LeeHighSchool

Whatarethechallengesthatteachersfacetodayteachinghistory?

CarlosMedina
Mr.BrianCahoon
SeniorCapstone
April18,2016

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CarlosMedina
BrianCahoon
SeniorCapstone
March23,2016
TeachingHistory
Historyisveryoftenasubjectthatisdifficulttoteachforanyteacherbecausethesubject
canbedateintenstiveanddry.Historyistheunderstandingofpasteventsandseeingtheircauses
andconsequencesandhowtheyaffectpeopletoday.AccordingtoDanCarlin,afamous
podcaster,historydoesntrepeatitself.Insteaditfollowsarhythmthatcanbeunderstood(Dan
CarlinHardcoreHistoryPodcastBlueprintforArmageddonepisode3).Itisthejobofahistory
teacherofmakingsurethatstudentsunderstandthisrhythmandseehowtheycanpreparefor
similarsituations.Studentsareoftentheleadersofthefutureandisnecessaryforthemto
understandtheserhythms.Yetteacherstodayfacechallengesinmakinghistoryinterestingfor
students.
Thechallengesforteachinghistorytodayisthewayitsoftenpresentedand
taught
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Howhistoryiscurrentlypresentedhasproventobeachallengeforhistoryteachers.
Historyisoftenshownasnothingmorethaneventsthathavenomeaningtoeverydaylife.
Studentsoftenwonderwhatimpactwilllearningaboutthepyramidshaveontheirlives.For
themthatdoesnotinfluencewhatjoborhowtheirlifehappens.Learningaboutancienttombs
hasnorealpurposeforthem.Theonlypeoplewhowouldbeinterestedinthepyramidsarethose

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whowanttobeEgyptologists.Historyisnothingmorethanasubjectthatonemusthavetolearn
inschooltopassthegrade.Formanystudentsthiswillmakethesubjectinstantlydullandnot
worththetimelearningabout.Dullnessistheenemyofanyteachertryingtoteachanysubject.
Fordullnesswillinstantlymakeanystudenttrytoignorewhatisbeingtaughtandfocusonother
thingslikehowmanylikesdidtheirprofilepicturegetonFacebookoriftheygotanynew
storiesonSnapchat.
Thesecondissuewithmakinghistoryinterestingisthewayitstaught.Inthetraditional
classroomsetting,historyistaughtusingmainlydates.Studentswillbetoldthatthisevent
happenedinthisyearandthatthispersondiedthisyear.Historyinsteadofbeingtaughtas
eventsinvolvingrealpeopleissimplifiedtonothingmorethannumbers.Insteadofbeingabout
peopleitistreatedlikeamathunit.Forstudents,memorizingdatesisabslutelyboringandis
nothingmorethanawasteoftime.Hearingnothingbutdatesmakesstudentstreatthosedatesas
iftheywereappointments.Inotherwordsnotatallimportant,justnumbersonehastoremember
fortheoccassionandthatoncetheneedforknowingthempassestheywillendupforgotten.
Anotherissuewithhowhistoryistaughtisthatstudentswillthinkthatitsnothingmore
thandeadoldwhiteguys.WhyisitimportanttoknowthatAndrewJacksonwasanopponentof
thecentralbankisaquestionthatseveralstudentswillask.Forthemhisantinationalbank
stancedoesnotaffectthematall.Whatevenmakesitevenmoreirrelevantforthemisthefact
thatAndrewJacksonwaswhite.Nowadaysalotofstudentsareofminoritygroupsinsteadofthe
whitemajoritythathasexistedformanyyears.Severalstudentswillfeelthatthecontributionsof
theirethnicgroupstothecountryneverhappened.Insteadalltheyhearisaboutarethe
contributionsofwhitemenwholivedoveracenturyago.Theirliveshavenorelevancetothem

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ortheircareers.Knowingwhenacertainwhitemanwasbornanddiedhasnomeaningtothem
andassuchhistoryshouldnthaveanymenaningtoiteither.Learningaboutdeadoldwhiteguys
hasimportancetoanyoneexceptforthosewhoareinterestedaboutit.Thushistoryandlearning
aboutisnothingmorebutawasteoftime.
Theconceptsofhistoryandteachingithaveagapwhenitcomestostudents.(page1
ISAAreview,journaloftheIndependentscholarsofAustraliaApril2014)Historyispresented
onewaybutistaughtanother.Thewayitstaughtisthatitforcesstudentstolearnitinsteadof
applyingittoreallife.Studentswhomaybepoliticiansforexamplecouldusetheirknowledge
ofhistorytopasslawsthataddresscertaingrievances(WorkingtogethertostrengthenHistory
TeachinginSecondaryschoolsHistorians.org1998)Inschoolstudentsarenotmadeawareof
howapplicabletheirknowledgeofhistorycanbetotheirfuturecareers.Infactstudentsshould
beaskedtopromotehistoryandtheirunderstandingofitinsteadofknowingdatesandcoverage.
(pg53MeaningoverMemory:TheRecastingofTeachingCultureandHistory,PeterStearns
1993)Anotherproblemisthatstudentsenteringahistoryclassoftenlackbackgroundknowledge
ofthesubject.Thismeansthatthestudentwillhavetroubleconnectingwithhistory.Instead
historyshouldbeinterconnectedwithothersubjectsastoshowitisnotjustonething.(1991
AmericanHistoricalTaskforce)Suchasshowinghowthefieldofchemistrywasusedinthefirst
worldwartoproducepoisongas.Oneofthebiggestproblemsofteachinghistoryisthatstudents
arebusierthaneverbefore.Alltheydonowisspendtheirtimeonsocialmediaandusingother
electronicdevices.(CNN.comWhystudentsfallbehindonhistory2011)Teachersneedtofind
methodsofteachingthatwilldistractstudentsfromusingtheirmobiledevices.Thisiswhere
usingmoderntechnologycanbebenficialinsteadofdetrimental.Forexampleonthestreaming

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siteYoutube,thereareseveralchannelsthatpresenthistoryininterestingwayslikeHistory
Buffs,TheGreatWarandExtraHistory.ThentherearepodcastsliketheRomanEmperors
podcastandDanCarlinsHardcoreHistory.Theseareallalternativemethodsofteachinghistory
totodaysgenerationofstudents.
Usingtheseresourcesahistoryteachercanmakehistoryinterestingforstudents.A
suggestionishavingstudentsreaddiaryexcerptsofpeoplewholivedthroughacertainevent.
Thiswillremindthemthatthesewererealpeoplewithactuallivesandnotjustsomebland
figurewhoseemsinhuman.Readingtheirstorieswillletstudentssometimesseethehorrorsthat
certaineventscausedforpeopleandputsthemintheirshoes.Alsousingpodcastsandonline
videoswillallowthemtoexpandthewayhistoryistaught.Usingmoderndaymediaalsoallows
theteachertoconnectwiththeirstudentsinawayneverseenbefore.Inatraditionalclassroom
notallthestudentswouldlearnbyreadingatextbook.Insteadbyusingresourceslikethe
internetandpodcaststhosestudentsmaygetengagedinhistory.Studentswouldlearnthat
historyimpactsthemtodaybecausetheworldtheyliveinwasshapedbypastevents.Not
knowingthepastwouldcausefuturemistakestooccur.
Historyteachershaveachallengeofmakinghistoryinterestingformoderndaystudents.
Thoughitisnotaneasytopictoteachandpresent.Thisisduetohowimportantthesubjectisto
everyoneslivesandhowtheircountryisrun.Yethistoryhasbeenpresentedasboringandvery
dateintensivetostudents.Thishascausedittobetaughtthewrongwayinthecurrentday.
Alternativemethodsofteachinghistoryexistandmustbeexploredandusedwithstudents.
Studentsmustseethathistoryhasarhythmthatcanrepeatandwillhavelongterm

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consequences.Learningtheseconsequenceshelpspreventthesamemistakesfromoccuring
again.

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WorksCited
1.Holland,Sally."WhyStudentsFallbehindonHistory."CNN.com.CNN,18Jan.2011.Web.
18Apr.2016.<
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/01/18/history.teachers.solutions/
>.
2."ISAAReview."IndependentScholarsofAustralia(2014):1.Isaa.org.IndependentScholars
ofAustralia,14Aug.2014.Web.18Apr.2016.
3.Stearns,Peter.MeaningoverMemory:TheRecastingofCultureandHistory.ChapelHill:Uof
NorthCarolina,1993.Print.H.EugeneandLillianYoungsLehmanSer.
4.Steves,KathleenAnderson."WorkingTogethertoStrengthenTeachingHistoryinSecondary
Schools."Historians.org.AmericanHistoricalAssociation,1998.Web.18Apr.2016.
<
https://www.historians.org/aboutahaandmembership/ahahistoryandarchives/archives/wor
kingtogethertostrengthenhistoryteachinginsecondaryschools
>.
5.TeachingHistory(1991).Historians.org.AmericanHistoricalAssociation,11Jan.1998.Web.
18Apr.2016