In this book, author G.M. Trevelyan argues that "social history is the history of people with the politics left out." Using this as the main point of his argument, Trevelyan paints a picture of the social changes that occurred in English history from six different centuries up until 1901. He attempts to describe everyday life using firsthand accounts from people who lived in England from the 14 century up until 1901. This is a strong example of what an approach to social history looks like. Rather than the "great man theory" which is an approach that looks at the impact of great men due to their great intellect and leadership abilities. Social history takes smaller accounts and writings from lower or middle-class citizens to paint a picture of the culture and lifestyle that people were living in during this period. Using smaller accounts from other people makes teaching history more interesting and expands the narrative of different events rather than pulling from one person or event. Also, this approach makes history relatable to students, helping them make more connections while learning that they are not so different from certain figures they're learning about. Compared to just talking about the great leaders and events of history, social history provides a more narrow way of looking at the history of events. In my future classrooms, I plan on having a bookshelf that contains various historical narratives and monographs that I would be able to provide to students if they wanted to really dive deeper into certain subjects taught in the class. To give the students multiple ways of looking at events with different historical approaches. 

I would say one aspect that I appreciated from my first college history classes was hearing certain first-hand accounts from a person during an event in history, and being asked what I would do in that situation.  The author of this article, Neil Bates, starts with a great point by saying, "We might miss a chance to create curiosity and allow students to see that the process of history is one in which we can all play a part." I believe the one reason why some students hate history is because teachers are not able to create that spark of curiosity and get them interested in the subject. Through short stories from historical events, students can get engaged in a story's main character while at the same time learning about the historical context that happens in the story that dictates the character's decisions. In the article, the author uses the example of the Spanish Civil War. The Civil War is often neglected when talking about the rise of European dictators in favor for talking about Hitler in Germany or Mussolini in Italy. However, some great stories can be obtained from the International Brigades that fought in the war and some great stories can be received. Such as Glaswegian James Maley, who decided to go off to fight in the Spanish Civil War after hearing La Pasionaria, a Spanish war song, that translates to "the passionate one," on the radio. Especially when students get older and hear about the same historical events over and over again, it's nice when teachers include new examples or stories that they never heard of before. It keeps the historical events they are talking about more engaging and hopefully sparks interest in the students to get interested in the narrative.

In the article Why High School Teachers Should Teach History Through and Beyond Narrative, author Alvin Smith talks about why high school educators should teach history through and beyond narrative. Personally, learning history through narrative is how I enjoy learning history the most. One important idea that the author touches on is the importance of students engaging with a historical narrative and then building an understanding of why it is important historical material. Going beyond this, letting kids understand that there is not a single story in history and every person who lived during a certain period contributes to the historiography of that era or region. In my classroom, I would make sure to hone in on this point by providing many first-account examples of more everyday people who were living during this time. Being able to provide books or articles of detailed historical studies  

In this article, author Jenny Wei dives into the importance of history educators telling stories in their classes. She believes in the importance of sparking the curiosity of history early on in students. The benefits that children can get from history early on in their educational lifetime are developing their understanding of primary sources and setting a better aptitude when they have to approach a new subject in history. To be more curious about the new details, historical figures, and events that occur that will make them want to learn more. Overall, historical narratives can give a good entry point for empathizing with a historical topic by having a central character that bases their decisions around history which can be explained in the book. Rather than reading a text books detached third-person views on historical events by providing dull descriptions and lots of dates. Through reading this article and looking back at my own experience, historical narratives are really important in making history more interesting. In my future classrooms, I would include either articles or books of any historical narratives or books that I have had to read for my history classes in school or look for a reliable database that is known for giving good historical narratives on different subjects in history.  Whether you are a young student of history or old, narratives can help put a foot in the door for younger learners to get them interested in learning the main ideas of certain historical events. They could also be used by students who are already interested in history and could you a more personal narrative to learn about the smaller intricacies that are included in them.