[NCAH] New History Wars

Fri Sep 5 13:00:38 CST 2014

Melinda and others,
    I know EXACTLY what you're saying.  I was on the AP World History 
team that revised the syllabus and wrote the exams, etc.  I kept telling 
my ASU colleagues who frowned at the AP scores being used to count for 
college credits that the work in the AP curriculum at the high school 
level was a higher standard than most of what happened in the very over 
crowded freshman college classroom.  Also, at least at many schools, 
it's adjunct or "continuing contract" faculty who are teaching [most of 
whom are talented teachers and historians] these courses and, indeed, 
the emphasis on assessment seems to be a case of the tail wagging the 
dog because it requires cookie cutter testing so the evaluations can be 
consistent between classes and across institutions in order to have a 
"standard" measure, i.e., using the dates and names approach to history 
that our grandparents would easily recognize and which most students 
dislike. 
    Only at the upper levels of the college history curriculum are the 
wonderful sounding goals of the AP program goals a prospect.  By then 
the prospective majors have been reduced and even those remaining have 
to be re-tooled in order to be successful.  The assessment issue remains 
a problem.  At schools where secondary teacher training occurs, new 
public school teachers are often so disappointed at how they're expected 
to teach [along with many other issues they face], they give up and go 
into sales or some other better paying career.

Dorothea

Melinda Pash wrote:
> I found the article interesting, but very wrong in one instance. The author states, "Fewer and fewer college professors are teaching the United States history our grandparents learned — memorizing a litany of names, dates and facts — and this upsets some people. “College-level work” now requires attention to context, and change over time; includes greater use of primary sources; and reassesses traditional narratives." I find that the push for assessment (put forward by SACS and all too readily accepted by college administrators who seem to care less about the quality of the educational product being produced than about retention and expansion of the student body) is forcing more and more history professors to water down classes so that student success can be measured quantitatively (multiple choice anyone?). In other words, I think that we are going in the other direction, back toward memorizing names and dates and away from thinking critically and meaningfully about the past.
>
> This is also related to your other email, Dorothea. With the absence of tenure (as is true at the institution where I am employed), professors have little control over the content and format of their own classes. That power rests in the hands of people who seldom have taught in the classroom and have many concerns other than educational quality. At my institution, standardization is the new-old buzzword and it has been intimated that within the next couple of years all history classes will have to follow the same common syllabus with the same assignments/assessments. In other words, not even the parts of the past that will be emphasized will be left to the instructor's discretion. What is happening in our public schools (emphasis on pedagogy rather than on teaching and fanatical devotion to checking the right boxes) is trickling up in the name of accountability. What is happening at my school now will be happening at yours within a decade. 
>
> Melinda
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>   
>> From: David Dorondo <dorondo at wcu.edu>
>> Sent: Sep 5, 2014 11:08 AM
>> To: Listserv of the North Carolina Association of Historians <ncah at nchistorians.org>
>> Subject: Re: [NCAH] New History Wars
>>
>> Good stuff, this. Thanks for sending!
>>
>> D. R. Dorondo, Obl.S.B., D.Phil.
>> Sossoman Professor of History
>> Department of History
>> Western Carolina University
>> Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
>>
>> Tel: 828-227-3908
>> E-mail: dorondo at email.wcu.edu
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: NCAH [mailto:ncah-bounces at nchistorians.org] On Behalf Of Dorothea Hoffman [Martin]
>> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 7:24 PM
>> Subject: [NCAH] New History Wars
>>
>> As the new semester starts I think this story is very informative, especially for those teaching US history.  The College Board is deeply engaged in the debate, of course.
>>
>> http://nyti.ms/1pjNrIF
>>
>> Best,
>> Dorothea 
>>
>>
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>
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