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##  Teaching World History: The Global Human Experience through Time.               ERIC Digest.                                                                 

WHAT IS WORLD HISTORY?
World history is the study of human history             around the globe through time. World history stretches beyond the               boundaries of nation-states or civilizations to form a macro history            of the human story. Just as the history of the United States is more            than the history of 50 individual states, world history is the study            of the global human experience and changes in that experience                   through time. 
World historians study global forces and large                  historical themes such as climatic change, the spread of religions,             and the expansion of the market economy. For example, Columbus in               world history is not simply the story of Columbus discovering a "new            world." Instead it is the "Columbian exchange," a story of human                migrations, transatlantic trade, and the exchange of plants,                    animals, diseases, art, and technology between the eastern and                  western hemispheres. World history enables us to improve our                    understanding of how humans have interacted with each other and the             planet in the past to shape the present. 
World history became an              established field of study with the founding by historians and                  educators of the World History Association in 1982. This field is in            its infancy. Scholarship in world history, as in biological                     research, is expanding rapidly because of international,                        collaborative research via the Internet; the increasing number of               resources available to world historians; and cross-disciplinary                 studies with anthropologists, archaeologists, geographers, and                  others in the social sciences. Globalization of the market economy              and the development of the international "pop" culture with its                 bewildering amalgam of many cultural traditions have increased the              demand for world history. Yet much remains to be learned. And that              is the excitement of world history. When world history class becomes            a laboratory where teachers and students form a partnership to                  investigate what is known to question the unknown, the study of the             human story escalates from passive memorization to inquiry and                  discovery. WHY WORLD HISTORY IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM?Each age            writes its own history. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were             periods of Western influence in politics, economics, and culture.               The twenty-first century, however, will belong to world politics,               economics, and culture. Consequently, a new history of the world and            its people is being written. 
Why should this new story be told?               Why should it be at the core of the school curriculum? There are                many reasons, which pertain to: 
* citizenship -- creating a body              of informed citizens capable of making global decisions for the                 world body politic at large; 
* business -- understanding the                  economic, cultural, and political environment of many countries in              order to participate more fully and effectively in the global market            place; 
* humanity -- thinking more deeply and broadly about the               whole human experience rather than its provincial parts as a means              of deeper and broader human interconnection; 
* patterns of                    thought -- developing historical thinking skills; and 
* basic                 knowledge -- understanding who we are, how we got that way, and                 where we are going. 
In our interconnected world, the need to share            a common history as well as a particular one is a global phenomenon             that involves us all. A history of the world experience, as well as             the national and local experience, can provide a forum through                  which, aided by the study of world history,  we develop common ideas            that transcend cultural and political boundaries. MAJOR THEMES AND            HABITS OF MIND FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING WORLD

HISTORYCertain            universal historical themes shape the common human experience. Bound            by neither time nor space, they appear broadly across the globe and             centuries. These themes form the basis of world history. They                   include: 
* manipulating and changing the physical environment; 
*            developing tools and technology; 
* peopling the globe; 
*                    diffusing and exchanging ideas, tools, and other facets of                      culture; 
* ending old frontiers and developing new ones; and 
*              creating increasingly more complex systems of politics, economics,              and social interactions. 
The study of world history develops                  certain habits of mind needed by individuals to function in a                   twenty-first century world of interaction, diversity, and rapid                 change. These habits of mind include: 
* seeing the big                        picture; 
* discerning the common phenomena; 
* identifying the               spread, exchange, and acceptance or rejection of new ideas; 
*                 making sound historical comparisons; and 
* collaborative testing              of an historical hypothesis from multiple points of view. TEACHER             PREPARATION AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIESTeacher preparation in              world history must involve strategies to expand both teacher                    expertise as well as the knowledge base of students. Given the lack             of world history preparation of most students (secondary and                    post-secondary) and the narrow focus of world history in most                   teacher preparation programs, exploring a comprehensive world                   history requires research and reflection by instructors and students            alike. 
Redefining the relationship of teachers and students as a              partnership facilitates this educational process. Most social                   studies teachers started their teaching careers with course work in             Western civilization or area studies. Teaching a global world                   history, however, requires reconceptualization of the subject.                  Together the class can examine both common themes and the uniqueness            of societies within a chronological framework constructed for the               course. 
A study of world history must encompass both breadth and              depth. Most courses focus either narrowly and deeply or broadly and             shallowly. A cross section of the two is possible through class                 lectures and discussions around broad social, political, economic,              or cultural themes integrated with focus groups in which students               can examine various regions of the world in depth to learn how                  themes have unfolded during specified eras. This preserves a sense              of chronology of events and movements over time, yet also allows for            comparisons of societies in different eras or in different regions              as the course proceeds. Inquiry is grounded in historical knowledge             placed in a broader context. 
This structure serves several                    purposes. First, it makes the overwhelming subject of world history             more manageable for students and teachers, particularly with the                limitations of time restraints in any course. Second, it reduces the            chance of a "one fact after another" approach where students are                challenged merely to recall isolated facts covered in the textbook              and the teacher lectures without a clear sense of what those facts              mean. Third, it promotes critical thinking, a necessity in a                    democratic system. Discerning fact from opinion and identifying                 multiple perspectives in cross-cultural encounters are desirable                outcomes of instruction in our increasingly interconnected world.               Fourth, themes provide a framework for reading for meaning and for              the relevance of historical topics. Learning information simply                 because it is in the textbook does not motivate today's students to             become competent, or even interested, in world history. Fifth, the              approach can incorporate the wealth of resources available through              technology. Using these resources can greatly enhance textbook                  information, but students must be taught simultaneously how to                  discriminate between reliable and unreliable                                    resources. 
Acquainting students with human history is a daunting              task. The overwhelming assignment can be made more manageable,                  however, if one provides for in-depth regional studies set in the               context of a wider realm of human experience. This de-centered                  approach promotes comparative studies, multiple perspectives                    including voices of women and minorities, and a more comprehensive              understanding of human and environmental events. Analyzing the                  effects of the past on contemporary life and recognizing the                    problems of present-minded thinking and the limits of our own                   perspectives will promote competency in historical                              thinking. REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCESAllardyce,                         Gilbert. "Toward World History: American Historians and the Coming              of the World History Course." JOURNAL OF WORLD HISTORY 1 (Spring                1990): 23-76. EJ 407 704. 
Bradley Commission on History in                    Schools. BUILDING A HISTORY CURRICULUM: GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING                 HISTORY IN SCHOOLS. Washington, DC: Educational Excellence Network,             1988. ED 310 008. 
Christian, David. "The Case for 'Big History'."             JOURNAL OF WORLD HISTORY 2 (Fall 1991): 223-38. EJ 442 132. 
Dunn,             Ross E. WESTERN CIVILIZATION, MULTICULTURALISM AND THE PROBLEM OF A             UNIFIED WORLD HISTORY. Keynote address presented at the Annual                  Meeting of the Great Lakes Regional Council for the Social                      Studies (Cleveland, OH, March 30, 1995). ED 388 585. 
Hitchens,                Marilynn, and Heidi Roupp. ASPEN WORLD HISTORY HANDBOOK: AN                     ORGANIZATIONAL FRAMEWORK, LESSONS, AND BOOK REVIEWS FOR NON-CENTRIC             WORLD HISTORY. Distributed by Social Studies School Service, Culver             City, CA, 1998. 
National Center for History in the Schools.                   NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR HISTORY. BASIC EDITION. Washington, DC: U.S.             Department of Education, 1996. ED 399 213. 
National Council for               History Education. BUILDING A WORLD HISTORY CURRICULUM. A GUIDE TO              USING THEMES AND SELECTING CONTENT. Westlake, OH: National Council              for History Education, 1997. ED 422 238. 
Roupp, Heidi, ed.                    TEACHING WORLD HISTORY. A RESOURCE BOOK. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe,              1997. ED 414 225. 
White,  Rodney, and Dawn Harris. "A                         Consideration of Methodology in a World History Class." SOUTHERN                SOCIAL STUDIES JOURNAL 17 (Spring 1992): 25-32. EJ 450                          796. 
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Simone Arias is an instructor of Social Studies                 Education and a doctoral candidate in Global Studies at The Ohio                State University. Marilynn Hitchens teaches an on-line world history            course at the University of Colorado, Denver. Heidi Roupp is the                current president of the World History Association. 
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This             publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational            Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under                   contract RR93002014. The opinions expressed do not necessarily                  reflect the positions or policies of OERI or ED.                             **Title:** Teaching World History: The Global Human Experience through Time.               ERIC Digest.                                                                 **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, 2805            East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington, IN, 47408; telephone:                1-800-266-3815.                                                              **Descriptors:** Citizenship Education, Economics, Educational Strategies, Foreign               Countries, Humanities, Non Western Civilization, Secondary                      Education, Secondary School Curriculum, Social Studies, Teacher                 Education, Western Civilization,  World History                              **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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