Steven Corneliussen is right on the money with his comment. All
historical interpretation and writing involves making choices: of
subject, or writing style, of examples to include and exclude, of
adjectives and adverbs. People who complain about interpretation and
revisionism are usually complaining about an interpretation with which
they don't agree.

With textbooks, in particular, the first objective is to be factually
accurate, and the second then would be to present the past in a
thoughtful way that engages the pupils in learning the essential
information and also in learning how to think about the complex issues
that the past (and also the present) present to us.

What we had in 2010 was a fourth-grade history book that was full of
factually inaccurate material. That was the number one problem there.

Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at
http://www.lva.virginia.gov


-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steven T. Corneliussen
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2012 1:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] 03232232Z12 Re: Textbooks


 > There is a serious movement to rewrite history. ... I  > think that
moving in the direction of using primary  > sources to teach history,
moving away from textbooks  > that have factual errors, and become
political weapons  > of propaganda that have a lasting effect on our
children  > is something that should be discussed.

But wouldn't we then simply debate which primary sources to select? And
wouldn't teachers still have to do lots of interpreting anyway? And
wouldn't variations in that interpreting cause further debating, with
further charges of unconstructive revisionism and accusations about
propagandizing?

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