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Critical Literacy in the History Classroom

By Alyssa Binns Gunderson, published on August 20, 2019 in the Auburn Citizen

We are living in the midst of a huge shift in the way the world records and understands history. In the earliest days of human civilization, history was shared through oral tradition. Stories were used to create a shared understanding of the world and how it works. As humans progressed, history became a written narrative, with people whose education and circumstances allowed, sharing their observations, opinions and impressions on paper. As printing developed and publishing became an industry, this information was further filtered through the lenses of those who had the power and capital to distribute it. In America, this means that until recently, history has been funneled through the privileged minds and hands of wealthy or middle class white men. I don’t mean to imply that women and people of color haven’t passed along their own histories — we certainly have — but when we look back on the iconic heroes of our nation (as defined by the subjects of our literature, the faces on our money and the people with standing monuments in our capital) we can’t avoid the fact that American history has long been centered on the white male perspective. Today, in the age of information, the gatekeepers of history are being replaced by the democratizing effects of the internet. We suddenly have access to the observations and impressions of anyone who is willing to share them online, regardless of their cultural power or level of formal education. Our access to information about the world is only going to grow. Learning to sift through all the data with a critical eye is essential.

 When we teach critical literacy in the history classroom, we focus on peeling back the layers of power and positioning and encourage students to think carefully about how an event may have been experienced by all of the people involved. We look at the cultural context and collect as many perspectives as possible surrounding an important shift or event. If we are lucky, there will be books or articles to help broaden the lesson, and while they help, they aren’t absolutely necessary. I have found that children, given their natural lack of power in society, can easily relate to the underrepresented of the world, and their sense of fairness is finely tuned and reactive.

 I recall teaching a lesson to my multi-age classroom for prekindergarten through third grade. The topic was women’s suffrage and the lesson involved a vote that only the girls could participate in. The stakes were low and I had prefaced it all with a thorough explanation, but I had to cut the activity short because little boys were literally rolling around on the floor and crying in anger over the unfairness of it all. I have not experienced anything quite like that lesson again, but having taught many difficult historical topics since, I’ve come to realize that if I’m teaching a grave injustice (slavery, Native American removal, segregation, the Holocaust) and my students aren’t emotionally affected, then I’m probably doing it wrong.

 When we teach multiple perspectives we are really encouraging our students to see beyond their own lives, empathize with fellow humans and work toward a shared and balanced understanding of the world. If we want our world/nation/state/town, or even just our classroom to serve everyone fairly, then we need to begin with an understanding of the world as it is, which necessitates an understanding of how it was. Children who learn to search out multiple perspectives will become adults who do the same and we will all benefit from their wisdom.

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