The quaint old history classroom and why it needs to be changed

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“[H]istory and social studies are the only disciplines in which students are not explicitly taught the tools necessary to understand how knowledge is created” (Lesh, p.11).

            Independence and individualism are key American values, and this should be most apparent in studying our own past. Sadly, this has not generally been the case.  Throughout most of the first three chapters in his book, Lesh states repeatedly (based on interviews and other anecdotal data) that the most common association people have with history and social science instruction is that of rote memorization – specifically of dates, historical events and key individuals. As anyone familiar with the study of pedagogy knows, this approach is extremely counterproductive to authentic learning and does a disservice to the very people we are trying to serve – students.

            Indeed, as Lesh points out, social studies education is very much alone in being conventionally taught this way. Science and mathematics emphasize procedure, which leads to the procurement of a desired result. Similarly, English courses rigorously teach reading and interpreting skills; more often than not, it is these skills that students are expected to take from the class, with content being somewhat secondary. In the social sciences, argues Lesh, a similar procedure and emphasis on the decoding of historical sources is desperately needed.  

            Ultimately, social studies and history teachers have a huge responsibility to understand that “historical thinking”, and the methods for being able to think this way – will be essential to students years after they leave the classroom. As an educator, I also think that this approach would make learning much more engaging for both students and instructor, and as such much more valuable in the long run. Just like science and math emphasize procedures used to obtain a desired result, history education has the potential to do the same, and the widespread implementation of these has the potential to revise social science education around the nation.