Teaching History

I am a graduate student working toward a doctorate in history and I appreciated the Oct. 13 editorial reminding us that the proposed national standards are already an enormous improvement over what children are currently studying regarding American history. My lack of knowledge about the history of women and minorities is an embarrassment. Their history is fascinating and has not received the attention that it deserves in our public school system.

However, I hope that the National Center for History in the Schools will avoid the temptation to allow political correctness to determine the opinions that children have about history and, instead, allow the teachers to emphasize that which is most pertinent to their individual students. If the new standards are designed to foster critical thinking, it should be the individual teachers and students who do the thinking and reach the conclusions. After all, the profession of history would not exist unless people were allowed to interpret historical events and reach their own conclusions.

SENYA HERRON

Upland