standards, will Social Studies disappear?

In a way it already has in New York.

Ninth & Tenth grade Social Studies classes are about preparing for the Tenth Grade Regents exam.

Eleventh grade Social Studies has been called a glorified Regents Prep class. Students are taught more US History in Seventh and Eighth grade.

In Twelfth Grade they have a semester of Economics – a cheerleader class for capitalism and half a year of US Government. And I already wrote about Government class.

When I was in college in the 1980's and early 1990's I Was told by more than one professor to forget everything I was taught about (whatever class they were teaching) because it was wrong in more ways than they can explain.

So, what are we as socialists to do?

We need to preserve history as a class and as a method to help people see the truth of the situation we are in.

We need to get people to read Lies my Teacher Told Me about how textbooks are written to support the capitalist agenda.

We need them to read We the People so that they get a Marxist history of the American state.

We need them to read A People's History of the United States and all the spin-off versions so they get beyond the elitist version of history that they have been force fed throughout their education. (And get over the idea that students don't like to read. Students that I give the Zinn book to almost always finish it and love it.)

We need to preserve history and get them to read more of it.