At the start of my teaching internship, I distributed a survey to students to be filled out regarding their expectations and goals for the semester. When it came to the question, "Do you typically enjoy social studies classes? Why or why not?", I was taken aback at the number of students who answered that they disliked social studies because "I'm just not good at it". This concerned me deeply. What did these kids think it meant to be "good" at social studies? As I began my classroom instruction, it gradually dawned on me. These kids didn't dislike history, they disliked memorizing information.
Somewhere along the line in their education, they were taught that the basis of any social studies class is the memorization and repetition of facts. Students without a natural knack for this rote memorization simply tune out, subscribing to the belief that they're "not good at social studies". This phenomenon is beyond problematic, as social studies holds the potential to be the most dynamic and engaging subject for all students. Seeing students give up on themselves before the semester had even begun opened my eyes to just how problematic this narrative is. From that moment on, I made a promise to myself that I would dedicate my skills to proving this harmful archetype wrong-- making social studies, dare I say...fun?
Social Studies is an innately human subject. Any area of the discipline, from World History to Macroeconomics, is centered on the way people think and interact. Every historical event and encounter was either directly caused by or heavily impacted by human action. This realization allowed me to tie my educational background in psychology (my teaching minor) into my social studies philosophy. People are naturally programmed to care about other people on a basic, evolutionary level. I realized that if I could get students to somehow relate emotionally on a human level to the men and women living in different historical eras, I could gradually begin leading them away from the "memorize and repeat" philosophy they'd grown so attached to.
Upon discovering how closely the field of psychology can be tied to how we teach and present social studies content, I now see how pulling basic psychological concepts into the classroom can encourage students to adjust the way they think about the past. Introducing ideas such as confirmation and hindsight bias could allow students to dig deeper and push beyond their preconceived notions about the past to discover new curiosities. At the end of the day, all students can relate to the past in some way, shape, or form. From Julius Caesar, to Abigail Adams, to Malcolm X, all humans share the same basic needs and wants, and getting students to engage with these textbook-page "characters" on a personal level could open their eyes to perspectives they didn't know existed.
I believe that learning should be personal. All students have the potential to connect to the work they do in the classroom, especially in a social studies context. Learning history isn't just about the past; it's about their past. Convincing students to buy-in to that idea will be no easy feat, but I truly believe that for us as educators to change the "memorize and repeat" narrative, we need to prove to students that social studies is exciting, tragic, romantic, and above all, human.