Class format: "Dewey-ing" History

The Method of This Class - “Dewey-ing” History Inquiry

This class format is based on the ideas of John Dewey. We will now try to see how by examining a few quotes from his 1916 book “Democracy and Education”.

Idea One: The importance of school:

In 1916 John Dewey wrote: “(A) government resting upon popular suffrage cannot be successful unless those who elect and who obey their governors are educated.”

1. In your own words, explain why John Dewey thinks education is important:

2. How should the above quote influence how a history class is taught?

Idea Two: How should students learn?

In 1916, John Dewey wrote; “Were all instructors to realize that the quality of mental process, not the production of correct answers, is the measure of educative growth ... a revolution in teaching would be worked.”

1. In your own words, explain what John Dewey thinks teachers should focus on when evaluating students:

2. How should the above ideas, about evaluating students, shape how a history class is taught?

Idea #3: Why study history?

In 1916, John Dewey wrote: “[It is wise to use] the products of past history so far as they are of help for the future. Since they represent the results of prior experience, their value for future experience may, of course, be indefinitely great.

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The true starting point of history is always some present situation with its problems.

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[K]nowledge of the past is the key to understanding the present. History deals with the past, but this past is the history of the present.”

1. In your own words, explain why John Dewey thinks history is important.

2. How should the above ideas, about why history is important, shape how a history class is taught?

IN Summary:

1. Based on what I learned from John Dewey, this class is taught differently because:

We will be looking at history through a series of different "Compelling Policy Questions", for example: "When is it justifiable to use Military Force " We will then research how the policy makers have tried to address the policy question over time. After you have researched the past policy choices and the consequences of those choices we will make connections to contemporary debates over similar policy questions. You will then practice taking informed action in order to improve our Country.

Rationale for the class format

The decisions made by lawmakers not only reflect the people, places, and ideas existing in any given time in America, but they also can shape the people, places and ideas existing in America.

While we don't always like the decisions made by America's policy makers in the past it is important for us to understand why those decisions were made. Rather than sit today and just judge those decisions, it is more productive for us to reflect on why those decisions were made, try to learn from those decisions, and lastly apply the lessons we learned to help inform the decisions we make today.

Compelling Policy Questions we will address this semester:

1. When is it justifiable to place restrictions on immigration?

Past Policy Debates related to immigration:

• H.R. 5804 “to enforce treaty stipulations relating to Chinese” (1882)

• H. R. 6060 to regulate the immigration of aliens to and the residence of aliens in the United States (1915)

2. When is it justifiable to use military force?

• “Resolution to recognize the independence of the people of Cuba, and to direct the President of the United States to use the US military to carry these resolutions into effect.” 1898

• S.J.R. 1 Declaring that a State of War Exists between the Imperial German Government and the Government of the United States (1917)

3. What role does the Government play in combating the activities of Hate Groups?

• H. R. 11045 Federal Elections Bill (1891)

4. What role should the Federal Government play in the education of the nation's youth?

• S. 371 "A Bill to aid in the establishment and temporary support of common schools" (1890)

5. Is it justifiable to extend American Governmental influence beyond our borders?

• S. 2264 "To Provide a Government for Porto Rico, and for Other Purposes ” (1900)

• S.2295 "To Temporarily Provide for the Administration of the Affairs of Civil Government in the Philippine Islands” (1902)

6. How should policymakers regulate themselves?

• S. 133 - “to improve the civil service of the United States” (1883)

• H. R. 793- “To establish the compensation of Senators, Representatives, and Delegates”

7. What role should the government play in the relationship between workers and their employers?

• H.R. 1340, “Bureau of Labor Statistics” (1884)

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8. When is it justified for the Government to regulate companies?

• S. 1532 To Regulate Commerce. (1887)

Civil Rights- H.R.796- "to protect all citizens in their civil rights." (1875)

9. Should the Government take actions to impact foreign trade?

• H.R. 379 "To Provide Revenue"

10. How should the Federal Government handle policies towards Indigenous Peoples?

• S. 54, "to provide for the allotment of lands in severalty to Indians on the various reservations and to extend the protection of the laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians" (1887)

11. Should the government take actions to

Private Security Regulations: H.R. 5680. “A bill to regulate the employment of certain persons to do the work of guards, and so forth, and for other purposes.” 1892

Fiscal Policy: Bimetallism Resolution (1897)

Food Regulations: The Beveridge Amendment to H.R. 18537 “the Agriculture Bill” (1906)

Food and Drug Regulations- S. 88 “for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, drugs, medicines, and liquors, and for regulating traffic therein” (1906)

Taxes "S.J.R. Resolution No. 40, Income Tax Constitutional Amendment” (1909)

Child Labor- H. R. 8234, a bill to prevent interstate commerce in the products of child labor and for other purposes (1916)

Selective Service: H.R. 3545 to authorize the President to increase temporarily military establishment of the United States (1917)

Freedom of Speech: H. R. 8753 to amend section 3, title 1, of the “Espionage Act” (1918)

International Agreements- League of Nations (1919)

Voting Rights - H.J. Resolution 1 "Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States extending the right of suffrage to women" (1918)

Prohibition of substances.- H. R. 6810, “A bill to prohibit intoxicating beverages and to, regulate, the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits" (1919)

Social Welfare programs- FDR’s New Deal (1933)

Gun Control- H.R. 9006 National Firearms (1934)

Skills for success in this class

Skills we will work to develop throughout the semester to help you both think more critically when studying history, as well as have more empathy for people both in the past and today.

Your final project in this class

All semester long you will be practicing taking informed action. For your final project you will actually take informed action by making a connection between a piece of past legislation and a contemporary issue our country is facing.

Your goal will be to create a project that will be used to inform a current lawmaker on a past issue, and then offer them advice on how we should use the knowledge gained from that experience to help shape current policies.

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Note for both the students in the class, and visitors to this site about the documents being used in class, and on this website:

Some of the documents you will be using have been modified, not to simplify your work, but to help you remain efficient in your work. Documents may have been shortened by removing material that was not helpful for the goal of evaluating the merits of the policy you are studying. Language may be modified with a focus on keeping language important for conveying the message of the writer, and goal of expanding your vocabulary without bogging the reader down. This is all justified under Dr. Wineburg (from Stanford History Education Group) and Daisy Martin's 2009 article for the National Council for the Social Studies journal, Social Education, Tampering with History: Adapting Primary Sources for Struggling Readers,

Other documents have only been excerpted to help the reader focus on the main ideas from a primary document.