William Mileham

Emilia Grant
UWRT 1103-045
10 November 2014
As George Santayana said, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it This means that people should understand history, so that they dont make the mistakes
that have been made before. A perfect example of this is Nazi Germanys attack on Russia
during WWII. Hitler made almost all of the same mistakes as Napoleon made on an almost
identical campaign, and the ones he made were practically identical! And while history is
written by the victors, a complete lack of knowledge about it will lead someone to repeating
historys blunders.
Due to the necessity of learning the past, history is a compulsory subject in American
schools. The problem with this is that those same schools largely focus on American history and
government, and barely cover the topic of world history. Not only that, in the world history
education that does go on, the curriculum focuses on the American side of that history.
Anywhere from the invention of democracy in ancient Greece, to Mahatma Gandhi, to the
independence of South and Central American countries are taught using American history as a
basis. And WWII, an event which the impacts of are still being felt to this day, is taught with the
same filter, focusing mostly on the American campaign in the Pacific, and when talking about
the European theater, focusing almost entirely on American troop actions. But that isnt even the
worst part. Not only is American history considered more important than that of the rest of the
world, but, according to the government American history isnt taught to a satisfactory level.

Using several historical events and their modern-day impacts; this paper will explain not
only how American education is failing students in history education, mainly by focusing too
much on American history and government, but also focusing on subjects other than history in
general. This paper shall also highlight how a lack of knowledge of world history will affect
ones understanding of current events and how the world as it is today came to be.
American students do not compare favorably to international students across the board, as
evidenced by multiple international tests (Steinberg). Studies show this to be the fault of
improper educational policies that the American government implements. The failure of
American students to preform to the standards of the rest of the world in history can be attributed
to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, or CCSS, according to Thomas W. Barker and
Joseph OBrian. In a document they wrote for the University of Illinois, they illustrate how the
CCSS effects world history curriculum and the primary sources used in teaching world history.
The CCSS has started to shape our curriculum and the training of
future teachers as our state has implemented curriculum and
assessments that are highly influenced by the CCSS. As other
states and districts take steps to implement the CCSS within their
own curriculums and focus more on implementing the literacy
skills highlighted by the CCSS, a key issue will be including
primary sources within those curriculums. Based on an analysis of
the types of primary sources within state world history
standards, states seem ill-prepared to create a curriculum that
demonstrates an understanding of the world, and not just Europe.
Additionally, based on our analysis the implication is that the
wider rationale for teaching world history at the secondary level is
to make claims about the roots of American democracy, rather than
the interconnectedness of humanity [That] CCSS provides
primary and secondary source exemplars that are largely only
applicable to an American history course makes it unlikely that
states will move away from the existing paradigm for world history
evident in state standards.

This shows that American education policies are inherently flawed when it
comes to world history. Not only is the subject of history not focused on in favor
of the tested subjects of math, science, and English, but world history as a
subject is both minimized of importance in comparison to American history and
civics as subjects, and internally dominated by topics and resources that are of an
American view point.
In their research, Barker and OBrian also found several studies that, Concluded that
world history standards lacked substance since they provided little historical content, were a
unrealistic hodgepodge of everything with no set focus, were Eurocentric, and failed to treat
world history as a coherent subject, and also, Concluded that the standards were: content
heavy; the period between 1500 to 1945 is defined through the "lens of Europeans"; and, the
more frequently mentioned non-Western content after 1945 is typically "taken out of historical
context. (Barker and OBrian)

Because of the failure of American students to compete with international students

reforms are being made to educational policies and efforts are being made to combat falling
scores across all subjects. As Bruce Mazlish and his co-authors wrote in their book, The Paradox
of a Global USA, which speaks of the competition between globalization and Americanization,
The Senate passed a law in 2000 to establish a Teaching American History Grant Program
making funds available [To bring] together history teachers and professional scholars so as to
promote a partnership between them At the same time however, much of these efforts have
focused on the teaching of US history, with the result that the teaching of World history has
tended to lag behind (45). This shows that even when trying to bring students up to par, the

American education system still focuses on American history over the history of the world. And
even with these attempts to revitalize Americas education, Reading and math scores have
remained flat as have scores on subject area tests in science, writing, geography, and history
(Steinberg). So while world history is included, and even identified as important, in American
curriculum, it is not taught well enough without American or bias to allow students to gain
information that is important in todays international and highly competitive globalized
industries and business environments.

The importance of history on the world is profound. Not only in the fact that history is the
record of those that came before us, but because many major historical events are still causing
effects to this very day, and shall in the future. For example, failure of American foreign policy
to not consider the history of previous incursions into Afghani and Iraq shaped how both the
planning of said policies occurred and how those policies were reacted to. The course of
American intervention could have been significantly if changed the architects of these policies
had studied more history. In this particular example, the history of those previous incursions
were fairly recent, yet history that is even farther back can have, and has had, even greater
effects. WWI ended 21 years before WWII began, yet the major events in WWI can be almost
directly attributed with causing WWII, and WWII is still causing repercussions to this very day,
both direct and indirect. What happens when the students of today become the policy makers of
tomorrow? Do they not understand the connotations of history and make mistakes? Or even
make their decisions without understanding how they will affect the future?

A further need for a good education in the modern world is to foster a sense of
understanding. The history of other cultures defines not only their current culture, but also how

they interact with the rest of the world. This also directly ties into the previous topic, as it is
imperative to understand one another internationally in order to prosper. In a National
Geographic article, this is referred to as geo-education.
Our neglect of geo-education is having a measurable effect.
Numerous surveys and assessments show that the performance of
American students lags behind the rest of the world in the subjects
that contribute to a geo-education. They show that we are not
adequately preparing our young people for the global, social, and
environmental challenges of the modern world. The components of
a geo-education have not been the victim of any deliberate attempt
to weaken them. Rather, priorities have simply been placed
elsewhere, e.g., English language arts and STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and math). However, the narrow focus on
these other subjects has a real cost. By focusing exclusively on the
preparation of technical workers, we are ignoring the unmet need
for workers who are prepared for careers in global commerce,
sustainability, national security, and planning. By focusing
exclusively on workforce preparation, we are ignoring the need for
citizens in a democratic society who understand the issues of the
day. (Geo-Education)
This not only shows how highlights the effects of a lacking world history education, but
also further shows how this education is being supplanted by other subjects, which could have
dangerous repercussions. How is America expected to remain a superpower without being able
to effectively interact with and manage other countries?
As it says in Mazlishs book so effectively, An education in history prepares [people] to
understand not only their own society but societies and civilizations around the world, (46) and,
An understanding of the history of the worlds many cultures can contribute to fostering the
mutual patience, respect, and civil discourse required in our increasingly interdependent
world.(46) This however, isnt only important so students can succeed in the future, or so
America can retain its superpower status. An understanding of the culture of others will also

prepare those students to be better people. Things like racism and xenophobia dont stem from
the differences between people, they come from people being ignorant about how they are
similar. Where will lack of knowledge about those that share the world with, or a lack of those
values Mazlish says we need to gain, lead us to? Not only to racism and xenophobia, but to
things like isolationism, which most people agree is a bad idea. But it can get even worse than
that. Ignorance leads to horrible events, like the branding Jews as witches and killing them
during the Black Plague, because those dying didnt understand the benefits of hygiene. On the
topic of horrible effects, one that can occur is something that can be considered one of the most
horrible things that can occur anywhere on this planet, genocide. So, getting a bad grade isnt
anywhere near the worst of a students problems. Not learning the history of the entire world can
lead so far out of the realm of grades and academic performance that it becomes more than just a
problem, it becomes a huge pressing issue that most definitely needs to be addressed.
In conclusion, knowledge of world history is important on a massive level. Adults,
educators, policy makers, and parents all have the responsibility to make sure that students and
children that grow up in America are prepared for life after school. Not properly educating them
in the understanding events past that they require to become a functioning member of an
international society is a failure of this responsibility. Not only that, but if those students grow up
to become politicians with no understanding of either how they effect the world, or of those
people around the world who they will effect, the planet Earth could become a not very nice
place to live.
In order to combat these possible future problems, world history education in America
needs to be revamped. It need to be focused on more, such that it is even in teaching time with
other subjects. The curriculum also needs to be reworked so that it accurately reflects the realities

of history, without focusing on certain areas or events, and the Americanization of events
needs to be removed.
So, not only will improvements in history curriculum in general, and world history
curriculum in specific, help improve American students test scores, but may also help the entire
world for the better.

Bibliography
Steinberg, Lawrence. Whats Holding Back American Teenagers? Slate. The Slate
Group, Feb, 11. 2014. Web. Nov, 9. 2014.
Barker, Thomas W. and Joseph O'Brien Are We Prepared? Primary Sources in State
World History Standards and the Common Core State Standards Initiative. World History
Connected. University of Illinois. Nov, 3. 2014. Web. Nov, 9. 2014.
Mazlish, Bruce, Nayan Chanda, and Kenneth Weisbrode. The Paradox of a Global USA.
Stanford University Press, 2007. Print.
Geo-Education: Essential Preparation for an Interconnected World National
Geographic Education. National Geographic Society. n.d. Web. Nov, 9. 2014.