A continuation of the discussion we had regarding our portfolio findings today (Wed 26 Sep.) might be perfect for the department blog. Links to the specific reports, agenda, etc. can be found on the department web site. If you look on the right side of the blog page, under “History Links,” the department page is there.
Points made in the meeting:
1. Complexity could consist of introducing students to historiography (ie. John Lewis Gaddis says the Cold War began because of x, y and z, William Appleman Williams disagrees—he claims a and b were the most important causes)
2. It could also consist of weighing many factors and ordering them or grouping them (this is a requirement by the way on both the AP World and AP European College Board exams)
3. Which gets more weight? It depends on teacher style, particular courses (U.S. History is probably the easier place to bring in historiography), and grade level (Middle School teachers explained how they weave some of it in in 7th and 8th grade)
I think continuing along these lines makes sense–in other words if we look at the department standards and benchmarks and the curriculum maps, can we find evidence of a building process around the complexities of history? Do we consistently come back to this point 6-12? ( I will start looking at that data, unless someone else would like to compile that information.)
4. The mission alignment committee should look at our department standards. Does “think like a social scientist” belong at the top of the list? Can “understand major events” be folded in to “think like a social scientist? (all committees will meet next time, on Oct 31 at 7:30 AM, I’ll post the list once I get it from Steve)
Again, see department standards on the department web site. A link appears to the left under “History Links.”
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PLEASE ADD YOUR THOUGHTS to this blog posting. It maybe frustrating to have 4 or 5 outstanding questions hovering around us; but I think it is a prudent approach: As we discussed at our first meeting, each committee will work on specific sets of proposals. I will work on a separate proposal to rectify the problem(s) we found in/with the portfolio data (unless there are any volunteers). We should get these together by December; I will work on setting up a “pullout day” in late January (probably at the Crown Plaza again). We will discuss all proposals then and vote them up or down. If time permits, we can develop an action plan (or a time table) for making the various changes to our 6-12 program. The second half of the year will be devoted to making sure the changes are ready to hit the ground next September (some may be possible earlier, of course; some may become longterm projects or concerns in need of more study etc.).
Thanks for a great meeting. I look forward to seeing all of your thoughts here soon.
John.
Certainly in APUS I focus the issue of complexity on the idea of a variety of responses to issues, rather than on the historiography. I expose the students to a variety of historians and their views, but it is not a point of real emphasis. I find that with US history most of the kids have some background and therefore a preconceived idea about cause/effect, good guys/bad guys, etc. The complexity I try to reinforce is that there are other ways (class, race, gender, etc) to look at an issue. I can see with my 9th graders ways that I could bring in historiography in part because the kids have less background already and in part because the field is newer, more immediately interpretive, broader.
A reader like Taking Sides might work here–in U.S. History.
Table of Contents
TAKING SIDES : Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in American History, Volume I , Tenth Edition
PART 1. Colonial Society
New! ISSUE 1. Is America Exceptional?
New! YES: Seymour Martin Lipset, from American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword
New! NO: Ian Tyrrell, from “American Exceptionalism in an Age of International History,” American Historical Review
Professor of public policy Seymour Martin Lipset describes the United States as an “outlier” because of its revolutionary origins and because statistically it is more religious, optimistic, patriotic, rights-oriented, and individualistic than other nations in the world. Professor of history Ian Tyrrell criticizes the national focus of the concept of American exceptionalism and advocates the development of a “transnational” history.
ISSUE 2. Was Columbus an Imperialist?
YES: Kirkpatrick Sale, from The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy
NO: Robert Royal, from 1492 and All That: Political Manipulations of History
Kirkpatrick Sale, a contributing editor of The Nation, characterizes Christopher Columbus as an imperialist who was determined to conquer both the land and the people he encountered during his first voyage to the Americas in 1492. Robert Royal, vice president for research at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, objects to Columbus’s modern-day critics and insists that Columbus should be admired for his courage, his willingness to take a risk, and his success in advancing knowledge about other parts of the world.
New! ISSUE 3. Were the English Colonists Guilty of Genocide?
New! YES: David E. Stannard, from American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World
New! NO: Steven T. Katz, from “The Pequot War Reconsidered,” The New England Quarterly
David E. Stannard, a professor of American studies, insists that the colonists carried out a conscious militaristic policy to exterminate the Native Americans. Steven T. Katz, a professor of Near Eastern studies, contends that the Pequot War was not an instance of premeditated genocide carried out by New Englanders against the Native Americans.
ISSUE 4. Was the Colonial Period a “Golden Age” for Women in America?
YES: Lois Green Carr and Lorena S. Walsh, from “The Planter’s Wife: The Experience of White Women in Seventeenth-Century Maryland,” William and Mary Quarterly
NO: Mary Beth Norton, from “The Myth of the Golden Age,” in Carol Ruth Berkin and Mary Beth Norton, eds., Women of America: A History
Adjunct professor of history Lois Green Carr and historian Lorena S. Walsh identify several factors that coalesced to afford women in seventeenth-century Maryland a higher status with fewer restraints on their social conduct than those experienced by women in England. Professor of American history Mary Beth Norton challenges the “golden age” theory, insisting that women in colonial America, whether white, black, or Native American, typically occupied a domestic sphere that was lacking in status, physically debilitating over time, and a barrier to educational opportunity and political power.
ISSUE 5. Were Socioeconomic Tensions Responsible for the Witchcraft Hysteria in Salem?
YES: Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, from Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft
NO: Laurie Winn Carlson, from A Fever in Salem
Historians Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum argue that the Salem witchcraft hysteria of 1692 was prompted by economic and social tensions that occurred against the backdrop of an emergent commercial capitalism, conflicts between ministers and their congregations, and the loss of family lands, which divided the residents of Salem Town and Salem Village. Author Laurie Winn Carlson contends that the witchcraft hysteria in Salem was the product of people’s responses to physical and neurological behaviors resulting from an unrecognized epidemic of encephalitis.
PART 2. Revolution and the New Nation
New! ISSUE 6. Was the Great Awakening a Key to the American Revolution?
New! YES: William G. McLoughlin, from “`Enthusiasm for Liberty’: The Great Awakening as the Key to the Revolution,” in Jack P. Greene and William G. McLoughlin, Preachers and Politicians: Two Essays on the Origins of the American Revolution
New! NO: Jon Butler, from “Enthusiasm Described and Decried: The Great Awakening as Interpretative Fiction,” Journal of American History
Professor of history William G. McLoughlin contends that the Great Awakening, by promoting religious revitalization, intercolonial unity, and democracy, paved the way for the American Revolution. Professor of religious studies Jon Butler challenges the validity of the term Great Awakening and argues that a link between the eighteenth-century colonial religious revivals and the American Revolution was virtually nonexistent.
Taking Sides also has editions for world history. It is pretty good.
On the point of complexities in history. We were trained to understand that there are multiple perspectives to a historical event. We need to make sure that the students understand this as well. Whether you are teaching World Civ I or AP European, ensuring that the students are aware of the arguments and can make decisions based upon those arguments is vital to their understanding as historians.
History is a complex and wonderful way to engage debate and discussion. Let’s help our students understand that so they don’t get sucked into believing that history is just memorization.
Мне кажется очень полезная штука.
Информативно,продолжай в том же духе
Где-то я это уже видел… А если по теме то спасибо.