tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post9113116488038944202..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: “Skills and understandings that are unique to the discipline”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-50780009146984600432012-01-12T21:12:48.264-05:002012-01-12T21:12:48.264-05:00I find that the skills we are all commenting on bo...I find that the skills we are all commenting on boil down to a cyclical problem with the way teachers who are in post-secondary History-Education programs are being taught.<br /><br />Individuals who come out with a major in History with an endorsement for Education have a much easier time teaching historical thinking skills and helping kids to develop their own historiography. Those that major in Education and have a minor in History don't have enough exposure to professors who are acting historians, which means they don't engage in enough discussion of what historians actually do.<br /><br />When the latter gets in front of a classroom, they're emphasis is on factoids and the dissemination of content as opposed to teaching kids to think historically.<br /><br />Even if a student has one teacher who spends time discussing what historians do and how they attack sources to construct a meaningful past, the damage of the other twelve teachers can't be undone.<br /><br />I'm aware that this is a lot of generalizing, but more and more, I can't help myself from feeling like its accurate.<br /><br />AEAaron Eylerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18292607465462672475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-62742079860001908632012-01-12T14:51:12.273-05:002012-01-12T14:51:12.273-05:00Like most disciplines, history requires a fair gra...Like most disciplines, history requires a fair grasp of the basic elements before more fascinating concepts can be entertained. Since attaining that threshold framework(dry facts) is too high for most, aside from those already attracted to the teachings of the past, we default to half-baked myths supporting the dominant culture and call it History.<br /><br />I fear that Sarah Palin world view is not an exception, but close to the norm. Fighting misinformation is a lonely but noble pursuit, and I thank you Mr. Bell, and others, for their unstinting effort to preserve a measure of accuracy, objectivity, and balance.G. Lovelynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-86635490079908932912012-01-12T10:27:14.684-05:002012-01-12T10:27:14.684-05:00As someone who has been a history teacher in a hig...As someone who has been a history teacher in a high school, as well as works with history every day both before the public and in research, I have found that most people don't care about history until they grow up and see how the rest of the world's actions affect them. With maturity also comes empathy, and they become curious about how history affected others before them. Secondly, a school teacher teaching about the American Revolution cannot compete with the visceral graphics of Hollywood movies such as -dare I say it- "The Patriot", even though the product presented therein has about as much to do with history as dancing is to architecture. Therefore, many people remember their grade school history classes as dry and boring, unless they had an engaging instructor who was willing to buck the system, AKA the approved curriculum and its schedule, in order to make it exciting for them. (I did have such teachers occasionally, but I'd been fascinated by history since a very early age, so, good instructors were a plus.)rfullernoreply@blogger.com