Jonathan Zimmerman
September 2002
Jonathan Zimmerman, an education historian at New York University, authored this account of 20th century struggles over the U.S. K-12 history curriculum as well as the teaching of religion and morality in the public schools. Historians I respect, such as Jeffrey Mirel and Diane Ravitch, praise it as a balanced treatment, but I find it an exasperating book. The author seems hostile to positive views of America making their way into textbooks and curricula (he terms that approach "mawkish and triumphal"). He objects to schools teaching morality and is condescending to those who, for example, don't think sex education is the school's business. He's nervous about religion - and people who take it seriously. And the grand bargain that he favors is deeply relativistic, refraining from judgments about, say, the difference between heroes and villains. The book is provocative, yes, and contains interesting passages on how various groups got themselves incorporated into textbooks and curricula (leading to today's riot of inclusivity and the twenty pound tomes that typically result). In the end, though, Zimmerman belongs in the camp of multiculturalists, moral relativists and those who fret when patriotism lifts its head in the classroom. The ISBN is 0674009185. The length is 307 pages. Harvard University Press is the publisher. More information can be found at http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/ZIMWHO.html.
