In my classroom and in many other history classrooms in the district in which I teach and around the nation, history teachers teach in such a way as to develop critical thinking abilities in the students in their classrooms. I am not saying this only happens in history classrooms. But, apparently, according to some, by teaching kids to develop critical thinking skills, and asking them to analyze historical documents and then to use those documents to support a student’s own interpretation of historical events, that is just asking too much. We should just “teach the facts” of history. In many previous generations, history was taught was merely a set of names and dates to memorize and regurgitate on the test. As noted in my previous post, those generations of adults know the dates that are important in American history and sometimes in world history. But, is that enough? Just the names and dates? History is not merely just names and dates, but it is about the process of those events, the cause and effect relationships that allowed those events to happen, how the people living at the time were influenced by the world around them, how they changed the world around them, and what happened as a result of those decisions. By asking students to read and analyze primary and secondary sources and come up with their own interpretation, we are trying to create a world in which students, when they become adults, can make their own decisions and opinions about what is happening around them. They will be able to evaluate and analyze the political campaigns of candidates, the legislation being proposed that they could vote on in referendums, the legislation in Congress and how they might interpret said legislation, etc. And the list goes on…There is so much to teach our children in this digital age, global economy, etc. We have to be able to think and not just regurgitate names and dates, but really understand what that means. Why does it have to be about the “liberal agenda” or being called “unAmerican”? Isn’t teaching critical thinking and analysis a good idea?
To think or not to think? That is the question…
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“Isn’t teaching critical thinking and analysis a good idea?”
Indeed it is.
Of course, in order to engage in critical thinking, you need the factual information necessary to really engage in analytical thinking. If you lack a sufficient understanding of the facts, the analysis will be more or less worthless by definition.
If, on the other hand, you only know the facts, and do not realize that history, by its very nature, is designed to be applied, you haven’t really gotten anywhere either. The entire purpose of teaching history is to arm the student with the facts in order to face and interpret the future. It’s all part of a thinking process.
Good to see a new post from you, by the way.
Thanks!
Agreed that in a history class you must teach the facts of history in order for the students to be able to think critically and analyze the historical events that happened. I’m hoping I’ll be back to posting more soon. Lots of thoughts swirling in my head about a lot of different topics.
I’m sometimes surprised by how few people actually engage in critical thought. Indeed, I’ve determined that it’s a minority of people. In part, that might be because many people simply lack the capacity for it, which if fine. Not everyone needs to be an analytical thinker.
Beyond that, however, I fear that many people don’t have the tools to engage in it.
And in recent years, there’s been a trend to regard all facts as ideology, which is a dangerous trend. A person can be a liberal or a conservative without holding a view of the past that is untrue and unrealistic. But in the last decade that’s become increasingly the trend.
It is amazing that many people take what they hear or read at face value without really thinking about it, researching it, etc. Many of my students were shocked to hear that the news was biased and that they needed to look at multiple sources of information to verify and make their own interpretation.
I’ve just written an item on my history blog that somewhat relates to this topic, albeit only somewhat. If you have the chance, I’d be curious as to your views on the post. It’s here:
http://lexanteinternet.blogspot.com/2011/12/today-in-wyomings-history-december-20.html