So what's a history teacher to do?
Romanowski urges teachers to support students in critiquing their textbooks and exploring perspectives beyond that of the texts. Teachers can ask their students, for example, to answer this question: "Whose viewpoint is presented, whose omitted, and whose interests are served?" Teachers can have them explore reactions of various Americans to a historical event, such as the attacks of 9/11, including that of the U.S. president, a member of Congress, a relative of a victim, and an Arab-American. Lastly, Romanowski recommends, teachers can use writing assignments to develop students' critical thinking.
Tom Daccord on 09 Aug 10"Drool in the textbook. That's one of my most lasting impressions of high school. I can't tell you the number of times that I fell asleep -- face down in my textbook -- during various history and foreign language classes. And these days -- as a history teacher and as a foreign language teacher -- that's one of the memories I'd rather not impart to my students."
