How much history do you read? Or what else if not history?

[Specter Von Baren]

I think NA school systems (can't speak to others) do a huge disservice to history studies by focusing on wrote memorization of banal facts.

That pretty much applies to every subject taught in murican schools. They just want you to memorize banal facts, and not think or apply knowledge properly.

Could you imagine an Extra History or History Guy or John Greene or The Great War or Cynical Historian or anything from Praeger U being taught in schools? If you focus on anything other than dates, you get criticised for being 'too political'. You can't have opinions in school or talk impacts from events becuase that makes you biased.

Actually there's a channel called OverSimplified that's done some videos on historical events and had numerous people post in the comments that their teacher actually showed their class his American Revolution series.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Webzwithaz/videos (Link to the channel)

 

[Agema]

I suppose I would agree that the failures of curricula and class structure/environment could moreso be indicators or symptoms of a long-lasting greater underlying problem (or even an entirely permanent problem, I guess, depending on the student), or just the reality of an individual's willingness/aptitude or lack thereof to learn. I just like to optimistically think that at least particularly for the U.S. and its systems of education, a considerable greater amount of effort could be applied to improving or standardizing those factors of education outside of the individual in a highly effective manner. Or at least for them to be more effective than they are now; to be able to more successfully generate interest where previously none existed.

I certainly don't want to pass the buck for educational issues entirely to those responsible for the development and teaching of curricula and the logistical issues of classroom sizes and environments, in any case. I just feel like they are and have been things practically ignored in common American education at the moment, even if they are being noticed more often now.

I wouldn't like to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the US education system, especially as there can be so much variability at local levels (even within classes in the same school) and I just don't know enough about it.

It's just that as per current pedagogic theory deriving from Jean Piaget, the concept is that the student is the one doing the learning and the student constructs their own learning. They have their own motivations, interests, and styles of learning; the job of the teacher is therefore that of a facilitator, having to account for as many of these different students as possible. Engagement is considered a very major objective, even in higher education - although students can select their degree, in practice many are ambivalent or disinterested in their own choice.

Curriculum is often a little stricter. This is usually the product of experts (with occasionally political interference) deciding what students need to know, although even then alongside mandatory "core" aspects of any one topic there is normally plenty of room for choice in certain areas where teachers and students can pursue optional topic

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I enjoyed history at school when I had a class with whom to discuss it, but as a solo area of self-study I found it too dense to truly enjoy reading it. At the moment I'm trying to catch up on some classics of fiction. I'm onto Catcher in the Rye and all I have to say on it is, thanks J.D. Salinger, the annoying and whiny young asshole you've created in Holden Caufield lives on to torment us all in the guise of hipsters.

 

[stroopwafel]

I enjoyed history at school when I had a class with whom to discuss it, but as a solo area of self-study I found it too dense to truly enjoy reading it.

I'm the exact opposite, hated history at school but now that I am (much) older I devour one history book after another. I guess it's much easier for me now to intuitively understand the reasons and motivations for historic events so it speaks to my imagination much more and leaves me endlessly intrigued. History is basically nothing more than humanity's struggle against itself and others and the highs and lows of human nature with it's many contradictions. That schizophrenic divide that is no different today than it was yesterday. There are no certainties in life but history atleast provides the comfort of perspective. That is really what makes reading about history enjoyable for me.