Does History Matter?

If students fail history, does it matter?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/26/education.history.soboroff/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

This was the title of an article on a major news site a few days ago.

The fact that this question was even asked tells me that I am a stranger in a strange land, that my world-view and priorities are so different from those of most people in my nation and world that I might as well be from another planet.  Or another time.  The past, as we all should know, is another country.

It matters little even if the article is using a shocking statement to get us to care about History education, because the very asking of the question demonstrates the low esteem in which we hold the most important educational topic of all.  And, despite my initial hope, the article was not a call-to-arms for History education.  The question is sincere, and there lies greater tragedy.

The fact is, we all know people who just don’t care anything about the world beyond their own lifetime or environment.  I can’t imagine living a life with boundaries that close around me.  I get claustrophobic just thinking about it. 
 

 

Particularly upsetting was the comment from some that History is not important because it doesn’t help students get jobs.  How shallow is it possible to be?  Apparently, quite shallow.  Someone who perceives that the main value of education is as a form of job training has utterly failed to comprehend our society and all that is good about it, and has utterly failed to understand the natural curiosity of the human mind and spirit.  I wonder how those same people would respond if asked to identify the reasons for the Enlightenment.  After all, there were plenty of jobs under feudalism.  

I wonder if they think of themselves more as a unique person of value with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness… or as consumers.  I suspect the latter.

If you don’t understand the point I am making, then perhaps you are one of the casualties of a system and society that doesn’t explain its own history adequately to its children. I hope that is not the case.  If it is, then most likely it is not your fault.  Young students do not choose to reject history.   No, what happens is they get understandably bored with the irrelevant trivia that often passes for History education, and they are never confronted with the living reality of the ongoing human experience.

Obviously, I take exception with those who blame a lack of knowledge of History on “apathetic students.”  History, properly presented, is fascinating, and students respond to it.  Human beings, especially adolescents, are naturally wired to inject themselves into historical situations when those are presented in the form of stories about real people, and to learn vicariously from the experience.  When one generation of young Americans fails fully to grasp their own history, that is a failure of the generation that came immediately before, the generation which had the historic moral obligation to pass along the lessons of our common experience. 

I also take exception to the comment of one quoted in the article that “bad history scores are nothing new.”  Wrong, for two reasons.  The statistician who said this has undoubtedly noticed that the history scores of American students have been low for several decades now.  That is in opposition to earlier times in America, when history was a valued part of the educational curriculum, when history was learned at home as well as at school, when the most important lessons we taught our children were who we are, where we came from, and what we believe.  The statistician would undoubtedly challenge me to produce date to back up my claim.  I don’t have any formal data, only observation of the historical record and anecdotal evidence.  If you need statistics, you have my permission to dismiss my comments for lack thereof.  But I remind you that lack of statistical proof does not constitute disproof, and truth exists independent of our ability to prove or disprove.

The second reason I take exception to the comments of this statistician is what he implied but did not say outright.  The implication of his comment is that we should not worry about this lack of historical understanding because the problem has been around for a long time and it’s all worked out so far.  Be careful not to choose a course of inaction based on specious conclusions drawn in response to the apparent unconcern of a one who is perceived as a specialist.

For those of us who are alarmed, there are a few gems in the article to hang onto, that can give us some focus as we seek to raise the importance of History education in the arena of public opinion.  Here are two that I can attest from personal experience.  (1) “Math, Science and English get higher priority in schools because those subjects are tested under No Child Left Behind.”  Absolutely!  The NCLB, although well-intentioned, has done more to trivialize education in the past decade than any other effort, event, or phenomena.  (2) “History teaching should be more fun.”  Undoubtedly.  History done well is fascinating and fun.  History done poorly is drudgery.  A poor History teacher does much harm to his students and society by devaluing the treasure of our common experience.  Presenting names and dates for memorization is not teaching history.  Involving students in an ongoing saga of human experience… THAT is teaching History.

We have failed to explain to our children how the world came to be as it is, why we are as we are.  This is an inexcusable failure.  It has resulted in a generation adrift, untethered to any particular historical chain of events, unattached to any particular ethos or ethics, unappreciative of the accomplishments of earlier generations.  Far too many of today’s students are lost in a world of breadth without depth, a world that they find incomprehensible because we have left them ignorant of who they are, and how they are connected to the larger world. 

Perhaps most significantly, we have left our children mired in insignificance because it is through knowing and understanding what other people did that they come to grasp why their beliefs and actions matter.  It is History, not Mathematics or English or Science, that provides a context for human connections and values and events.  It is History that provides worthy role models to help our children become better people.  It is a proper understanding of History that enables our children to grasp the inherent value of each person, and so come to a personal understand the significance of his or her own life.  A person or generation which does not understand the past will be incapable of conceiving, much less creating, its own future. 

Overwhelmed with the enormity of the task before me, to raise the understanding of the masses concerning the paramount importance of the study of history, I will struggle still to do what I know is absolutely necessary.   If I don’t do it, who will?  Those of you who comprehend the enormous significance of this threat, in the short term to our character and in the long term to our very existence, please take this responsibility upon yourself, and do something to begin to change this situation.

Very Seriously,

Gryphem

For those of you who prefer a simpler, more concise choice - What’s it going to be? 

This?






Or This?

 You make the call.