"The democratic idea (that all are equal in the eyes of God) is one of the grand contributions of the age of Europe even given the imperial expansion, the colonial subjugation of Africa and Asia, the pernicious and vicious crimes against working people and people of color and so forth. So ambiguous a legacy means... we have got to keep two ideas in our minds at the same time. The achievements as well as the downfalls. The grand contributions and the vicious crimes."-Cornel West
The findings of Barton and Levstik show that students have difficulties reconciling the ideals of America with the ambiguities of American history.
Students are able to identify major themes and trends in U.S. History. According to the study, students see the idea of freedom as a uniquely American concept. The Bill of Rights granted freedoms that helped make the United States a "good and moral society". The study showed that students saw the progressive expansion of rights, opportunities and freedoms as a central theme in American history. While students understand that American history is filled with injustices and historic hardships, they see the extension of rights and opportunities as part of a process of creating a more fair and just society. Students are also able to identify the importance of technological advances in making contemporary life possible.
Where students run into trouble is with ambiguous and controversial events in history. According to the study, most students viewed events that signified changes in culture, as opposed to advances in freedom or technology, as being historically insignificant. Students also had a difficult time determining why World War II and Vietnam were historically important. For some students, military involvement on behalf of foreigners in need was proof of America’s moral superiority. Students viewed these wars from the perspective of their impact on the United States, rather than from a global context. According to the study, students did not understand why there were protests against the Vietnam War, and did not understand that other wars in U.S. history had also been protested. Students also had a difficult time assessing the significance of the Great Depression. Students were unsure of the causes for the Great Depression; students often felt that the Depression was a punishment for American hubris. Students in the study saw the Great Depression as an exception to a uniformly prosperous history, students failed to understand that there have been other periods of economic decline in American history.
The biggest contradictions that students saw in American history involved racism and sexism. According to the study, students believed that “rights were given, not wrested from a resistant society. Oppressed or disenfranchised people noticed that they did not have the same rights as others and asked for amelioration, redress was granted (or was in process), and reconciliation followed”. Students see that racism an sexism still exist in society, and have a difficult time grappling with the reality that having rights does not equate to having equality. This reality does not fit into the narrative of the expansion of rights, freedoms and opportunities.
Students are able to recognize the grand contribution of the democratic idea in history. Where students have difficulties is seeing how the vicious crimes of history fit into the framework of the official history. As history teachers, we need to make sure that our students do not accept the official history without question and are aware of the ambiguities of the present. Students need to be presented with multiple perspectives of historical events, so that they can determine the historical significance of the past for themselves. Students need to be provided with the tools to critically examine history and with a forum to talk about history and its implications on the present so students can develop a framework for making sense out of the past.
Articles Cited: Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik "It Wasn't a Good Part of History":National Identity and Students' Explanations of Historical Significance
Doppen, Frans. "Teaching and Learning Multiple Perspectives: The Atomic Bomb." The Social Studies (2000) 91 no. 4. pp 159-169.
First Time, Long Time…
3 years ago
3 comments:
Great Post Kevin!
Kevin,
You have thoroughly analyzed the Barton & Levstik article vis-a-vis the West quote - great job. I'm curious as to whether you will employ the practices described in this and the Doppen article in your own classroom?
Ali
I recently completed a unit on Christopher Columbus where I used similar methodology to the practices described in the Doppen article. I began the unit by having the students read the account of the voyages of Christopher Columbus from their textbooks (published by Holt McDougal titled, United States History and New York State History: Beginnings to 1877 by William Deverell and Deborah Gray White) which was published in 2007. The textbook provided a very brief and white washed account of the actions of Columbus and his men. I then had the students read a number of primary and secondary sources so that the students could gain multiple perspectives and form their own judgments about Columbus' voyages. The unit culminated in a trial in which the students had to both defend and judge the actions of Christopher Columbus, his men, the King and Queen of Spain, and the Taino Indians. By having students take different roles they began to see how events of the past looked different from different perspectives. I wanted the students to see how the "vicious crimes" committed against the Native Americans fit into the grand narrative of American History. My goals for the unit were for students to question what they read in textbooks and begin to formulate their own perspectives about the events past.
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