Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History (Multicultural Education Series)

I've taught Seventh Grade World History for 22 years and am now for the first time also teaching Eighth Grade American History from the earliest colonies to the eve or World War I. When I was starting out and didn't know any better, I tried teaching from the district-issued textbooks. My failure rate was high, my students hated the class, and the entire enterprise was frustrating for both me and my students.Over time, without knowing anything about this book, I discarded the textbooks and began teaching using other materials, some of which I purchased and some of which I created. The difference was overwhelmingly positive. I also began looking into the textbook industry and came to realize that History textbooks are not written to teach history, but to provide as many facts in as inoffensive a way as possible. In other words, the purpose of History textbooks is to sell History textbooks.This wonderful volume has done two things for me: First, it has validated what I have always argued; and second, it is providing specific guidance to the teaching of American History, which I am doing for the first time. I'm finding the information to be valuable, and the guidance to be essential. It has already helped me become a better teacher.I recommend this book highly and without qualification. It is invaluable if you are a teacher, and also if you are a parent or guardian of a student taking a history class from a teacher who is using a textbook.

Overall, I think this was a solid four-star book for various reasons. I still find the flaw that Loewen mentions in his other work too many times because it took away from the point of this book. I also have issues with his stereotyping of teachers as women and always using the pronouns ‘her’ for a teacher. Teachers can be of any gender and using the pronoun ‘they’ would have been more inclusive. While Loewen has an understanding of racial discrimination, he needs education on gender discrimination. I do see this book particularly useful for US history teachers, but it would be nice to have tips for World History teachers as well (yes I am aware this was written targeted towards the US History curriculum but why does US History matter more than World History, shouldn’t they both get equal frameworks and tips for improvement).

James Loewen offers a unique perspective of history based on perception of how race plays a major role in our view of history. While this has the flavor of revisionist history, some of his observations as a scholar of history is very compelling. What made the English Patient one of the most compelling book I have ever read was when Ondaatje asked the question, "Would US be so willing to drop the bomb on Germany as they did on Japan if things were different?" Loewen asks similar questions and in asking makes the reader think. I have read History of White Trash which supports Loewen's point that race is a driving factor. Does Social Darwinism still control our world view even if we say we have progressed as a society past the evils of slavery and Jim Crow. He challenges the reader and for that this provided a good read for sure.

I have found this book to follow what I have tired to do in my classroom. I rarely have a textbook and when I do the students enjoy my commentary if we are reading aloud, "Wait... that isn't how it went." or "Let's do some research on this one to see what the truth is." They don't like the last comment too much, but it illustrates my continuing frustration with textbooks and how they are becoming sound bites of history instead of fleshing it out. The old textbooks may have had it wrong, but they certainly had more substance to them than textbooks today.It a great read for teachers, students, and parents.

Wow, some other reviewers have an ax to grind, but I am not sure why they pick on Mr. Loewen to do so. The book is a thoughtful (although sometimes polemic) presentation on why teachers should teach the process of how history is written as well and cover meaningful content. This is in contrast to the "laundry list" style of teaching that most history classes consist of. Loewen argues for more thoughtful and deliberate units that call for analysis and connections between concepts. He asks teachers to ask "Why am I teaching this?" in order for them to be able to communicate to students the significance of the material they are studying.I did not see any "America hate" in the book. What I see is a passion for history and a call for meaningful and thoughtful history education.

Having recently earned a masters degree in History my perspective is that this excellent book should be required reading for all students preparing to be social studies instructors. Great content, well organized and for "history nerds" like me, a compelling read. What it is not, is a sequel to "Lies My Teacher Told Me" though it makes good sense to read both books thoroughly. There is a strong emphasis on Historiography and why it so important in the study of our nation's and world's past.