Learning About Columbus in Schools

Columbus in the Curriculum
"In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." If that's the only thing you can remember from your history lesson about Christopher Columbus, don't worry. The story's changed so much, the one you learned is out of date anyway.

For the past years, schools have adopted new ways of teaching kids about Christopher Columbus in an effort to give students a more accurate -- and more balanced -- perspective on the man and his place in American history.

The issue came into the full glare of the media spotlight in 1992 as cities across America prepared to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival. Associations of hispanics, Native Americans, and other ethnic groups demanded that the other side of the story be told. Afterall, Columbus's "discovery" had tragic consequences for the people that were doing just fine before Columbus came along.

For obvious reasons, the Christopher Columbus school in the Bronx was particularly sensitive to this issue. The dialogue that was sparked by the quincentennial changed the way teachers at Christopher Columbus High School teach students about the school's namesake.

Assistant Principal Howard Feldman has been at the school for more than 25 years and is now the head of the Social Studies department. "Back in 1971, the student body was mostly Italian and Columbus was seen as a hero," says Feldman. "Now it's mostly Hispanic, so there's a different perspective."

Columbus in the 21st Century
These days, when children learn that Columbus discovered the continent for Europeans, they also learn that he "encountered" thriving civilizations that existed here long before his arrival. At the Christopher Columbus school, for example, kids engage in role-play where students act out Columbus's arrival from the viewpoint of the European explorers as well as Native Americans.

So do students think Columbus was a villain? "No," answers Feldman. "We try and teach the students that he was a man of his time and that we can't evaluate him using the values of today."

But the new approach to teaching about this period of American history is not without its critics. At the height of the battle over the issue, Russell Shaw, director of public information for the Knights of Columbus told the research group Public Agenda that their namesake was being used as a "convenient whipping boy" in what he called the "culture wars."

It's been over a decade since the height of the Columbus controversy, and the issue is no longer front page news. While Columbus's reputation may be a bit bruised, students have won out by gaining a more complex understanding of the earliest days of American history.

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