Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History (Multicultural Education Series) [Paperback]

James W. Loewen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807749915 | ISBN-13: 978-0807749913 | Publication Date: October 1, 2009

In this follow-up to his landmark bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James Loewen continues to break silences and change our perspectives on U.S. history. Loewen takes history textbooks to task for their perpetuations of myth and their lack of awareness of today's multicultural student audience (not to mention the astonishing number of facts they just got plain wrong).

How did people get here? Why did Europe win? Why Did the South Secede? In Teaching What Really Happened, Loewen goes beyond the usual textbook-dominated viewpoints to illuminate a wealth of intriguing, often hidden facts about America's past. Calling for a new way to teach history, this book will help teachers move beyond traditional textbooks to tackle difficult but important topics like conflicts with Native Americans, slavery, and race relations. Throughout, Loewen shows time and again how teaching what really happened connects better with all kinds of students to get them excited about history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James W. Loewen is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America. He taught race relations for twenty years at the University of Vermont and gives workshops for teacher groups around the United States. He has been an expert witness in more than 50 civil rights, voting rights, and employment cases.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Teachers College Press (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807749915
• ISBN-13: 978-0807749913
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > History > Historical Study > Study & Teaching

More About the Author

James W. Loewen is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America. He is a regular contributor to the History Channel's History magazine and is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont. He resides in Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must read for all new teachers, December 6, 2009

By 

Ann M. Clark "Kevin Clark" (Hallowell, Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History (Multicultural Education Series) (Paperback)

Loewen proves again why traditional tesxtbook publishers hate him so much. His insights into the problems of teaching history are spot on. Reliance on a textbook is relying on a very limited and deficient weapon. The key is that a real teacher of history needs to be constantly reading, articles, books, editorials, et al, to provide their students with a true history education. History is the easiest subject to teach badly and the hardest subject to teach well. Take the time and do it well.
Kevin Clark

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the few books about how to teach history meaningfully., August 1, 2010

By 

Roman (Kalispell, MT) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History (Multicultural Education Series) (Paperback)

Wow, some other reviewers have an ax to grind, but I am not sure why they pick on Mr. Loewen to do so. The book is a thoughtful (although sometimes polemic) presentation on why teachers should teach the process of how history is written as well and cover meaningful content. This is in contrast to the "laundry list" style of teaching that most history classes consist of. Loewen argues for more thoughtful and deliberate units that call for analysis and connections between concepts. He asks teachers to ask "Why am I teaching this?" in order for them to be able to communicate to students the significance of the material they are studying.

I did not see any "America hate" in the book. What I see is a passion for history and a call for meaningful and thoughtful history education.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading, August 16, 2010

By 

Eric Johnston (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History (Multicultural Education Series) (Paperback)

This is an amazing book that provides a lot of creative solutions to common problems in the diversity of education. For example, he offers the idea of having students study secondary sources about the same topic, but written in different eras, and compare them as a way to learn that history is a reflection of the time in which it is written.

This book is also very informative, whether the topic is problems in archaeology or problems in race relations, I learned a lot.

The final thing I want to say is this book is a very easy, very fast read. The text looks dense, but I assure you, it is only an illusion.