S.O.S-- Save Our Social Studies!

Okay, soapbox time…again.  This time, the catalyst was an editorial in the June 26th Chicago Tribune.  The editorial was entitled Flunking History.  Of course the title piqued my interest.  The author of this editorial seems to concur with what I have been saying for years.  Our students are sorely deficient in U.S. History and Civics knowledge.  I think the statistical findings that the author listed are the scariest. You are very capable of reading this article on your own, so I won’t rehash all of the findings…hair raising as they might be!

However, I can say with full disclosure that I admit a majority of what I know about the more in depth areas of U.S. History and Civics were self taught after I began working with Histories for Kids, Inc.  / HFK Presents.  I’m not talking about the names and dates.  We all have had the history class where names and dates were the be all and end all of the social studies curriculum.  This information is important, but it’s not the full story.  Anyone can memorize bits of trivia and regurgitate them back on a test.  Again—they ARE important.  They help to place people and events in time.  I mean… okay, I am going to draw from the editorial…1 in 5 adults who took a 33 question civics test administered by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute said that the electoral college was established “to supervise the first presidential debates”  WHAAAATTTT????   

What is missing in some (not all) of the teaching of our history is the background story of the figures and events.  Why were certain laws made?  What was the reasoning of governing bodies of the time to make them do what they did or say what they said? Let’s take a look at the society and attitudes of the time of these historical events and there we’ll find the reason for not only the events themselves, but the actions of the people.  A great example of knowing the whole story has to do with good old Ben Franklin. 

During the Revolutionary War, Franklin was in France.  The colonies needed the support of the French if they were to win the war.  Instead of going right to the French government to win the support, Ladies Man Franklin worked his magic on the wives of these men.  As a popular visitor to the salons of Paris, Franklin could mix business with pleasure, and share his ideas of society and life with these women.  If Franklin wanted an issue addressed, he would discuss it with the women who would in turn discuss it with their husbands.  The husbands would eventually broach the subject,  and Franklin would agree with their ideas.  The very same ideas he had shared with their wives were coming back to him as ideas of the governmental officials.  Very tricky Mr. Franklin!  You don’t read things like these in textbooks, but a savvy history teacher comes equip with little tidbits like this to keep life interesting!

I will also admit that as I began to read this Tribune editorial, I automatically screamed “Aha! Once again we can thank No Child Left Behind!”  That was until the author pointed out that The National Assessment has been around since 1994, long before NCLB, and history scores have been abysmal since the beginning.  So I can’t blame NCLB—this time!

 What I can blame are some of the attitudes about social studies education.  I have related this story before, but it made such an impression on me that I tell it…frequently.   I was speaking to a member of a school’s PTO who was responsible for booking school assemblies.  Not only was she not quite sure the purpose of, ahem…HISTORIES for Kids…, but after I explained our purpose, mission, whatever you might call it; she loudly interrupted me by yelling “BORRINNGGG” into the phone!  No, I didn’t listen to the little voice inside and hang up on her.  I didn’t barrage her with my laundry list of reasons why history is important, and how we offered a different angle that might not be BORING to Neanderthals like herself.  I quietly told her that perhaps we weren’t what she was looking for to educate the students of her school.  Ironically, that did the trick!  If a person wants to consider themselves truly well rounded or educated, they have to know what they are talking about in respect to their past.  How can you successfully argue a political, religious, really any point if you do not know the history, or origins of the point you are trying to make??  

So, somehow, I got under this woman’s skin with my comment. Somewhere in her mind, she must have known that the material is important. She wound up booking a program with us, and the kids had a great time, and learned something as well.    Is history sometimes boring?  Of course!  Anything can be boring if the teacher doesn’t have the passion or knowledge of the subject he or she is teaching!  I’ve had teachers that make Ben Stein in Ferris Beuller’s Day Off  look like a fire thrower!  Couldn’t that be said of any subject?  It is why my husband and I do what we do…we try to make history exciting so kids want to learn!

The great thing about history is that it is always being made!  Everyday, something new in society, the news, politics, etc. is making history.  I liken it to a volcano constantly turning over new bits of the earth’s crust—it's a never-ending clean slate on which to tell the continuing story of our country and people.

I will agree with the author on another point. Parents are the primary educators of their children, and Moms and dads rarely (I won’t say they never) think of vacationing to further their children’s knowledge of history.  If these parents spent the same amount of time working at expanding their children’s minds and spending the time to ensure their children know about the country / world they live in as say, the amount of time they spend at the sporting events, recitals, etc.,  (all important)—it might change the attitude of the kids!  Bottom line, if you make it important, your kids will make it important!

  As a youngster, I was taken to Springfield to see the Lincoln sites, Atlanta and Savannah, GA to see historical sites AND hear views and opinions of the Civil War that differed from what I had always heard.  The later was thanks to a gentleman curator in a museum who thought my “northern” family needed to see a southern museum the “right” way, and invited us back  the next day to see it through the eyes of a native.  He wasn’t trying to sway opinion; he wasn’t telling us how horrible the people of the north were, he was just telling us how the people in the south saw this episode of history. He was giving us knowledge of how the attitudes of the southern people influenced their actions.  He was teaching us, if nothing else, to be tolerant of others.  Not to necessarily change our views, but to teach us to respect the views of others-- an invaluable experience of a vacation that a water park can’t buy.

Do I think that would happen today?  From the sounds of the discussions of various topics on the Sunday news programs, I tend to think not!  However, thanks to my parents, my brothers and I knew enough about the history of the subject to understand and respect where this man was coming from, and to understand why he felt the way he did.

Will an “historical vacation” be popular with the kiddies?  It can be if you do a little prep work and balance the tours and museums with a boat ride or try to include the interests of your family.  Our experience with the southern gentleman in the museum led to discussions in the car on the way to Stone Mountain that we never would have had in a classroom.  Thanks mom and dad!

I’ve also been on architectural boat tours that were so vivid; I could picture the historical events in my 12 year old head.  Again, thanks to mom and dad for the planning!  I think that day also included a trip to the zoo!

 I’m here to tell you that any vacation can be enjoyable if you do a little prep work and then decide to be flexible.  I’ve had an absolute blast in museums and on historical tours in St. Louis, MO, and have been ready to tear my hair out at Disney World!  It all depends on how you plan.

Once again, I’ll nick a line from this great article.  “History isn’t just names and dates; it’s the collective experiences that shape our identity as a nation.  Our successes and failures inform our civic debates and govern our actions, or they ought to.  But our kids can’t apply those lessons if they don’t learn them.”  Amen to that!

If you would like to see how you stack up, take a look at some sample questions at http://nationsreportcard.gov/testyourself.asp .  You can also check out the Newsweek  U.S. citizenship test at: http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/20/take-the-quiz-what-we-don-t-know.html