I use this quote a lot in my class. It's my way of letting my students know that they have left the comfort and familiarity of elementary school behind and are being asked to think and stretch in ways that they might not be used to. The world can no longer be seen in simple, childlike answers, in black and white, but rather in all of its glorious, technicolor complexity. I am a history teacher, but I do not teach history - at least not in the literal sense. I don't believe that history can be taught; it must be discovered. My job as a teacher, then, is to create opportunities and teach the skills and habits of mind that help students in their discovery. History is a story and, like any good story, it is as dependent on the reader as it is on the author. Students of history create it as much as those who lived it, by infusing meaning through critical analysis, reflection, evaluation, and empathic reasoning. I believe this is what education can and should do - present the world to students for their examination and empower them in their meaning-making. I happen to use the lens of historical events as a portal to the world and, more importantly, to themselves. For, as it has also been famously said, we do not see things are they are, but as we are. That's not to say that there are no objective truths in history; there most certainly are. They are, as Parker Palmer has written, the 'great things' around which we gather and begin our discovery. But it is equally true that not all truths are objective, and it is our subjective understanding that infuses history with meaning and relevance, and helps us to know ourselves and our world in a richer, deeper and more authentic way. |
ArchivesCategories |