Contents

• I. American Revolution
• The Making of a Revolution
• Caveats
• The Common Core of Learning
• II. History Lesson
• American Mythology
• Telling Stories
• The Model American Takes Shape
• Honorary Englishmen
• The Pastoral Ideal
• And Forgive Us Our Trespasses
• Un- Americans
• Coloring Within the Lines
• The Riddle of History in a Democracy
• III. Firing the Canon
• The Machine in the Classroom
• The Canon
• Common Purpose
• The Development of School English
• The Longing for Heroism
• Seeing into Things
• IV. Words Fail Us
• "To Guard the Avenues of Their Languages"
• Accent on Legislating Language
• Speaking American
• A Tongue-tied Nation
• A Paucity of Language
• Devalued Families
• Freely Spoken
• V. Mapping Culture
• A Little More History
• Matching Curriculum to Students
• Whose Religion?
• Alternative Views
• Practical Solutions
• Education as Quest
• VI. Life on the Border
• Frontiers
• Culture/culture
• The Art of Teaching
• Bringing School Home and Leading Children Out
• Opening American Minds
• Doing Good
• We’re Doing It for Ourselves