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Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions)

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Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions)
PREFACE: This topic is not meant to be inflammatory. It is a simple inquiry...

Since I am exploring a career change to elementary education, I am interested in finding out from people from other countries (particularly Britain) what they were taught about American history in terms of its origin.

Feel free to post your experiences or insights on this topic.

Thanks in advance.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me

Last edited by:

Stealth: Jul 4, 2002, 8:29 PM
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Um... In Australia we are told Christopher Columbus discovered it. Thats about it Crazy
Cheers,
Michael Bray
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
The main aspects that most British (14-16) learn about with regard to America are:
  • Prohibition
  • Roosevelt
  • World War Two, World War One
  • Vietnam
  • Korea
  • Civil Right's Movement


At 16-18, Politics students study
  • U.S. Constitution
  • Role of the President


Generally there is very little taught about how America came about.
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Hey I'm sure you'll fit in well in elementary education...

>>
Prohibition
Roosevelt
World War Two, World War One
Vietnam
Korea
Civil Right's Movement


At 16-18, Politics students study
U.S. Constitution
Role of the President
<<

Blimey I was taught none of that....infact I don't remember being taught anything on American history. All we learned in history class was stuff like the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and stuff.

>>
what they were taught about American history in terms of its origin.
<<

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Last edited by:

Paul: Jul 5, 2002, 1:45 AM
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Re: [blackikealamp] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Yeah - Another thing we were taught was that the US didn't help out in World War 2 till they got attacked at Pearl Harbour.
Cheers,
Michael Bray
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Re: [Paul] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
In Reply To:
Blimey I was taught none of that....infact I don't remember being taught anything on American history. All we learned in history class was stuff like the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and stuff.

Yeah..me too. About all we learnt of America was when they got involved in WWII after Pearl Harbor...thats about all I remember Crazy

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Re: [Michael_Bray] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Understandable though, seeing as there were over 60 million Italian, Irish and German hyphenated Americans.
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Re: [Paul] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
In Reply To:
I'm not sure what you mean by that.


This keeps on erasing my messages.

i.e. things such as "state racism", "colonisation", "imperialism", manifest destiny, oregon trail, 1776, etc.

Last edited by:

blackikealamp: Jul 5, 2002, 6:48 AM
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Re: [Donald Rumsfeld] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Hi guys,

I don't know if you will be interested of what we learn in France about the USA.Wink

We have to learn many things about the world's history here. And yes, we learn about the Hastings battle when we are 13 years old. Tongue

Ok, about the United States. When we are 18 we have been told about :

- The independance of the USA and wars between French and Americans against Great Britain to get it.

- Many many things about World War I and II, from the Pacific side to the European side. And later international relationships (Marshall Plan, etc...)

- Who are the people who came to the USA from the 17th to the 20th, the gold rush, the colonization of the country, relationships between the American colons and other big countries like Great Britain and France.

- The cold war and international policies from 1900 to today. And we talk a lot about the relationship between France/USA when Charles de Gaulle was President of France.

- Wars between the colons and Native Americans.

- The geography of the USA from 1900 to today.

- The relationship and the foreign policy of the USA about the rest of America (Canada, South Amercia...).

- All the wars after WWII (South Korea, Vietnam, Cuba crisis, Berlin crisis, etc...)

- Civil struggles from the 19th to today against racism, against war, etc...

Many many other things I will not mention because the list would be so long Crazy. Like you see we learn many things.

Regards,

Gautier.
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Re: [Gautier] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Do other countries teach that Columbus discovered America?
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Re: [Teambldr] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
I don't think any do. At least they don't use the word "discover". At least here it's more carefully qualified, as in:

Columbus was the first European to set foot on the Americas and relay that information back to Europe.

Most would include some info about Leif Erricson and lament the suffering of Native Americans.
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Re: [Donald Rumsfeld] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Surprisingly, Columbus discovering America was taught in the US for many years as was that the original Americans were the Pilgrims.

Columbus of course never set foot on American soil. He never got any closer than the islands south of Florida.

The Vikings were not even the first to cross the Atlantic as well. THis was done by Egyptians prior to them of course.

It has taken many hundreds of years for the American Indians being given credit as the first Americans.

I was just wondering what other countries were teaching their kids about us. Kind of interesting to say the least.Smile
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Thanks to everyone for responding to my initial inquiry. I really appreciate it! It's interesting to learn about what people from other countries have been taught about "Americans" (not in the context of the original inhabitants, Native Americans, but from a socio-political standpoint of how USA came to be).

It's interesting to note that even "American History" that is taught to young "American" citizens is tanted and distorted. In addition, "world history" taught to "American" youth is also distorted in many respects.

I hope that if I ever become a teacher that I'll be sure to research events and issues before presenting it to my classes (of course, the challenge is dealing with a conservative federally dictated school systems that decides what and how things are taught in school).
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Give me a break.

Today's public school system is more concerned with political correctness & making sure Johnny doesn't get his feelings hurt rather than teaching critical thinking, hard sciences, or history.

That's why more and more parents are opting out of public schools.
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Re: [ArmyAirForces] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Okay...you have a break..hehe! Wink

I agree...and that is another challenge as well. That is why I am taking some time to weigh the challenges of teaching to see if I want to go into it.

Just thought that based on the time frame, that I'd pose the question.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me

Last edited by:

Stealth: Jul 6, 2002, 8:11 PM
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
It is a good question. And teaching is a challenge, I come from a family of teachers - they're braver and infinitely more patient than I am.

I couldn't stand the lack of discipline the young punks exhibit these days. After smacking some of the little darlings around I'd be looking for a new job.

Good luck with it! Tongue
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Re: [ArmyAirForces] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
HERE HERE

On the money statement!


My boys are 7 and 9 and the school they attend require that when playing tag they must use two fingers and teo fingers only when playing. Any more and you will have detention.

Last edited by:

Teambldr: Jul 6, 2002, 8:30 PM
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Re: [ArmyAirForces] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
That is why I am looking at elementary level (specifically 4th grade), since they are less problematic (on a relative scale to secondary level). And my mom was teacher who retired this year after teaching for 34 years (highly admirable to say the least), so I am aware of many challenges that teachers face.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Teaching is a wonderful career if you are in a system that allows freedom to teach rather than to meet with specs. My 9 year old ranked on his SAT 9 in the top 1% of the nation. And he was completely mismanaged this year due to a system that places Emglish as a second language students in with kids that are on a much faster pace.

THe system is such that it plays to the 80% in the middle, makes concilations for those in the lower 10% and forgets about the top 10 (except of course when it comes to school recognition, then they like those kids).
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Re: [Teambldr] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Welp, my mom worked in a relatively conservative school district in a suburb of Detroit...but she was able to implement many innovative lesson plans in her curriculum...of course, it was easier to do as a "veteran" teacher....so, I know that no matter which school district I may end up teaching in, it will take time to implement creative lesson plans...

One concept I learned from a new teacher is "benchmarking"...which is can be identified through different testing methods like "standardized tests" that is supposed to identify a student's "progress"...I support standardization, but I think that there needs to be more flexible "benchmarks" to accurately evaluate student's progress, since one thing that standardized testing does not take into account is difference in learning styles and behaviours.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me
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Re: [Stealth] Happy Birthday USA! (Questions about Perceptions) In reply to
Well I wish you the very best. We all need good teachers. Cool