When Teaching Children History, Start with Imagination.
Facts matter but do not suffice.
Dear friends,
Have you ever climbed inside a pyramid?
It’s a grueling, narrow slog up the passageway. And at the end, what do you get?
It’s not what you would expect.
In today’s essay at Hearth & Field, I use a visit to the pyramids at Giza as a metaphor for the effects and possibilities of different ways of teaching children history.
In recent years, many schools have politicized history almost beyond recognition, turning the subject into a moral playground and virtually ignoring the knowledge base of facts — dates, events, people, etc. — that we all really do need to carry with us as we enter adult life.
Some other schools (and homeschooling curricula) have overcorrected, however, by emphasizing memorization and answers (rather than arguments) about history to the near-exclusion of imagination, contingency, and wonder.
Neither of these approaches will adequately prepare children for healthy adult civic lives or a sophisticated understanding of the past.
Read my exploration of these problems and practical advice about what to do about them in today’s piece:
“When Teaching Children History, Embrace Imagination.”
As always, I welcome your thoughts!
No links post this week, as I think we’ve had quite enough going on at the Hollow in the past few days! Have a wonderful weekend!
Warmly,
My favorite line: "Don’t enter unless you’re a short Ancient Egyptian slave forced to enter under pain of death."
I love your essay. As someone whose favorite subject is (still) history, I believe you're absolutely right on. What you argue for is the best way to not just teach history, but to also cultivate a love for it in our kids. Facts are the bones, artifacts the sinew, and field trips the flesh of teaching history to kids. But imagination is the breath, what animates the past for us.
Finally got a few minutes to read this, Dixie, and really enjoyed it! I'd love to read a follow-up piece with more about how you start conversations with your kids about historical causality, evidence, and interpretation, especially as they get older. Your description of your conversation with your college-student friend offers a hint, it seems!