Upgrading a History Classroom to a Social Science Lab

Do we learn anything from success stories? You would agree that we do.

You must have also heard that we learn from our mistakes and failures. But it is not necessary that we commit all the mistakes or face all the failures in order to learn from them. We can learn from other's success, failure or mistakes. We can even learn from unknown people's story provided their journey is documented or told to us in some form. This kind of learning can help us in making wise decisions in our life.

Further, imagine, the number of case studies to learn from if we know the stories across several centuries. Here, history comes in the picture. 

Even the origin of the word "history" explains the real purpose of this subject.

Source of reference: Oxford Languages, Oxford University Press

Thus, the purpose of history is to make a person wise through investigation, inquiry or historical narrative.

We can now go to a real world school scenario to identify if history education meets its purpose.

Let's peep into a grade 10 classroom.

A history teacher is teaching "World War I". The teacher, apparently, is using modern ways of teaching. He uses a projector to show a colourful PowerPoint presentation on a wide screen. He diligently presents all the facts, figures, causes, consequences and key events in the war. He also highlights the topics to focus on while preparing for the final examination. At the end of his lecture, he gives an assignment to the students. He asks them to create a chart of key dates and events for quick revision during exams. 

And, the World War I winds up as planned in the syllabus. Bravo!

We saw how the teacher is teaching. Let's see how the students are learning.

The class topper Abhijit is taking down systematic notes highlighting the key topics. Rohit, who sits next to him, is thinking of his cricket match. Mira is struggling to complete her notes as she is unable to match with the teaching pace of the lecturer. Vinay is trying to distract a student in the front row. Amy is dozing on the last bench. Rest of the class is staring at the screen. Half of them seem to be least interested in the subject. 

Do you think this history lecture succeeded in shaping the young minds in the way it should?

What the students have learned or not learned is facts, figures, events and impact of the war in the past. By definition, history is not just about this. It needs to serve as a social science reference manual for shaping a society and improving social functioning. 

The teacher in our scenario could have used better teaching techniques, such as:

• Ensure active participation of the students through probing questions. 
• Make the learning fun through activities, or using storytelling or role play technique.
• Use investigative approach in identifying the root cause of an event (as if solving a mystery).
• Motivate the students to share their opinion without being judgmental. 
• Facilitate critical thinking by highlighting:

• Why learning about World War I is essential?
• What can the present generation learn from that war?
• Why and when such wars become inevitable?
• Why is it essential to avoid such wars?
• How a war can weaken even a powerful nation?
• What changes after the war were instrumental in building the modern world today?

This is not an exhaustive list of teaching techniques. Still, it would be enough to bring history education closer to the purpose highlighted in its genesis. It would also provide a good learning experience, which usually builds interest in a subject.