21 October 2009

"Shockingly Ignorant"

In the early 1980s I was in graduate school and the focus of my thesis in history was the "movement for international education during the years 1900-1925" in American high schools. The topic gripped my interest due to the fact that there had been a substantial "peace education" movement in the schools during the early years of the century just prior to and during the years of the most cataclysmic war in human history (WW 1). That contradiction was worth exploring.

My research was being done in the context of rather dramatic criticisms being leveled at our schools for not emphasizing the world enough in the curriculum. Ernest Boyer, for example, made the following stinging observation in his 1983 book, "High School: A Report on Secondary Education in America,":

"Today's high school curriculum barely reflects the global view. The world has shrunk, yet American young people remain shockingly ignorant about our own heritage and about the heritage of other nations."

Harsh words, but have things changed much since 1983? How are we doing with all this in 2009? If we believe in the power of education, then it follows that schools have a special responsibility in this regard. Note the following observation from Cyrus Vance who served as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter:

"It is in our schools and in our universities that each generation first learns of its world. The complexities of this uncertain age thus impose special responsibilities on them to create a deeper comprehension of global issues that will make the years to follow more understandable to the body politic" ("The World in the Curriculum," 1981).

If we accept Vance's premise that schools have special responsibilities to "create a deeper comprehension of global issues," then we certainly have a lot of work to do. To those of you that are completing 21st Century World in November of 2009, or any others that may care to weigh in, I pose the following questions for your reflection and response:

1. Do you believe that we are doing enough in educating students about the wider "world" in our curriculum, or are we perpetuating "shocking ignorance" of the globe? Explain.
2. Can you select 2 or 3 things that you have learned about over the past 8 weeks that you believe fall in the category of "need to know" for ALL students? Explain.
3. Do you have suggestions for improving our approach concerning global education in our schools?

Have at it people. I hope to hear from many of you and you will receive some additional credit on your grade for your efforts.


Sierra Fox said...


Byron Finck said...


Jordan Tranberg said...


Dalton L. Ebert said...

Our school is kind of in the middle of what I would call "well informed" and "ill informed". We do have more of an opening for opportunity with classes like 21st Century Word, and it is a class that a lot more kids should take if they ever want to understand more than your ABC's or 123's. In a way, we are still very ignorant to the bigger world, half the kids in high school probably can't tell you the real reasons we are in Afghanistan and Pakistan, yet the option is there to learn about it so you have to wonder if they are being selective in what they hear about and learn about. Every kid should have a good understanding of why we are in the middle east and why there are so many disputes going on over what we are doing in those countries. Students should also know what foreign policy is and why it plays such a huge role in what we do in other countries. I think we are doing an alright job but we could definately have more news available, and suggest websites with news on them to get students' brains stirred up and interrested in the world outside of Black River Falls, or for that matter, outside of Wisconsin and the United States.

Forrest ↔ Whiterabbit said...

1→ No, I don't think our school district and schools in general are doing all they possibly can to advocate global awareness. In school it seems that only the surface is scratched and students come out of school and face the world with a blurred vision and a vague understanding of the World. Although I don't think this is giving everyone enough credit. I think everyone knows the basics and functions of the world, their not as ignorant as its made to seem, people are able to make educated decisions. But I think a lot of how students and people learn and act how you've raised, because most likely you'd take the same positions as you're family. Though I will say this for schools, After taking 21st century World I understand a lot more about the US, Foreign policy and the back story behind the world, than I did before, so in that sense I think

2→ 1 - We should all know what's happening at home, this is most important everyone should at the very least know how our government operates Our current leaders, future aspirations and the crisis's and triumphs our country is facing. 2 - The Middle East, It seems that everywhere you turn and everyone you ask seems to have a different view and knowledge of the real story of the Middle East I think its important to get everyone on the same page so that, we know what's really happening and what all those terms the media uses really mean, so that everyone can make educated decisions and opinons.


Levi Miles said...




Moriah Deno said...


2.) I think the biggest thing that people need to know is what is going on within our country. America is at 'war' with Iraq and Afghanistan. That's something that is in the news everyday and everyone should know about it. We covered the Afghan war heavily in this class and it's something where now, if someone doesn't even know what it is, I'd be saying they're completely ignorant. The second thing would be what and how the Cold War has affected the U.S. Knowing about the Cold War and how the relationship with the U.S., the Soviet Union and Cuba played out. I think that people may see the Cold War as boring and it didn't necessarily do anything to America so why study it, but really taking the time this term, showed that many of the things we do now, were because of the Cold War.


Adam Nichols said...
