Women's History and the National Standards for World History: A Secondary Teacher's Perspective

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

Women's History and the National Standards for World History: A Secondary Teacher's Perspective Virginia S. Wilson Ironically enough, in a time when content is taking a back seat to skill development and classroom management techniques, the National Standards for History: Basic Edition deals exclusively with content. In the real world, most teacher evaluations focus very little attention on a teacher's content knowledge but place far more emphasis on interactions with and management of students and class time. Perhaps the pubUcation of these 1996 Standards will remind us again that there is no reason for a world history class unless we believe that there is a content to be conveyed, analyzed , synthesized, and evaluated. Though the National Standards for History deals mainly with content, one section does set forth five standards for teaching the core skÃ¼ls of historical thinking: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Historical Analysis and Interpretation, Historical Research CapabiUties, and Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision Making. Most teachers would agree that the acquisition of these skills is a major goal of any good history course. The linkage of historical thinking skills to each of the world history standards facilitates their use by the teacher. But, as much as teachers would love to teach on the basis of these five standards, a reality check shows that many teachers are dealing with students who are struggUng merely to read a text or write a coherent paragraph. In the 1996 Standards, the content of world history is divided into nine chronological eras containing from two to seven standards per era. These standards are, of course, general, but each is subdivided into component parts with specific objectives, stating what students should be able to do. Together the standards and their component parts form the "skeleton," with the "flesh" provided by the objectives. The "flesh" and the "skeleton," as it were, can and will spark endless debate in terms of what is included and what is excluded. Regardless of which side people take in the debate, the 1996 Standards provide teachers with substantial content. An initial observation is that the Standards are inclusive in many different ways. The six standards for Era 6 show their geographic inclusiveness : Standard 1: How the transoceanic interlinking of all major regions of the world from 1450-1600 led to global transformation. Â© 1997 Journal of Women's History, Vol. 9 No. 3 (Autumn) 1997 In the Classroom: Virginia S. Wilson 155 Standard 2: How European society experienced political, economic, and cultural transformations in an age of global intercommunication, 1450-1750. Standard 3: How large territorial empires dominated much of Eurasia between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Standard 4: Economic, political, and cultural interrelations among peoples of Africa, Europe, and the Americas, 1500-1750. Standard 5: Transformations in Asian societies in the era of European expansion. Standard 6: Major global trends from 1450-1770 (175). In the past, as much as 80 percent or more of class time would have centered only on western Europe and its colonies. If a teacher used the 1996 Standards as a content organizer for a one-year course, it is clear that a very significant portion of class time would have to be devoted to the study of other areas of the world. A key to this inclusiveness, however, is the wUlingness of teachers to prepare adequately to teach this new material in a meaningful and effective manner. Likewise, the following three selected objectives from Era 6 show movement away from the almost total poUtical emphasis of the traditional world history course to a more multifaceted approach, including economic, social, and cultural issues: Therefore, the student is able to: Analyze the character, development, and sources of wealth of strong bureaucratic monarchies in the 16th century (2C, 178). Assess the importance of Indian textiles, spices, and other products in the network of Afro-Eurasian trade (3C, 180). Identify patterns of social and cultural continuity in various societies and analyze ways in which peoples maintained traditions and resisted external chaUenges in the context of a rapidly changing world (6,184). Not only are the 1996 Standards multifaceted, but they are also interdiscipUnary . In addition to the desire to focus attention beyond the poUtical...