Educational Values
April 3rd, 2007In England,
Schools are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Governmentbacked study has revealed. It found some teachers are reluctant to cover the atrocity for fear of upsetting students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial. There is also resistance to tackling the 11th century Crusades - where Christians fought Muslim armies for control of Jerusalem - because lessons often contradict what is taught in local mosques. The findings have prompted claims that some schools are using history ‘as a vehicle for promoting political correctness’. The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, looked into ‘emotive and controversial’ history teaching in primary and secondary schools. It found some teachers are dropping courses covering the Holocaust at the earliest opportunity over fears Muslim pupils might express anti-Semitic and anti-Israel reactions in class.
It isn’t the first time something major in history is whitewashed. The truth is that American textbooks through high school gloss over important details — Truman, for instance, was given about a page in my history textbook, and that was mainly a paragraph with a picture describing his role in the atomic bomb — and so do other textbooks. The Japanese pretend that the Rape of Nanking and the crimes of its ilk during WWII didn’t happen; Russia is the most peaceful nation in the world’s history; the French valiantly fought WWII with their resistance until the Americans worked up the courage to help out a little; the American indian — nay, the World’s Indian — wasn’t wiped out by white folk…okay, they were, but the governments give them reservations now, so it’s okay.
The last place to learn about history is in the classroom. But still, I’m disappointed in any attempt to wipe out history for fear of offending segments of the public in any place. It simply isn’t right…but that’s education today.
On another educational note, Newt Gingrich has joined John McCain as the Pander Bear to watch in this Presidential cycle by calling for the abolishment of bilingual education.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with “the language of living in a ghetto” and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages. “The government should quit mandating that various documents be printed in any one of 700 languages depending on who randomly shows up” to vote, said Gingrich, who is considering seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He made the comments in a speech to the National Federation of Republican Women.
“The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. … We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto,” Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100. “Citizenship requires passing a test on American history in English. If that’s true, then we do not have to create ballots in any language except English,” he said. Peter Zamora, co-chair of the Washington-based Hispanic Education Coalition, which supports bilingual education, said, “The tone of his comments were very hateful. Spanish is spoken by many individuals who do not live in the ghetto.”
He said research has shown “that bilingual education is the best method of teaching English to non-English speakers.” Spanish-speakers, Zamora said, know they need to learn English. “There’s no resistance to learning English, really, among immigrants, among native-born citizens,” he said. “Everyone wants to learn English because it’s what you need to thrive in this country.” In the past, Gingrich has supported making English the nation’s official language. He’s also said all American children should learn English and that other languages should be secondary in schools. In 1995, for example, he said bilingualism poses “long-term dangers to the fabric of our nation” and that “allowing bilingualism to continue to grow is very dangerous.”
Bilingual programs teach students reading, arithmetic and other basic skills in their native language so they do not fall behind while mastering English. On voting, federal law requires districts with large populations of non-English speakers to print ballots in multiple languages.
My friend Kap pointed out, with regard to the bold, that “the masses turned out for Newt’s speech!” I thought it was the funniest thing.
Jokes aside, his speech is alarming. Not because it’ll change anything, as it won’t and shouldn’t. Bilingual education in this country is harmless — it’s Dora the Explorer, not Are You Afraid of The English Language? and should be treated accordingly. No, the scary thing is that he’s appealing to the lowest wrung of the Republican Party, the xenophobes. I’m sure he’ll get no traction but it’s shameless all the same, and I daresay, it’s more disgusting because the only reason he’s running is to make money.