Home » Telling the Truth about the Past » In K-12 Schools » Teachers’ Corner: Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me
and Teaching what Really Happened

This is a moderated discussion list for teachers and professors who have used any of these books in class.

Many teachers have shared with Loewen how they assign students chapters or shorter passages from LMTTM and ask them to then assess their textbooks on that same topic.  We invite teachers to tell us what use they’ve made of Lies My Teacher Told Me and we’ll post some here.

Classroom Uses of Loewen's books

Evaluate History Textbooks

Students in pairs or in small groups read chapters or short sections of Lies My Teacher Told Me. Students then read about the relevant topic in their own textbook and assess how the textbook has presented this history.

For example, students could read Chapter 2 in LMTTM (“1493: The True Importance of Christopher Columbus”) and then read the relevant passages in a history textbook about early European exploration and colonization in the Western Hemisphere.

They then write a paper, produce a chart, or give a presentation on the textbook treatment of that topic.


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