Making History Meaningful in the Classroom

The goal is not to train a new generation of historians. Instead, the historical investigation model is designed to generate student interest in studying the past, engender competence with a set of thinking skills that will benefit them beyond the school walls, and promote and understanding of the major events, people, and ideas that populate the American past.

Bruce Lesh’s “Why won’t you just tell us the Answers?” Teaching Historical Thinking in Grades 7-12 (2011) page 73

There is a pull between two forces in history classrooms: content, the events, people, and dates fill textbooks, and process, how students learn to think and how they then express their thoughts. While both are important, often in classrooms with the pressure of standards and testing content takes the lead, whereas educational theory often stresses process. In finding a middle ground one must think about the goal in the classroom – what should students come away with? Ideally it will be similar to what Bruce Lesh lists above: interest, competence and understanding in both the subject matter of the class, and of how to approach subject matter that students will encounter in their own lives and in the future.

Bruce Lesh applies historical thinking in his classroom through the “historical investigation model.” This model asks students to examine sources in order to gather evidence to support their own theories in response to historical questions.  This method reflects Lesh’s effort to find balance between content and process in the history classroom. While the process is at the core of this method, teaching students the skills to attack data, understand its content, context, and subtext, and to draw evidence based conclusions– this process is not taught separate from content, but rather through content. Lesh describes this as “cover[ing] the conceptual bones of historical investigations with the clothes of historical content (p. 25).”

In addition to graduate school I am also a substitute teacher. Last week I was excited to get to spend a few days in a Social Studies classroom (as a sub. I end up teaching in all grades and disciplines, so it is always a treat to get to be in a class where I am interested in the subject matter). I found myself disappointed when, upon arrival, I saw that the students were studying Ancient Egypt. My interest in history has always been grounded in modern history, like many students I enjoy making connections from the past to the present, and I have never seemed to be able to make that same connection with ancient history. As I presented the lesson and watched students begin to engage with the subject matter (murals in Egyptian tombs) I began wondering about the purpose of the lesson – and what my own purpose would be if I were to teach ancient history.

Sitting in this classroom I began to think about using historical investigation model to teach ancient history. Lesh describes history as “the debate between competing interpretations of events, individuals, and ideas of the past based on the utilization of historical evidence (p. 22).” Using this definition, I began thinking about the content at hand, messages left in their tombs, and why Egyptians would have left their stories in their tombs. Was this religious superstition? The leaving of a legacy? By beginning with an intriguing question my excitement about developing a historical investigation unit on a subject I have very little previous knowledge about grew. While I am not about to develop a unit about Ancient Egyptian history (although who knows, maybe one day…), I realized that changing my thinking about this subject began with examining my definition of history. Historical thinking is a way of teaching about the past that helps student work feel applicable and real. Students not only learn skills that will be useful in their own lives and making connections between the history and its effect on the world today, but it also allows students to be active, and present, in their learning and to understand why they are learning how they are learning, and why it is important. 

Social Studies Education and Me

My interest in Social Studies and Education developed independently of each other. From the American Girl books to the Dear America series to Anne Rinaldi's tween historical fiction novels, I developed a love for history through stories about the past. My historical curiosity led me to Washington, D.C. where I received my BA in History from The George Washington University. Through a combination of my course work and internships at The US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Civil War Preservation Trust, I became passionate about the preservation and presentation of history. 

My interest in education developed through a love of working with children. My first experience with this came from spending summers as a camp counselor in California. After graduating from college, I was extraordinarily lucky to be hired at an elementary school, first as an assistant librarian and then teacher. These experiences introduced me to the challenge of figuring out how each individual student learns best and my love for figuring out how to make educational concepts become a reality for students. More than anything else, it’s that moment when you see something “click” for a student that has solidified my desire to have a career in education.

In an effort to combine these two passions I have returned to The George Washington University to pursue a MA in Curriculum Instruction with a focus in Social Studies Education. This blog is a part of my second Social Studies methods class, Perspectives and Research in Social Studies Education. My blog posts will include reflections on how the Social Studies are best learned and taught.