Saturday, June 16, 2018

Another Chapter in the War on the Past

Even without an outcry from reactionary areas of the country, the very insecure College Board, which had faced scrutiny from conservative circles for a balanced Advanced Placement United States History curriculum in 2014 and 2015, has developed a revised version of the Advanced Placement World History course that should probably be named Advanced Placement European History plus (as opposed to the standard A.P. European History class that is taught).

Unfortunately, World History courses, even earlier versions of A.P. World History, have generally been primarily Western Civilization classes with extra chapters covering Non-Western Civilization chapters sprinkled in.

The revisions of the College Board to concentrate the historical periods from 1450 C.E. to the present reflect a Eurocentric approach because this is roughly the era when China withdraws from the world and European powers start sailing westward to find new routes to India. This is not good for our students who need a good grounding on civilization up to 1449 C.E... It is a step backward that should be corrected because historical, as well as scientific and civic literacy are three areas that everyone, not just students, need a firmer grounding on. It is not going to happen if we cater to the whims of ethnocentric conservative reactionaries who think nothing happened until they came along. The College Board needs to rethink its position and make adjustments.


https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/11/ap-world-history-gets-a-makeover-and-high-school-teachers-rebel-611307

https://thinkprogress.org/college-board-caves-to-conservative-pressure-changes-ap-u-s-history-curriculum-236d89a40bba/

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