How come in school, sometimes we do not hear two sides to the story?

Question

In History I have learned about wars and I always hear the American version, but never the opposing sides. Also, they talk very shortly about affairs and how corrupt some presidents and the government was. How come in school, sometimes we do not hear two sides to the story? I want to hear both sides for once!

Answer 1

Well thats your school,...my teacher covers both sides

u should ask the teacher if u wanna hear both sides

Answer 2

take an honors history course and they do.

Answer 3

There are any number of reasons, and I'll touch on a few:

1.  There are as many "sides" or more accurately "points of view" on any aspect of history as there are those that lived it and those that study it.   It's endless.   There are never just two sides,  history is too dynamic.  

2.  I'm unsure where in school you are with subjects, but I can guarantee that what is being taught to you is just the basic information.  To understand multiple points of view, may mean  far greater research of the subject on your part.  

3.  Not all teachers are interested in every subject they teach, and some teachers are really experts in other areas.   It's not always the teacher's fault.  

4.  No one knows all the answers to all the questions a student might raise.

5. If you really want to know more about a subject ask your teacher to help YOU find the answer.  I have yet to meet a teacher who would keep you from knowing more on your own time.  

6. The library will have a great deal more information about your specific questions.   If you have university or college library in your town, you can research that too, as well as the town public library on your subject of interest.  

7.  There's a sort of general rule in history that

          a.  The stories of people who survive a tragedy is the point of view that is told.

         b.  The winners of a conflict is the point of view that tends to be told and held as most true.

         c.  Who ever is telling the story (in this case your teachers representing your country), their point of view is the one that is held to be true.

         d.  Just because there's a slant on the historical subject does not make it untrue.  

8.  A lot of of work to rectify the importance of all experiences within the American history have been done.   At one point, a kid would not have known about the Trail of Tears or contributions to american life by african americans for example.    

Remember -- in history, there's never just one point of view.  However, there are many facts that are not about points of view too.   If you are really interested in a subject, make yourself an expert.

Hope this helps you to understand more.

Answer 4

Go to a better school!

Answer 5

One of the big problems of teaching history is fitting it all in to the few years that people are at school.  

There has to be a balance between content & quality:  i.e. do we teach ALL the stuff that is considered important, or, do we teach only SOME of the stuff, but in much greater depth?  

I'm not sure what the answer is - I know at school I wanted to hear the opposing side of the argument - for example what was the USSR's stated reason for building the Berlin Wall?

I think we have to teach the important stuff in early years and save the detail for post-compulsory education - but I'm not entirely certain.

I am a history teacher in the UK.

Answer 6

Because, among other things, many US teachers are afraid of losing their jobs, because of having any nonconforming political views.

Read the book "Lies My Teacher Told Me."

http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?LiesMyTeacherTold...

When I was in school, many years ago, must history teaching jobs were given to coaches, because history teaching was supposed to be so easy that it wouldn't interfere with their coaching duties.

History teachers were worried enough, about getting fired for losing too many games, that they didn't want to have to worry about what went on in their classrooms.

Answer 7

Same here...it angers me that not just the United States but also other nations make they're selves look good and make it LOOK like it was the other nations fault...every child should have the right to learn everything about history not just on side of the story

Answer 8

Bravo!!  First off the only way you are going to hear the other side is if you google it.  There can be all kinds of reasons as to why they are not telling you the other side of history.  1...they might not know it themselves.  We as stupid Americans have been teaching the...what we want everyone to believe history for years...well as long as we have been teaching.  2.  The teachers might not be allowed to vere from the course guidelines set by the school board.  The elected school board members decide what they want you to learn and at what grade level.  The best advice I can give you from someone that would rather understand the whole truth then the sugar coated version would be to read about it on your own.  I really couldn't give you a web site to look at but because you are asking these type of questions I am sure you are smart enough to figure it out.  

You need to give your parents a clap on the back for teaching you to be observant and not just except things at face value.  Talk to them about wanting to learn the other side and give them a heads up that you are going to want to bring it up in class.  They will need the heads up incase you are sent to the principles office for questioning (never know what type of school you attend) When you hear something come out of the teacher's mouth...ask well what about the other side...what about. blah blah???  Be ready for either...great question or to be ignored.  

Good luck, don't give up, remember to show respect when questioning someone else that way you do not come off as a brat.

Answer 9

maybe becuase dem history teachers are too d**n lazy.

Answer 10

holy c**p! in fifth grade (a LONG time ago) i asked a question about what the british thought about the revolutionary war and THEIR side, and all i got was silence!!!!! i wanna know too.

Answer 11

Clearly, many of you don't understand how little influence teachers have over what is taught.  They must follow a curriculum that conforms to state guidelines, and they usually don't even have input about which textbooks to use.

Please read "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen.  History classes are being used to teach a type of "civic religion" and to instill patriotism, often at the expense of the truth.  Loewen also gets it wrong about how much control classroom teachers have over this, but the book is a real eye-opener.  In no other subject are you given wrong information that has to be "untaught" when you get to college.  Loewen taught college history and investigated why his students had such incorrect ideas about their own history.  (Of course, part of it is that many students don't pay a whole lot of attention.)

Answer 12

Usually the board of education selects the programs that are to be followed within state guidelines -- like whether or not to teach creationism or evolution.

So, I would ask your teacher -- privately. Not a lot of good can come of embarrassing them in class. Most people don't like it.

One way to see if you can get the 'other side' is to look for history books published in other countries. Of course, this can get expensive, but a lot of university libraries have to have both sides shown in their collections.

You can always look online at historical websites from other countries. While they may not be entirely accurate, it's a start for a point of view.

Here are a couple for Canada's view of the Revolution:

http://www.canadiana.org/citm/themes/con...

http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/expo/inde...

Here's an interesting one from the States:

http://www.americanrevolution.com/AmRevI...

One thing I keep hearing from Americans is that the U.S.A. has never lost a war. England, however, won the War of 1812 against the French ... and their American allies who invaded Canada in order to occupy British  troops in North America, so that they would have fewer forces to deal with Napoleon in Spain and Portugal.

Canadian (let's tease my American cousins when we visit them) point of view: Benedict Arnold was a great patriot and martyr!  ;-)

Answer 13

its like asking world war 2 from the n***s point of view or the cold war from khrushchevs view its just seen as insuperior

Answer 14

Often, teachers are biased. If you want to know the truth, do research. Go to your local library, or ask a teacher whom you know is not biased.

From me, a person who is interested in knowing the truth as well, and also from me who took this advice and found what i was looking for!

Good luck!

Answer 15

America has too much pride, thats just the plain truth. They dont want to admit anything theyve done wrong, no offence im american myself.

Answer 16

Teachers represent the government, so in the US they'd only show the patriotic US side.

Also, it is important at the start to be as IDEAL as possible...The nasty bits ,one can learn on one's own.  (If at the start you hear something that's disillusioning, you won't want to learn more about it.)

Answer 17

I think History ought to be something better studied from the  High School Level and up. What ought to be taught instead in the lower grades is more like Civics Studies,just to be able to know how the government works,how to be responsible citizens,what not!

I always thought I loved history until I read James Lowen's book,then realized how much of a bookish r****d I've always been.(It also helped made made me aware of me having a high functioning form of Autism called Asperger Syndrome). 1 of the symptoms of Autistic Spectrum Disorder is having an unusually good long term memory,which is why it seemed to me History was my favorite subject.