Mon., July 30, 2012 3:00pm (EDT)

Ever-Growing Past Confounds History Teachers

Updated: 10 months ago

Jonathan Rees faces a persistent problem: The past keeps growing. He teaches U.S. history and, like many teachers, every few years responds to major events by adding them to his lectures. But that means other important events get left behind. He wrote about this conundrum in a piece for The Historical Society blog, "When Is It Time To Stop Teaching Something?"

NPR's Neal Conan talks with Rees, a Colorado State University history professor, about the difficult decisions he faces about when to stop teaching a piece of history, to make room for something new.

And teachers, tell us: As time marches forward, how do you make room for the new people and events that make up the recent past?


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