Comments on: David McCullough's heroes of history
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- redwells: I had a relative who was run out of town because his great-great-grandfather was a thief. Of course he said it wasn't his fault because he wasn't even born then....but I think he got what he deserved!
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- I to enjoy American history. What I didn't like, was this piece was called Heroes of History. White people had their heroes of history and achieved Independs from Great Britain. The Blacks had their heroes and slavery was ended. In that entire pace nothing was mention about American Indians Hero's, oh that's right we have none. Well here is some History you can teach your kids. In 1830 President Andrew Jackson past the Indian removal Act, there is a lot more to it but basically made it legal to kill an Indian. Also tell your kids how you wiped out entire Indian tribes that have been here for 1000's of years and are now gone, you tell them that is called genocide.
I am an American Indian and a Veteran my farther and his farther both fought in wars so we can keep this land we call home.
White people have no honor and should be ashamed of your selves. - Reply to this comment
- Thank you for this informative and interesting two-parter. Always a pleasure to learn - or re-learn - from Mr. McCullough.
As noted above, a brief postscript mentioning that Brooklyn's River Cafe (seen in the story) incurred ruinous damage in 'Sandy' would have tied to the show's opening segment. - Reply to this comment
- Perhaps, if 60 Minutes wants to advocate a wider education of history, they should strive to be more accurate in their presentations.
The McCullough piece stated that "France was the cradle of the modern idea of democracy." That is 100% false. It was British thinkers such as Bacon, Hobbes, and Locke building on the Magna Carta that introduced the world to Modern Democracy.
Even Voltaire, the father of the French Enlightenment, pointed to Britain's society as the most Enlightened of the early 18th century. Montesquieu stated similar sentiments in his Spirit of the Laws. - Reply to this comment
- WOW...I was so shocked and hurt by the comments made by Mr. McCullough.
Has he been in a school environment in the past 10 years?
You HAVE to be certified in your subject area to teach. We don't get education degrees. What is this about?
Primary school teachers focus on HOW children learn while they are in college. THat is vitally important. After that, you teach in your subject area. You CANNOT teach outside of your subject area unless you are getting your degree in that area. It is called a provisional.
I do think he is right about the parental responsibility. Most research shows that children with good parental support make better grades. Those parents who see school as a baby sitter are the ones who are not helping their child in their education.
He did not tell how it is in China for example. By the time children are in 6th grade, if they do not have stellar grades, they are taken OUT of the school system and are sent to learn a trade and work in factories. SO....China's schools look fabulous when indeed they are not serving ALL of the children as we do in America.
Wow is all I can say. I enjoyed his segment until he began talking poorly about American teachers. - Reply to this comment
- It is a shame that politics is in education but it is. It affects every class every day. Your show gave support to those who mistakenly blame teachers. In a better world teachers should be responsible but today it makes sense like blaming bank tellers for the bank crisis.
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- McCullogh is correct. Today's young are illiterate when it comes to knowing about our nation's history. The parents and teachers of kids are equally illiterate. We're more concerned about being PC, lest we "offend" someone with the historical foundation of our nation. Today's young, parents and teachers are woefully ignorant about many things and not just U.S. history.
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- David McCullough is right. Today's youth are pitifully unaware of history. Even the New York Times backs up his claim with an article titled, "Ignorance of U.S. History Shown by College Freshmen". Oh wait, that Times article ran on April 4, 1943! How ironic! Even more ironic is the fact this was the same time when David McCullough was ten years old and a student during the "golden era" of education when teachers really taught and students really learned.
Balderdash!
I will forgive this famed historian for using a few personal experiences (from college campuses) to make broad negative conclusions about America's schools and teachers. I am sure he knows such "evidence" is very undependable.
I always liked McCullough and still do. I think he is an outstanding scholar who made a mistake here. I am not about to claim that overall McCullough is a bogus intellectual/historian based on one personal experience I had while watching 60 Minutes.
NOTE: Not only is McCullough's claim grounded in shaky evidence, but so is the entire belief held by many that America's schools are in a system wide crisis. Luckily, to make my claim, I assembled better evidence. Here it is - http://publicschooldefender3.blogspot.com/ - Reply to this comment
- I am also a teacher but of primary children. I am not a subject matter expert on any of the things I teach, but I am passionate about teaching and the children I teach. We do have to teach for the focus on standardized testing to a point, but I like to think I don't sacrifice other subjects for reading and math instruction. I use Social Studies and Science informational books to teach reading so I can cover those subjects well enough for my primary age students. I hate general statements about grade point averages and being an expert in a subject in order to be a good teacher, even a great teacher. I think it is the passion one has for learning and knowing. The passion one has for helping influence others to be curious and want to find things out. I have to give my students a strong basic knowledge of reading and math so they can find their own knowledge later. That is very important, but I also try to install a curiosity for what is out there and where they can go to find it. Children want to know we have to help them know what they need to know so they can look for it on their own at some point. I guess my main point is that it really, for me anyway, boils down to the passion one has for learning that makes a good teacher.
On a side note, I love Mr. McCullough's books and I enjoyed this segment very much!
S - Reply to this comment
- Mr. McCullough,I am a high school teacher in the state of Washington with a bachelor degree in fine arts and a master's degree in Art Education. I teach the subject I recieved my degree in; visual art including art history. I love history and had a good public education in history though I am 59. Today many subjects are being taught marginally in elementary and middle school due to the focus on high stakes testing implemented through polictical pressure. Their is not the time in the school day for what teachers would really like to teach their students, since the children are required to pass the test. The public has this perception that our children are not being educated and want proof that they can read, write and do arithmetic. Our education system is being compared to countries that our smaller then some of our states. When the reality is we educate our children better each year our public education system has been in existence. Policticians, Parents require educators with their own money to get continuing education. We are highly educated yet when an issue arises in our nation, teachers and the state of education is blamed. But they do not ask the highly educated teachers what we think should be done to improve education. Ask a public teacher what could be done to improve education, we are highly educated, love teaching, love children and have solutions. We are not the problem, but the solution!
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