Re: High School Social Studies

I never had an economics course that taught someone how to balance a budget or that dealt with personal finance. They were centered around the law of supply and demand, as well as other ways to interpret patterns and trends within large sets of data. What people equate to "economics" in their responses is more like accounting than anything. I would assume that kids are taught an introductory overview of how S&D works in the world of free-markets. Never heard of "personal finance", so I have no opinion on that.

I'd guess that kids are taught a similar curriculum to what I had in high school. My history and civics classes would have been similar to the courses you have taught. We certainly didn't study Critical Race Theory, and I doubt high school kids do today either. From what I have gathered, CRT is a graduate level theoretical subject in law school. I probably had too much history memorization and not enough civics and how governments work. I believe kids should have a better understanding of how their environment works - civics - than an understanding of past events in far away places. Both are important, but one so more than the other.

In general, I wish kids got more practical application of what they learn. More math and science labs. More creative writing. More doing, less memorization. It helps make concepts less abstract and more memorable. And while we're at it, we need more creativity in our society. Music and arts are fun and important to society but they also nurture creativity that is used in ANY field of study.

o2bnclemson

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Feb 16, 2023, 9:22 AM

Thank you for your service teaching our kids!

I think history should be the most important class in school. It's the closest you can come to knowing/predicting the future. As it's been said, those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. And we do. Time and time again.

It seems that these days history is focused on pointing out our mistakes and all the negatives of the world. There's certainly a place for that, but history is about LEARNING from our mistakes and I think too many schools spend too much time dwelling on the mistakes.

America is a great country not because we've never made mistakes, but because we (eventually) recognize our mistakes, learn from them, and attempt to better ourselves.

Take all the publicity about police abuses, for example. You'd think that there's been a huge surge in cases of police abusing suspects, but that's not true at all. What's increased is the publicity of it. 20-30-40 years ago, nobody really paid it any attention. Can we not look at these incidents and recognize that it's good and shows progress that we're giving these matters the attention they deserve and not letting the police get off with whatever they want, whether malicious or accidental or other, but we're now actively making sure they they operate fully within the constraints of the law and of basic decency?

I've often thought about teaching history, but I don't think I'd last a week in the public schools these days. February - black history month - would be my favorite. It seems everybody talks about King, and Tubman, and frequently, these days, Obama, and all that's good. But what about the men and women who paved the way - often with flesh and blood - for what those people were able to accomplish? I've read a lot about blacks in the military, from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam. They endured much - not for what their country WAS, but for what they knew their country COULD BE, and while they may not have lived to see it, their kids and grandkids did. Show the kids the movie Glory, or Tuskeegee Airmen, or the new movie Devotion. Or the Jackie Robinson movie 42. Show them what these people endured to prove that blacks were equal in general, and sometimes, as individuals, superior even. Give them heroes they can truly idolize and look up to. History is full of examples, but it seems we dwell on slavery and all those injustices, which certainly warrants attention, but leaves them with a victim mentality. Teach about the overcomers and they can be left with victor mentalities.

My 15 cents

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High School Social Studies

CRT

Are you a teacher? Are you in a high school every day?***

You must be a comedian***

Re: CRT

Re: CRT

Re: CRT

Maybe not in the curriculum, but it's a thing.***

Re: Maybe not in the curriculum, but it's a thing.***