Inquiry Question: "What happens to students' concepts of "perspective" in history when they use first-person reasoning in historical analysis?"
Part IV: Conclusion & Implications for Future PracticeI continually have found that students are willing to bring themselves into the classroom by way of the first person, and that the inclusion of students’ personalized voices opens students and their peers to an analysis of history that is more relevant to themselves, as individuals, than if I were only asking them to examine the past at arm’s length. Kincheloe (2001) critiques the inadequacy of most social studies curricula’s attempts, or lack thereof, to connect learning that occurs in the classroom to the outside world. “Social studies textbooks and materials for elementary and secondary schools have a relatively minor concern with portraying the lived experience. Textbook publishers are infrequently concerned with the dangerous task of helping students find out where their personal worldview and ideas originate” (Kincheloe 59).
My self-reflection in the course of this inquiry project falls under two questions: What is my role as facilitator during first-person simulations, or as editor of students’ first-person writing? And, Is there enough factual history in my lessons? While some of the activities described above demonstrate a development of student self-knowledge, I feel that my classroom lessons are only beginning to approach the type of learning that I believe can take place through a consistent use of the first person. In the case of the Prison Reform Commission Debates, would students’ arguments while in character be stronger if they had parsed out the details of their own opinions on the topic, before taking character? Would students have learned more about the history of prisons if I had required them to refer to examples from history when arguing a case for Graterford? In my notes from the debate proceedings I highlighted one student’s comment, “Remember what happened at Eastern State!” when making a point about potential prison uprisings. I saw this as a very successful moment in the deliberations. How would a more structured agenda change the debate? Could I propose a series of questions that the first three rounds of debaters must address, and use the fourth round to summarize and resolve the previous rounds? Possible solutions also include a braoder use of the Pinwheel Graphic Organizer, noted above. My lack of emphasis on factual history was also apparent in students’ work for the Original Prison Narratives assignment, also noted above. When analyzing the Abolitionism Debates I noted a line of questioning about my role as facilitator during discussions and simulations, such as debates. How do I simultaneously affirm students’ unique perspectives, and challenge them to develop a set of skills, their conceptualization of others’ ideas, and their presentation of their own perspective? The primary questions that emerged for me centered on my role as facilitator, and how to intervene in moments when it was clear that students were not prepared for the activity, and how to grade students’ participation and/or preparedness. If a particular group was sitting for long periods of silence, or only one side was talking, should I give them some leads, or should I call off that debate—and tell the class it was because that group wasn’t prepared. What if it was just the chemistry of that selection of six people? How could I determine if a person was unprepared or if they were just floundering/silent in the face of an anemic inner circle? These are questions that I will continue to explore as I adapt these activities and lessons for future classes. I want to further explore the impact of first-person reasoning on students’ self-concept, particularly its role in cultivating empathy among students, and for these young individuals as they face the world. From my perspective, exploring the perspectives of individuals unlike us is critical to negotiating the world. If I tailor my lessons to include a more deliberate disentangling of students’ own perspectives from the historical perspectives they are borrowing, will students be able to articulate the personal impact made by imagining others’ perspectives? I believe that I have compelling evidence that students are willing and able to experiment with and examine others’ perspectives—real and imagined, past and present—but I want to know more about what this means for the student, how this can incorporate more facts, and what my role is in facilitating these intellectual adventures. |