Should Elementary Classrooms Always Be Patriotic?
January 13, 2008
Lately I’ve been teaching a lot of U.S. history. In the course of doing so, the conversation occasionally turns to current events, and sometimes students ask questions that could be answered in several ways: either with the patriotic answer (USA! USA!) or with a more balanced, complex answer.
If I taught high school students, obviously the more balanced answer would always be appropriate. But what about a third grade classroom? Is it appropriate to say things that, while not condemning the U.S., aren’t replete with flag-waving sentimentalism?
I’d love to hear from both parents and fellow educators on this one.
Entry Filed under: Education, Elementary Education, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, History, Public Schools, Second Grade, Students, Teaching, Third Grade, patriotism, school. .
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1.
Mathew | January 13, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I think yes, elementary schools should always be patriotic but I don’t equate patriotic with unbalanced.
2.
thirdgradeteacher | January 13, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hey Mathew — thanks for chiming in. How would you respond to a question like “Is the US better than other countries?” or “Is the US doing the right thing in Iraq?” To those questions, I can’t seem to find a way to give an answer that sounds patriotic without it being pretty unbalanced from a global perspective.
3.
Elisabeth | January 13, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Trying to understand the more complex answer is the higher form of patriotism. The future of our democracy depends on citizens trying to understand multiple viewpoints in order to reach the best solution. We should instill a love of country in our children but I’m hoping that’s not incompatible with admitting our mistakes. At home we’ve talked about the fact that my son’s hero, George Washington, owned other human beings. I just asked my son how that made him feel about George Washington, and he said “That’s one bad thing about him, but there were a lot of other good things.” Pretty much like America.
4.
Jenny | January 13, 2008 at 9:40 pm
I do my best to avoid answering these questions. I know that’s a bit of a wimpy way out, but it’s what I do.
As a fifth grade teacher we do a lot of world cultures and current events so it isn’t always possible to avoid the issues. I certainly don’t want to give my students a negative impression of our country, but I’m not willing to simply sing it’s praises regardless of complexities. I try not to underestimate my students and I do a lot of turning the questions back to them. I jump in if they are spouting clear untruths, but otherwise I try to let them discuss these types of issues together.
5.
Wendy | January 13, 2008 at 11:18 pm
As both a parent and an educator, I would always defer to the balanced, sometimes complex response even in elementary school. However, whatever issue is being discussed, I wouldn’t share my personal views. For older elementary students I’d teach/model how to locate multiple resources (text or other multi-media) and discuss perspective, bias, and credibility of sources. For younger elementary students I’d provide at least 2 different resources for them and compare/contrast the points of view. It’s never too early to teach kids to question what they hear, read, and see in the world and to constantly seek information.
If a student asked, “Is the US better than other countries?” that would be incredible. Think about how many different directions that child could take (with teacher support) as they try to discover the answer. Anything that isn’t black and white, yes or no, right or wrong is exactly the type of experience our students should have in the classroom.
6.
eyeingtenure | January 13, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I agree with Wendy — our students, at an early age, should start to recognize that it’s always about perspective.
If we can teach them to think at a high level at this early age, it will snowball from there.
What they learn about general U.S. History in third grade is the last U.S. History they’ll learn until they hit puberty — eighth grade is the next dose of domestic studies, at least in California.
After all, as my only psychology emphasized, once someone accepts a fact as part of their worldview, they’re more likely to discredit that information than scrutinze their own.
It’s important that even third graders get it right the first time.
(I’m tempted to use the word, paradigm, again, but I won’t. Heh.)
http://awaitingtenure.wordpress.com
7.
Steve | January 14, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Great question. Wendy has the strategy I would love to see, as a parent. And I totally agree with Elisabeth and Jenny. I am not an educator, but I have a 3rd grader who is very interested in politics and history. My wife and I encourage him to think independently, but his opinions nevertheless tend to mirror his parents.
Educators have a better chance of remaining balanced in the eyes of their students. I would think that a strategy similar to what Wendy advocates would be the most effective in encouraging curiosity among eager young minds.
If I were a teacher, and a student asked me if the US is better than other countries, I would respond like this: “I have some ideas about that, but I want you to form your own opinions. Here is a good place to learn about this…”
Of course the content you provide the student could totally influence their thinking according to the biases of the content creator. That’s why I like Wikipedia or some other source that is known for neutrality and consensus building, as opposed to bias and ideology.
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