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May 14, 2007
History Lessons
Kevin Drum writes:
Extremely longtime readers may recall that I once suggested that history could be made more interesting to high school students if it were taught backwards (see here)
At my Community College (Hawks Rule!), American history was broken into a pair of 1 semester classes. The first half was taught "traditionally": 1492-1865. Anyone who doens't know why those dates ought to retake American History! The second half (1866-2001) was taught in 5 sections. We mixed things up quite a bit, though. Day 1 was about the Vietnam war, the next section was "Present". Then we went backwards. I recall vividly how, on 10 September 2001, the entire class laughed at the idea that we would be engaged in a major war, and that a draft would even be thinkable...
I don't recall exactly what the breakdown was. I do recall that the class was both interesting and engaging-- we were given enough context that historical connections were easy to form. Other schools ought to try this approach...
As for Drum's specific article:
But then, the school district forbade him from teaching that way any longer. The school's consultant said it was "not logical, does not contribute to effective teaching or monitoring of progress, and puts students at a disadvantage" with newly instituted statewide tests, according to a paper on the subject by Professor Nancy Patterson of Bowling Green.
This makes some sense, actually. I recall reading in Lies My Teacher Told me that traditional American History classes (1492-2007) rarely get past 1945. If the tests are constructed similarly, then loading kid's with information about the Cold War, Civil Rights, and the Culture War would put them at a distinct disadvantage in passing the test. The fact that they would become better citizens is rendered irrelevant...
Posted by Andrew at May 14, 2007 02:07 AM