Most Social Studies educators would agree that world history is an important subject that provides an expanded context of history for young students. There is, however, some debate on the proper way to structure a world history class, especially in regards to lesson planning. For example, the sheer size and scope of a world-wide history course presents challenges, such as which content should be covered in-depth, and which content should be sacrificed due to classroom time constraints. Additionally, the way in which a world history teacher should present content is up for debate. Not surprisingly, many methods have been used over the years, some working a macro world-view using chronological order, and some with an emphasis on specific regions …show more content…
World history, perhaps more than any other subject, presents the biggest challenge to curriculum building. For example, the history of America would be far simpler to plan because the subject area is a single nation, from its foundations to its modern era, of which all developments could be easily plotted on a timeline. However, in world history, the entire written record of human civilization falls within its boundaries. Further complicating the situation is that in different regions of the world, different cultures were in different stages of development and at different times. By simply following a timeline, the student would be forced to jump back and forth all over the globe with no fluid evolution of any particular culture. This would lead to erratic lessons, which would be difficult to follow, and knowledge retention by the student would be questionable. Helping to frame this problem is the educational resource website ‘World History For Us All’, which is jointly operated by UCLA and San Diego State University,andprovides three separate ways for teachers to approach this dilemma. “This system has been designed to guide teachers and students in study of the past on a variety of scales, from broad, global changes to developments that occurred within regions, civilizations, or nations .” The website refers to these different approaches respectively …show more content…
While it is easy to acknowledge the difficulties that continue to persist, there has been much progress made over the last few decades. Part of this progress could be viewed as ‘cutting the fat’ from school curriculums and a shifting focus that provides a highlight on fields such as mathematics and the sciences, as they are viewed as having the largest ROI, or return on investment for both the student and the nation. So, in order for ‘World History’ to continue to see funding and support, there needs to be an updating of historical concepts, not the least of which is globalization. The relevance of world history should be found in the understanding of how the world has arrived at its current state, through a process of cultural diffusion and intercontinental economics. Professor Ross E. Dunn speaks on this in The Two World Histories, “On the whole, world history curriculum in public schools lags well behind the research curve, and it fails to pose enough of the key questions that might help young Americans better understand how the fluid, transnational, economically integrated world in which we live got to be the way it is. The state of affairs needs to change .” It is fitting that the subjects of history are antiquated, by their very definition they take a look at the past, but world history classes in particular need to evolve to prove their
Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History by historian David Christian explores a “modern creation myth” (2). Christian takes his readers from the big bang to modern day in a technical and historical narrative. He believes that big history is a new, yet important, area of history ignored by historians. Christian tells us big history is “a coherent story about the past on many different scales, beginning, literally, with the origins of the universe and ending in the present day” (2). The strength in Christian’s argument is in that he carefully takes his readers through each stage in history, much like a textbook, using charts, graphs, pictures, and the language for each area, like astronomy or biology. However, Christian’s goal is not complete. Christian, at multiple points, tells his readers there are many more details and theories that surround any one of his given subjects. Although his book is a great overall coverage for a topic as large as big history, his readers may wonder if such the idea of big history is a good one.
What more is the point of learning and understanding human history than obtaining the knowledge and structure between what is right and what is wrong? We continuously believe that we as humans have the ability and intellect to learn from the lessons taught in our past in order to enrich our future. In comparison to the time frame that is human history the one hundred year period of time we discussed in the second halve of this semester is nothing but a slight blimp on the map that we have traversed. Yet, throughout our recent readings we can easily assimilate into the idea that although time may pass, and that we may attempt to learn from our history it is simply in human nature to repeat the mistakes that we have
Hart, Diane, Bert Bower, and Jim Lobdell. History alive!:. Palo Alto, Calif.: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2002. Print.
A key part in the history of America’s schools involves clashes over culture and religion, as well as racial and ethnic conflicts. The struggle for power between different aspects in our educational history has shaped the way we learn today.
The overall, topic for this week’s reading is Social Studies Textbooks and what is there point of view. In Loewen’s book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, the author makes the point that books show one-sided viewpoint of historical figures, fail to show conflict happening today, and fail to present multiple sides of an issue. The second article by David Tyack, Monuments Between Covers, talks about the idea to show that our past was full of right moments and if anything that was immoral was a small part and no big deal. Tyack points out the constant influence from political groups with different agendas fighting to influence and control what textbooks tell our countries’ children. In the last reading History Lesson by Dana Lindaman talks about the view point of American History throughout the world’s public schools’ textbooks. Overall, each of the countries diminished the role their nation played in terrible events and criticized other nations for their actions.
Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. World History. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomsom Learning, 2001. 374-438.
Wineburg astutely notes that "History offers a storehouse of complex and rich problems, not unlike those that confront us daily in the real world. Examining these problems requires an interpretive acumen that extends beyond the 'locate information in the text ' skills that dominate many school tasks." (51) By being given the challenge of recognizing and combating natural psychological tendencies towards presentism and ethnocentrism, as well as the challenge of comprehending and analyzing complex and diverse historical sources, biased points of view, cultures, contexts, and historical ramifications, students are encouraged and supported in developing the reasoning skills and patience needed to accurately listen, analyze, empathize, interpret, make evidence-based
All of these contentions make sense, given the definitions of terms and the frames of reference of each writer. They do not necessarily conflict, and they all make their contribution to our understanding of the dimensions of world and global history. But from my own perspective, there is no hard and fast distinction between world and global history. I accept the evidence o...
Reading, writing and arithmetic, these three subjects are the basic outline for American schools. In those subjects, where does history fit in? Some believe that teachers avoid history because of how corrupt America has been. James W. Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, says, "Parents may feel undermined when children get tools of information not available to adults and use them in ways that seem to threaten adult-held values." (Loewen 296.) The adults had to learn the same false history children are being taught today. By teaching children the truth about history, are adults risking the authority they hold along with adult-held values?
Ellis, Elizabeth Gaynor, and Anthony Esler. World History: The Modern Era. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
He argues that world history should not be viewed as separate, unconnected cultures of east and west, but rather that they were all connected in multitudes of ways and must be studied as such. Pointing out the inadequate ideal of separating the world into two sections which are not equal in geography, culture, population, or history itself, he instead poses a solution to the world history viewpoint: Studying the world through its interrelations between cultures and geographical locations. Hodgson’s proposed view of large scale history not only makes sense theoretically, but logically as it proves through the pages that the history or the world cannot simply be divided, but must be studied as a whole to be truly
Beck, Roger B. Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction. Student text and teacher’s ed. Orlando: Houghton, 2012. Print.
In Graham Swift’s Waterland, Tom Crick says, “Children, it was one of your number, a curly-haired boy called Price… who once… asserted roundly that history was ‘a fairy-tale’… ‘What matters… is the here and now. Not the past… The only important thing about history, I think, sir, is that it’s got to the point where it’s probably about to end’”(6,7). It is very likely that we all have come to a point in our education, at one time or another, where we have encountered sentiments similar to those of Price. In most schools the subject of history is treated more or less in the same way- as a recounting of events, an examination of how the past has led to the present. This seems to be a good definition at first glance, but perhaps it is lacking in that it fails to account for the “here and now”(6). In Waterland Graham Swift not only addresses the problem of the fears his students face in the here and now, and the prospect of a nightmarish future; but, he also gives an unlikely solution in Tom Crick’s theory of history as explanation and personal story.
History is a story told over time. It is a way of recreating the past so it can be studied in the present and re-interpreted for future generations. Since humans are the sole beneficiaries of history, it is important for us to know what the purpose of history is and how historians include their own perspective concerning historical events. The purpose and perspective of history is vital in order for individuals to realise how it would be almost impossible for us to live out our lives effectively if we had no knowledge of the past. Also, in order to gain a sound knowledge of the past, we have to understand the political, social and cultural aspects of the times we are studying.
1. The importance of the study of world history to me personally as an American is very significant because I hope to find a career where I will work with many diverse people and I not only want to know them, but I want to have an understanding of where they came from in order to associate with them better. Another reason is that an American can be from any culture from around the world. Americans aren’t any certain race or religion, so we have to understand our fellow citizens just as they need to understand us. I was in definite need of a course like this because before I started taking this class I had no idea of the simple concept of the different beliefs between Hinduism and Judaism. I had heard of the different religions vaguely in high school, but was never actually taught about them. I didn’t even know that Jews did not eat pig because they thought it was a descendant of the devil. If I weren’t to know that, somewhere down the road I might have offered one of my Jewish friends a ham sandwich and that would have been a very embarrassing situation.