Teaching History

Teaching History

I am not a history teacher but I am fascinated by how history unravels in our classrooms.

With all this current controversy about our NCERT history textbooks being rewritten because the "content load on students is too high," I feel compelled to ask, why is any of this surprising to ANY educator?

According to the History News Network, Winston Churchill once joked as part of his speech before the House of Commons, “For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself." Well, he probably echoed the sentiments of every victor, small or big who wants to rewrite history to show herself in good light. How do you think Imperialism is represented in British textbooks? Or the partition story told in Indian and Pakistani textbooks? Or slavery in American textbooks?

This Guardian analysis reveals how biased certain history textbooks in the United States are. Biased, yes. Inaccurate? That depends on your own biases.

You see, people often forget that ALL education is biased. Of course, more so in history as it is the only subject that documents and studies human society and how events orchestrated by us have impacted us. So obviously, we have a greater vested interest in how we are represented.

I found this interesting, though slightly older timeline of examples that showcases how inclusions and exclusions from Indian history textbooks have been an ongoing phenomenon, probably since the time NCERT was established.

History is always written by the victors- though not a direct quote by Winston Churchill - holds true for every society, every state government and every victor. In other words, history textbooks will usually favour the narrative of the dominant group.

So perhaps instead of asking what we should teach in history, a more relevant question maybe , HOW do we teach history?

I believe the answer lies in approaching history from a skills and competency lens (what else did you think I was going to say ?:-)). History is the perfect subject to teach higher order thinking skills, like analyzing and selecting valid sources of evidence, conducting research, developing arguments based on evidence, synthesizing information, debating multiple perspectives, understanding cause and effect, reading for understanding and subtext, crafting your own narrative, etc.

Additionally, instead of focusing on memorizing content, teachers could use the content to draw out bigger themes and ask essential questions:

  1. How do we decide what counts as a significant event? Whose opinion matters?
  2. How does chronology help us understand change over time or what remained constant during times of change?
  3. How can the same event be interpreted in different ways and why does that matter?
  4. When analysing documents or other primary data, what should we keep in mind?
  5. What do historical artefacts tell us about a culture and why is that important? What roles to museums play in human society?
  6. How does language impact what history gets told?
  7. Do we see patterns in human behaviour by studying historical figures, their ambitions and motivations?
  8. How are leaders born? Is there only one type of leader?
  9. Whose voices and narratives are being left out? What do they have to say?

The goal is not to not teach Indian history. Of course, we want our students to understand where we came from, how our nation evolved in the context of the world, how India's journey is unique yet also similar to those of many other ancient civilizations and modern nations. But they can do that on their own if they have the above mentioned skills, competencies and lens.

However, as mentioned earlier, all education is biased. Not just what we teach but also how we teach is based on our ideologies. Taking this particular stance on teaching history, means you align yourself with the belief that it is important for students to examine, compare and critique multiple points of view, including those within and opposing the dominant discourse.

I propose that that is the ONLY true education.

Namita Shah

Creative thinker | Purpose-driven entrepreneur | Early-learning enthusiast | Kiddie Academy of Gaithersburg and Urbana

1 年

Well articulated thoughts and viewpoints, Purvi. The future of our learners is in able hands with experts like you.

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