Whenever I tell someone that I want to teach history they always say something to the effect of "I have a horrible memory...I could never remember all of those dates, names and places..." Well, neither can I. My love of history comes from the stories that have been told and the people who told them.
There is a story of a Christian priest and his assistant who lived in Vichy France during World War II. Vichy France, at this time, was under Germany, those who hunted the Jews. During this time those who helped any Jews were gathered up along with Jews and sent to the camps. Many people refused to associate with Jews because of this fear. Who could blame them? They were scared for their families and their lives. Andre Trocme and Edouard Theis decided that they had a moral obligation to help anyone who needed it, no matter their beliefs or heritage. Along with those of their small communitee they harbored Jews on the run, hid them from the imposing Gestapo, and helped them escape on their own "Underground Railroad," all at the risk of loosing their lives. While Trocme and Theis were never caught by the Gestapo, others were, including Daniel Trocme, Andre's cousin and the school teacher. He refused to let the Jewish youth who had been caught go to the camps alone. He was gassed with them. When interviewed years later about their actions, the people of the communitee answered the question "Where did you find such courage?" with a shrug, soft smile and "Oh, you know. After a while we got used to it." What made these people choose to risk everything for people they did not know?
There are so many stories of bravery, courage, sadness, happiness, action...in history that are beautiful. When I read these stories I want to meet these people and ask them questions to understand them. I want to be on the battle ground with them as they are fighting for their families back home. I want to be on the buses with the Freedom Riders singing and riding for equality. People miss all of these stories because they equate history with only learning dates, places and people. But I want my students to see history. I am lucky to have a theatre background so I can get my students up out of their chairs and onto the stage of history. They will become Antigone, King Tut, Seneca, Aristotle, Julius Cesaer, Kublai Khan, Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, Aztec kings, Mayan scribes, explorers, slaves and slave owners, kings and queens, sultans, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Galileo, Nurse Goody, Powahatan, Benjamin Franklin, Marie Antoinette, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Theodore Roosevelt, an air force pilot, Henry Ford, a flapper, an immigrant from Poland, a Pearl Harbor Navy officer, FDR, Winston Churchill, a Japanese child in 1945 living in Japan, a Japanese child in 1945 living in the American West...They will learn to study people because that is what both history and theatre are all about: the study of people and why they do what they do. Hopefully my classroom will become a place of exploration of and empathy for people past, present and perhaps even future. They won't be able to escape!
Marti: I really enjoyed you post and how you talked about getting students engaged and excited about history. I want to do the same with my students in health. I think it is important to ask the questions of why the people did what they did? How did they feel and such. I think that it allows students to be able to apply their learning into their life and really find meaning and value in it. I think that you will be a great teacher and will allow your students to learn in ways that they have never before thought of! I really liked your end of your post when you talk about making your class a place for exploration and such. I want to foster that in my students as well and help them have the desire to learn the things that I love!
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas that you pose. What is more, I think that one way that you can get your students to see these historic figures as people could be having them look back on the history of their own family. I had one history teacher who asked us to research and then write a small narrative about an ancestor of ours that immigrated to the United States. This was something that was interesting to me on a very personal level. Not too long after doing this assignment we had a history lesson on the civil war. I remembered thinking, "I wonder if I had any ancestors that fought? I wonder if they had slaves? I wonder if they helped the slaves?" What is more, because public figures, such as Abraham Lincoln and General Lee began to become more real to me as the past soon came alive for me. Haha! I am kind of just going off now, but I really do think that you bring up an interesting discussion and I enjoyed reading your post.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I met with a history professor whom I had for 8 classes when I attended Westminster College as an undergraduate. He was telling me that he is writing a Utah history textbook for undergraduates and high school students, but he could not find a way to make the chapter "non-boring" because he felt obligated to focus on "big concepts" and general trends, rather than on the colorful stories of individuals. At the same time, however, he felt bad about making the textbook boring because he felt as though the colorful stories were what made history come alive. I can see his point: It is really unconventional for history textbooks to focus on stories rather than generalities. At the same time, history can become washed out if we only focus on generalities. In practice, I think the implications of my conversation with him are as follows: Teachers can use the textbook but it needs to be supplemented with exactly the types of texts that you are talking about. That's great that you are reflecting on these issues so early in your career! Thanks for another great posting!
ReplyDeleteMarti you hit it right on the head! I felt the exact same way in my History classes until I got into my AP U.S. History class. My teacher shared many stories about interesting and unique experiences, so I actually wanted to go to class. I enjoyed your story and your idea of incorporating theater into History. I bet your classes will learn to love History. I would love to hear more stories from you! My question is how will you incorporate these stories into the standards?
ReplyDeleteI am totally one of those people that complains about history all the time and I feel bad about that. I wish I liked history more but I have always had such a hard time with the testing. I love learning about the past because I think the things that you can find are invaluable. I can tell that you have a great passion for history and that will transfer to your students. I also liked your idea of using theatre in history classes but then of course I am biased. I always learn better if it comes in a play.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, if I'd had a history teacher like you, I'd have taken more interest in the subject. I love the idea of history, but never enjoyed what I learned in class. I think it really is because all I learned were "Big Concepts" when I wanted the stories! I learned more about Pearl Harbor through the movie than I ever did in class. Same goes for the Revolutionary War and the movie "The Patriot." It was so much easier for me to grasp the big concepts when I had those relate-able, fictional (likely inaccurate) stories going on as well. Most of what I know about the holocaust came from reading things like "Night" and "The Diary of Anne Frank" in my English classes. I know the BIG CONCEPTS are important, but I remember covering the Civil War in 7th grade and all I can think of are the battle names and generals and documents we had to be familiar with. If we could see it from the eyes of the people who went through it, the information would be so much more meaningful and real.
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