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Politics, and International Studies
Department of History, Politics, and International
Studies
1992
History as a Humanity: Reading and Literacy in the
History Classroom
Paul Otto
George Fox University, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation
Published in The History Teacher 26(1), November 1992, pp. 51-60 http://www.thehistoryteacher.org/
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History as a Humanity:Reading and Literacyin the
History Classroom
PaulOtto
IndianaUniversity
COLLEGE HISTORY TEACHERS daily face the task of presenting
their subject to students who come from many different educational
backgroundsand who often have deficiencies such as poor literacy and a
pathetic lack of interest in school. Teachers are expected to provide
students with a historicalperspectivethroughanalysis and interpretation
of historicalfacts. All this must fit into the largerframeworkof the liberal
artstraditionon which most colleges anduniversitiesarebuilt.This article
renewsthe argumentthathistoryshouldbe regardedas a humanityandthat
an effective way to teach it as such and at the same time encouragegreater
literacy among college studentsis throughthe use of a variety of books
such as biographies,monographs,personalnarrativesand other primary
sources, and novels.
There are few historianswho would disagree with the propositionthat
history is a humanisticdiscipline. However, before discussing the role of
reading and literacy, it is worth reviewing the arguments in favor of
viewing history as a humanity to see their implication for teaching.
Historical Literacy:TheCasefor HistoryinAmericanEducation,a recent
book publishedas a resultof the BradleyCommissionon Historyin
Schools,containsseveralessaysthataddressthese issues. In the essay,
"WhyStudyHistory?ThreeHistoriansRespond,"WilliamH. McNeill
defineshistoryandgivesreasonswhyit shouldbe taughtstating,"Historical knowledgeis no more and no less than carefullyand critically
constructed
collectivememory.As such,it canmakeus wiserinourpublic
choicesandmorerichlyhumanin ourprivatelives."'GordonA. Craig,in
hisessay"Historyas a Humanistic
Discipline,"sharesMcNeill'sfocuson
thehumanityof history.Headdsthat"historymustfocusitsattention,
both
inresearchandclassroominstruction,
of
the
not
the
movers
role,
upon
only
andshakersin history,butuponthatof menandwomenof everyclassand
condition,includingracialandethnicminoritiesin society."Thereis no
excuse to do otherwise,as today"thereareno insuperableobstaclesto
assigningto these formerlyforgottengroupstheirproperplace in the
historicalrecord."2
GordonCraigcallshistoryhumanism,definingthisas
interestto the
"anysystemof thoughtoractionthatassignsa predominant
affairsof menas comparedwiththe supernatural
orthe abstract."3
BetweenMcNeillandCraig,we havea pictureof historyas a collective
memoryof thepast,a pastthatincludeseverydaymenandwomenaswell
as the famous.McNeill suggeststhatknowledgeof the past will help
peoplemakebetterdecisionsthatinvolveandaffecteveryone,especially
in relationto "outsiders,
whethertheoutsidersareanothernation,another
or
some
distinctive
civilization,
groupwithin our nationalborders."4
Elsewherehe statesthat"onlyan acquaintance
with the entirehuman
adventure
on earthallowsus to understand
far
[the reaching]dimensions
of contemporary
and
he
that
"institutions
asserts
thatgoverna
reality"
of
our
deal
behavior
took
hundreds
or
even
thousands
great
everyday
shape
of yearsago.Havingbeenpreservedandalteredacrossthegenerations
in
ourowntime,theyaresuretocontinueintothefuture."5
InMcNeill'sopinion,
noonecanescapethecontinuingrelevancehistoryplaysineveryone'slife.
Theotherthingthathistorydoesforus, accordingto McNeill,is to enrich
us as individualpeople.Craigmakesa similarpoint;he statesthathistory
that
"providesyouwithanextensionof yourownlife anda connectedness
in
a
it
of
the
stream
a
vital
gives greatersignificance
history,makingyou
link in the greatprocessthatconnectsthe remotestpast withthe most
distantfuture."6
Theseideasstronglysupportthe argument
thathistorybelongsin any
curriculumwhich emphasizesthe humanities,such as the liberalarts
curriculumat manycolleges anduniversities.This shouldcome as no
surprise,sincehistoryis usuallyamainstayinthegraduation
requirements
of theseschools.Butperhapsit is notenoughto say thathistorybelongs
there.Perhapsonehasto go a stepfurtherandask"Whatarethe roleand
thegoals of historycoursesas partof a liberalartscurriculum?"
Obviously,a historyclass has to teachhistory.In the past,this was
limitedto teachingaboutgreatmen,important
dates,significantevents-
thosethingsstressedby the so-calledpoliticalanddiplomatichistorians.
McNeillandCraigwouldno doubtsuggestthatpeople,whethertraditionorotherwise,shouldalsobe stressed.Butwhat
ally consideredimportant
Shouldthehistoryclass
abouthistoryaspartof theliberalartscurriculum?
do somethingdifferentthanthis?Shouldit do somethingmore?It seems
to me thathistorycoursesexistnotonlyto teachstudentsabouthistoryor
give them a historicalperspective,but to buildthe broaderliberalarts
coursesaremeanttobuild.Thismeans,among
perspectivethathumanities
otherthings,thathistoryclassesmustinveststudentswiththe skills and
interestsnecessaryto maketheirliberalartseducationa lifelongprocess.
Oneskillnecessaryforlifelonglearningis literacy.Studentsin college
shouldalreadyhavethefundamental
abilitiesthatbasicliteracydemands.
Buta collegeeducationis supposedto developthoseabilitiesintospecial
skillsthatset its graduatesapartfromthosewhohavenotearneda college
degree.If everyoneshouldhave basic literacy,then college graduates
fromcollegebutwho
shouldhavesomethingmore.Studentswhograduate
fromthe
havenot increasedtheirabilityto reador writeor communicate
level attainedatthesecondaryschoolareunabletocompetewiththosethat
havegaineda full liberalartseducation.They arefurtherdisadvantaged
becausetheirlackof advancedliteracyhindersthemfromthe continued
learningthatis thegoalof aliberalartseducation.Theycannotfullyenjoy
art, history,literature,or science. Nor can they engage in criticalor
analyticalthoughtanddiscussion.
Lifelonglearningis beingthreatened,however,by somethingcalled
aliteracy,atermrecentlycoinedto describeliterateindividualswhodonot
like to or desireto read.Manypeoplein the UnitedStates,bothwithand
withoutcollege educations,arebecomingincreasingaliterate.Citingthe
quickeningpaceof Americanlife asonereason,arecentarticlein TheNew
YorkTimesdescribedthedecreasinginterestin readingbychildrenasthey
grewolder.Forexample,TheNationalAssessmentofEducational
Progress,
a branchof the FederalEducationDepartment,foundthat while 45.7
percentof fourthgradersreadfor pleasure,only 24.4 percentof twelfth
thistrendis notnecessarilybrokenby attending
gradersdid.Apparently,
to
the
samearticle,a recentgraduateof theUniversity
college.According
of Pennsylvaniafell intothecategoryof beingaliterate.He hadn'treada
bookin overa yearandsaid,"'halfmy friendsdon'treadeither."'Perhaps
the most shockingpartof this storyis thathe plannedto entergraduate
school.7
A disinterestin readingis nottheentireproblem,forthereis increasing
evidencethatstudentsenteringcollege arelackingeven the basic skills
forthe
necessaryto performwellthere.In 1989,areportbytheFoundation
Advancementof Teaching,cited in a WashingtonPost editorial,statedthat
"threeoutof fourfacultymembersnationwide,and65 percentof thoseat
in
areseriouslyunderprepared
liberalartsschools,thinkundergraduates
basicskills."In this editorial,however,the writerpointedout thatother
evidencesuggeststhatthe problemmaynot just be a lack of skills,but
ratherthatsomeacquired"skills"prohibitmoresubstantial
learning.For
instance,studentswerebecomingso welltrainedin gettingto thepointof
a passageassignedfor reading,thatthey werenot being impactedin a
broaderor morefundamental
wayby thematerial.8
Amongotherthings,
theywereprobablynotlearningto enjoyreading.Inanycase,theevidence
suggeststhat studentscoming into college may be poorly literateor
aliterate.
This,inthewordsof TheNewYorkTimeswriter,may
increasingly
meanthat"generations
of Americansarein dangerof losinganytastefor
booksor senseof theirvalue."9
Thejob of the historyteacher,then,has manydimensions.First,the
historianmustconveyto studentsbothinformationaboutthe past and
historicalperspective.Second,theparticipation
of historyintheliberalarts
educationrequiresfurtherworkon thepartof thehistorianto providethe
studentwith a humanitiesperspective.Last, teachersof historymust
advanceliteracy.Thiscomplextaskis notimpossible.In fact,the simple
approachof requiringstudentsto readextensivelywill go a long way
towardsmeetingallthegoalsof thehistoryteacher.Itshouldnotbe a new
ideathatreadingis animportant
that
wayof learning.Noris it surprising
a manualfor college educatorssuch as TeachingTips:A Guidebookforthe
BeginningCollegeTeacheralsomadethisclaim.The author,WilbertJ.
McKeachie,cited studiesfrom the 1920s and 1960s as evidenceand
claimedthat studentslearnedmore,or learnedmore efficiently,from
readingthanfromlisteningto lectures.1'
Theproblemof teachingaliterateorpoorlyliteratestudentsis alsofaced
by gradeschoolteachersandit is to thatarenathatcollegeprofessorscan
turnto findpossiblesolutionsfortheirsimilardifficulties.In 1966,Daniel
Fader,EnglishprofessorattheUniversityof Michigan,publishedHooked
on Books, revised and republishedin 1976 as TheNew Hooked on Books.
This book was intendedas a guide for teachersto "teachreadingand
writingwithpleasure"throughtheapproachof "Englishin EveryClassroom.""ThoughFaderbegandevelopinghis theoriesof teachingliteracy
whilehe workedwithjuveniledelinquents,
his ideaswerelaterappliedto
studentsin regulareducationalfacilities,and it is not implausibleto
suggestthatthey couldbe constructively
appliedto the collegelevel as
well.
A programsuchas"Englishin EveryClassroom"
urgesthatteachersof
all disciplinesshouldteachgood readingandwritingskills in theirown
classes.Whileplacingresponsibility
for the students'literacyon all the
teachers, a programof this kind also promises benefits to each teacherin
his or her field. As Faderput it, "everyteacherwill be helping each child
to become a betterstudentin the teacher'sown subject area."'2According
to Fader,this is importantbecause"thestudentwho can't or won't readand
write or listen well cannot be educatedin any other subject in the school
curriculum."'3
At the tertiarylevel, college professors of all disciplines have been
becoming more and more aware of their responsibility in teaching and
promotingliteracy.As evidence of this, Faderdescribesthe surpriseof one
observerof the Universityof Michigan's GraduationRequirementsCommission hearings.
Forthefirsttimein his longcareerin thisandotherschools,[theobserver]
said,he hadactuallyheardteachingscientistsdeclarethatundergraduate
literacyhadto be everybody'sbusinessbecausenobody'sstudentscould
readorwritewellenoughtosatisfyeventhemselves,muchlesstheteachers.
That,he said from the mouthsof chemists,physicists,mathematicians,
scientists,andhumanists,wasa mouthful.14
If teaching literacy is this important,what materialsshould the history
teacheruse? Cantextbooks be used? Textbooks survey the events thatthe
course covers and are usually chronologically organized. Each chapter
may have summariesat eitherthe beginning or end to help introducethe
readerto the material and to reinforce it. Chaptersoften conclude with
questions for discussion or study and a list of books for furtherreading.
They usually include pictures, maps, charts, and timelines - all useful
learningaids.They may,however,overgeneralizeorbe bogged down with
too much detail and often emphasize things that the instructordoes not
want to or omit somethingthe instructorfeels is important.'5
These virtues and defects, however, pale when comparedto theirmore
fundamentaland harmful effects. Textbooks may teach students something which most historiansdon't want them to learn - that history is a
single storylardedwith a pile of facts. A historytextbookby its very nature
confirms to the student that history, as they have been taught in grade
school andhigh school, is a long list of datesthataredifficultto remember,
names that are difficult to spell, and battles that are difficult to keep
straight. If the stress in college education today is on "developmentof
studentcapacities forjudgement,fact gathering,analysis, and synthesis,"
as one college educatorhas suggested,'6then the textbookdoes not belong
in the college history classroom.
Moreover, textbooks tend to dehumanizetheir subjects, thus working
againstthe goal of teachinghistory as a humanity.How can a studentget
a feel for the world of the Native Americansif they are simply dealt with
in termsof wars and agreementswith Europeansettlers?Or how can
of
anyoneunderstandwho JohnBrownwas by one or two paragraphs
in
a
textbook?
the
student
doesn't
have
the
time
to
read
a
True,
coverage
book
on
or
each
each
but
on
the
other
the
event,
hand,
separate
person
limitedexperienceof readinga textbookleavesthestudentwitha one-or
two-dimensional
viewof thepast,andconsequently,
of thepresentaswell.
Textbooksalso discouragegoodreadingandwritinghabits.If history
teachersaresupposedto teachliberalartsliteracythroughhistory,they
needto providestudentswithbooksthataremeaningfulandthatrepresent
the kindof bookstheywill comeintocontactwiththe restof theirlives.
Textbooksdonotrepresent
thesekindsof books.Theyarelikenothingthe
studentwill readtherestof hisorherlife.Learningto reada textbookdoes
if textbooksarepoor
verylittletoencouragelifelongreading.Furthermore,
readingmaterialtheyareoftenalsoexamplesof poorwriting.Theirlack
of footnotesreinforcesan alreadypresenttendencyin studentsto plagiarize, eitherinnocentlyor purposely,becauseas examplesof historical
writingtextbooksrarelygive directcreditto thesourcesuponwhichthey
rely.
An articlepublisheda few yearsagoin TheHistoryTeacheraddressed
the problemswith textbooks.In their article"CollegeTextbooksin
AmericanHistory:BrickbatsandBouquets,"CarrieFosterandConnie
Rickert-Epstein
suggestedthattherearethreesignificantproblemswith
dueto
today'shistorytextbooks.First,textbookqualityis "deteriorating"
the effortof publishersto producetextsthataremoreacceptableto an
studentbody.Second,thereis an"implicit
increasinglyless-than-literate
treatment
of certainhistoricalissuesaround
censorshipin theinadequate
whichmuchcontroversystill swirls."Third,thereis a lackof "thematic
structure"
whichtheyfeel is necessaryto bindthe"numerous
andappardiscrete
of
facts"
American
none
of
the
texts
which
ently
history."7
Finding
reviewed
that
textbooks
should
be
they
adequate,they suggestedonly
writtenwithgreaterthematicdevelopment.However,they also observe
that"studentsdo not read,cannotwrite,andseem only concernedwith
certificationto 'get a goodjob"'"'Moreover,they statedthat"withour
studentsless inclinedto readthaneverbefore,supplementing
the basic
textbookwithadditional
our
rather
than
readingsonlycompounds problem
or solvingit."'9
ameliorating
Why not, then, drop the textbookentirely?If college studentsare
illiterateor aliterate,textbooksarenot goingto help.Again,theworkof
DanielFader,thoughdonewithgradeschoolchildren,canbe appliedtothe
college classroom.Because Fadersaw the teacher'stask of helping
childrendevelopeverydayliteracy,he felt it best to move awayfrom
readingmaterialthatis strictlywrittenforclassroomuse towardmaterial
thatchildrenwouldbe facing in the realworld.This approach,"SATURATION," meant surroundingor saturatingthe students with a variety of
reading materials- primarilynewspapers,magazines, and the like which representthe readingmaterialof thatworldwhich theirliteracywas
supposedto help them understand.Furthermore,these studentsfoundthis
kind of reading interestingand were attractedto it. StatedFader:"Since
popularmagazines and newspapersare not partof the school world that
such studentsoften view withhostility,these materialsgreatlyrecommend
themselves for use in this approach."20
Though history teacherscertainlydon't need to teach college students
to read newspapers and magazines, Fader's SATURATION programis
instructivein theory.First,it is importantto realizethatcollege studentsare
not attractedto textbooks,which no doubtrepresent"theschool worldthat
... students often view with hostility" and probablywon't read. Nor do
textbooks help college studentslearnto readmaterialsof their real world
- the non-school world of liberal artsgraduates.For studentsto prepare
for that world, theirprofessorsneed to providethem with interestingand
challenging reading material. The history teacher has several choices
which include historical monographs,biographies, personal narratives,
primarysources, and novels.
Here is one example of how these kinds of books can be used in a tenweek introductoryAmericanhistorysurvey.A professorcould assign five
books, about a book every two weeks, which correspondchronologically
and topically with the lectures. For instance, William Cronon's Changes
in theLand could be used to introducestudentsto boththe world of Native
Americansandthe interactionbetweenNative AmericansandEuropeans,
a major theme of colonial history. A second book might be Tobacco
Cultureby Timothy Breen, which would give studentsa glimpse of life in
pre-RevolutionaryVirginiaand suggest one way of looking atthe coming
of the Revolution. Paul Johnson's A Shopkeeper's Millennium could
providestudentswithaperspectiveonworkersandurbanlife inpreindustrial
America, while a book such as Solomon Northup'sTwelve Yearsa Slave
would do the samefor slaves andthe ruralSouthon theeve of the Civil War.
Last, students could be introducedto a variety of themes in antebellum
Americanhistoryby StephenOates'ToPurgeThisLandWithBlood;themes
which include abolition,sectionalism,entrepreneurism,andthe coming of
the Civil War.21
There are several otherways in which readingcan be incorporatedinto
the classroom. Some teachers may like to use all biographies for their
classes, or all novels. For example, HarrietBeecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's
Cabinis often used to supplementlectureson slavery andabolition.Some
professors might use photocopies of primarydocuments that they have
been examiningin theirown researchas a way to introducestudentsto the
historian'stask. A teachermight also use publishedprimarymaterial.For
example, WilliamBradford'sjoumal,thejoumals of Lewis andClark,and
any one of a numberof slave narrativescould be nicely incorporatedinto
a history class.
Once teachers choose material for their students to read, there are a
varietyof ways to use it in the classroom.Onewouldbe to have the students
readthe book by a certaindateon whichthey will be quizzedandthenhave
an opportunityto discuss it in a group setting. The discussion aspect is
perhapsmost important,because it would give studentsan opportunityto
verbalizetheirfeelings andideas aboutthe book. Anotherway for themto
respondto the book might be to write a review of it. Perhapsthe professor
mightprovidea theme whichthe studentcould use in writinga substantive
responseto the book. Also, books thatarewell chosen touchingon broader
themes of the course provide good material for examination questions
which require students to draw on both lecture and reading materialto
answer.
There are many advantagesto teaching throughreading.Well chosen
books are sure to keep studentsinterestedin a way textbookscannot.The
greatestadvantageto replacinga textbookwith a varietyof otherbooks is
that students exposed to diverse readings will learn the true nature of
history, thathistory is aboutunderstandingpeople, ideas, and institutions
of the past, and that partof their identityis wrappedup in the past. They
will learn thathistory is a humanityandbegin to develop an appreciation
forthat.Onestudentatthe UniversityofMississippi, afterreadingToPurge
ThisLand WithBlood, said "thisbook changedmy life!'22 Perhapsthis is
what Gordon Craig, in his essay "Historyas a HumanisticDiscipline,"
meant when he stated:"A humanisticdiscipline deserves to be presented
in a humaneway, as a storyabouthumanbeings in circumstances,told with
grace and energy, its analytic rigor heightened by clarity and logic, its
argumentpersuasiveratherthan stridentand bullying."23
The right kinds of books can display men and women in both their
greatnessandfallibility.A textbookcannotbegin to describe,for example,
the details of a personlike MartinLutherKing, Jr.,with his triumphsand
downfalls,prideandshame.Only a well-writtenbiographycan do that.But
studentscontinueto meet these people in a few lines of a textbook,where
their importanceis not only confined to those lines, but also the student's
experience or memory of them dependson these few lines. Anotherthing
that well-chosen readingscan do is expose studentsto materialthatthey
may not everpickup andreadon theirown, whetheror not they areliterate.
For example, what chance is there that an adult in today's society will
peruse the shelves of the public libraryand bring home a descriptionof
slavelife in the Southorpickuponeof FrederickDouglass'sautobiographies to read?Introducingstudentsto such materialsmay changethis
trend.Lastly,good readingmaterialwill help sharpenstudents'minds,
encouragingthemto thinkcriticallyand analytically.Monographsand
otherrespectedworksoffer excellentexamplesof qualityscholarship,
unliketextbookswhichoftenofferthemostflagrantexamplesof plagiarismandotherscholarlydeficiencies.
Thereis littledoubtthathistoryis a humanityorthatit has a placein a
liberalartseducation.Itscontinuedexistencein thesecontextsgivesproof
of that.Poorliteracyis aproblemwhichseemstoplaguecollegecampuses
throughoutthe United States, and addressingthis problemin history
classesis necessary.Buttheconnectionbetweenreadingandhistorygoes
deeperthanthe objectof teachinghistoryas a humanityand solving
illiteracyat the college level. In a sense,historyonly existsbecausewe
have a way to recordit. In Westernculture,thatrecordis containedin
books.To removebooksfromtheteachingof historyis to removea vital
aspectof thetruenatureof historyitself.
Notes
1.
William H. McNeill, Michael Kammen, and Gordon A. Craig, "Why Study
History? Three Historians Respond," in Historical Literacy: The Case for History in
AmericanEducation,ed. Paul GagnonandtheBradley Commissionon Historyin Schools
(New York: MacmillanPublishingCompany, 1989), p. 103.
2.
GordonA. Craig,"Historyas a HumanisticDiscipline,"in Historical Literacy,
p. 127.
3.
Ibid., p. 125.
4.
McNeill, "Why Study History,"p. 104.
5.
Ibid.
6.
Craig, "HumanisticDiscipline," p. 137.
7.
RogerCohen,'The LostBook Generation,"TheNewYorkTimes,6 January1991,
Sec 4A, 34(N) and 34(L).
8.
"UnreadyUndergraduates,"(editorial),The WashingtonPost, 21 August 1989,
A12.
9.
Roger Cohen, 'The Lost Book Generation,"34(L).
10. WilbertJ. McKeachie, Teaching Tips: A Guidebookfor the Beginning College
Teacher, 8th ed. (Lexington:D.C. Heath and Company, 1986), pp. 12, 148, 150.
11. Daniel Faderwith JamesHuggins,Tom Finn,andEltonMcNeil, TheNew Hooked
on Books (New York:Berkley PublishingCorporation,1976), p. ix, passim.
12. Ibid., p. 97.
13. Ibid., p. 69.
14. Ibid., pp. 23-4.
15. McKeachie, Teaching Tips, pp. 11, 23.
16. Ibid., p. 149.
17. Carrie Foster and Connie Rickert-Epstein,"College Textbooks in American
History:Brickbatsand Bouquets,"The History Teacher, 22 (November 1988), 39-40.
18. Ibid., p. 39.
19. Ibid., p. 47.
20. Fader,Hooked on Books, pp. 25, 63-5, 98.
21. This examplecomes directlyfrommy experienceas a teachingassistantworking
for Alan Gallay at WesternWashingtonUniversity,Bellingham, Washington.Professor
Gallay's exampleof incorporatingreadingsuch as this in theclassroominspiredme to think
more deeply abouthow to educateundergraduatesand has resultedin the present essay.
22. Alan Gallay, personalcommunication.
23. Craig, "HumanisticDiscipline,"p. 133.