The rush to rewrite history

Although he's seen evidence that textbook publishers are quickly rewriting history books to give the Middle East a higher profile, he wonders how many teachers will really be prepared to tackle topics as complex and controversial as Middle Eastern geopolitics and the imperatives of a fundamentalist Islamic world view. "How much does the typical seventh-grade teacher really know about Islam?" he asks.

Since 1995, Mr. Sewall says, the council has been urging textbook publishers and educators to improve classroom coverage of world history and religion.

"There's been a lot of talk about globalism and global education, but much of that curriculum remains very weak," he says.

Almost all state standards today require some instruction about comparative world religion. California requires three years of world history in its schools, compared with only one year in many other states.

But not all educators agree that such standards promote real understanding.

Massachusetts requires two years of world history, but Mr. Schechter says the guidelines force teachers to march students through century upon century of history without time for real thought.

"There's no analysis, no elaborated discussion," he laments. "Now there's a crisis and people say, 'Oh, are you doing anything on the Middle East?' "

He predicts that lessons quickly drummed up to meet the need of the moment - especially when teachers have so many other goals to worry about - will do little to build solid understanding.

The issue transcends the inability of students to distinguish between Israel and Iran on a world map. Overall, the quality of history instruction in schools is poor, says Diane Ravitch, a historian of education at New York University. And US history, like Mideast studies, has gotten short shrift. "We have institutions and ideas and basic democratic traditions that make this nation different and special, and we have to teach that in order to understand and protect it."

For too many years, she says, "There's been a kind of cultural relativism loose in the land, and it has devalued what's special about the democratic tradition." As a result of the events of Sept. 11, "there may be more attention to civic education, and that would be a good thing."

Some new textbooks are likely to focus more on America's strong points, says Roger Rogalin, president of MacMillan/McGraw-Hill, a New York-based textbook publisher. "You will see more of the feeling of patriotism in general across the textbooks, reflecting the mood of the country."

Textbooks for 2002-03 go to press in the spring, Mr. Rogalin says, and many still in page proofs at the moment are speedily being amended to include material about the terrorist attacks.

One struggle has been to ensure that what is covered is age-appropriate and not too frightening for young children. "In the third grade, for instance," Rogalin says, "we'll talk more about the heroism of the firefighters and police. In the fifth grade, we'll talk more about the event."

There are other quandaries. The material is being compiled so soon after the attacks that it's difficult to gain perspective. It's tempting, for example, to describe the hijackings as events that significantly altered American life, yet it's hard to do so when even the immediate future remains unknown.

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