Lavolta Press wrote:
So what? There are a great many fields which you and I know little
about, which are no more or less important than history, and which we
probably have many "misconceptions" about.
And if you're going to teach you need to be able to deal with people not
knowing everything already without looking down on them.
I don't think it's a question of looking down on people. As a person
who teaches costume history to college students, I'm more frustrated
than anything. Yes, I'm willing to teach anyone who's interested enough
to sign up for my classes, regardless of the origin of their interest or
what misconceptions they have when they walk in. I assume that there
will need to be some debunking of common myths. The frustration has to
do with two things: (1) how much class time gets soaked up with the
debunking, limiting the time we can spend going beyond the basics, and
(2) ways that students think about history that similarly limit our
progress in the class.
In my costume history class, I try to teach methodology and
thought-process as well as content. Many students do not think
critically about history and will believe anything they see on the
screen or anywhere else. Their mode of learning is very passive. My
favorite kind of student is symbolized by someone with a shovel and a
gleam in their eye who will dig out information and question it, then
attempt to link it all together, question the linkages, etc. Many of my
students are more like someone sitting there with their empty hands held
out who will take any information that comes their way and stick it in
storage until they need it for the test.
Of course, I won't try to lay this at the door of the movie industry, as
the problem is altogether deeper. But when these empty-handed students
go to the movies, they store that "information" away without questioning
it, then bring it in to class. Then we have to spend class time
unteaching and reteaching--sometimes it feels like two steps forward and
three steps back. It's wonderful that they're interested, but I'd love
to spend that class time moving forward instead, building on the correct
knowledge that they might have gotten in high school. I don't mind
trying to teach them to be more active learners, but again class and
assignment time spent on that could be used to move into some really
interesting areas of the topic and the methodology.
Melanie Schuessler
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