A few years back, I purchased a packet of posters which proclaim democratic ideals. One reads: PATRIOTISM: People show loyalty to the values of the country. That got me pondering whether this notion is essentially federalist or anti-federalist, and I realized that it could be either depending upon which values one decides to choose.
I think that’s what bothers me most about the concept. There’s an easy patriotism that is strongly anti-federalist. Longing for the “good old days” is such a cop-out that one might as well phone in his citizenship. And what can one tell of any so-called patriot who wears a flag pin in her lapel or attends a parade? These “sunshine patriots” might throw on the guise of love of country without any work; their “show” of loyalty might be nothing more than that!
What do you do with your students to take definitions beyond their face value? Are there activities other than discussion being used out there? Does your school require community service? If so, what’s your take on that?
I do a lot of work with propaganda in my class. I firmly believe that students need an understanding of manipulation in order to navigate some pretty trecherous waters. Today’s kids own a lot of savvy that we admire (when it comes to tech for instance); however, some argue that they can be more helpless than previous generations, especially when it comes to communication. Whether that’s true or not, literature, writing, and social studies serve a powerful role in helping kids to decode their social environment.
What sort of levers, pulleys, and inclined planes do you show your students? What will be in their toolbox once they leave your class? Of what process are you proud to instill in your kids?
OK, I’m finally back from the dead (there is a degree of literalism there…).
Our US history text uses nationalism and patriotism interchangeably. For my students’ sake I feel compelled to distinguish, as both a philologist and a social scientist. My middle-school definition is that historically, “nationalism” is a function of “nationality”: common bloodlines, tied to the land, with a shared culture (including but not limited to religion). It’s something one is born into; hence a French citizen can have a passport listing her as a Russian or Tunisian or Japanese national.
The traditional definition didn’t fit with reality in the new United States. We use the term “patriotism” instead. I’m not sure of the historic evolution of the term, although its etymology is “father.” Maybe it’s about forging a new family identity based on who one’s father is, rather than one’s mother (as in Henry VIII’s 3 children?), George Washington as the father of our country….
I’m sure that the nuances are often lost, but I also know that things stick with our students that they don’t realize they have retained. That’s one of the blessings of teaching in a small K-12 school–I get to see them again as seniors.
One could ask students to illustrate the differences, compare/contrast, develop their own definitions of patriotism from Fed or AF perspectives, debate those definitions, judge the virtue of engagement in various patriotic activities, evaluate the propaganda, that sort of thing.
Thanks for this post, Hobbes. I’m a decent wide receiver, but I need your excellence at quarterback!