The first thing that
caught my eye regarding VanSledright's volume was the title. Not
the bold title but, rather, the secondary or subtitle. Specifically,
the notion of "learning to read history" appealed to my
own orientations and resonated with my professional sensibilities.
Too often, in my own experiences, charged and channeling words such
as 'learn', 'know', and 'teach' (and their various conjugations)
have dominated the professional social studies landscape, particularly
at the elementary levels. Here was a volume, at least by its cover,
that offered a glimpse of another avenue and dared to go beyond
the apparent acceptable norm by venturing into a more complex and
multi-layered landscape.
In the last couple of years, a growing number of respectable investigations
have been reported that generally challenge the oft-repeated myth
that children and/or young adolescents do not like, do not understand,
and really have no interest in history. The practical professional
experiences of elementary and middle school classroom practitioners
clearly indicate that children have an unbending interest in and
a connection with history (their own, their families, their cultural
group, for example). It is perhaps one of those unexplained educational
paradoxes that those who tend to design curricula and those who
actually produce the supposed learning materials do not seem to
be in communication with the front line professionals regarding
what is and is not of interest to children. In a nutshell, history
matters to children!
Similar to recent investigations
by Seixas (1993), Levstik and Barton (1997), as well as Barton (2001),
to cite only a few, VanSledright continues this evolving investigative
avenue of really studying in detail via actual classroom participations
how elementary students deal with, confront, and narrate history.
This is important work especially as the totality of the data being
disseminated demonstrates how curriculum decisions might and ought
to be made. Furthermore, these studies most pointedly illuminate
how elementary teachers might reconfigure their own classrooms (physically
and educationally) in order to take academic advantage of what the
study of history has to offer.
In Search of America's
Past may be divided into three major segments. In chapters one
and two, VanSledright chronicles a variety of contemporary pedagogical
and historical threads that have a bearing on his specific study.
Chapter two, in some colourful detail, describes the pupils and
the classroom in which the author practiced his history teaching.
As a former elementary school teacher, I found chapters three through
five most illustrative in that they represent a sort of personal/professional
narrative of VanSledright's historical experiences with his fifth
grade charges.
The final couple of
chapters of the book contain both general and specific conclusions.
The author is careful to note what can be absolutely taken from
the experience and what might be more generally inferred. An interesting
set of appendices complete this wonderful little volume as the various
primary sources, documents and materials used throughout the whole
of the in-class experiences are reproduced or clearly and carefully
referenced.
As might be expected,
VanSledright arrives at a number of conflicting or, at least, messy
conclusions. Recognizing that the elementary classroom is a place
best avoided by the faint hearted as well as those who demand neatly
executed plans of action, the author's narrative is a wonderfully
honest sketch of the chaos, missed opportunities, constant interruptions,
and lack of resources that is the real world of the North American
elementary classroom. The author paints a scattered landscape which
highlights the honesty of the pupils as well as the hard-nosed reality
of that special place inhabited by pupil and teacher. In analyzing
his own classroom observations within the historical and pedagogical
framework that exists, VanSledright perhaps best sums up his own
growth in noting:
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"For my part,
I was (and still am) convinced that children as young as fourth
and
fifth grade - perhaps even younger - can learn how to investigate
the past
themselves and benefit from the higher-status substantive
and procedural
knowledge such a practice can confer upon children" (p.
25).
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In Search of America's
Past: Learning to Read History in Elementary School is an important
book that should be read by anyone who is in the least interested
in elementary education. The author carefully documents a case for
the "reading" of history as opposed to the "memorizing"
of history. VanSledright is cognizant of the historical narratives
that the children have already acquired through association with
the outside world (home, family, friends, televisions, for example)
and he captures their intense interest in learning more about the
history that impacts upon them and their environment. More generally,
this volume is important because of the questions that are raised
concerning teacher preparation and curriculum development. VanSledright
offers the reader a realistic glimpse into that special world of
the eleven/twelve year old pupil and how these budding individuals
deal with the learning and internalizing of that unique subject
called history.
References
Barton, K. (2001). "I just kinda know": Elementary Students'
Ideas About Historical
Evidence. Theory and Research in Social Education, 29(4),
407 - 430.
Levstik, L. & Barton,
K. (1997). Doing History: Investigating with Children in
Elementary and Middle Schools. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Seixas, P. (1993). Historical
Understanding Among Adolescents in a Multicultural
Setting. Curriculum Inquiry, 23(3), 301 - 327.