Education

You've got a great point that really wasn't made in all of the celebration of her being smacked down (and yes, it was well-deserved because she was being bratty), and a lot of this is due to the state/district curricula themselves.  A lot of history and social studies consists of "teaching to the test" and in some cases, that test doesn't really change much even though history, well, happens.  So you're still spending an inordinate amount of time on the American Revolution or Civil War and maybe a week and a half on everything from 1929-1963.  Then, maybe you touch on what's going on in the world.

I personally would not have known about half of the things that happened when I was growing up in the 1980s if I hadn't read my parents' copies of Time or watched the news on a fairly regular basis.  I didn't necessarily understand Iran-Contra, AIDS, or why people took Al Sharpton seriously in that neon-colored jogging suit, but one thing I did pick up on very quickly was the relationships between events in history, something that quite a few of the students I've had in English and journalism classes don't get.

Your last paragraph, btw, is correct in the really disappointing reality of classrooms.  In recent years, so many have been so quick to get up in arms when a teacher states his or her opinion.  I hear a lot about "liberal indoctrination" in classrooms, although I honestly don't see it (maybe it's because history teachers don't simply spew propaganda?).  And I see a lot of people acting very cautiously and not expressing their opinion, which is a shame.

Good catch on the clip, Clay!  

Hopefully Ms. McCain will seize the opportunity of her internet fame to get a few good history books out of the library, or off an online bookstore.  It's not that hard to catch up on the doings of the Reagan years, or even on the French Revolution.

Emily,

It actually is very time consuming to put the effort into learning the events and facts of history when one has already established such a stamp on his or her own "present."  As children, we still have this level of dependency on others and cannot act very independently for a number of reasons.  Thus, we do not have a wide-reaching level of participation and, I believe, it is easier to learn of the history while not being distracted by the present.

On top of this, given the style of teaching history as noted in the article and previous comments, it may be difficult to comprehend in a new manner different parts of history without having that linear style of presentation. 

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A suggestion to improving the relevance of now to back then, connecting the dots, and so forth could be simply put through by a current events class..  A school would need an individual that would be modest in her participation, but active enough to engage questions that connect the school's teachings to events of today (What does Mr. Smith's discription of such-and-such a war have in common with yesterday's happening?..and so forth).

To address the fear of being over political, biased, or leaning while addressing one's personal take on current events and history, I believe it best to remain mute.  1) There is enough in the world going around close to home and all over the world to serve as a foundation and initation into how to form one's own participatory being.  It would be nice to have a class that steps back and allows self-perspective (what makes us human and not animals).  2) There is a strong enough belief in society's moral ground, despite disagreements on certain issues, that the freedom to gain one's own opinion through peer discussion is greater than being taught one way is the best way at such an early age...or at least I hope.

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Clay, I like very much so the level of interaction that you have with commentators.  Keep the debate alive!

It's always sad when an invited guest doesn't meet the standards expected, but even sadder when the guest invited does meet them. Apparently Ms. McCain was invited on Bill Maher's show for that very reason. I'm sure she has a good brain, despite the obvious lack of exercise she has given it. What really shows is that she's been spoiled; but that is society's fault, and not merely that of her parents nor of their political affiliation. We do have a right to expect that a person who went to good schools should be well educated. However, Bill Maher and you and others in the media merely bolster her perception that she's important by (on the one hand) inviting her to be a guest on his television program, and (on the other), making her lack of intellectual depth the subject of discussion...on air and in print. Why not admit that she would not have been a guest, nor would she be the subject of discussion in your article, had she come from an unknown family? It's a little mischievous to act surprised that Ms. McCain didn't come up to scratch when both you and Mr. Maher appeared to delight in that very fact. She's responsible only for her mental laziness, because I doubt that she is unintelligent. Her education is at fault, and society in general. Both tend to place greater significance on appearance than on ability. That's what women have been fighting for centuries. The media are largely responsible, more than parents and the education system or religions--just as they have ensured that  presidential candidates must possess a good crop of hair. Let's confess the truth: in ranking appearance, wealth, and position higher than depth of character, community service and the ability to think clearly and act with a conscience, most of us are just as guilty of not using our brains.

I think there's a danger to trying to teach too much current events at the expense of past events, which is the reality considering the time limitations of a modern school year.  (Where was Fall Break when I was in high school?)  The danger is that current events are just that: current.  As such, the longer perspective that rounds out our knowledge of a subject isn't available. Harry Truman was considered a failure shortly after his presidency; today he's considered one of the best of the last century.  We're just now learning lessons from economic decisions made a decade ago.  With an increasingly polarized political atmosphere, the present is hardly the best time to be teaching about the present.  And to the degree that we do, as others have already pointed out, the best way to learn about the present is to compare it to the past.  So as far as I'm concerned, the more we can teach the past, from various angles, the better.  I'd much rather have someone be well-versed on the past than well-versed on the present.

It's clear our educational dollars are being well spent. When I'm getting history lessons from enlightened media stars, I know my decent into hell has been interrupted by the refreshing spray of irony.

I graduated in 1999 and we ended history right after World War 1 fortunately I learned about the last century in history independently but I know that 99% of my class mates either didn't car or didn't take the time.

In general I think I had a very good high school education, and probably a decent history education (though it was not by best subject, I fell into the 'like history but not history class' camp) but your article rings very true. In my last American History class I felt like we rushed through the last half of the twentieth century, and I'm not sure we even discussed anything past the Vietnam War, much less the previous decade (I graduated in 2002). I do remember being a bit cocky thinking I didn't really need an education in things I'd already heard about (but really had no understanding of), but it wouldn't have taken much to prove me wrong.

So where is the immediate frame of reference for current events for my peers and I? Either we have none or it's self taught. And if people are worried about teachers being biased, I could show you plenty of sources that are quite a bit more biased than what would ever be allowed in our schools. I don't think it's impossible to have a debate about modern topics (have the teacher be a moderator and let the kids duke it out), and I think a class that dealt with events of the past 2 or 3 decades could have a great potential for essays comparing them to 150 years ago or getting a better perspective on the impacts of past events and beginning to understand the complexities of history (reading a paragraph about people's condition 100 years ago vs. looking at the current world).

I think this also relates to a general failing in a civic education and preparing students to be citizens in the real world. We talk about the bill of rights and some amendments, but what about other rights and laws that have a direct bearing on everyday life (what are a tenant's rights? a protester's rights?). How about contacting your representatives? How taxes are used and collected? or learning about debt and finances? People don't just do work, they are citizens and live lives, so our education should reflect that. (sorry for going a bit off topic).

"I'm gonna get so much sh#% for being on this show."

How could you go onto television and not know what you're talking about? lol ... And that was her first talking point!

I doubt this girl and I could ever have much in common, but I'm cringing throughout this.  It only gets worse when she realizes its not her own blunder for being ignorant.  Your dad would have had a heart attack...you can see it, can't you?

I am not defending Meghan McCain, but in general, how important is it that I remember facts about French History or the Iran-Contra scandal?  What if my talents lie in mathematics or juggling?  I remember when I was studying in Spain and I met a Spaniard who asked me if I knew the works of a certain American author.  He was scandalized that I had not read his work and thought I was completely ignorant that I didn't bother to read important works from my own countrymen.   I am an insatiable reader and a student of letters, yet I cannot possibly read or know everything in that realm.  

I am not convinced that to be respectable citizens we all have to have an encyclopedic knowledge of history, or literature, or whatever.  I think the ideal education exposes students to these ideas in a way that promotes critical thinking - what Clay describes as debate on the perception of the events is spectacular.  Most of us, though, got the dry recitation of facts in the linear, war-dominated view of the world.  It is no wonder we have not all retained those facts!  They were not meaningful to us!  Until we change how we educate and until we identify what is important, we will continue to delight in being appalled at the ignorance of others.