Chapter Of Historical Thinking And Other Unnatural Acts

In The Death of History is Bunk, Patrick Watson argues that the decrease of historical content in the curriculum does not indicate that history, as a subject, is declining. While many complain about the decreasing prominence of history classes in Canadian schools, the content of those classes is excessively dull as it consists of memorizing lists of facts. Despite this, there are still protests that knowledge of “defining events” is required to contribute to “the National Conversation”. However, history is not so simple as a list of events—it is the sum of the small happenings in society around the events. A whole variety of factors influence history, which is created by the common people. Unlike Americans, who turn to their constitution for

American history is a very important subject in our education, therefore, this vital topic shouldn’t be thought of as scary. By learning our country’s history, we understand the society we live in, the changes that occurred, and inspire us to do better. For better understanding of the subject some teachers believe that students will benefit from thinking American history as a “story”, while others look down on that idea. There are several pros and cons for the idea for thinking history as a “story”.

Sam Wineburg’s Thinking Like a Historian is a well thought out document about the importance of not simply memorizing the facts of history but encouraging students to learn and discover history themselves thought primary sources. I agree with Sam on the importance of students using logic and discovery skills instead of just memorizing facts. When I discover something myself it makes it more personal and easy to relate to than just being lectured at. I found it interesting that many historians argue over the meaning of facts and the intentions of historical figures. The goal of historical thinking is to teach students to second guess their first opinion when reading a document and to think for themselves.

History is often fabricated and told in a way that is appealing to youth and descendants. History is often told from “white eyes” Loewen suggest that it be told through red eyes to provide true insight in what has formed our country. “One does not start from point zero, but from minus ten” (Loewens 93). High School students are presented information in a biased way. Students are not always taught how to view a situation through another perspective. Students are only able to view a situation based on how they have lived or what they know best. When teaching history of the world teachers often teach harsh situations from the past in ways that are fabricated. “If we look Indian history squarely in the eye, we are going to get red eyes” (Loewen 95). In this statement Loewen suggest that if a reader looks at a situation “squarely” the reader will develop “red eyes” that open the reader up to reality of our decedents and the

History class in itself has a specific purpose which seems to be frequently forgotten. We learn about violent and horrible events in our past, as well as life- changing and positively impacting ones. From the negative events, we learn what went wrong and how to prevent similar tragedies from happening. From the positive, we gather knowledge and comprehension of the basis of our modern society. We are a self- repairing race, analyzing every flaw and figuring out what caused it. It's an ancient practice, trial and error is human nature.

History can be an intricate and laborious subject to teach and learn. James W. Loewen, author, historian, and sociologist, is the perfect example of someone who appreciates the subject in all aspects, but knows how underestimated it is. As he says in Lies My Teacher Told Me, “Our educational media turn flesh-and-blood individuals into pious, perfect creatures without conflicts, pain, credibility, or human interest” (Loewen 11). Throughout the book, he further elucidated the idea of that quote by introducing particular topics that deserved more details and acknowledgement. Loewen argues with enough reasoning from numerous textbooks that the writers aren’t involving all facts that should be included to inform the students. Nearly all points

“I don’t understand why I have to take this class. All that old history stuff has no relevance to my life, and it is a waste of time to fool with it. My life today is more important than the lives of all those dead and boring people.” This remark is said more frequently than we realize. History is a combination of events that created our present and future today. The past it what simply gives our present it’s value. Another way to look at history is it can be compared to our ancestry line. Without our ancestors we wouldn’t have the make-up of genes that we do today. For example, the Columbian exchange is one of the events in history that has really impacted our world. Not only did one change come from the event but a variety including food, plants, animals, goods and knowledge. History also exposes knowledge to us. It is the resource that allows us to better our lives and expand our knowledge. Believe it or not, our life we peruse everyday consist of history. Including languages, we inherited, religions that weren’t just created on the spot, technologies that have been upgraded in the past years, and the clothing we decided to put on our backs everyday that has evolved from different materials to different fittings. The world has evolved in many ways in the past and it continues to evolve.

Throughout secondary school, instead of accepting the facts stated in my textbooks, I continued to ask questions. Disillusioned by how complex historical events were taught like equations with a simple cause and effect, senior year of high school I determined that I would become a teacher. As a teacher, I aspire to not be hindered by standardized requirements and teach history in a way that resonates with students and evokes passion.

In their essays; Why Study History and A Shield Against Fate and It’s Consequences, Diane Ravitch and T.H. Watkins, respectively, each make a case for why history history should be taught, and their arguments can be summarized by the above quote, an excerpt from Watkin’s piece. Where Ravitch focuses on the how it can improve intelligence, Watkins believes the significance of learning history lies in it’s ability to increase hope. They both, however, implicitly state that knowing about the past will make us better prepared to deal with and shape the future.

The history that is discussed in classrooms today is not what it once was. History is no longer held with the same value as it was once before. History repeats itself. We can learn the story of history and unpack it to understand. Through history we can learn the effects of change. Through history we learn so much.

Frances FitzGerald, in her essay on the modification of American history textbooks (1979), reasons that the education of students is biased through the interpretations of history, by historians, in contemporary American history textbooks because they “force students to think as historians think” thereby discouraging the evolution of new ideas and promoting intellectual laziness in students who simply conform to that way of thinking. She supports this reasoning with detailed, logical fallacy, juxtaposing anecdotes, and compelling syllogism. FitzGerald’s purpose is to expose educational bias in historical textbooks in order to make them less subjective in their accounts of history as well as include multiple

History has the unrelenting power to reenter our present lives and show that it is far from a dormant topic that is drilled into school students. The past has a purpose to teach us, to provide us with the knowledge of our failures along side our successes. The past is there to be sure that we do not continue to make the same mistakes endlessly. If we constantly look toward the future without remembering our country’s past experiences, than we are going to concede to repeat.

Historical literacy research indicates that the kinds of texts students work with influence their reasoning process. When students read primary documents, they are more likely to evaluate the genre and cite passages in their writing. The combination of reading multiple texts that challenge students’ preconceptions and activities such as discussion or group work also appears to encourage historical thinking. We centered our lesson on a central question and selected relevant texts to facilitate students’ investigation of the question. History is not a list of facts to be memorized, but a series of questions to investigate. Teachers need to frame texts as interpretations to be questioned and puzzled over, not read as the authoritative final say

I think the best way to go about teaching history is to try to approach each historical event with objectivity and skepticism. This process described by Haskell allows you to teach your students the value of listening to other people’s opinions, by listening to others you allow yourself to be exposed to new ideas or beliefs. Being skeptical is an important value to install while teaching. Skepticism allows you to question your own historical bias and personal perspectives, having doubt creates the ability to question yourself and be open to new teachings. Although I agree with Haskell’s approach, I also agree with some of Novick’s opinions. I believe that to some point we will never know the real truth in regards to some historical events.

Students respond differently towards the distribution of information, reacting and indulging differently if that information comes from an educational outlet than that of a social or even private source. This is especially the case with history with more students feeling overwhelmed and unattached to history information supplied to them through classrooms or teachers but respond well to history when it is received through media outlets, technology or just outside the educational system. Maybe it is due to the students’ perception that anything taught at school is going to have a bland and ‘boring’ element towards it, that the classes are not fun but only cutting into the time they could spend socializing or using technology. Maybe those students that find history interesting outside the academic level openly engage in those historical fiction and films, feeling more in control of their learning or the information supplied to them. Maybe in an academic sense, students cannot see the relevance of the historical information supplied, making it difficult for them to understand it and recognize why it is important element of their study. Usually information received outside of school the media outlets such as the internet and television highlight historical information in the relevance of today’s society, illustrating one of the reasons such topic has made headlines and is still actively incorporated into society. It can be argued that all students would like to learn, however to