Over the past two years, U.S. history classes have been at the center of public debate and discussion.
Conservative pundits and politicians have said that teachers are 鈥渋ndoctrinating鈥� students to hate America and making white students feel ashamed of themselves. Teachers and school leaders have roundly denounced these claims, explaining that they don鈥檛 have an agenda outside of teaching kids to identify historical evidence and make arguments.
At the same time, examples of history lessons gone wrong鈥�gamified simulations of the Underground Railroad, for example鈥攃ontinue to surface in local news reports, a reminder that some students are getting watered-down, ahistorical versions of the harder chapters of the American story. In the worst case scenario, these kinds of activities can reinforce racist power dynamics and traumatize students.
These examples show that despite all the angst over history class, it鈥檚 very hard to know exactly what鈥檚 happening in classrooms writ large. Now, one new project aims to change that.
The American Historical Association, a professional organization for historians, educators, and others in the discipline, is conducting research into how schools choose materials and set instructional priorities in secondary history classes.
The AHA鈥檚 analysis will look at decisionmaking across the system, said Nicholas Kryczka, the research coordinator on the project. Kryczka and his team plan to examine state standards and legislative actions that dictate what teachers should鈥攐r should not鈥攃over in classes. (That鈥檚 similar to a recent thread of 澳门跑狗论坛 reporting, which has documented how recent political discourse has resulted in changes to state standards in Florida, Louisiana, South Dakota, Texas, and other states.)
But the AHA project will go one step further: The team will also interview district curriculum coordinators about how they select materials and organize professional development. The project will also include teacher surveys. The AHA will release a report with the findings at the end of the two-year effort.
This attention to what district leaders and teachers say they鈥檙e doing鈥攔ather than just examining what states say they should do鈥攕ets the AHA project apart from that have traced trends through state history standards.
And it might yield surprising results, said Jim Grossman, AHA鈥檚 executive director, during a panel at the National Council for the Social Studies鈥� annual conference earlier this month.
鈥淔or all we know, there鈥檚 more warmed-over Frederick Jackson Turner being taught than [the 1619 Project],鈥� Grossman said, referring to the 19th century historian famous for his 鈥渇rontier thesis鈥濃�攖he idea that settler colonialism in the West was central to the development of American identity.
The research team also plans to examine what history practices schools teach鈥攈ow they want students to evaluate and make arguments about historical evidence.
Schools often frame history education in terms of the civic values educators hope to instill, Kryczka said.
鈥淔or a century, maybe two centuries, the basic rationale for why history is taught to children has been pretty consistent,鈥� he said. The goal, as often articulated in state standards and frameworks, is to instill a sense of belonging in the American narrative and prepare students for citizenship.
But history shouldn鈥檛 just be taught as a civic tool鈥攖here are skills of academic inquiry that kids should learn, Kryczka said.
鈥淭here is a discipline to the approach about studying the past that belongs in those history classrooms.鈥�
