The Focus of History Teaching

"Don't turn my son into a lawyer," the woman scowled as she helped to empty her son's locker full of books. As a high school freshman he had won the regional Moot Court with a class buddy and almost went to the state competition. One of the judges, however, noted that as freshmen the two still had three years whereas their competitors were two senior girls.

In the next few years he participated in speech and debate competitions, a variety of sports, and was part of the Model Congress team that went to Boston every spring to compete in an event facilitated by Harvard University. In that, he won a blue ribbon. 

But he didn't become a lawyer. Rather, he went to medical school. 

We often forget that kids, as they get older, tend to focus on their own goals and not those others set for them. Some parents appreciate this while others threaten to sue not only the school but the teachers and counselors that they perceive weren't doing their jobs. 

My part in this was two-fold: writing letters of recommendation that set the students apart from everyone else and being an unpaid faculty advisor to the many extra and co-curricular activities the school offered. Once, I was even asked to coach tennis, a task I was completely unprepared for.

The fact that I knew my subject area really well didn't matter. What mattered was the results of a stellar recommendation letter or blue ribbon awards that were attached to high school resumes in the hopes of getting the most attention from college admissions officers. 

Grades mattered, of course, but if you had climbed Mt. Everest during a summer break, to offer an exaggerated skill, students were guaranteed a closer look. One dean of admissions at a prominent southern university told an applicant who was accepted that the recommendation letter written by his teacher which illustrated in detail how the student had overcome obstacles was the deal-breaker in terms of admission. 

I loved teaching history and I think I was very good at it. But what mattered more to parents and school officials was the ability to help students get into their dream colleges. It even meant taking groups of students in the summer on "educational tours" of Europe or the Southern Pacific. There can't be that many students who can boast on their resume that they spent time in a Queensland rain forest or climbed to the top of Ayer's Rock in the Australian outback. 

Of course it was fun for me as well and the other teacher chaperons. "Foreign exchanges" were integral to the college application process, adding another layer to a complex and already padded resume. 

Ironically, history today is a subject relegated to the bottom of important subjects. One prominent university in my state doesn;t even require a single history course for graduation. I considered my primary vocation to be the indispensable aspect of future success and social survival. If the Civil War, for example, doesn't matter anymore in our history, than everything else is moot. 

So we turned out doctors and lawyers. Hopefully successful human beings that know the history that provided for their success. Once that stops, teaching will have no more focus.