Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited about Doing History - Paperback

by James W. Loewen (Author)

"The revised edition of Loewen's book builds upon the first edition by applying these principles to contemporary circumstances. For example, a new chapter addresses post-truth politics and the Trump presidency. This makes Loewen's work more valuable than ever for students, educators, and communities." --Teachers College Record

"Should be in the hands of every history teacher in the country."-- Howard Zinn

James Loewen has revised Teaching What Really Happened, the bestselling, go-to resource for social studies and history teachers wishing to break away from standard textbook retellings of the past. In addition to updating the scholarship and anecdotes throughout, the second edition features a timely new chapter entitled "Truth" that addresses how traditional and social media can distort current events and the historical record. Helping students understand what really happened in the past will empower them to use history as a tool to argue for better policies in the present.

Our society needs engaged citizens now more than ever, and this book offers teachers concrete ideas for getting students excited about history while also teaching them to read critically. It will specifically help teachers and students tackle important content areas, including Eurocentrism, the American Indian experience, and slavery.

Book Features:

• An up-to-date assessment of the potential and pitfalls of U.S. and world history education.
• Information to help teachers expect, and get, good performance from students of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Strategies for incorporating project-oriented self-learning, having students conduct online historical research, and teaching historiography.
• Ideas from teachers across the country who are empowering students by teaching what really happened.
• Specific chapters dedicated to five content topics usually taught poorly in today's schools.

Author Biography

James W. Loewen, distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America. He taught race relations for 20 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. Visit the author's website: sundown.tougaloo.edu/