Research About The Evolution Of Modern Secondary School History Curriculum In United States

Since the 1980s,many Chinese scholars in the field of history educationin secondary school often take the United States version as a template when talk about the modernization of secondary school history curriculum.Compared with the long-timeand stubborn infusion as well as obtaining good grades by rote memorization,itis of epoch-making positive significance and compared with entirely rejectingunder the cold war mentality,it is also one mile stone leap.But when take closer inspection,we could find that most of them based on single case and non-professional stories or individual review and many are non-original materials.Therefore,it has very important academic and practical significance to discard the dross and keep the essential and return to its original nature,and to make more complete and accurate studying,systemizing and reviewing in particular,concrete background of history and cultureat the moment of our secondary school history curriculum regarding "core literacy" as the breakthrough point to deepen reform.On the one hand,this can help us understand and grasp the past and present of modern American secondary school history curriculum so as to prevent from judging others by ourselves.On the other hand,we can referto its experience and identify for accuracy to avoid to copy for copying's sake.History is the endless conversation from"what" to "why" between people in the present and the ancient which is often said by historians.American secondary school history curriculum can be traced back to religious education imported from European in the colonial period,and finally get independent after the foundation of United Stated.At first,the author tried to regard this as the starting point to trace the long development.However,after collecting the important documents,reports,journals,newspapers,textbooks,teaching design and teaching video materials related to American secondary school history curriculum,it is found that the modernization of the American secondary school history curriculum is far behind its process of industrialization,and the real turning point was just more than one hundred years during which there are many ups and downs,emergency and crisis,inheritance and development.It is until the end of last century thatit has highlighted its advanced design.From the perspective of research method and strategy,it is also with more typical meanings to do research on this period of history thus the author mainly focuses his essay on this topic.At end of the 19th century,American modem secondary school history curriculum developed into elitism style while in the Age of Empires,industrial civilization makes civilian education become the most important.Driven by the strong progressive wave,history curriculum was incorporated into the social studies to cultivate the'good citizens' with 'social efficiency'.However,the inertia of tradition and the satisfaction of "Coolidge prosperity" make it hesitate and hobble in development,and finally become the mainstream until the late 1920s."Great depression" change the tradition of secondary school history curriculum's style intore-constructionism framed and classified according to real social problem.After the outbreak of World War ?,patriotism rapidly became the hotspots and the integration of the problem-based dis-organized the time-space relationshipof history continuously make it unsustainable.The panic caused by Sputnik-1 made Americans found vaulnerable national self-confidence was the more fundamental problems.So the secondary school history curriculum turn to essentialism with characterized by the shining American from the content.From perspective of the teaching methods,it looked like one revolutionary change sudden rise.At the end of 1960s,the rising of the civil drives the multicultural become highly respected and popular in the historical course but in the early 1980s at facing the world multi-polarization,a number of scholars have realized this practice adverse to American's cohesion and aiding"humanistic crisis" thus regard it as the deep and long-term factors threatening the dominance of United Stated.Then,American's cultural literacy with the premise of multi-culture become the most important topics and trends,and promote the secondary school history curriculum become a national core curriculum.Overviewing the development of American modern secondary school history curriculum in the past one hundred years,it started from progressive education which we could analyze from different perspective as follows.On the aspects of curriculum objective,it developed from training citizen with adapting and reconstructing the democratic society to citizen with rational patriotic and national identity.On the aspect of content,its evolution started from knowing and reproducing the historical truth to learning and emphasizing historical explanation.On the aspects of teaching methods,it changes from understanding and accepting predecessors' achievements to independent inquiry.Perhaps,this is the modernization mainstream of American secondary school history curriculum.This evolution is the result of the changes of the world and America at that time,which is framed by the different views from all walks of society on the development of future citizens,the relations between history and social studies,history knowledge and historical thinking and so on.Its freedom,bright and intense make it "culture wars".After Donald Trump took office,it is generally felt among people about onestrong smoke about conservatism and mercantilism.Although his cultural education policy has not been show down,but his fierce rhetoric during his campaign is hotly debated.The author thinks that the federal government's investment may be reduced,but it doesn't mean his views and policies have no influence on history and other humanities courses.In addition,the president of the United States is not the determining factor of education policy,there are enormous uncertainties thus it is better to wait rather than early to predict rather than waiting and see.It is necessary to keep low profile and grasp opportunity to build the secondary school history curriculum focusing on the great rejuvenation of Chinese from a broader and more international view.