Contextual Influences on the Teaching and Learning of Heritage Histories

• In Event: 16.024 - International Research on Teaching and Learning History: Findings From Belgium, Israel, Sweden, and the United States

Abstract

This paper explores how cultural and curricular contexts influenced three groups of students (Hmong American, Chinese American, Jewish American) studying three heritage histories (the Vietnam War, the Cultural Revolution, the Holocaust) in public school history classrooms. Because students’ identities (An, 2009; Epstein, 1998, 2009; Peck, 2010; Sheppard, 2010; Wineburg, et. al., 2007) and the contexts in which they learn (Porat, 2004; McCully, 2012; Zembylas & Bekerman, 2008) influence their historical thinking, it is relevant to explore how students’ identities and contexts in which they learn influence their historical thinking when these elements are entwined.

Findings indicate that local cultural contexts and national curricular contexts influenced the teaching and learning of these heritage histories. The Hmong students believed their non-Hmong classmates should learn about the Secret War to diminish prejudice toward Hmong people in their community. It seems their experience in a refugee community within a diverse urban area had shaped their view of this heritage history. The teaching and learning of the Cultural Revolution was influenced by the different experiences of the Chinese students’ families. Therefore, their teacher endeavored to present an objective picture of Mao and his regime in order to allow students whose families had positive experiences to include their prior knowledge within the history classroom. The ubiquity of the Holocaust in the mainstream U.S. narrative and K-12 curriculum influenced another teacher’s representation of the Holocuast, since she knew that the majority of her students had previously studied the topic; she therefore endeavored to use curricular materials that would avoid “Holocaust fatigue” (Schweber, 2006) while honoring the history of her Jewish students.

On the local level, the nuances of refugee and immigrant communities provide layers of context to the study of heritage histories. On the national level, the placement of heritage histories within a national narrative can complicate teachers’ decision making. As the population of public schools in the U.S. continues to diversify, attending to these issues must be at the fore of history education research and practice.

Author

• Sara A. Levy, Wells College