My collegeboy is about to wrap up his three week staycation at home, in between apartment moves. I've enjoyed his company; we have interesting conversations, and he's not afraid to challenge my thinking when he has experience and knowledge to back up his assertions. Lest you think we argue a lot--we don't. We had a spirited meeting of the minds across the kitchen table the other day on the topic of teaching social studies.
Yes...social studies.
The setting: the TV has been set to PBS travel shows all day long as background noise. Collegeboy and I start talking about travel show hosts--Rick Steves, in particular, whom I've had the pleasure of seeing in person at a librarians' conference. He was a keynote speaker, and none too shy about sharing his views on the importance of travel and understanding different cultures at a person-to-person level as a way of gaining world peace.
Talk of travel led to talk of geography and history which led to the teaching of those subjects and the timing of that teaching in our curriculum. Fifteen minutes into this conversation, we had concocted our own scope and sequence. I present it to you as "what ifs".
What if...
social studies in elementary schools deeply focused on geography and culture, starting at home and working its way out into the world by fifth grade? Maps and globes, families and food, music and art, clothing and religion and celebrations are common, tangible, understandable concepts that humanize the inhabitants of our shared planet. Concrete does not imply simplicity: real discussions could happen about differences and similarities and shared needs and dreams.
What if...
history was taught from middle school through high school, starting at home and working its way out into the world by graduation? With a solid background in geography and culture, the events would no longer be seen as disparate dates involving a blank setting and faceless actors. History wouldn't be seen as a straightforward timeline of exploration and wars and outcomes in black and white. Students would be old enough to think about the gray areas, explore bias in the record-keeping, discuss the perspectives of the conquerors and the conquered.
What if...
teaching social studies this way, with an emphasis on humanity, helped make us more understanding of our role in history and the caretaking of our world--and each other?
I'm going to miss collegboy when he returns to his university this week.
I simply love how our kids have such great insight to these problems. We need to listen - and rely on - our young people so much more
ReplyDeleteI agree! My greatest teachers have been my children and students, in so many ways.
DeleteI like these “What ifs” you propose. I also like Rick Steve’s beliefs about travel and its role in promoting world order. I think often about why so many students don’t like history. It was always my favorite subject. My imagination as taken me to different places and times since I was a young girl.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Glenda. I think history is as interesting as the teacher makes it, and my best history teachers were keen to humanize the events we were studying. Unfortunately, they were in the minority, so history wasn't a favorite subject of mine. Loved geography and culture!
DeleteLove Rick Steves, love the "spirited conversation" with collegeboy, and most of all, I love the what-ifs about the teaching of social studies and history. My oldest son was a history major and we were also talking, just this week, about how history curriculum is designed and how much students are never really taught. They don't often get a sense of the narrative, the sweep of history over time, seeing how events are interconnected instead of "a blank setting and faceless actors." The story of humanity is a shared one ... as is our responsibility to one another. Now would be an ideal time for schools and systems to begin retooling. And, I know you will miss collegeboy so much; so glad you had this time together!
ReplyDeleteHistory has to be one of the hardest subjects to teach--so much curriculum, with so little time to cover it. I forgot to add that we also decided that every history class needed to repeatedly teach that very fact, to always end on the note that there is much more to learn than can be taught...so that students don't walk out of classrooms thinking they know everything. The danger of a single story...I hope we see curriculum changes out of this COVID event! As for collegeboy, we're off to help him finish moving in; I have a feeling his final semester will fly by!
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