Redefining the Role of History in 21st Century Education

Traditional history is still predominant in 21st century education. Teaching experience has indeed showed me that traditional history is a perfect avenue for those educational systems who feel compelled to prescribe content.  It is also easier for those teachers who revere textbook-driven delivery of information because history content is already all laid out in those stale pages. It is not at all uncommon for middle school students to be exposed to burdensome content ranging, sequentially, from ancient civilizations (many of of them)  up to the Cold War.  

I learned French for five years in secondary school, obtaining a "B" on my O-level, but alas, I've never really spoken a word of it. My teacher was more focused on the reading and the writing. As I look back I cannot help but question the purpose of it all. In the same way, I believe students taking social studies should have a clear purpose: They must be empowered to "speak" the language of concepts. I'm not trying to imply that history is irrelevant as I'm a history buff myself; however, the content (which is not taught through a conceptual lens) is. European exploration taught as a stand-alone topic is in no way relevant compared to when it is conveyed as a major cause of poverty in a poverty unit. In the same way, the French Revolution plays a more significant role if studied to identify patterns which allow students to understand the significance of the Arab Spring. History is indeed a great starting point to understand global issues which are far more relevant to students being citizens of the world.

Global issues facilitate the acquisition of relevant, overarching concepts such as scarcity, globalization and sustainability. These can certainly be explored in history, but we can only extract their true essence  as we delve into global issues and make connections with the past.  

I believe that as learning becomes more conceptually- based, units taught in Humanities or Social Studies will need to be redefined.  In fact, it is already happening in various schools. The Humanities curriculum outline at Colegio Roosevelt, in Lima, has truly evolved over the last three years as it is starting explore more relevant issues such as water scarcity, poverty and aid, and much more.

Finally these are the two take-aways from this post:

1) History taught as a stand-alone discipline is an outdated model in concept-driven education
2) Global issues can redefine the role of history in education making it more focused and purposeful