Loewen, Chapter 13

In the final chapter of Lies My Teacher Told Me,  Loewen states that students are encouraged not to think about society, but to instead simply trust that it is good. Students go through history classes memorizing facts and then data-dumping as soon as the test is over. This creates a society that knows nothing about anything. Students can't be expected to grow into educated citizens if the work presented to them in school is so easily manipulated- children can work the system so that they can get an A, and they don't even have to learn anything!
 

I think that students need to be more emotionally connected to the past because once they find something to actually CARE about, they will be more likely to remember it. I mean, if you think about it- we remember the big events in our own life and this is because we are tied to those moments as having a big impact on the course of our life. As a teacher, it is my job to find ways to get history to impact my students on that same emotional level. To get students connected to the past it is important to connect the past to the present by doing things like involving current events, or getting to know the students well enough to tie their interests in with whatever we may be talking about at the time.

The following link is a good place to start to find good sources to get students interested in the past: 'Best of History Web Sites'

Loewen closes his book by arguing that "Students will start learning history when they see the point of doing so, when it seems interesting and important to them, and when they believe history might relate to their lives and futures. Students will start finding history interesting when their teachers and textbooks stop lying to them" (354, Lies My Teacher Told Me). I love everything about this statement because it is true. Growing up in the American public school system, I went through the type of  education that Loewen so deplores. I also went through AP history courses which showed me what a history class that actually does go beyond the lies of a textbook should be like. I'm grateful for my experiences in a good school because I got a more in-depth look at the past, and it is probably due to this that I love the subject as much as I do. I wish to work in a school district less fortunate than my own, and I will be sure to hold Loewen's warnings close as I go about constructing lessons that will help connect my students to the past.