Why do figures throughout time insist on the importance of learning history? What benefits does learning the past truly hold for school courses of the modern era? I’m not saying history isn’t important, or that it should be ignored. Still, I feel the way we approach it in our educational system and as a society is seeped in wrongfulness and fundamental changes must be implemented. This article will delve into the shortcomings of history class and what we could be learning instead.
The main shortcoming of teaching history has to do with memorization. The shortcomings of history are immediately noticeable to students when they study for a test and are forced to recall specific battles, or the deeds of certain kings and queens, which essentially amounts to learning a series of events and stories. Students aren’t learning how to analyze stories or to integrate the knowledge into their daily lives. This, in short, is no better than memorizing the plot of a show one likes. This inability to use this knowledge is noticeable in the part of people’s lives which causes them to want to learn in the first place – in the job market. If a student were to get a Master’s in French history, dear reader, I would like to ask you to think of any uniquely open job opportunities that they can get where they are not teaching French history. You can think hard but the truth is there is none. If you go to Yale to major in French history, then you can only put that knowledge into use by teaching others French history. This, my dear reader, is what we call a pyramid scheme.
Those of you who have a keen interest in history might recall a quote by Cicero: “To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.” This quote leads to my next point, what we could learn instead. During Cicero’s time, there was significant political violence. When Cicero was young, a Roman Consul named Sulla terrorized the people of Rome and killed politicians he disliked. When Cicero was older, a Roman Consul named Antony terrorized the people of Rome and killed politicians (including Cicero) he disliked. Antony was aware of Sulla. He wasn’t ignorant of the past; rather, Antony didn’t learn and analyze the past. Instead of teaching history, we should teach how to analyze events and learn from mistakes. That is the true basis of any claims people have about the importance of history. History isn’t important, but the lessons you can learn from events are. Analyzing and learning doesn’t need to be in the past though, it can be a general thing.
We should no longer have to memorize battles or petty drama from the past, but instead have to analyze what should happen. This not only creates more tangible skills in the job market, such as many different business jobs like Market Research Analysts but is also useful for daily life.
THE NORTH STAR 