The Lens of the Local: Teaching an Appreciation of the Past through the Exploration of Local Sites, Landmarks, and Hidden Histories
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 5-2015
Publication Title
The History Teacher
Keywords
pedagogy, local history, maine, site visits, field trips, teaching history
Abstract
When students are given the opportunity to actively engage with the past in a familiar environment, they are more likely to model the work of professional historians, engage in the historical process, and retain the knowledge they gained well beyond the scope of a semester’s coursework. If part of our job as history educators is to prepare students to be informed, literate, active, and analytical citizens of their communities, then what better place to start than with encouraging them to really learn and contextualize the history of their own communities? To this end, this article explores student responses to a semester-long local history assignment—ten local history site visits and write-ups—given every year in my History of Maine course. Although a local history assignment certainly makes pedagogical sense in a course about local history, I argue that the benefits of engaging in local history with students transcend both historical specialization and education level. Similar assignments and activities can be done with elementary, middle school, secondary, and college students.
Recommended Citation
Bischof, Libby. "The Lens of the Local: Teaching an Appreciation of the Past through the Exploration of Local Sites, Landmarks, and Hidden Histories," The History Teacher, Vol. 48, no.3 (May 2015): 529-559.
