A short personal post, first written here on August 13, 2005, then reposted here on January 16, 2006...
When I was in elementary school back in Belgrade (grades 1 through 8) I had the most horrible history teacher. She was an example that stereotype of "dumb blonde" is sometimes correct. She was hired, I assume, because she was the Barbie-doll trophy-wife of the then mayor of Belgrade.
For four years I did not learn anything about history. I managed to get all 5s (equivalent of As) until the very end of eighth grade - almost everybody in class did. And nobody learned anything.
In middle school (grades 9 through 12, equivalent to high school in the USA) I had, at first, a tough old history teacher. He called me up to the blackboard one day to ask me some questions. I did not really know much, I admit. He looked down at the big red class book and said something like this:
"I see you have all fives in every subject possible - language, math, geography, biology, physics, chemistry - what is so hard about history?"
I said:"Well, remembering all those millenia, centuries, years, dates, names of kings, emperors and military leaders".
He looked stunned: "B-b-b-but....what is left if you eliminate all those?"
Me: "Well, the interesting stuff - the story".
He mumbled something about the need to memorize facts anyway and gave me a (barely) passing grade. Still, from that moment on he liked me (and that was important one day a couple of years later when I got in trouble in school - he saved me). He had to follow the curriculum and he was too old and set in his way of thinking to ever be able to teach "the story", but I think he appreciated my sentiment.
The remaining three years of middle school (in Yugoslavia, the term "high school" is reserved for vocational education, e.g., two-year technical schools, reserved for those who did not manage to pass tough entry exams into the University - there is no such thing as college) I had a great history teacher. She obviously loved history. Although she had to teach the curriculum, which meant memorizing trivia, she managed to weave a story anyway. My problem was that, by that time, I was hopelessly unprepared - I had no background because I have not learned anything up till then. I got fevers several time trying to study history for her - it was hard work.
I so wish I had decent history education back then. I feel the gaps and holes in my history education every day, especially in long comment-threads on smart blogs. I spent a lot of time learning history of science (I took FOUR graduate-level classes on this!). I am trying to make up by reading history books, but that is not the same.
I have recently finished "Marriage - a History" by Stephanie Coontz. Not just that it is a marvelously written story, as well as well documented piece of academic history, but I also learned so much from it about details of history that are completely un-related to marriage. Not to mention that the whole story is starting to make sense. I can now see how pieces join together to form a bigger jigsaw puzzle. I can see the relevance of history to today's world.
Why is history not taught that way from the very beginning? Also, are there any general history books out there that I may like and find useful in patching up the holes in my knowledge?
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Thank you so much for this entry. I am going to show it to my daughter, who is suffering through national history as a junior in the US equivalent of HS. I can just hear what she will say: "See, Mom, it's not just me! I am SO tired of memorizing this stuff for the test. Why do I have to do it?" To which I will sadly reply, "You have to jump through this hoop to get into college. Maybe some day you'll encounter a teacher or a book that will allow you to see that hidden behind the wall of these names and dates something exciting and important was happening." Sigh.
I never had a good history teacher and always found history boring. Two things changed my mind: 1) I started traveling. I realized how little I knew about history so I started reading (luckily I love to read); 2) my brother moved to Virginia and he always loved history. Visiting him meant visiting civil war battlefields. That got me interested in US history. Almost every day I encounter something that sparks my interest and leads off on an interesting side journey into history.
I only had one year of history, my first year in high school (there was "social studies" in grade school, but that was so feeble it doesn't count). The teacher was an out-and-out prick. Charlton, I think his name was, and he holds the record for being the teacher who gave me the most detention. Bastard.
Worst of all, he made history boring (war, bunch of names and dates, another war, bunch of names and dates, war...), so that I avoided it throughout my formal education. It wasn't until I was in my late twenties that I found out it is actually one long fascinating story. I love stories! Why didn't anyone tell me this??!! Argh.
A painless and great way to learn history is with Larry Gonick's Cartoon History books. He has the history of
the United States in one book, and a four volume set of the history of the world. Volume IV, I just found out, is due out in January.
http://larrygonick.com
Correction: Volumes I, II, and III are the Cartoon History of the Universe, up to the Renaissance. Volume I of the Cartoon History of the Modern World, which goes to the US Constitution, is due in January.
I can't remember having a good history teacher. I gave up on them early on, and instead would browse the library and pick out biographies at random. This is how I learned about Malcolm X, Gandhi, and Ho Chi Minh. I learned how a nun lived in the Middle Ages, and how a Tsarina lived at the turn of the last century.
I was once in a position to help a high-schooler with her classes, and when it came to history, I piled her up with great biographies.
I taught history for thirty years in the local high school and the community college. I did not find many "good" teachers in any subject much less history. A good teacher has two outstanding characteristics: a. intense and deep knowledge of subject b. deep and intense care and concern for the human beings who are his/her students I have known teachers who have knowledge but no concern and I have known other teachers with deep concern but no knowledge. Luckily I did have several good teachers in history and I hope I was one myself in Room 257 wherein students daily heard the stories of mankind.