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Showing posts from December, 2019

Hard History: Loewen's Teaching What Really Happened

One of my favorite things about studying education is the opportunity to read, watch, or even hear another educator speak about their views on learning theories, teaching strategies, content delivery, and best practice. While I tend to read more about general teaching strategies and the major learning theories that form the foundation of education–based philosophy and thought, I recently took the opportunity in one of my education courses to read a book about teaching the humanities! Written by James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me , I’ve spent the past few weeks reading Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History. Stuffed full of criticisms for the modern U.S. social studies curriculums and textbooks, Loewen’s Teaching What Really Happened had me cheering at many points, questioning my own experiences at others, and respectfully disagreeing at his remaining arguments. With a central focus on teach