A remarkable document just crossed my desk. On February 6, Dr. Tony Bennett, Chairman of the State Board of Education, wrote an open letter to Indiana Educators about teaching social studies. He urged them to make their primary goal engaging students with history rather than simply teaching facts and dates. Before teachers just assign chapters from textbooks, Bennett implored them to think about whether they are piquing curiosity or dousing it with information. Well that’s not exactly how he said it, “As a board we have expressed our concern that the now standardized form of social studies textbooks… may jeopardize both student interest in history...and the effective learning of the country’s principles and values.” All I can say is, Thank You Mr. Chairman.
For as long as I can remember, social studies has been the poster child for just how boring school can be. Even I had the bad habit of sleeping through history class in high school. But it doesn’t have to be dull.
A few years ago, I walked into William Gulde’s classroom in world history at North Central High School on “Back to School Night.” On the blackboard was a comparative calendar of world events on every continent in the last 100 years, and also a simple family genealogy. Mr. Gulde explained, “I don’t start with the facts; I start the students making individual family trees. That way they see how they are personally connected to history.”
It’s that personal connection – either through genealogy or through narrative and human emotion – that makes history compelling. And it’s the engagement that encourages students to understand that the subject merits their time and attention.
Posted:
2/17/2009 2:25:28 PM by
Ellen Rosenthal | with
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