The Sad Truth About School History Classes (and Why I Enjoy History as a Hobby Better)

I'm no historian and this blog is just written as a hobby. Yes, you got that right and I don't record or write history for a living. It's a shame that history is an interesting subject but people can lose interest. A person would be excited to learn mathematics but can be momentarily hating mathematics. It's because teachers, regardless of what subject, are made to teach any subject with too much memorization, too little emphasis on understanding, and too much focus on grades over learning. People tend to say that grades matter more because they want monuments of stone over monuments of learning. They value the praises of medals more than a lifetime of learning. That's why some honor students fail in real life. 

I saw this meme and I can relate to it. I remember elementary Civics and Culture subjects. From the second year to the third year under K+10--there's Asian History and World History. There was the whole bland textbook. Teachers occasionally do film shows but most of the time, it was more on classroom discussion. There's that deadline to meet and teachers were forced to rush it. That means it's either students who get it or they don't. In fact, history, which is supposedly a fascinating subject, can be very boring. Even worse, some boomer parents say, "Why are they studying current events when they should just study what's in the book?" 

Sure, discussing current events is very important. However, it's usually just breezing through rather than discussing them. I remember certain current events discussed such as the Vizconde Massacre and the Chiong Sisters case. The norm was to believe they were already case-closed. However, they're both case-unclosed. I'm not going to apologize for it especially since Hubert Jeffry P. Webb was in the USA and Francisco Juan G. Larrañaga was in Quezon City when the crimes happened. That means the real murderers of both cases are yet to be found. Until now, people can still have the right (and duty) to live in panic because of that. 

History classes are compromised due to grades over learning

I may not be watching The Simpsons and I'm disgusted by it. However, one episode that I watched back in the 1990s was titled "Bart Gets an F". I revisited it and saw how the episode may have contained what I feel is wrong with the school system. Back then, I wasn't doing well and I was always shamed by it. My classmates would tell me, "If they were honor students back then, what year was it and what year is it now?" Much can happen between the 1960s, and 1970s, and when I was given that stinging rebuke, it was already 2001. That means new information was generated daily. Watching that episode made me loath school and gave me that awakening moment somehow. 

The Simpson's episode focused too much on grades over learning. Teachers have no choice but to follow the book given to them. One way to call a teacher "lousy" is when he or she chooses to make students think outside the box. For example, a teacher requiring newspaper clips has also made the parents complain, "What kind of teacher is that? That's a waste of money! Why can't they just focus on the books?" Well, today's news is tomorrow's history. When I was in high school, both Maria Corazon S. Cojuangco-Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos were still alive. It was during the reign of Joseph Estrada. Now both Mrs. Aquino and Ramos are dead. In 2010, the president was the late Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. A newly updated history textbook must write Aquino III as deceased. We develop history texts through current events. 

Rewatching the episode, one could see the problem of grades over learning. It's not that Bart never learned. The problem is the standardized testing with history. Students may ask, "What good will this do to my future?" The teachers are usually forced to say, "Shut up and just study it! It's required by the Department of Education!" It's not a very good response since history teachers should really be made to say, "Those who don't study history and current events, are doomed to repeat them." 

This is the truth that we often face and often dismiss:

The way history is taught in U.S. high schools should be completely overhauled. For the vast majority of students, history is presented as a litany of disconnected names, dates, and events to be memorized before an exam. Their other core subjects—English, science, and math—almost always pull in students who love reading or enjoy the intricate pleasures of numbers and theories. However, it is the rare student who finds anything edifying or relevant about history as it is taught in our classrooms today.

That's why history is boring. History is interesting but the way teachers are forced to teach it is boring. I passed through some brilliant history teachers but they're ruined by a bad system. I had an economics teacher as brilliant and as fierce as the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago but she too was compromised. Many times, there's more focus on memorizing dates and times, sequences of events, etc. and barely understanding them. 

Since we're in the Philippines, I'll discuss some aspects of Filipino history. I could memorize events such as the Treaty of Paris, the Pact of Biak na Bato, the formation of the Katipuneros, the American Commonwealth period, the reigns of certain presidents, etc. However, since students are rushed from one topic to another, it becomes a litany of disconnected names, dates, and events, memorized for the sake of memorizing. There are many lessons to learn from stuff like the formation of the Katipuneros, the mistakes of the Katipuneros, why General Tomas Mascardo failed, how the Spaniards used feasting to distract the people, why Jose Rizal went abroad, etc. It's not just memorizing the names but understanding them. Only a few people write good essays because the school system focuses too much on memorization. Understanding what's memorized is just as important as memorizing certain facts. I do need to memorize certain facts and figures, such as me writing this blog entry. I still recall some events my memory then I start Googling or reaching history textbooks to get more information. 

Returning back to The Simpsons, I could remember how Bart cried as he failed yet again. Bart started remembering George Washington to the point the teacher was impressed. In real life, teachers would just say, "It's too late! You fail!" Bart would still get an F on that standardized test. The school system focuses too much on grades. However, what good would high grades be if they didn't spring out of learning? I could go ahead and talk about the failures of Bonifacio and Aguinaldo but that would never give me a good grade in that exam I flunked. 

I think this should be the way history is taught in our day and age:

History is not boring. More important, it is relevant to the lives of every student, but none more than our most disadvantaged. Rather than teaching it as a series of eye-glazing events, it should be presented in a way that affords students the opportunity to delve in; question; and, above all, see in history’s unfolding, how we, the people, have traveled from there to here; and how that journey is relevant to all of us.

If all history classes do is merely memorize without understanding, it's not even studying history. It's just parroting history. It's just making parrots out of students. Students are supposed to be messengers of what's written in stone, not be the stone. In mathematics class, students are supposed to be math persons, not calculators. In this case, do you even wonder why history keeps repeating itself? It's because history is studied only for the grade and not for the learning.