The Parlous State of Undergraduate History Education

[peter]

I am working with a young German lad, a recent history graduate whose aim is to continue his studies on a teacher training post-graduate diploma course and ultimately become a secondary school teacher in the UK.

He was educated at a private school in this country and also studied here for his degree. To date I have ascertained the following: he does not know what the restoration refers to, nor the reconquista. The renaissance leaves him in the dark and the reformation just about rings a bell - but barely. He can't tell me who was the only English King executed, nor when the Romans came or left Britain. When I suggested that absence of the above knowledge in a UK history graduate seemed to me akin to having a degree in maths but not knowing ones five times table he became defensive. "History is a subject in which you specialise, not one you build from the ground up!", he remonstrated Well OK......., but surely some basic background knowledge would come in handy. In my degree in physiology much time in the first year was spent giving us a grounding right across the biological sciences from anatomy to biochemistry, statistics to the history of science - all of which formed a useful cache of knowledge both upon which to build my further studies and in later years.

To me it beggars belief that the same background would not be deemed indispensable to any graduate prepared to assume the title Historian!

[ussusimiel]

Apart from any of that, peter, you would think that if he had a real interest in History (as apart maybe from the theories of history, or simply modern history (which you can't really understand without some idea of what came before)) that he would do a general survey of the area as a matter of course (as opposed to 'because it's on the course' ).

u.

[peter]

Agreed U. He's a nice guy and I wish him luck in his chosen career, but I can't help but feel he's starting with one hand tied behind his back. His 'specialist' area is modern history and in particular the second world war. One wonders if perhaps there is not a particular need for understanding manifesting itself here, and hence his somewhat casual approach to other areas of the subject.

[ussusimiel]

I can see how that might be, peter. Still wouldn't an understanding of how Germany came to be a nation, and, for example,the importance of Pussia in that be necessary. Wouldn't it be helpful to know the provenance of countries like France and England and their direct connection with the Angles and the Saxons. Much of my understanding of modern German history has come through the study of Beowolf during my English degree, but to understand the literature I had to get a basic knowledge of the history. You'd think that such a basic understanding would be even more important for someone studying History?!

u.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

All sciences are shaped like a pyramid: at the bottom you have learned a little about the entire breadth of your subject, then as you advance in your learning and/or your degrees you narrow your focus until you arrive at the point where you may be considered to have a depth of knowledge in one particular area that becomes the subject of your research during your academic/professional career.

[Avatar]

Agreed. You can't specialise without that foundation.

--A

[peter]

This is my understanding as well.......but in fairness we have a retired history teacher who comes into the the shop and he also couldn't tell me the broad meanings of the renaissance, the the reformation and the restoration. His excuse - that he was more concerned with modern history!

[ussusimiel]

Even if you don't know the details (which I don't) if you study Sociology you have to know the general historical trends. Everyone should study Sociology!

u.

[peter]

I'm beginning to realise how much I actually missed out on by not doing so U.

[ussusimiel]

Never too late, and enjoyable too! It takes a bit of effort to cultivate the 'sociological imagination', to earn your 'gender specs', to grapple with the sociological concepts of 'power', 'reproduction', 'modernity', and to get your required doses of Durkheim, Weber, Marx, Freud, and Simmel. But when you do you can never quite see the social world in the same way. In Ireland, a visit to the pub or attending a funeral or a wedding can become an extended form of social research which informs my understanding of our culture and also my own personality/self.

I have described it as akin to a process where you take your brain out of you head turn it backwards and put it back in again. You are always looking for the counterintuitive explanantion rather than what seems like the obvious one. And individual behaviour can be remarkably informative about social patterns. Take tattoos for example, while they might seem like trivial expressions of individuality, they actually can also be seen as a response to the greater perceived risk present in society and an assertion of control over one of tha last parts of our lives over which we can actually assert mastery. Similarly, anorexia/bulimia can be trivially seen as a reaction to stress or anxiety, or as attention seeking, however sociological explanations show a much more complex interaction between food, body-image, consumerism, and changing female roles.

Ah, Sociology, must get around to doing that Masters someday!

u.

[peter]

Sounds like you're half way there already U!

[Avatar]

I did enjoy it, although I only did 1 year of it. (1 year of that or psych was a requirement for my degree.) To this day I regret selling my textbook.

--A