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From: Keiko Skow <keiko.skow_at_racinelibrary.info>
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:04:22 -0600
This may be a bit side line from what you have been discussing so far. I just would like to add from my experience as far as history education is concerned.
I was born in the midst of a chaotic after-war (WW II) society in Japan. In school, I was very fond of history and enjoyed my teacher acting as if he were one of the historical figures like from the 12th century. It was as if we were watching Eastern movies. We considered him a very good history teacher. Gradually though, I realized that none of my teachers ever taught us modern (at that time) Japanese history, especially that around the Second World War. I was naive enough to tell myself that teachers simply did not have time to cover that period. However, after high school, that reasoning turned into doubt. It was doubt that the teachers and the educational system were deliberately avoiding to teach the truth about that painful part of own nation's history.
Hein and Selden describe in Censoring History (2000), "History and civics textbooks in most societies present an "official" story highlighting narratives that shape contemporary patriotism. Education helps articulate relations between state and society and sets the boundaries and terms of citizenship."
When I was working in Cologne, Germany in the late 60s, I asked my co-worker about their history education. She said simply that it was a very difficult subject. The war was in the past, however for too many people it was then still a contemporary issue. My good friend, Dr. Butterweck told me that when she finished her Abitur (the final examination at high school) in 1949, she learned Germany's modern history (at that time) only up to the beginning of the First World War. It was only 1968 when there was a students' revolt and the younger generation demanded the teaching of Germany's Nazi's past. She said that it is a "must" in Germany now and is part of their curriculum.
Still to this day the moral cleanup of the Second World War is going on in Japan. As long as that is going on, political influences will be reflected in the content of history education and its treatment. Therefore people have to watch what and how it is taught for a long time to come.
Keiko
-- Keiko Kanehira Skow Youth Services Outreach Librarian Youth Services Department Racine Public Library 75 7th Street Racine, Wisconsin 53403 (262)636-9245 keiko.skow_at_racinelibrary.info
Received on Tue 13 Nov 2012 09:04:22 AM CST
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:04:22 -0600
This may be a bit side line from what you have been discussing so far. I just would like to add from my experience as far as history education is concerned.
I was born in the midst of a chaotic after-war (WW II) society in Japan. In school, I was very fond of history and enjoyed my teacher acting as if he were one of the historical figures like from the 12th century. It was as if we were watching Eastern movies. We considered him a very good history teacher. Gradually though, I realized that none of my teachers ever taught us modern (at that time) Japanese history, especially that around the Second World War. I was naive enough to tell myself that teachers simply did not have time to cover that period. However, after high school, that reasoning turned into doubt. It was doubt that the teachers and the educational system were deliberately avoiding to teach the truth about that painful part of own nation's history.
Hein and Selden describe in Censoring History (2000), "History and civics textbooks in most societies present an "official" story highlighting narratives that shape contemporary patriotism. Education helps articulate relations between state and society and sets the boundaries and terms of citizenship."
When I was working in Cologne, Germany in the late 60s, I asked my co-worker about their history education. She said simply that it was a very difficult subject. The war was in the past, however for too many people it was then still a contemporary issue. My good friend, Dr. Butterweck told me that when she finished her Abitur (the final examination at high school) in 1949, she learned Germany's modern history (at that time) only up to the beginning of the First World War. It was only 1968 when there was a students' revolt and the younger generation demanded the teaching of Germany's Nazi's past. She said that it is a "must" in Germany now and is part of their curriculum.
Still to this day the moral cleanup of the Second World War is going on in Japan. As long as that is going on, political influences will be reflected in the content of history education and its treatment. Therefore people have to watch what and how it is taught for a long time to come.
Keiko
-- Keiko Kanehira Skow Youth Services Outreach Librarian Youth Services Department Racine Public Library 75 7th Street Racine, Wisconsin 53403 (262)636-9245 keiko.skow_at_racinelibrary.info
Received on Tue 13 Nov 2012 09:04:22 AM CST
