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Andrew S. Terrell
EDD 8300

Analyzing History Education Reform

The way in which an instructor approaches a class determines the
success of the class--both for the students and the instructor. In the
case of history education, conferences take place seemingly every
weekend. The common motif behind each is a simple question: how does
one teach students about history in a way that is meaningful to them?
The solutions vary depending on the support teachers receive, the
demographics of the student population, and the willingness of a
teacher to do more than the day before. The Stanford University
History Education Group started a change in the discipline a few years
ago that push for emphasis on primary sources and Socratic teaching
styles in secondary education. In Halvorsen and Lunds article on
applying Lesson Study, the same approach that turned history education
around in Asian countries, the west coast of America, and Virginia is
analyzed on its merits in Turkey.
For the purposes of this composition, Lesson Study and History
Education will be evaluated along the lines of clarity, relevance,
depth, and logic. The article narrates the case study of applying the
practice known as Lesson Study to a group of fifty-eight teacher
trainees about to enter the work force. The instructional idea behind
Lesson Study is to expose students to documents albeit diaries,
photographs, letters, or government documents in order to create a
relationship between the student and a particular moment in history.
The idea is simple, but the implementation as the article posits, is
most difficult. There is no question, however, that this is a superior
method to education as it emphasizes historical analysis and critical
thinking as a necessity to studying history thereby allowing the skills
to carry over into other aspects of life and the eventual careers of
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the students. In brief, questions that are deserving of a hypothetical
response are: 1) How can educators who want to teach in this style
convince their leaders to enable it? 2) What are the disadvantages of
activity-based teaching, hereafter referred to as Lesson Study?
In the article, the authors elaborated on the importance of
history in the schools. Not necessarily because of the clichd purpose
of avoiding the past, but because analysis that works in tandem with
historical research is essential for todays society. Their purpose is
quite clear, as is their reasoning behind adapting schools attention
to history education. Under the umbrella of clarity, the authors
performed several scenarios and acted out many lessons with the
teachers in order to demonstrate to the reader how critical history as
a discipline is. They further argued that despite some disadvantages,
everything could be overcome by higher support from administrations and
government officials. To perform the correct reforms about how Turkey-
-and many states in America for that matter--approached history, the
authors created a succinct list of responses to obstacles. The key to
successfully implementing change, they concluded, was to provide
ongoing development and assign a team of curriculum writers to create
lessons that could be used or adapted by more willing instructors.
Their questions were reasonable and clear as were the conclusions they
found at the end of their studies.
When approaching any topic in educational reform, one has to
question the relevance of proposals. In the case of Halvorsen and
Lunds article, history was relevant because of its impact and overflow
into other aspects of society. Scenarios acted out by teachers in the
study were relevant to the core questions of the article along the
lines of how could history be taught in a meaningful way that activates
long-term memory and critical analysis. The authors convincingly
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demonstrated how history is crucial to societal progress and individual
growth. The lessons introduced to the teachers in the study were most
relevant to key moments in Turkeys history. Applying the same choices
to an American history course would be the equivalent of having
students discuss the significance of 1776 where the United States
created a document seen as a declaration of war and separation. The
success of the War for Independence would later be compounded by
inspiring a world-wide movement for anti-imperialism that would lead to
independence for countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America by 1848.
Students need to understand the relevance of the past so they can see
themselves as figures that affect change even if on a minor scale. The
relevance of the studies and the topics used in demonstration
illustrate the importance of changing how history should be taught.
Within the auspices of depth analysis, the article answers many
questions about practical application. The overriding question about
Lesson Study as a practice was how effective was it at teaching
students what they needed to know for standardized exams. The recent
crux of education, being testing, was created in order to compare
students to each other quantitatively. However, many recognize the
problem with this approach: not every student performs well on such
exams due to any number of circumstances. Therefore, the authors of
this article had to show a serious depth of knowledge and testing to
legitimize the practice in an average classroom. The authors did well
to address the complexities of the problems with teaching in this prose
while improving or at least maintaining adequate progress on student
achievement with exams. Their response was most direct: teachers need
to be open to new ways of instruction. Additionally, simulated quizzes
and outside assignments would be necessary to teach the required and
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assessed curriculum while honoring the importance of historical
analysis for students.
When analyzing the logic of the article, one must consider the
quality of instruction wanted for our students. The authors surmise
that all disadvantages or concerns raised by the teachers involved with
the study can be overcome. It is only natural to raise levels of rigor
because lowering them would, by definition, be illogical. If the steps
towards implementing Lesson Study into the class are followed through,
one sees the result being an environment where students are better
equipped with analytic skills and the ability to have a professional
discourse about issues that may arise in their lives. To implement
this practice, the authors prescribed curriculum and textbooks be
revised to include activities that would enable students to go beyond
their texts. Furthermore, they recommended details of certain topics
be reduced to the essence of knowledge in order to allow adequate time
for activity-based learning. Finally, they suggested publishing
companies, teachers, and universities should prepare and publish
materials for schools to use at an affordable budget so as to enable
the poverty-ridden populations a route to prosperity after public
school.
Ultimately, Lesson Study and History Education used a case study
to narrate the possibilities of activity-based history classes. In
doing so, the authors illustrated how impactful such a course would be
for the youth of Turkey and elsewhere. However, the authors did not
address a key question posed by this reader: How can educators convince
their leaders to adopt this approach? Several advantages were
displayed in the article, and certainly many disadvantages were met
with ways to overcome obstacles. But, there was no mention of how to
convince an intransigent leader who is afraid of new ideas or reforms.
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The mindset that affectionately concludes what was good enough for a
past generation should be good enough for a future generation is hard
to combat in education. It takes a certain willingness on all parties
involved to step out of a comfort zone and into an arena of
uncertainties. However, had leaders with such an attitude been exposed
to historical analysis earlier on, perhaps they would see the
significance of teaching it in such a way today.
Halvorsen and Lund, overall, have a convincing case in favor of
modifying history education. Like a few places in the world where such
changes have been embraced, Turkey in 2014 is taking a chance with
their secondary education in hopes of creating a generation better
equipped to meet the challenges of the future. The United States,
however, lags behind in this endeavor outside of higher education,
private, and charter schools. As evidenced by the outcry against
choice in education for parents directed at allowing students into
charter schools, the establishment is under assault. They feel
threatened because activities in history have not hurt test scores
which remains the leading cause for hesitation in history education
reform. This study, however, added to the discussion in a most
meaningful way due to its clarity and scope.



Source:
Halvorsen, A., & Kesler Lund, A. (2013). Lesson Study and History Education.
Social Studies, 104(3), 123-129. doi:10.1080/00377996.2012.698326