Pull up a chair, take a deep breath, and contemplate the future of history education. Will it have a clear and worthwhile purpose that people can understand, value, and support? Will it be useful to people’s lives? Will it still be around 25 years from now? If these are the kinds of questions that interest you, you’ve come to the right place.
Future-Focused History blog 
Glad to see this blog. This week, history education (or the lack of it) is once again in the news. The shooter in El Paso was apparently upset that “Mexicans are invading Texas.” I was glad to see that at least a few TV commentators pointed out the irony.
Where did you hear the historically literate commentary? I missed it.
Thank you Mike Maxwell for your wonderful book and your fight to save the field of history! Our society’s well-being depends on it.
What does everyone think about testing history on a state (or national) level? I doubt many/any of us want more tests, but perhaps it could be something to solidify the importance of history. Each state is different, but math, English, and science are often tested, and in my experience history takes the back seat. It is my understanding that some states, like New York, have tested history but not many. As a high school teacher, I have had lots of pressure to teach the Common Core standards over our state’s history standards (think: ELA test motives), and in my specific case, our district is dealing with a “Big History Project” pilot that would replace our world history classes (think: ELA and science tests motives).
Using this book as a framework, perhaps we could figure out the principles, cognitive learning strategies, and historical knowledge we think are important (like suggested in the book), and go from there? Maybe lobbying could help, and/or producing some sort of canned curriculum? I don’t have all the answers, but am happy to help if I can!
PS Also, I don’t know much about it, but wasn’t an idea to teach history standards heavily defeated in Congress in the 1990s?
Chase-
Thanks for your input and eagerness to get to work preserving history education. As you have, I have been thinking about ways to take action, and want to discuss this further when I return from a canoe trip later in the month.