There may be some legitimate reasons for not teaching history in the elementary classroom.
There are also some excuses for not teaching history. We'll address six that are commonly used.
There are also some excuses for not teaching history. We'll address six that are commonly used.
There's Not Enough Time
It's true. There's not enough time if your priorities are dictated by schedules and textbooks...but if you're not seeing a need for civics education based on established history these days, you may not be paying attention. If ever we are to bring people to the table for conversation, we must teach students how to have conversations. They need to be taught how to listen, how to disagree amiably, and how to resolve conflict. Base this on actual history, show them how people have gotten it right in the past - and how they have gotten it wrong - and you will be performing a great service not only for your students, but for society around them.
I Haven't Had Enough Content Training.
Teachers Learning History Hands-On This is true, as well, and that's the reason things are out of whack in our profession. We could call it generational historical ignorance, and it's a problem that education has set up for itself. When we don't teach it, no one learns it. When no one learns it, no one teaches it. That cycle is deadly. I suppose this is a primary, secondary, and post-secondary failure. Is it possible, at some point, to break the cycle? I'd say we need to teach some content to the teachers and teachers-to-be. We need to get people interested in the content. It's a shame that we have sacrificed patriotism, identity, and heritage in the name of ignorance, melancholy, and apathy.
It Makes Me Uncomfortable.
Some elementary teachers get into the profession because they like making cute bulletin boards, teaching cute kids, and creating cute, enjoyable activities. History breaks that mold, because (Say it together!), history is ugly, not cute. It includes murder, treason, war, abuse, infidelity, racism, and all kinds of negativity. Still, taught effectively, you will keep your students attention, at appropriate developmental levels. While teachers like cute things, they also should recognize that it's all about storytelling. Every good story has conflict, but not every story has a happy ending. Find the stories within your section of the social studies. Let your students marinate in some complicated thinking. Help them understand the overarching picture, develop their conclusions, and apply the skills you are teaching them.
It's Too Controversial.
It can be controversial - that's true - but that's not our fault. Teaching the facts of history does not mean that we are complicit in the actions of historical figures. The facts are the facts. Sometimes they implicate people, and sometimes they simply demonstrate the flaws in humanity. Life happens, resulting in good and evil consequences. Educators aren't always obliged to take sides, but to show the causes and effects of the choices made in the past. Please don't shy away from the controversial: that may just be the spice of the lesson. It may get an unlikely student to sit up and pay attention.
 Learning Symmetry with Washington | There are More Important Subjects.Look at the amount of training that goes into the college education of an elementary teacher. What percentage of the coursework is spent in the Social Studies, Civics, and History. One three-hour course is about it, and even then the class gets really caught up in methodology, and it doesn't cover content at all. There is a lot of talk about, "If they can't read, they can't learn any other subject," and "Kids today have to learn STEM to compete in the workplace," but what about citizenship, responsibility, and respect? Who is to say that reading is important if students have no purpose to their reading? Who's to say arithmetic is important if students cannot apply it in the real world? Who is to say that science is important if students can't trace scientific developments and see them in context? |
It's not Relevant to Kids.
OK. This one is blatantly untrue. If you believe kids are bored by the subject, you haven't been in our classroom to see my students have mature conversations about some very serious subjects in colonial and American history. Sure, you can stick to the biased and bland presentation of a textbook (Blah.), but the magic happens when the teacher brings it to life. Many teachers would be surprised to see ten-year-olds longing for more of a subject that the teachers themselves are bored with. Please do not project your own dysfunction in history education onto your pupils.
