Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2000

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

History

Major Professor

Robert J. Norrell

Committee Members

Kurt Piehler, Lori Glover

Abstract

Schools serve as vehicles for the transmission of culture and values. History and social studies classes teach students about their relationships with different members of society, and they help formulate national identity. This thesis examines what Tennessee public school students learn in their state and American history classes, and how political and societal forces have shaped what they have learned. Parents, educators, and various interested citizens have long battled over this curriculum. Their influence and changing values in American society have determined what students learn in their history classes. This paper begins with an examination of the Cold War Era Curricula of this time focused on teaching students to be responsible democratic citizens. Textbooks glorified the American experience and stressed cooperation in American history. American history consisted mainly of white men, politics, and military events during this time. As social and racial tensions grew during the 1960s, the history curriculum examined conflict in American history. As multiculturalism became a more popular teaching tool, history textbooks and curriculum highlighted the contributions of minorities and women. Increased representation, however, did not mean that minorities and women were integrated into the story. Textbook publishers often just added them onto the original story. Multiculturalism peaked in the 1970s and met significant challenge in the conservative climate of the 1980s. During the Regan Era conservative forces exercised considerable influence over the curriculum, and history textbooks once again focused on political, military, and white history. As textbooks avoided offending different groups in society, they became longer and more boring. These trends continued into the 1990s. Contemporary political and societal values have shaped the state and history curricula taught in Tennessee's public schools throughout the twentieth century. Textbooks and instructional material reflect what a society considers important, and the values that they want their children to learn. The present thus becomes interwoven with the presentation of the past. What students learn about their history helps determine how they understand their society. The ever-changing values and priorities of that society shape the values and priorities of that society's history as well.

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