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Hanseatics in a League of Their Own

Ohanian Comment: E. D. Hirsch's old cultural literacy list lives on. I once amazed and amused everyone in a hospital waiting room by reading aloud from that tome. Except it isn't funny when it becomes a kid's curriculum.

When was the last time you thought about the Hanseatic League or Vvon Thunen's models of spatial interactions? Not recently? Me neither. But if statewide committees have their way, these are two of the hundreds of things that all Minnesota high school students will study. They are on the 55½-page, single-spaced draft list of proposed social studies standards. These relatively obscure concepts illustrate some of the problems of setting statewide standards.

Last week, I was at a meeting with, among others, one of Minnesota's former education commissioners, the former chair of the House Education Committee and a senior official of the Minnesota Department of Education. These are smart, knowledgeable people.

Did they know about the Hanseatic League or Thunen? No clue. Me neither. The World Book Encyclopedia says the League was created in the 1200s, among various northern German cities. They adopted laws governing commerce and went out of existence by the end of the Middle Ages.

How about Vvon Thunen? No listing in World Book. Nothing found in a Google search.

I tried Von Thunen. Bingo. (The list makers' draft added an extra "v" to this European farmer's name, I learned.) In the late 1700s and early 1800s, he suggested that the value of agricultural land depended in part on how far from a city it is.

Virtually everyone would support some items, such as:

• Knowing about people ranging from Christopher Columbus, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Understanding the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

• Knowing the names of the president and governor.

• Being able to give examples of "how human activities impact the environment."

This last item could be the subject of considerable controversy — think about the debate on whether cars are helping to produce global warming. But that's OK. Young people should understand the different sides of this very important debate.

One problem a committee could have is knowing where to stop.

Some people love concepts like Von Thunen and the Hanseatics. History and government fascinate me. I think economics and geography are OK. But part of the reason many students are turned off by these subjects is that some teachers try to throw too much stuff at them.

It's often difficult to see the importance of some things schools discuss. I'm big on depth (such as truly understanding how the Constitution applies constantly in our lives, on debates about how much free speech and religious freedom should be tolerated.)

If well taught, students become active, constructive citizens. Commissioner Cheri Pierson Yecke wisely has scheduled meetings around the state, including four in the metro area, over the next month to discuss the standards.

Does everyone need to know about the Hanseatic League and Von Thunen?

Fortunately, the list is a draft. It needs a lot of pruning.


— Joe Nathan
Hanseatics in a league of their own
Pioneer Press
2003-09-14
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/living/education/6759669.htm

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