Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
The educational system in today’s society is one that we rely heavily on in order to teach
our younger generations. We expect that our educators have continued their own learning in
order to pass on those values, facts and ideas to the pupils in which they teach. This includes not
only their critical thinking but also the materials and tools that are issued in classrooms, such as
textbooks, case studies, and learning plans. But as by standards of our young generations
learning how can we be sure that these materials are relaying the correct messages and facts and
are we or should we be able to fully expect our educators to know and correct information that
may not always be written with total authenticity. In Loewen’s “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, he
states "..the teaching of history, more than any other discipline, is dominated by textbooks... the
books are boring... [they] exclude conflict or real suspense. They leave out anything that might
reflect badly upon our national character". Instead of relying fully on text books and online
materials, the issue at hand appears to be that the educator’s knowledge of written facts should be
expanded upon so they develop a full understanding and factual basis for all historical events.
The idea that teachers of history are only required to place text books in front of those
being taught with no other, or limited, understanding of the basis in which they are teaching
should not be an idea that is accepted in our society. Teachers, specifically history teachers,
should be required to continually advance their knowledge in this subject. As Bain and Mirel
stated, “..novice history teachers need to acquire “robust content and disciplinary knowledge of
history.”… they must be “conversant in historiography, looking carefully and critically at ways
