Using Archival Sources to Inspire Hope in Educational History

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: The Urgency of the Past: Teaching History to Respond to the Politics of the Present

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the challenges of teaching educational history in the Trump era, and to examine the ways educational history may be reimagined in the present in order to teach concepts like inclusion, democracy, and activism in critical and empowering ways. In particular, this paper suggests that utilizing archival material may serve as a valuable way to exercise evidence interrogation, practice empathy, and explore the active role of a teacher in variable political climates.

Perspectives: This paper is inspired by a rich body of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and historical thinking literature that suggests that in order to practice historical skills such as determining significance, interpreting and evaluating evidence, and formulating an argument, history classes should teach students to think like historians using expert historical practices. However, this literature has not considered using historical thinking skills in the liminal space that is an educational history classroom, where students have additional expectations of a teacher education course. These expectations require that students use historical thinking skills to explore the historical context of teaching, ultimately so students may explore if and how schools and teachers should create a better society in the present and future.

Methods: This is a reflective and descriptive paper that is based off of the author’s own pedagogical practices.

Evidence: My conclusions are based off of student work and my own records from using both digital and physical archival collections in my educational history course. Most of my students’ assignments utilized these archival collections in order to interrogate claims, formulate broader research questions, and make arguments. I also asked students to regularly record their perceptions of using archival sources in a teacher education course.

Conclusion/Warrants: I argue that exploring the archival collections of a university president, 19th-century students, and a teacher-activist, among others, serves as fruitful starting points for timely discussions of citizenship, gender roles, immigration, segregation, and the role of a teacher. Through primary source analysis, students explored the complexities of racism and sexism in the past, wondered what made certain historical actors particularly able to make social change, and, often on their own, connected issues to the present day. Further, students felt generally positive about their archival experiences, suggesting that archival research added a new empathetic layer to their teacher educational experiences. I contend that archival collections in particular may be a rewarding space for teacher education students to feel connected to actors in the past who have pushed boundaries and fought for access and equality.

Significance: As we look towards teacher education to prepare teachers to deal with a world where truth is precarious, while also preparing students to be democratic citizens, competent test-scorers, and just get through the day, archival research for teacher education students can be an increasingly essential way to deeply explore the democratic roots of our educational system, the promises it has made, the injustices it has perpetuated, and those who have imagined a better future.

Author

• Kristen Michelle Hengtgen, Indiana University - Bloomington