A Case for a History Sleuth

In the New Reformers (1844) Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are students of words: we are shut up in schools and colleges and recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words and we do not know a thing.”

The complaint continues about our schools today and is especially true for history classes. Studying history through lectures or memorization is a history killer for most children. What happened hundreds of years ago may not have much relevance to a 10 or 15 year old? We all come from the past and are influenced by our ancestors so history is an important course of study for good citizenship. History provides human understanding of the past, moral contemplation that tests our values today, and a sense of identity. Let’s explore how we can understand the past better than by lectures and readings?

How can we teach history in a way that is useful and fascinating? Primitive people used to teach tribal history through oral presentations around the fireplace. At time these tales would be animated by figures in masks or by dancers. Good story tellers were in demand and commanded great respect. Troubadours in the middle ages would write and sing about the past and tell tales of news from afar.

Human beings are story-telling animals. One teaching method that utilizes this attribute is known as the case method. Cases are stories with a message. They give an opportunity for the learner to become a participating detective, helping to unravel the past. Cases educate as well as entertain and offer an opportunity to observe, interact with, and understand human nature.

Solving a case leads to understanding the facts, not the other way around. Case study methods involve an in-depth examination of a single event. Just as a good forensic expert has developed a sleuth like strategy to solve a crime, case system participants are involved in collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting results. In other words a real-life context is the background for the historical inquiry with a resultant story to tell.

Ever wonder about the background of the signers of our constitution? Wouldn’t this subject make a great case to solve? Young researchers could ask: Were they religious? Well educated? Family men? What were their professions? Were they wealthy or poor? Most interesting….what happened to the founders later in life because of their involvement with the constitution? (Did you know that that some were considered traitors? Some became bankrupt. Others had their homes ransacked?) The case may even question the price of freedom?

One interesting case was inspired by a questioning student who noticed that while walking through city streets she sometimes saw black spots of gum ground into the pavement while at other times she noticed the spots were white. The professor asked her to research the subject and she wound up studying over1000 years of history, tracing the root of bubble gum to Africa, Greece, Native American Indians, and the Mayans. Not only did she learn history, but she became knowledgeable in the science of gum, and its commercial development.

There are lots of themes that could help develop our next generation of history buffs. Being a detective and uncovering stories creates mystery, intrigue, and is lots of fun.

In 2009-10 Museum Tour Catalog look for the Bill of Rights Game. You will find that it is a great way to explore questions about the edge of our political rights. The game leads you to ask many difficult questions such as - Should a student have the right to wear a t-shirt to school saying that gays are unnatural when there is a body of evidence showing no biological differences? Is the student’s free speech right more important than the harm being done to the gay student? Is it up to the school to decide what is worn on t-shirts?

By renaming the question, getting away from memorizing facts, and appealing to different learning styles the case method draws in curious learners to want to know more.