4 thoughts on “The history of labor”

  1. Well this isn’t going to change until the tests and standards change. Things are a lot different than they used to be and individual teachers and even school boards don’t have much authority over what’s taught. They must teach what is on the state tests and that is aligned with “standards” that are set on high. (A standard might be something like, “Be able to describe the Bill of Rights.” If this interests anyone out there, google your state’s education standards. They are easily found).

    For example, you can’t graduate high school in Ohio without passing the OGT (Ohio Graduation Test) in every subject. If there aren’t any questions on labor history, you can bet the teachers aren’t going to teach labor history. They have too much to teach that is on the test and too much test prep for when they aren’t teaching actual content. Last year, my kid spent almost every Friday in 7th grade Language Arts on test-taking skills. You know, the old, “cross out the answers you know are wrong” and “if you’re not sure, go with your first guess” type of advice.

    And the text books are designed with the tests in mind. My kid’s math text (junior high) has a section in front dedicated to OAA (the annual NCLB test) test prep. There is a practice test for every week in the school year. So until there is a change in the curriculum as it is set on the state level, don’t expect textbooks to cover labor history. That means if you have a state that is run by Republicans (as Ohio currently is), don’t hold your breath.

  3. No, jawbone, history is rewritten not so much by the “victors” but by those in a position to get away with it.

    I’m halfway into a really good detailed analysis of this, Lies My Teacher Told Me (author escapes me) and it is far more pervasive than even the media’s attempts at “clarifying” history.

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