These are great. Thanks for sharing. This is what I was thinking about when I suggested themes-based studies.
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Yep. I donât recall my US history course covering the second half of the 20th century. But, that might be because Iâm so old the second half of the 20th century hadnât happened when I was in HS. 
I agree that the closer you get to the present, the greater the chance of being accused of taking sides in current political debates.
classes have real constraints for time. it isnât possible to teach everything, right? that said, the inclusion of some event or events or actions that were real are all candidates to be included, regardless of how unfavorably they make one side look. history as a subject need not be used to create a mythological person or country who did no wrong.
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In my school system, ânot muchâ. I had one âworld historyâ (really, European history) class as an elective in summer school. (I was trying to get required classwork done in anticipation of spending my senior year as an exchange student.) It was a âregular classâ (as opposed to AP or college-prep) as one might expect given the nature of summer school for an inner city public school system in the US, and was extremely underwhelming.
I got more British history from my English lit class than from âWorld historyâ.
EDIT: ISTR that the requirement for graduation was:
- One year of US history
- One semester of state history
- One semester of economics
- Two semesters of âother social studiesâ (geography, civics, world history)
Bookmarked for future use.
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Totally agree that there are many contentious events in our histories that need to be discussed. This is especially true in US history by virtue of its dominant global role starting with WWII.
I would love to be a fly on the wall listening to current high school students discussing the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the merit of helping to remove popular leaders such as Mosaddeq while supporting brutal dictators, critical race theory, etc.
I would hope that the students would accept that some past actions were wrong but that there is also much to be proud of. Sadly, being a bit critical of your history is viewed in some quarters as being unpatriotic as are suggestions for changes that could make the US an even better country. I would hope that teachers could foster an environment of healthy debate around contentious topics that would diminish this unpatriotic tag.
so much this.
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I got curious, and looked up what the school system I graduated from currently requires for graduation from high school:
- 4 years of English
- 4 years of Math (can include Algebra I/II or Geometry taken in middle school)
- 3 years of Science (âLab scienceâ, Biology, and Chemistry or Physics)
- 3.5 years of Social Studies (US history, World History or World Geography, semester of US Government, semester of Economics, semester of Personal Finance)
- 1 year of Wellness, 1 semester of Physical Education
- 2 years in the same foreign language
- 1 year of âfine artsâ
- 3 electives
And, because I was curious and my query is taking forever to finish, the local high schoolâs graduation requirements look like:
- 4 credits English
- 3.5 credits Social studies (1 of US History, ½ of Civics, 1 of âModern Global Studiesâ, 1 elective)
- 1 credit Fine Arts (music, visual arts, dance, or drama)
- 1 credit World Language
- 0.5 credit humanities elective
- 3 credits math
- 3 credits science (1 of âIntegrated Scienceâ in 9th grade, 1 of Biology, 1 elective)
- 3 credits STEM electives (includes âcareer and technical educationâ and JROTC)
- 1 credit physical education & wellness
- 1 credit health & safety
- 0.5 credit personal finance
- 1 credit âMastery Based Assessmentâ (some kind of capstone class?)
- 2.5 credits other electives
- 20 hours community service
Cooke must have went to some fancy Eastern Canadian schools cuz us hillbillies from Saskatchewan learned a whole lot of nothing about the American Revolution.
A little more checking (itâs a day for long queriesâŚ), turned up this summary of elementary and middle school social studies from my old school system:
Thatâs quite a bit more organized than what I remember, but I was in various parochial schools for 1st-6th grade, so⌠
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My education was anything but fancy as I was an Ontario hillbilly.
I went to a one room rural Ontario schoolhouse for my first 8 grades of schooling and then a small town (under 1500 people) high school. The educational benefit of attending a one room schoolhouse was that our teacher was only teaching my grade for one-eighth of the day so I had lots of free time. I enjoyed reading so I was able to read every book in our modest school library.
My grandfather left Ontario and homesteaded in Saskatchewan in 1905 but returned to farm in Ontario two years later. I guess Saskatchewan was not cosmopolitan enough for him? Or the winters too cold?
Did you learn about the founding of the KKK in grade 8?
I remember my 8th grade social studies class being more generic âAmerican HistoryââŚor maybe that was 7th gradeâŚbut the klan would have been mentioned.
Of course, Forrest Street ran along one side of my middle school, so we were aware of the implications of that extra ârâ. (Last time I visited, I noticed the street name had lost an ârâ.)
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My old HS, at some point after I graduated, began requiring some âcapstone reportâ bullshit thing from seniors, because someone high school somewhere was doing it and the HS decided wow, thatâs really cool, we need to show our kids are college-bound and ready for the world too! Oh sure, high school kids already have to deal with homework, jobs, extra-curriculars, friends and peer pressure, etc. - but obviously theyâve all got time to do research and write up a capstone report and present it to faculty for approval before they graduate, so some administrator and a few school board members can check off a box that theyâre doing a âreally good job running the school.â
I think the idea lasted about 3 years before someone finally admitted gosh, this is incredibly stressful and time-consuming for seniors, and our teachers donât want to put in effort helping ~200 kids do their reports on top of all the other stuff weâre asking them to do, maybe we can do away with it.
Probably could have used some of that time to teach stuff they never got to in U.S. History (and probably still donât today).
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I found the curriculum you displayed to be so interesting that I checked out the social studies curriculum for my province of British Columbia. It would probably be considered woke but you may find it interesting to compare it to your state curriculum.
There is an entire segment in Grade 12 dedicated to studying genocides so there is no shying away from tough topics.
What about the French & Indian War?
I recall something about Napoleon?
Itâs also possible I didnât retain anything.
Interesting. As fundamental as they were, maybe the Saskatchewan curriculum didnât include the French and Indian War and The American Revolution as they were viewed as âEastern Thingsâ?
I expect that you at least were taught about Saskatchewaner Tommy Douglas, the father of Canadian Medicare who was also the grandfather of the actor, Kiefer Sutherland. Or that the comedian Leslie Nielsen was born in Saskatchewan? Or that Leslie Nielsenâs brother Erik was Deputy Prime Minister? That is important history!
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Is there a discrete class on âGenocide Studiesâ offered to 12th graders, or is that just one module in a larger, required class?
I canât see that guide being implemented in the public schools of at least half the US, due to the political climate down here.
The âGenocide Studiesâ course is a semester-long separate class. It is not a required course. My Grade 12 granddaughter was unable to fit it into her timetable but took âSocial Justiceâ instead which she quite enjoyed.
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/social-studies/12/social-justice