Learning History vs. Life Skills in School
Thursday March 27, 2008
In Great Britain, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers has recently declared that the current school curriculum focuses too much on rote tasks (such as memorizing historical dates) and neglects teaching kids real-life skills. The teachers' dilemma reflects the age-old question: "Why should students learn history?" If your immediate answer is for them to know about their past, does having students memorize historical dates adequately teach them the history they need to know?
Why do you think history is important to learn and how can we make it more than just memorizing dates? (Please post your thoughts by clicking on "comments" below.)
Comments
History isn’t really about the past - settling old scores. It’s about defining the present and who we are.
Ken Burns
As an American I am always awed by the fact that so many people have given their lives in order to preserve our freedom. From the birth of our nation to the present time our history is interwoven with heroes who thought more about preserving those God given rights for the future generation than preserving their own lives. If we don’t know how we became who we are, then it becomes easier for those who want to take those rights away from us to do so. It is a shame that today’s average high school student has no idea what the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution means to us as American citizens. Instead they have been taught that these documents can be watered down according to the whim of a judge. Little by little we are losing our Constitutional rights and no one even recognizes that fact. It is truly the “dumbing down” of the United States of America’s educational system. I hope it is not too late.
I agree very much with the above comments. The same things are happening in the UK.
I cannot understand the comment that History in schools is just about learning dates. Dates are an incidental part of learning history without which you could not really understand the idea of social developments for example.Awareness of change and why and how it occurs is aa important social skill in itself.
My life is devoted to history, so one might consider me to a certain degree biased, but the present rests on the foundation of the past. It is important for understanding who we are, who other people are, and why certain cultures and countries are in conflict. A good historian would make a better politician!
In my opinion… parents can yell at me all they want, but if you really want to get the kids interested in history, they have to watch it on t.v and in the movies. No kid wants to sit around all day reading a book, but a two hour film followed by hours and hours of running around in a play ground playing “Mediaeval war” Is a sufficient foundation for interest in later years. Movies bring the past to life, even though most movies barely hit the point of historical accuracy, it sparks the interest that later motivates one to open a book and learn about what really happened. Explosions on T.V interest children in science… Seeing plays and movies motivates our youngsters into Drama. Why cannot the same thing pertain to history?
I have experience with children, and one perfect example is this: most children who have seen the Land Before Time cartoon series can tell me what a Stegosaurus is. We live in a spectacular age full of wonderous technologies, we should use the invention of the television to enhance the interests of our children into the world of knowledge. (I’ve met many parents who think t.v. rots the childrens’ brains.) T.V. shows have brought history to life… museums bring history to life… Tell the kids to spend more time with these beautiful things rather than in a class room collecting dust with the wrest of the books. (though school is important, it should not be the only way to learn).
- “I never let my schooling get in the way of my education.” - Mark Twain
Learning history by memorizing dates is not to the benefit of students.What is important is to know where we come from,where we are and where we’re going. By learning history and debating and discussing why events happened,what the central issues were develops critical thinking skills, the ability to express one’s opinion, and make decisions,who,what to vote for! So, the issue in education is not whether to teach history but how it is taught!
I am a live example of what MEL mentioned about movies. i never opened a book, never thought of searching History, i literally deep sleep and dream in History classes, until i saw the movie ” The 13th Warrior”. Antonio Banderas played a role of an Arab traveller and met the vikings. my Italian friend asked me about the real deal..who was Ahmed Bin Fadlan..what did he do? how did he start his life? how did he become one of the Arab Legends! i was quite, and ashamed for not knowing the answers.
i tell u..i have more than 100 books on my shelves now, collected in a year and a half!
History is a collection of stories that inspires you and broadens your horizons, and makes you appreciate the life we live and urges you to know more, and perform better.
and as a student i say, don’t push us into doing something. but make us WANT to! Passion is always the answer to achieve and accomplish.