Keeper of the Meaning: the Responsibilities of History Teachers in Difficult Times

I devote very little time to current events in my class. Alas, there is so much to teach and so little time. But occasionally, there are events that occur that simply must be acknowledged. I went back to full-time teaching in the fall of 2015. The first such event in which I interrupted my "regularly-scheduled curriculum" was on a Monday. Monday, November 16, 2015. This was in response to the attacks in Paris in which 130 people were killed. We didn't spend more than 5 or 10 minutes on it. But it felt too tragic not to bring up. And Obama gave a speech that tied in to the lesson I was planning on the Bill of Rights.

I also devote a small corner of my white board to the occasional current event or "this day in history" if it connects to something we have studied recently or currently.

But I have struggled about whether or not to note every shooting, every attack. There are so many. What does one say? Last year's shooting at Parkland was another event too big to ignore, though I didn't write anything on the board. (What would I have written?!) Students wanted to talk about it--briefly--and so we did. I have written about this problem--how to handle current events in history class on this blog.

And so this brings me to tomorrow....

The attack in a synagogue in Pittsburgh also seems too big to ignore. It came at the end of week of pipe bombs sent to prominent politicians. And an attack on two African Americans in a grocery store after attempting to enter a predominately African American church. I did not bring up either of these events last week. But now I feel compelled to tomorrow. I don't know what I will say tomorrow. But I know I will not be fulfilling my responsibility as an educator if I don't say something. People are attacking citizens of my country based on their racial, religious and ethnic identity. How can I teach about Haymarket and the Pullman strike--injustices that happened so close to where I teach--when these other injustices are happening so close in time?

The post below was published this summer by MiddleWeb, where I have been doing some writing over the past year or two. I plan to add to this blog in the future, too. Perhaps a bit this year, and hopefully more next year. In the meantime, the post below, despite its "back to school" theme, seems relevant right now.

Below, originally published on MiddleWeb on August 28, 2018. (And if you're looking for teaching material, check out this post from Facing History that came out today. And this one from Teaching Tolerance.)

Keeper of the Meaning: How a History Teacher Psychs up for Back to School

Lauren S. Brown

I want to be clear about two things. First, I truly love teaching with all my heart and soul. Second, I really dread the thought of going back to work at the end of the summer. I work so hard during the year, that summer is such a welcome relief and chance to catch up on all the things I let go during the school year. So when August comes around, I find myself sort of dreading it. All this, despite the fact that I love my job and once I get started, I’m happy to be back.

Are you feeling this right about now? How do we avoid this?

Last year, I celebrated a milestone birthday. Half in jest, a friend sent me an article to read about growing old happily. This summer, after my milestone birthday plus one, I gave it a re-read. The article mentioned the work of the American psychiatrist, George E. Valliant. Valliant identifies several factors that contribute to living a happy life. Two are especially relevant to the work we do as teachers.

The first of those factors is generativity, a concept developed by the famous psychologist, Erik Erikson. It involves looking out for the next generation by investing one’s self in work that will outlive the self. It can include serving as a guide or mentor to young adults. According to Valliant, masters of generativity triple their chances of enjoying their seventies. (While still quite a ways from 70, I am now closer to 70 than I am to the age of my students!) Clearly, teaching is all about investing ourselves in work that will outlive us. And we know when we have former students reach out to us and come visit, sometimes it takes awhile before students acknowledge the value of what we have taught them.

The second related concept leading to happiness is being a keeper of the meaning. This is a stage of adulthood that Valliant added to Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Becoming a keeper of the meaning involves the teaching of the values of the past to future generations. The purpose is much broader than the stage of generativity, as it is less focused on teaching individuals and more focused on justice and wisdom.

Reading this struck a nerve with me. Never, in my 19 years of teaching have I felt a stronger sense of urgency to the task of teaching history to the young.

The last few summers have emphasized the wisdom of Faulkner’s oft-quoted, “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

August 2014 - the unrest in Ferguson after the shooting of Michael Brown

June 2015 - the shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston which led to the taking down of the Confederate flag in South Carolina

Summer 2016 - Brexit and the nomination of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

August 2017 - the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia following the Unite the Right rally

Summer 2018 - the separation of migrant families to the U.S.  

These stories are just a few that demonstrate so clearly the dangers of forgetting the past.

So while I mourn the passing of summer, I am also fired up. This past spring, my introduction to my unit on the Depression and the New Deal included a discussion of the two slides below. The second slide are all books published in the first few months of 2018 and do not include a bevy of additional books published around the same time and since. They clearly suggest a common theme to this current moment.

 

This summer I have been reading excerpts from two of the above-- Cass Sunstein’s Can It Happen Here? and Yascha Mounk’s The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom is in Danger and How to Save It. These books, along with the news, remind me why our job as history teachers is so important. We must be careful not to be preachy or partisan, but we must be the keepers of meaning. As the above authors suggest, the fate of our nation may be at stake.

If you need further convincing, consider what James Loewen has to say about the responsibility we have as history teachers in the age of “alternative facts.” In a new (2018) introduction to his groundbreaking 1995 book, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Loewen writes

[T]here is a reciprocal relationship between truth about the past and justice in the present. When we achieve justice in the present, remedying some past event or practice, then we can face it and talk about it more openly, precisely because we have made it right. It has become a success story. . . .

Conversely, a topic that is mystified or distorted in our history...usually signifies a continuing injustice in the present, like racism. Telling the truth about the past can help us make it right from here on.

So help turn that dread of the end of summer into a recognition of our calling. Our students need us. Remember why we do what we do, and why it is more important than ever. You are a keeper of the meaning.