I am ashamed to admit, but I want to be honest in saying that I don't like history. Never did......but maybe now I will. After reading the article Teaching for Historical Literacy, I couldn't help but use my own experiences and encounters in regard to my personal historical education. It's no wonder now as to why I did not enjoy or even try to understand what was being taught..... for my experiences included the conventional style of a history lesson, textbook reading, rote memorization of facts, and answering chapter questions upon completion of reading assignments. Let's face it, there wasn't anything glamorous about all that. However, this article has piqued my interest! As a reading specialist, I would love to see more content literacy happening in subjects such as science and social studies. It really could change the dynamic of the whole subject, and allow students that would otherwise be bored to flourish in a new way. Talk about making history come alive and have more meaning to the student while allowing for them, to get a real feel and understanding for what exactly happened on a wagon train, what it meant to be a pioneer and etc. The use of historical fiction is a wonderful idea and can be used in so many ways, such as comparing and contrasting, character/author point of view, and generalizations.
Students are innately curious and providing them with these opportunities to gain information in such a manner is truly refreshing. That would never have been possible with the archaic methods of the past. I actually found myself thinking that maybe I could live vicariously through my sons and perhaps use their time to study history be my chance to finally "learn history" through their experiences. As a language arts teacher, I now see how I can utilize my lessons to give students the medium to think outside the box, have them draw conclusions, and discuss misconceptions through literacy and writing.
As I have said, I never took to history, I felt a disconnect, a lack of interest. I can see the effects of that disinterest because as an adult I really don't feel the need to have any strong political affiliations or follow issues of government we are all facing. Now I see what history can and should be, and I am thinking maybe I have a second chance.....hoping this time history won't repeat itself!!!!
I have two degrees in history and can't remember specific dates, so I'll totally agree that this is not a way to make history interesting!
ReplyDeleteI hope we'll help you discover another side of history during this program! History isn't what happened, it's WHY it happened. Behind events are real people, with interesting stories. Think of history as a mystery - what made the founders decide that writing the Declaration of Independence was the only route left to them (and was it?). Why did other people think that wasn't the best way to resolve issues with Great Britain?
Historical fiction is a great way to bring these stories alive, though you do need to recognize that the author has created the story and that others might not agree with that version of the facts. We'll talk about this a bit more as we go along.
I agree with you about disliking history as well. I am hoping to learn some techniques to help my first graders to love history. I would like to make history come alive for them so that they are connected and interested. The memorization of dates and events does not connect the learner.
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