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Society for History Education

Back to the Future with Textbooks: Using Textbook Passages from the Past to Help TeachHistoriographyAuthor(s): John J. DeRoseReviewed work(s):Source: The History Teacher, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Feb., 2009), pp. 229-237Published by: Society for History Education

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Backto theFuture ith extbooks:UsingTextbookPassagesfrom hePasttoHelpTeachHistoriography

John .DeRoseWhitefishayHighSchool,Whitefishay,Wisconsin

On MANYOCCASIONS, I havenoticed tudentsurningo thebackof heir extbooksoread bout heway ndividualsndevents rom heirlifetimereportrayed. ystudents ave lsofrequentlyskedme abouttheway tudentsn he uture ill earn bout resent-dayoliticaleadersand vents. onsequently,have ried ohelp tudentsee how he asthasbeenwrittennd nterpretedver ime. haveusedmy wnexperiencesofgrowing pat he nd f heCold War nd sked therndividualsrom

our ommunityospeak omy tudentsbout heir ersonal xperiencesof he ast ndpresentvents oexplain owourunderstandingfhistoryhasdeveloped ver ime.

Old textbooksre notheresourceor eachingbout he volution fhistoricalnterpretation.ome ibraries ontain ollections fU.S. his-toryextbookspanning ultiple ears nd ome chools venkeep ldertextbookssed npastyears.Recently,used bookbyKyleWard ntitledHistoryntheMaking: nAbsorbingook t HowAmerican istory asChangedntheTelling ver he ast 200 Years,which ncludes assagesfrom .S.historyextbooksver he ast wo enturiesn select istorical

topics,o showmy tudentsow extbooks ave nterpretedhepast vertime.Thefollowingesson evealsmyuse ofthese extbookassages oengagemy tudentsnhistoriography.TheHistory eacher Volume 2 Number February009 © Society orHistoryducation

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230 John .DeRose

ALesson n nterpretinghePast

Inthisesson,tudents ere sked ouseHistoryntheMakingocom-pare nd contrastextbookassagesfrom he1950sto thepresentboutPresident ruman's ecision o fireGeneral ouglasMacArthurndtherise ndfall fJoseph cCarthyounderstandothhangesnd onsisten-cies n heway he ast s nterpretedver ime.The essonasted etweenoneand wofifty-minutelassperiods.This essonhadthreemain oals:1 tohave tudentsomparend ontrasthe urrentlydoptedextbook's

account f President ruman's ecision o fireGeneral ouglasMacAr-thurndthe ise ndfall fMcCarthyismith ast extbookccountsfthese ame events incethe1950s;2) tochallengetudentso identifypatternsnthewayevents re nterpretedver ime; nd3) toencouragestudentso draw onclusions boutwhy ome historicalnterpretationschange rstay he ameover ime.MystudentsseMcDougalLittell'sTheAmericans: econstructiono he 1st entury,here hese wo ventsarecoverednChapter 8. Studentslsoread he xcerptsrom istoryintheMakingpp.298-305)which nclude extbookccounts rom954,

1961,nd 1995 aboutTruman's ecision o fireGeneralMacArthurnd

additionalccounts rom 967,1974, nd1999aboutJosephMcCarthy.After tudentsinishedeadingll of the extbookccounts,heywroteanswers o thefollowinguestions:

1. Howarethe extbookccounts rom 954,1961,1995, ndthe resentaboutTruman'siringf GeneralMacArthurimilar nd different?

2. How are he extbookccounts rom 967,1974, 1999, ndthepresentaboutJosephMcCarthyndMcCarthyismimilarnddifferent?

3 Why oyou hink istoricalnterpretationf ome ndividualsnd vents

changes ver ime?4. Why oyou hink istoricalnterpretationf ome ndividualsnd ventsexperiencemore r fewerhanges ver ime?

5. Willthese eadingsffectheway youread nd understandistoricalorcurrentvents nd ndividualsrom our extbookr other ources if-ferentlyn thefuture? hy rwhynot?

I startedhe essonbytellingtudentshat hey ll must ffer verbalresponseo these uestionsnorder o receive illi redit or his ssign-ment. omake ure verytudentommentednthe assages, instructed

the tudentso eachwrite heir ame na slipofpaper,whichwas tobeplaced n a smallboxonlywhen hey adoffered substantialesponsefor heday.Then led studentsn a discussion fthe ive uestions.

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Back to theFuture ith extbooks 23 1

Class Discussion fTextbookAccounts

Students'esponseso thequestionsnd theclassroom iscussionnmyU.S. historyourse bout hese extbook assageswereextremelyvaluable ndprovideome nsightnto he ype f deasgeneratedromthis ctivity.obeginwith,tudentsbserved fewdifferencesetweenall of the extbookassagesonJosephMcCarthy.Most of thesediffer-ences nvolvednformationhatwas includedrexcludednthevariousaccounts. Forexample, ne studentointed utthat, nlike he other

textbooksited,he1974passage ncorporatedEisenhower's islike orMcCarthy"y ncludingwholeparagraphevoted othis spect fMc-Carthyism. nothertudentmentionedhat he1999textbookassagedidnotmentionhatMcCarthy aseventuallyensuredy he enate.Atthe ame ime, studentlsosuggestedhathe1 99 account, nlike heotherassages, etailedpecifichargesmadebyMcCarthyhat residentRoosevelt ad"deliberatelyacrificedhenavy t PearlHarborndhad'sold out'to the ovietUnion t Yalta."1

However,he tudentseadily oticedhathereweremostlyimilari-ties nthe

descriptionfJosephMcCarthy

ndMcCarthyism

nthefourtextbookassages heyead atingack o1 67. As one tudentbserved,all of the extbookassages agree hatMcCarthy as a bully ndveryirresponsible." numberfother tudents entionedhathe extbookspassages ortrayed cCarthys a "fraud" ho ruined he ives" fmanypeople.For nstance,he1 67 textbookassage aidthatMcCarthycted"with oregardor ruth"2nd he1974 ccount xplainedhatMcCarthyused unscrupulousethodsnd areless ccusations."3hecurrentlasstextbookeiteratedhese ame entimentsystatinghatMcCarthyook"advantagefpeople'sconcerns bout ommunism"4nddefining c-

Carthyisms "theunfair actic faccusing eopleofdisloyalty ithoutprovidingvidence."5

While he assages boutJoseph cCarthyuggestedhatomehistori-cal nterpretationso not ecessarilyhange reatlyver ime,he extbookaccounts boutTruman's iringfGeneralMacArthurlearlyndicatethat urperceptionsf thepastcaninvolve ery ignificantlterations.Writtenhen his ontroversialventwas stillnrecentmemory,he1954account voids riticismfMacArthurrTruman nd n a detached onesimplytated hat he MacArthurncidentnfluencedublic pinionnAmericand ffectedhe utcome fthe lectionn1952."6 ntextbook

passagesfromubsequent ears, ruman radually mergeds havingmadetheright ecision. For nstance,he1961account xplainedhatafter heevent, committeefmilitarynd civilian eaders uggestedthat a limited arwas thewisest ourse or heUnited tates opursue

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232 John .DeRose

inKorea."7 Students'urrentextbook ent venfurtheroexplain hat"public pinion wunground othe iew hat ruman addone he ightthing"8ndthatMacArthurid ndeed ade way."9

Many students eadilynoticed hischange n perspectivesboutTruman's iringfMacArthuretween he 1954textbook ersion ndthepassagesfrom 961, 1995,and thepresent ay. One studentaidthat heir extbookmakesMacArthurutto be thebadguy."Anotherstudent oted hat he 1995 textbook assageshowed a more riticalviewofMacArthurndhis tubbornness." hile ome tudentsointed

out hat herewere ome imilaritiesetween llof thepassages ntheirexplanationf he asic argumentsetweenMacArthurndTrumanndAmerica'supportorMacArthur,"tudents eremuch uickeropointoutthewaythepassagesprogressivelyurnedgainstMacArthurnddefended ruman's ecision.

Thesenoticeable ifferencesnthepassagesdetailingruman'siringof MacArthurombinedwith heminormodificationsnthetextbookaccounts fJosephMcCarthyetthe tagefor phenomenaliscussionwhere tudentsfferedwiderange fexplanationsboutwhyhistori-cal

interpretationf some ndividualsnd events

xperiencehanger

conversely,ndergo eeminglyittle r no change. Figure1 includessomeof thefactorshatmy tudentsameupwith oexplain he ffectsofhistoricalnterpretationver ime.

Tobeginwith,ne tudentointedut hatpeoplemight isagree ithwhat presidentoesatthe ime ut ater ealize hat he utcomemay efor he est."Anothertudentefendedhis tance y rguinghat rumanmayhavevery ossiblyvoided thirdWorldWar nthe ong-termyrestrainingacArthurnddeserves redit or uiding s throughdif-ficultrisiswithouteadingoa catastrophiconclusion. ohelp tudents

take heirnalysis urther,addedthat eoplemightlso agreewith nindividualtthe ime, utrealize hat he ong-termonsequencesmaybe for heworst. To supporthis ssertion,toldstudentshatJosephMcCarthyadpublic upport hilehewasmaking isaccusations,utpeople eventuallyealized hatheunnecessarilyestroyedhe ives ofmanynnocenteople.

In conjunction ith heway long-termonsequences an affect urperspectivesfthe ast, studentlsopointedut hat urrentventsf-fect istoricalnterpretation.his student oted hat urperceptionsfthe ast change ver ime asedon currentvents f he ime he ook s

written." his tudent entionedhatwith he all fcommunism,resi-dentsike ruman ighteceivemore ositivettentionnrecentextbooksfor heir uccessful ffortso contain heSoviets' nfluence. o solidifyandexpand n this tudent'somments,pointedut omy tudentshat

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Back to theFuture ith extbooks 233

Figure1: SomeFactorsAffectingistoricalnterpretation

LongTermConsequences

Theresultsf ndividualr ollectiveffortsaynot efullynderstoodfor ears.Over ime, istoriansanget clearer icturebout hempactofpeople ndevents.

DistancedMemories

Emotion ndfeelingan nfluenceurperceptionsfcurrentndividu-als and vents.Over ime,hese entimentsaydecrease nd llowforgreaterbjectivitynmaking istoricaludgments.

Current vents

Ourperceptionsfcurrenteaders ndthedecisions heymake s wellaspresent-dayocial ndpoliticalituationsan mpacthewaywe viewandmakeudgmentsfpast ndividuals,vents,nddecisions.

New nformationrKnowledge

Details boutperson

revent hatwerepreviously

nknown ronlyknown ya fewcan surface nd alter r more tronglyeaffirmur

perceptionsfthepast.

Changes nSocietalValues

As society lacesgreaterr essemphasis ncertainssues rbecomesmore cceptingr ven esstolerantfvarious roups rconditions,emight einterprethepast o conformo thesenew ocial standards.

Harryrumaneft he residencyith lowapproval ating,ut nrecent

years asbeen onsideredy numberfhistorianss oneofournation'sfinestresidents.ndoubtedly,ruman'sctions o containommunismhavecontributedo hispopularitynthepost-ColdWar ra. At the ametime, explainedo studentshat ruman's ecisivenessnder mmensepressurendwillingnesso ccept he allout orny fhisdecisions avealso earned impraise nrecent ears mong riticswhohavechargedpresidentsndpoliticaleaderswith sing olls omakedecisions,void-ingfirmtances n ssues, rrefusingo takeblame.10

Similarly,helped tudents nderstandow currentvents ave alsoimpactedur ngoingnderstandingfMcCarthysmbypointingut hatwith ecent ears fterroristctivityntheU.S., JosephMcCarthy asreemergeds a nationalymbol fthedangersssociatedwithmakingaccusationsgainstndividuals ithoutdequate vidence ndpoliticaldecisionsmotivatedyhysteria.

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234 John .DeRose

When asked tudentso continueiscussingactorshatmightffecthistoricalnterpretation,nother tudent urmisedhatwe are able togain broader nd essreactionaryerspectivefanevent r ndividualas our memoriesecomedistanced rom he situationrperson. Shewrote,Right fter particularvent motions rehighbecausetherehas notbeensufficientime o reflect"nanevent.Echoing his tate-ment,nothertudentrguedhat inceMacArthur as seenbymany sa WorldWarIhero,t s not urprisinghatny extbookassageswrittencloseto this ime eriodwouldbe hesitantoportrayim n a negative

fashion.However,his tudent ent ntosaythat s MacArthur'sero-ismbecame more istant emory,t lso became asier ocriticize imand his decisions.Similarly,ndiscussion, addedthat t was initiallyvery ifficulto criticizeMcCarthynthemidst fwidespreadear verSoviet pies nd Communistnfluence. nyAmerican istoryextbookthatmight ave ncludedMcCarthynd hisactions rioro his downfallin1954mayhave ikelyvoided riticismfhim.However,sMcCarthycouldnot efend is llegations,eeventuallyecame ny asy argetorrebukendcondemnation.

A few other actorsffecting

istoricalnterpretation

lso surfacedduringurclass discussion.For nstance,ne studentointed utthat"new nformationeing oundo eitherupportrdisprove" historicalviewpointouldaffect urunderstandingfthepast. In fact, tudentsspeculatedhat ne mainreason here-tellingfMcCarthy'story asnot hangedmuch s becauseno new vidence asemergedo exoneratehim nd nstead,he verwhelmingvidencevailable till eaffirmshatJosephMcCarthy as rresponsiblendreckless. Anothertudent en-tioned hat societal alueschange" ver ime, ndconsequently,opicsthatmayhavebeen gnoredr nterpretedccordingothe tandardsf

previousimesmaybevieweddifferentlyoday.Thisfactoran be seenmost learlynolder extbookassagesfrom istoryn theMaking hatignore iverse roups r nclude acist ndvery tereotypicalortrayalsofpeople.

Finally,tudentshared omefascinatingdeas abouthow their ewunderstandingfhistoriographyromhese extbookassagesmightffecttheway hey ead heirextbooksrother istoricalourcesnthe uture.One studentommentedhat henowknows hat he can't ake hingstfacevaluedueto he iases hatven xistn extbooks." nothertudentwent urtherndobservedhat he ctivity adehim onsiderhat what

iswrittennour urrentextbook aybe interpretedn a completelyif-ferent ay n thefuture."

Perhapshemostntriguingommentshatweremade tthe ndofourdiscussionnvolvedhewaycurrentventsnmy tudents'ives, ike he

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Back to theFuture ith extbooks 235

war n raq,mighteinterpretedver ime.No matter hat heiroint fviewhasbeen na subjectike heraqwar,many fmy tudentsaid hatthis ctivityaused hem o re-examinehe vent rom heperspectivefhow tmighte interpretedn thefuture.ndoing o,a number fthemcommentedhat urclass discussion pened heirminds oconsideringperspectiveshathey adpreviouslyismissedr gnored. s one tudentput t, inthe uture emay eethings ifferentlyhenwe arenot aughtup n he ear ndhysteriaf he ime."Thiswasa greatonclusionoourclassdiscussions I remindedhe tudentshat ur onversationoes not

implyhatwe cannot ave ny onfidencenthehistoricaludgmentsndinterpretationseoffern he resent. owever, e must ekeenlywarethat istorys anongoingtoryonstructedyhumans nd usceptibleonew nterpretationsver ime.

ExtendedTeaching nd Assessment ctivities

The followingctivitiesould also be usedbyteachers orfurtherdiscussion,nrichment,ndassessment:

1 The eacher aywant o implyheck tudents' rittennswerso hefive iscussionuestionsndassess theirhoughtsndanalysis. tmightbehelpfulogive tudentsnopportunityo revise heirnswers fter hediscussion.

2. Historyn theMaking lso includes extbookassages bout therevents uringheColdWar,uch s theMarshall lan ndtheBayofPigsinvasion.Studentsouldread hesepassages, ompare nd contrastnychangesnthewaythese vents ave been nterpretedytextbooks,ndsynthesizeheir indings ithwhat hey iscovered rom hepassagesonTruman'siringfMacArthurndJoseph cCarthy,iscussinghe easons

behind hese hanges.3. Students ould interviewheir arents, ther elatives, r family

friendsbout heir ecollectionf historicalvent nd hen ompareheirinterviewotes o theway he extbookassages nHistoryn theMakingand heirurrentextbookresenthis ame vent. tudentsouldhighlightand ttempto ccount or he imilaritiesnddifferencesetweenhewaytheperson heynterviewedememberedhe vent ndthewaytextbooksretold he vent.

4. Studentsouldmaginendwritebout heway historicalventhey

have tudiedmightppearn textbook0 or50years rom ow.Studentscouldfocus n one factorhat ffects istoricalnterpretationighlightedinFigure andexplain ow his actormay rmaynot ffecthe etellingofthe ventn thefuture.

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236 John.DeRose

5. Students ould do research utside f thetextbook n individualsinvolvedwith heKoreanWarorMcCarthyism,uchas Harry ruman,DouglasMacArthur, atthew idgway, yngman hee,Kim II Sung,JosephMcCarthy,osephWelch, rsomeof he ndividuals cCarthyc-cused fbeing isloyal.Aftertudentsompleteheiresearch,heyouldwrite position aperdiscussing ow thesepeopleorgroupsmight eelabout hedifferentextbookccounts rom his ctivity. hen, hey ouldrepresentrrole-playhese ndividualsna classroom aneldiscussionabout heir iews n thedifferentextbookassages.Studentshould ayparticularttentionodifferingerspectivesfthe extbookccounts nd

the upport rovided y ndividualsnthepaneldiscussion o defendheirpositions.

The Importance fTeachingHistoriography

Throughout y1 years f eaching istory,havemade concentratedeffortohelp tudentsee their extbookss an mportantut lso imitedresourcentheir nderstandingfhistory.Whiletextbooksan oftenprovide ery seful ackgroundnformationbouthistoricalvents nd

individuals,believe hat

eachers avenobligationo how tudentshesubjectivitynvolvednmaking istoricaludgmentsnd nterpretations.

Educationalcholars avehighlightedhe mportancefusinghistoryoteach tudentsboutdrawingonclusions,ndengagingtudentsnhis-toriographyan be a greatway ohelp tudentsecome ritical istoricalthinkers.12

Thegeneral tudentevel of attentionuringur discussion nd thenumber f ndividualtudents illingo continue ur onversationvenafterhe ellrang uggestedhatheyrulynjoyedhe pportunityoex-amine heir extbooksrom differenterspective. istoryntheMaking

was a great esourcenmy lassroom nda widevarietyther esourcesalso exist o assist eachers ith elpingtudentsobackto thefutureobecomehistoricalhinkers.

Notes

1 KyleWard, istoryn heMaking: nAbsorbingook t HowAmerican istoryhasChangedn theTelling ver he ast 200 YearsNewYork:The NewPress, 006),304.

2. Ibid., 02.3. Ibid., 03.

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Back to theFuture ith extbooks 237

4. GeraldA. Danzer,J.Jorge lor deAlva,Larry . Krieger, ouis E. Wilson,andNancyWoloch,TheAmericans: econstructiono the21st enturyEvanston,L:McDougalLittell,005),620.

5. Ibid., 20.6. Ward, 99.7. Ibid., 00.8. Danzer,KlordeAlva,Krieger,Wilson,ndWoloch, 14.9. Ibid., 14.10. See EvanThomas,Jonathanarman, rianCampo-Flores, ollyBailey, nd

RichardWolffe,The Truman rimary,"ewsweek 49 (May2007): 24-28. Also seeDavidMcCullough,nterviewyBrianLamb, ranscriptf"Booknotes"eries, July1992, http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=l09>.

11. See ThomasC. Reeves,TheLifeand Times fJoeMcCarthy: Biography(Lanham,MD: MadisonBooks,1997).

12. See SamWineburg,istorical hinkingnd OtherUnnatural cts:Chartingthe uture f Teachinghe ast Philadelphia,A:TempleUniversityress, 001).