Dwight Gibb (instructor) with students Reed Adam, Darren Delaye, Tessa Goodhew, Laura Matsen, Tim Ramsey, and Luke Rona | Teaching Thinking | The History Teacher, 35.2

Teaching Thinking

Dwight Gibb (instructor)
with students Reed Adam, Darren Delaye, Tessa Goodhew, Laura Matsen, Tim Ramsey, and Luke Rona
Lakeside School, Seattle

MEETINGS ABOUT TEACHING HISTORY often progress through identifiable stages: First, enthusiasm about a new topic and its potential for fostering understanding. Second, synergy, in the form of suggestions for other good things to do. Third, dismay, with the realization that we already have too much to cover. And lastly, consolation, often expressed as,"Of course, what we really are doing is teaching students how to think." The last idea is seldom explored. It is rather a throwaway, serving to ease the realization that we have not achieved very much. I suggest turning the process around. If our aim is to teach students how to think, why not ask: What forms of thought do historians use, and what specific techniques will inculcate these forms? I propose thus a fundamental shift, from courses with a focus on the mastery of data to courses with a priority on learning the historian's craft. To this end, we as history teachers must suppress our tendency to imbue the content which we may love with an intrinsic value, and utilize it rather as a vehicle toward a larger goal.

I have explored this approach through experimentation over the years with the cooperation of students at Lakeside School in Seattle, and devised a format which works. This model is more complex than traditional ones, but it is nonetheless clear, and, since it is keyed to the way minds work, I found that it felt natural to teach. What follows will illustrate it as applied to a tenth grade world history (since 1500) course during the 1998-99 academic year. The content begins with a tour of varied societies, and then proceeds to an introduction to Islamic and Atlantic intercommunicating zones during the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries. From there it moves to a more traditional, and more specific, study of European developments. The course concludes with personally engaging subjects, including genocide, nonviolent social change, and an inquiry into what it means to be human.

Lakeside is a private school, favored with able readers, but many parts of this course have derived from collaboration with colleagues in the public sector, and from curricula designed for a broad range of learners. The techniques presented here can be adapted to a variety of abilities and age levels, and some of them to other disciplines as well.

In addition to the satisfaction of seeing students learn to think at an advanced level, there is a second benefit from the method I developed—a solution to the dilemma of coverage. By concentrating on forms of thinking, an instructor is free from the obligation to cover every subject. For example: instead of teaching the entire world, students can be taught to think globally; instead of treating innumerable cultures in the name of multiculturalism, the mental and emotional habits needed for the appreciation of differences can be fostered; instead of examining every ecology, that essential tool of environmental historians, systemic thinking, can be introduced. Although this method means touching on some subjects only briefly, and omitting others entirely, the combined effect is coherent.

Recently I invited all my students of the previous year to assist me in describing how they had learned, and six eleventh-graders responded. They have reflected, written, and edited both their own work and mine, and their observations are informed with a freshness of insight and language which has assisted me to new understandings. Although they are some of the more able students, the course evaluations indicate that their observations are fairly representative. In keeping with the mutuality which has informed this project from the beginning, I begin the writing, but turn it gradually over to the students as we proceed. Their sections are in italics. ¹

Shifting from an emphasis on teaching data to teaching thinking has broad implications, and several caveats may clarify my intent. First, I have found that describing educational forms without a central emphasis on content is unsettling to many teachers. There seems to be a concern that if we do not keep content to the fore, we may lose it. I can reassure readers that, although I fashion my design in terms of thinking, a class will use ample data in implementing the structures, once established. Indeed, by excising the content that does not accord directly with our aims, the class is less hurried, and therefore able to enjoy the material which is chosen.

A second concern has been that some instructors used to talking about content find a vocabulary for learning processes uncomfortably abstract. Admittedly content is more concrete than ideas about learning, but the latter are just as real. Part of the problem is that the fields of history and education have diverged, to the detriment of both. With this in mind, readers for whom my language appears vague at first may wish to pause for a second look occasionally. Where additional explanation or examples would be helpful, I have listed all the assignments, study questions and thematic guidelines for both world history and United States history courses on a web page. ²

A final caveat is that my approach does not attempt to address the subject of standards directly. To understand this, it is necessary to make a distinction between "standards-based" education and "standardized testing." My emphasis on operating at a level of depth and complexity fits well with standards-based compilations such as those of the National Center For History In The Schools, ³ since these combine suggestions for content with an emphasis on skills. Unfortunately the political climate at large has turned against this definition of education, and in many districts the term "standards" means only standardized testing. In those schools which do not emphasize the tests excessively, my model can offer the teacher innovations for operating at a deep level while simultaneously steering toward a test. In districts where tests assess only superficial coverage, however, my approach can represent only an example of what may be possible when things get better.

There are a variety of ways to approach what follows. Readers of a theoretical bent may be interested in the next part, which extends my rationale. The more pragmatically inclined can get right to what is done in class by proceeding directly to Part II. Readers who are skeptical of anything that smacks of a testimonial could omit the student writings at first. Alternatively readers who enjoy personal accounts might wish to begin with the student narratives as examples of what we have achieved.

I. Surveys Aweigh

Historians do not pass their time reading textbooks. They do not cover information, but rather uncover it. They do not survey (from sur voire, to look over) information, but look into it. How ironic then that in our efforts to teach history, we rely so often on survey courses, based on textbooks, all the while rendering obeisance to the great god,"Coverage." Surveys appear to me relics of an industrial era, in which there was an over-riding emphasis on dividing and sequencing reality. Erik Erikson observed that during the first half of this century the metaphor of the assembly line so pervaded society that child rearing moved towards machine-timed feeding and toilet-training schedules. ⁴ Schools seem to have extended the industrial metaphor by arranging both students and information in rows. Even if such a format was valid previously, which I doubt, the post-modern explosion of information has rendered the rows of data unworkably long.

A second problem is that the idea of global history, reasonable as it is, is but the first step on a path which leads to ever more radical consequences. As we encompass the world, most of whose people are of color, we confront the need for a more serious treatment of race. From there we ask whether indigenous peoples should be left in their present bailiwick, anthropology, or treated as part of our story. Of course we must find a place for women, and, if women, what about children? Finally, if we intend all people, what about the other living organisms—flora and fauna, bugs and even dirt?

In addition, as we look farther afield, we realize that the new subjects entail new ways of thinking. World historians emphasize regions and localities more than nations. Social scientists have done the best work with the subject of race. When we include women and children we move away from politics and business, the customary purview of many historians, and toward families and social relations. Finally, as if to administer the coup de grace to our discipline as we have learned it, environmental historians claim that human and natural history should merge, that the line between history and biology must blur.

It is my conviction that we can address all of these realities, and in the process make the human experience more intelligible to students, but to do so it is necessary to employ new forms. To that end I have chosen two structures, one for content and one for the processes of learning.

II. The Content Structure

The first aim is to render content manageable. To achieve this it is necessary to forsake coverage as a guiding principle. This bold step is supported by the research of Howard Gardner, who has scrutinized learning in all disciplines and concluded that an orientation to coverage detracts from learning in depth. His primary recommendation for success in social studies education is an emphasis on multiple perspectives. ⁵

My methods embrace perspectives and embed them in an inquiry, or problem-solving, approach. My guide is Paolo Freire, who made a mordant distinction between what he called "banking" and "libertarian" education. In the case of the former, the instructor makes deposits in the minds of students, in the form of lectures and assigned reading—which deposits he withdraws periodically in the form of examinations. This establishes a subject-object relationship—the instructor, who is considered knowledgeable, presents a gift to those who are presumed to know nothing. Students are regarded as adaptable and manageable, but the more they work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop their critical consciousness. ⁶

By contrast, in Freire's libertarian model, students are assumed to know something about their world. Teachers present information in the form of problems related to their experience, in faith that, as they gain competence, they will experience power in relation to information. From there they will be able to imagine exercising power in the world. For Freire, problem-posing education assumes the students' historicity as its starting point, and it comprises nothing less than the practice of freedom. ⁷ This has been my aim as well.

My arrangement is a combination of topics and themes which can be shaped to the purposes of the course as it progresses.

1. Topics.In the example being presented here there are eight topics averaging a month in duration. They are arranged in the form of a helix, moving from bottom to top, to indicate a recursive treatment of ideas, and to facilitate tighter connections as the course advances. The distinctive sections afford variety and sensible stopping points for review exams, as well as reassurance that there will be periodic changes of pace. Although the arrangement is not chronological, time relationships have not been abandoned. Except for the first unit, which is set partly in the present, the topics are in chronological order, and within each topic the information is arranged chronologically.

(See related figure on following page.)

The class follows the injunction of Lefton Stavrianos to "dare to omit," and we pass by many enticing areas. ⁸ In this case the subjects assigned for class work are those which suit my own experience. Another instructor could use the same method with different topics. I find it effective to make some broad leaps, from Islam to Latin America to Europe, but an instructor teaching toward a standardized test could chose blocks which are more closely related. Although the units may seem discrete, it is possible to include within them links with previous and succeeding ones. One pleasant implication of this approach is that it is not necessary to study the whole world before teaching globally. Each instructor can start from where he or she stands.

Whereas in traditional arrangements instructors often designate which information is important, with the helical format I encourage students to make their own connections. I urge that construction of meaning is more important than mastery of data, and remind my charges of the exhortations of our middle school English teacher, who exclaims during play rehearsal, "We don't read Shakespeare, we do Shakespeare!" In a like manner we will not read history, but do it. I vow never to use the expression, "This is important." Although it took some time to generate momentum, by the end of the year the students did manage connections with more variety and creativity than any that I could have specified.

Systemic thinking is a difficult concept for students to grasp, so I build it into the structure by choosing topics which are also systems. We studied Islam as an intercommunicating zone extending from Morocco to China. We viewed Atlantic history as a system comprising the interactions of four continents. Later systems were designed to include more abstract subjects such as prejudice, militarism, and peace. Although some of our topics may seem disparate, there are many connecting ideas between eras and areas. This, combined with the facts that they are embedded in our discipline and unified by guiding themes, enabled us to fashion a coherent whole.

2. Themes.The units are bound together with mega-themes termed "throughlines." This is a marvelous device adapted from the work of Constantin Stanislavsky in drama by people at Harvard Project Zero. ⁹ For Stanislavsky throughlines are five or so themes to which everything in a play could be connected. In education they are guiding questions around which a course is based. The instructor presents them to the students and to the parents as the essence of the course. Students perceive throughlines as impossibly abstract at first, but they gradually realize that it is possible to attach their ideas to them, and that the throughlines will become the framework for their constructions.

It is beneficial to post throughlines on the wall of the classroom. The instructor can point to one and explain that it is the question being addressed in the day's work. This reassures students that there is a plan, even though the material at hand at a given time may not appear to be part of one. Another technique is to recapitulate a class period, by asking whether students can connect what they have discussed to one or more of the throughlines. In my courses the later throughlines become the basis for the final exam. Since I use very abstract throughlines, I accompany them with sub-questions which are more precisely keyed to the major topics. (At this point it would help to turn to "Appendix A, Throughlines.")

It is difficult to read about throughlines in the abstract, or to imagine using those of another teacher. But when one starts to assemble one's own, by asking what one really teaches, the process begins to make sense. Over the period of a year or two, one replaces the throughlines which prove to be less than central, and one develops the habit of working with them on a regular basis, without necessarily altering one's accustomed style. Gradually the throughlines become the glue which holds the course together, so much so that broad leaps between subjects or geographic areas seem natural and even stimulating.

Work with throughlines is different from work with learning processes, which is our next topic, but both operate on a recursive basis, and they have a synergetic effect, often resulting in quantum leaps of understanding toward the end of the year.

Darren: Students listen carefully for those three words, "This is important." A class taught this way can be very informative, but basically the teacher is creating drones. If interpretation is required, they learn more and retain concepts.

III. The Process Structure

Having established a mechanism for manipulating, abbreviating, and even dispensing with information, the instructor has time to teach the processes of historical thinking. My structure for teaching the processes is schematized in the table below. It includes three categories of ideas. Working "backwards" from right to left, they are: the goals of the course; next the processes, those habits of mind and heart, which students must acquire in order to achieve those goals; and then tools—more specific ideas, topics, or skills which I use, to inculcate expertise with the processes. These lists are not rigid, and some parts could fit just as well into other columns, but as a rule the elements proceed from the more specific at the left to the more general at the right. Other teachers could develop a similar chart using their own terminology. ¹⁰

Tools, Processes, And Goals

Tools Processes Goals

Perception

Comprehension Mastery

Reading Patterning

Writing Abstraction Historicity

Reference Analysis

Liberty

Nations

Culture Openness

Multiple perspectives Empathy Diversity

Learning styles

Prejudice

Societies

Race

Genocide Synthesis

Natural resources Globalism

Interdependence

Violence Systemic thinking

Peace

Systems

Objectivity

Bias

Paradigms

Selection Inquiry Citizenship

Reference

Uncertainty

Complexity

Choice

In reference to the right-hand column, establishing goals is a fairly straightforward task, since most teachers share a commonality of intentions. If others were to chose different goals, or words which fitted better with their philosophy, the effect would be the same. If we look at the right-hand and middle columns together, we can note some of the ways that processes and goals are related.

For the goal, "historicity"—mastery, patterning, abstraction, and analysis are some of the obvious ingredients of our discipline.

For the goal, "diversity"—the processes of openness and empathy seem essential. They are habits of the heart rather than of the mind, and students learn them through extended practice with viewing information from many perspectives, and also experientially, by increasing their capacity to respect the other people in the room.

For the goal, "globalism"—synthesis indicates the capacity to think broadly while emphasizing comparisons, while systemic thinking involves seeing larger shapes as well as the specifics, which tend to be over-emphasized in much of traditional instruction.

For the goal, "citizenship"—success in solving problems instills confidence that one can be in charge of information, and enables students to envision participating in society.

It is not possible to demonstrate arithmetically that competence with processes means that the goals will be achieved, but the anecdotal evidence is persuasive. We see it in informal comments toward the end of the year, in the evaluations which students write after the final exam, in some of their college essays the following year, and in comments when they return from college.

Referring now to the middle column by itself, I have found that choosing which processes to list requires much trial and error. Some processes could be listed as "goals" and some as "tools." Still it helps to set them in a column, so that I can run down them periodically, to monitor how we are progressing. Some observers have claimed that all teachers use these processes, and I agree. But it makes a difference when we use them as part of a method.

Turning to the column at the left for tools, I choose a given tool for emphasis, either because it is a good time of year to do so, or when I observe that we are not progressing with a specific process as we should. An example of a routine tool is "Reference." Since tenth graders are changing in their capacity for abstraction, it takes them all year to learn this skill. Thus I introduce it gently in the fall, teach it vigorously in the winter, and insist on it in the last weeks of the year.

An example of a tool that I choose on an as-needed basis might be "Multiple Perspectives," the exercise most useful for teaching the process, "Openness." Often students are open to new ideas when reading about indigenous cultures, for these have an exotic appeal. But as we work with prejudice or gender in the present day, the tendency to take rigid positions, or exchange occasional snide remarks between students, can signal that it is time to slow the pace and practice looking at information from different perspectives. The resulting change in the quality of the classroom dialogue is readily observable and very worthwhile, but to achieve it, we must be willing to forsake some content, since every new perspective introduced can double or triple the time needed to complete a subject. Other examples of applying tools will be indicated in the following section, which describes the elements of the course.

An orientation to learning processes changes the role of the teacher. A visitor to the classroom might perceive that teacher and students are engaged entirely in the content of the day, but the instructor is monitoring the processes as well. This habit provides a mechanism for stepping back, for relieving oneself of the obligation to perform or entertain. It has a calming effect, and even a sense of knowing what one is doing!

Reed: The transition from a chronological, fact-based history class to one based on processes is a departure from conventional methods. We complete assignments and units, but they all connect with the processes. This is the core of the course, and it fits with our roles in society at large. Coverage is fine if you have certain important facts, and not too many. But with the internet and large libraries you can't hope to read all about a subject. You have to select and then synthesize.

Tim: Giving students new ways to process information instead of facts is like giving them a potter's wheel instead of just clay. With the appropriate thinking processes in hand, one can take information and form it into a thing of value, as does a potter with his wheel. The student can start from the most basic research and spin it into a higher and higher form that is cohesive and striking. When finished, he has at last an intricate balance of data and a seemingly unbreakable whole.

IV. The Course in Practice

When teaching, though I keep all of the learning processes in mind, I usually emphasize one or two during each unit, either because the content lends itself to that, or because the students' development calls for emphasizing a certain process at a certain time of year. I hope that the following mix of narrative, designation of processes and tools, and student observations may constitute a useful description of what we do. To repeat: I assess the students' progress by monitoring their competence with learning processes. I emphasize specific tools in reference to processes which need attention. And I hope that improvement with the processes will conduce to our goals.

To assist in illustrating our techniques, I have emphasized Unit B, Islam, and added the reading assignments, study questions, and research topics for it in Appendices B and C.

Unit A. Societies

We begin with two days devoted to learning theory, in order to emphasize diversity of thought, and to establish a vocabulary for reference throughout the year. ¹¹ We then take an introductory "world tour" with Marvin Harris' Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches. ¹² Harris investigates modern and historical cultures in reference to curious practices, such as Indian cow worship and the Kwakiutl potlatch. He argues that in every culture leaders and artists devise a mythology in order to control the populace, that too often scholars have accepted these myths at face value, but that, if scrutinized scientifically, the practices can reveal a logical rationale which is rooted in the relations of the cultures to their ecologies.

Harris' positing of argument and counter-argument, interestingly supported, and laced with wit, is a challenge for fifteen year olds, who have to struggle to separate data from argumentation. Our mechanism for this is daily précis writing. The students also keep notebooks, which they are allowed to use during exams. They take them seriously, adding review notes, and building a corpus of information. This reinforces the idea of constructing history, and it has the added advantage that students can do a lot of learning without the teacher needing to read much of it.

1. Process emphasized: Openness. Tool: Multiple Perspectives. In this case the tool is built into the reading, which treats a variety of cultures for a rapid and eye-opening experience.

2. Process emphasized: Abstraction. Tool: Reading. Students who are used to accepting what they read must struggle to separate the factual data from the writer's argument. In class we read their précis aloud, put some up on the board, or discuss them until we get the argument right. There is an invigorating tension in this exercise, since the ideas are controversial, but there is only one right answer at any one time, i.e. perceiving the argument accurately. The students learn to withhold their own opinions until they are sure they understand the arguments. At year's end many students mention this as the most valuable exercise in the course, and "Cows, Pigs," as we call it, the best book.

Luke: This unit on cultural diversity has been like nothing I anticipated. I never realized how beneficial it is to digress from what is familiar to what is foreign and puzzling.

Tessa: Marvin Harris' book was an explosive start. It caused intense discussion and thinking about why humans do the things they do. It was valuable to begin a history course on a personal level. Also, it helped us later with the Holocaust, because we learned that one cannot operate from a simple-minded view of human nature.

Reed: Harris writes that cultures create myths to prevent people from understanding "objective consciousness." This is abstract, but I think about it often to decipher what it means, and I found that I was able to apply it in my research paper on the Toraga people of Indonesia, whom I had visited the previous summer.

Unit B. Islam

Before we begin this unit we insert a section on the nature of history, with exercises and discussion on the relationship between facts and interpretation Then after an introduction to the beginnings of Islam, we focus on the fourteenth century, and specifically the career of Ibn Battutta, traveler extraordinaire, who departed his native Morocco in 1325 at age twenty-one and crisscrossed the Islamic world from Africa to Asia Minor, Central Asia, India, and China, returning twenty-five years later, while traveling right through the course of the Black Plague. ¹³

Battuta is our vehicle for viewing a huge Afro-Asian intercommunicating zone, which was unified by religion, law, language, and culture. The subject of Islam is an apt choice for instructors wishing to branch out from a Eurocentric orientation. It is cast into relief by the fact that many in our society are prejudiced against Islamic peoples. Another source of interest is that our study, while not treating the Renaissance or Reformation directly, connects with both tangentially. Lastly, by studying eastern peoples, we address racial diversity. The positive effect of this is readily perceptible among our students of color.

We finish this unit with a brief section on the Ottomans, and emphasize that Turkish expansion eastward through India to Indonesia took place simultaneously with Spanish expansion westward into the Atlantic. By viewing European explorations as only one of the forces at work in the world, we cast the Atlantic story as something more than an account of intrepid adventurers.

1. Process emphasized: Synthesis. Tool: Societies. We build the skill of global thinking by "zooming back," maintaining a wide focus on regional dynamics—Islamic culture versus local ones, Eastern versus European accomplishments.

2. Process emphasized: Inquiry. Tools: Bias and Objectivity. We viewed events through several lenses in the assigned reading, and we complemented this with a research project in which students choose and assess their own sources.

Tim: We realized that Islam is more than a religion, and that one can study an area without emphasizing politics. Most peoples' impressions of Islam are of hostile nations located solely in the Middle East. However the reading shows that Islam's influence spread from West Africa to Turkey, Russia, and India.

Darren: The idea of the intercommunicating zone is daunting, because students are used to thinking in terms of nations. On the other hand, as it turns out, the intercommunicating zone is like a nation in that it includes law, trade, and culture.

Luke: The section on bias and objectivity was one of the most effective of the course. It taught me how to look at sources in a probing manner, using my knowledge of perspective to investigate how the author used the facts. My two favorite phrases were, "Facts are nothing without interpretations" and "Historians can only find what they are looking for."

Tessa: During the section on Islam I realized the significance of the phrase "creating one's own history." Using a variety of sources, we played the role of historians, by selecting from each source what we found important and piecing together a whole. Each of our pictures was slightly different. The exercise of selecting proved that history is never purely objective.

Unit C. The Atlantic

Our vehicle for the shift from the world of Islam to the Atlantic is sugar, for the elements of the plantation system were devised in India and transported to Yemen, Palestine, Cyprus, Morocco, and thence westward into the Atlantic. ¹⁴ Our topics include the cultivation of sugar in the Mediterranean, exploration and exploitation in the New World, exchanges of commodities and diseases between Amerindians and Europeans, and finally a systemic view of the new arrangements of capital and labor which comprised a proto-industrial development in the Caribbean.

1. Process emphasized: Systemic Thinking. Tool: Systems. Our unit includes two important systems, that of the plantation economy and that of the Atlantic intercommunicating zone, and we work at moving from systems as wholes to specific developments and back again. This alternation between the general and the specific is the same mental exercise required for competence with referencing, where one follows an idea, while remembering to link it to its source. The fifteen-year-old mind is stretched toward abstract thinking now. We note furrowed brows, and we can fairly hear the creaks and groans of the assembled young brains ("Mr. Gibb, what is a system anyway?"). By year end most will have managed it. For now one follows the injunction of the old fisherman, "Lower the bait and wait a very long time."

Tim: The most enjoyable part of this course for me was writing the two independent papers, because it allowed me for the first time to pursue my own interests in history. Both of my topics ranged beyond the periods and places we studied, but drew on the class' themes. My first one, on the role of Christmas in American society, was inspired by Marvin Harris' unique interpretation of cultural practices. My second, on the United States' policy in El Salvador in the early 1980's, was inspired by a collection of writings on El Salvador, but it also derived from our study of Atlanticization and the plantation system. The mix of personal interest with class themes allowed me to enjoy my work, while not becoming disconnected from the class. This gave me a feeling of ownership, and I still look back on the papers as meaningful accomplishments

Unit D. European Religion and Politics

After two units with a wide focus we shift to concentrated attention on European developments. Workmanlike textbooks enable us to glide rapidly through the essential data of the Reformation and the absolutist period. It is winter now, a time when students can engage some mental processes which most will not master until the end of the year.

We concentrate on Enlightenment ideas and the French Revolution. For the latter we set up a simulation game. Students have to decide each day whether they support the revolution or not, and move to the side of the room designated for either revolutionaries or counter-revolutionaries. They can change positions at will, but must explain their reasoning to the class each time. I ask them to justify their actions using the vocabulary of the philosophes. The integration of complex events with abstract ideas does not come easily, and the writing at the end of this unit shows only partial understanding, but the students have laid a basis for skills which they will confirm later.

1. Process emphasized: Abstraction. Tool: Liberty. Work with political theory is an exercise in abstraction, and it is effective at this time of the year, since students can learn quite a bit, without mastering the ideas entirely. Later on they will need to apply them with precision.

2. Process emphasized: Inquiry. Tool: Complexity. Students combine advanced reading with the necessity to make choices in the simulation game. They experience the value of grappling with material that is too complicated to understand the first time through.

Tim: It was satisfying to return to basic facts and a cohesive telling of events. Having a textbook made me feel that I would remember the material and that I could relate it easily to someone else. However, it also made synthesis of the data much more difficult, because I found myself simply repeating the book in whatever I wrote. The danger in textbooks is that they make everything seem easy to understand, but they do not allow the reader to examine the information in many lights and to really understand its value.

Luke: The unit on the French Revolution was the best of the year, largely because of the diversity of the sources. We examined political theory from Hobbes to Rousseau and Voltaire's criticisms of society. The textbook presented events largely from the king's perspective, while Burke's Reflections viewed the revolution from abroad. It was interesting to see how all the facets of French life—religious, economic, political, and philosophical—fused, to detonate this eruption, marked by the passion and obstinacy of the French people.

Darren: The issues and ideas of the French Revolution connected to everything else in the course. The Revolution embodied social, political, and forceful change. Just when we started to get a feel for what we thought nationalism meant, France changed from liberty to conquest, and nationalism became a different ideology. Later we made connections between the French nationalism, the Nazi revolution, and the nationalist movement for reform in India.

Unit E. Industry and Empire

The industrial revolution raises questions about the relationship of political and economic liberty, and this progression of thought becomes even more demanding, when we investigate the abuse of African and Asian rights under the new imperialism. We conclude with a close reading of political systems in Germany, England, and France before the First World War. I continue the emphasis on abstraction, by asking students to delineate the development of liberalism and nationalism in reference to the events of this time. We apply systemic methods to parliamentary politics. This is a good place to ground the habit of looking through the events for patterns, for ahead of us lies the chaotic events of Weimar Germany, and the multifaceted realities of Indian society.

1. Process emphasized: Analysis. Tool: Liberty—The challenge of economic liberty complicates thinking, since it conflicts with the bourgeois definitions of liberty which predominated during the French Revolution, and which the students have found attractive.

2. Process emphasized: Abstraction. Tool: Nations. Students learn to sort through specific information about events, and to identify concepts. At the end of each class we use the throughlines about nations to ask how the events of the day illustrate changes in the quality of nationalism. These concepts are a stretch, with only a few students demonstrating success at first. By the end of the unit half are able to do it. By year end most will succeed with this sort of thinking.

Reed: The systemic approach allowed us to see the development of the nation state. During the French Revolution there had been the hope that liberty would come from a strong nation, but now we see the relationship changing. In France people gave their allegiance sometimes to liberalism and sometimes to the military, and Germany never was really a liberal state. The development seems to have become worse the more nations became "civilized." With more technology, a stronger central government, and greater national pride Europeans became more brutal.

Unit F. Conflict

Liberalism and nationalism, so commonly perceived as progress, require a fresh look amidst accounts of imperial exploitation, rampant nationalism, world war, and a peace treaty replete with contradictions. This period is at the same time gripping and dislocating, and it forces students to re-evaluate the meaning of modernization. They can draw on an extended historical context now, and I assume the role of facilitator, as they craft the array of forces into their own interpretations.

1. Process emphasized: Mastery. Tools: Reading and Writing. The data is so powerful and personally affecting that precise use of words is essential now.

2. Process emphasized: Empathy. Tool: Multiple Perspectives. Viewing the film All Quiet On The Western Front, combined with discovering the unjust terms of the Versailles Treaty, enable students to visualize the war thorough German eyes. Their empathy will be tempered when we approach the Nazi era.

Luke: Discussions based on student responsibility had advantages and disadvantages. When everyone had done the reading, or at least thought about the topic, we would have enlightening discussions, uninhibited and uncontrolled by the teacher. There were many times, however, that nothing happened, that nobody had anything new to say. Without a teacher to lead, the structure crumbled and the class was a waste. It was very frustrating at times, but I guess that comes with the territory of a constructivist approach.

Unit G. Genocide

We bring personal engagement with history to a culmination in an extended study of genocide. This involves investigating self-awareness, prejudice, Anti-semitism, and decision-making, before engaging the second revolution of our course—the Nazi transformation. The presence of Jewish students in the class provides an experiential element. In addition, the adolescent reality of having to decide on a daily basis whether to follow one's will or that of a peer group renders all students sensitive to the sorts of choices which German citizens encountered. Our curriculum brings events to a more complex level each day, right up to the demanding question of whether the decisions of the Nuremberg tribunal were just. ¹⁵ This progression taxes students emotionally as well as intellectually, yet in a mysterious way the challenge of hideous information is invigorating.

1. Process emphasized: Inquiry. Tool: Reference. We shift to daily journal writing, which centers on effective references to varied sources. A disastrous intrusion of sunny weather in April arrests the thought processes of our water-based Seattlites. I shuffle through reams of airy prose, then lasso them back, limping, to the task.

2. Process emphasized: Inquiry. Tool: Choice. Our curriculum emphasizes the concept of choice: How did the subjects in the reading make choices? How do we make choices each day? How do we participate in prejudice or justice? These are gripping questions.

Reed: After studying liberalism and nationalism, which are hard to personalize, the unit on Nazi Germany brought history close to the heart. The important part of this was to realize that the Germans were people, human beings facing many of the same choices that lie before us, and wanting many of the same things. This unit, along with that on India and human nature, was the most important to me. It cut deeply into my perceptions of the world and forced me to think about the role I play in society.

Laura: I remember our time spent on genocide more clearly than any other. The images and emotions of the subject took over my life. I felt that I could not deal with it. I needed an explanation, a reason, a motivation—something to help me sort through the mess. I have always felt that humans were inherently good. I like the world, and I am happy with my life. When I learned the details of the Holocaust, my theory of human nature came up against a brick wall. At first I tried to think that the Germans were just confused, but the proportions of the Holocaust were so huge that I could not sustain this. I felt as if I had survived a violent storm. I acted this way too. After we heard Bronka, a survivor, speak, I went to track practice, where the assignment was to run sixteen three hundreds. I ran too fast, trying to push myself to some sort of resolution. After the first eight, I crashed, my legs turned into jelly. My coach said I was running stupidly. I did not talk. It seemed ridiculous that everyone could go on with their usual life, knowing this about the past. It is so easy to go through the day doing each task, but when you meet deep questions in history and English, you can't answer them by going to any book. It is just you.

Unit H. Human Nature

By now our students are engaged at an affective level, and they hope for some answers to the question of how people could have acted so atrociously in Germany. They have appropriated the habits of working from throughlines and of practicing with processes, and our final task is to confirm these skills. I invite them to choose the content of our last unit, and they decide on a sequence which we term loosely "human nature," to include a study of reform in India and readings having to do with motivations for good and evil behavior.

India was our starting point with Marvin Harris, and we complete a circle by returning there. Our inquiry is set in the same time frame as the developments in Germany, and the Second World War provides a number of connections between these two societies on opposite sides of the earth. In addition, we reinforce the topic of imperialism, introduced previously with the plantation system and again in the nineteenth century. The elevated thinking of Gandhi is a poignant counterpoise to Hitler's Aryan philosophy, but we are prevented from simplifying history into the good and the bad by the realization of yet another instance of genocide, this time the religious slaughters of Hindus and Muslims.

Our readings on human motivations touch on the unconscious mind, on child abuse as it relates to adult brutality, on male and female differences, on the mechanisms of hatred, and on non-violent methods in the American civil-rights movement. Each is but a glimpse into a large field, but the readings reassure students by showing that professionals are grappling with the issues, and that it is possible to understand at least some dimensions of matrices which have heretofore appeared inscrutable.

1. Process emphasized: Inquiry. Tool: Reference. Now the writing needs to make sense. We practice the distinctions between reference, inference, and speculation. With sunshine, athletics, and fatigue impinging on all we do, we hope that students will be able to bring their talents together in time for the final examination. As they confirm their skills, creativity blossoms.

Laura: I have been motivated by Gandhi. Before studying him I believed there was a time for violence. However now I believe that there is no excuse for violence, and I find no cause to raise my voice at anyone. Faces of the Enemy was especially provocative. I had known that the media affected us, but not to the extent demonstrated by this film. I became more aware. For example in watching Disney's Aladdin on a plane, I noted the characteristics of the enemy—tall, dark-skinned with long robes and a turban. This sends subconscious messages to viewers that men who have these features, often Indians, are evil.

Luke: The articles at the end of the year were intriguing. The one affirming that if a child were abused without consolation, he might turn into a Hitler or a Stalin, was especially engaging. We were able to pursue whatever was most interesting to us, including some relatively obscure ideas. These readings made you think. You couldn't just read them and put them down. You had to discuss them.

VI. Assessment

We evaluate writing, class work, library research, and conferences. I also invite students who express themselves better orally than in writing to confer after they have written, so that I can draw out their ideas and give them credit for what they have difficulty putting on paper. Those students who are strongly oriented to oral expression (and often poor spellers and grammarians) are some of our most perceptive and creative thinkers, and I believe that to require them to express all of their ideas in writing is counter-educational. By acknowledging oral work we encourage them to use all their talents, and gradually their writing improves as well.

The examination format for the end of each unit is one which I have devised over the years, by asking students how they learn best and then trying out their suggestions. The result of our efforts is a system in which I hand out seven or eight essay questions ahead of time, from which I will designate two when the students arrive to write. Each question is cast in two forms—one more abstract and one more concrete, and they can choose to write in either mode. Students use their notebooks for reference, and those who need more than a class period can return later to finish. If they have most of an essay left to complete when they return, I give them a new question, in order to allay accusations about partiality. Ordinarily approximately half of the students complete their essays within one period; a quarter or so need a few extra minutes; and another quarter need an extra period. Two students with learning disabilities spend three or four hours on each exam, coming early in the day and using every free period until they are finished. Later these will attend Princeton and Stanford respectively.

When asked their opinion about this format, the students respond that when they take tests based on memorization, they learn the material, but forget it afterwards, but when they can use their notes, they understand it and retain it better. When asked if having notes makes the exams too easy, they respond that it is actually more work. But since the expectations are clear, they feel the effort is worthwhile. The quality of what I read is markedly superior to what I have received from conventional examinations, and I have come to the conclusion that no student should be required to demonstrate competence under time restrictions.

Tim: This class succeeded in teaching us to appreciate diversity, by providing the chance to show individual knowledge in the unit exams. When students who approached the material in different ways succeeded at the same time, everyone saw that there was not a smartest way. There were just different ones. Since the class focused on learning processes, the teacher was left to grade students on how they were thinking, instead of how much they knew. This relieved the pressure that I had experienced in other classes, because it no longer placed so much weight on single tests or papers. I did not need to be on top of every piece of information or reading. There was a margin for error.

The final exam is a culminating exercise, based on the throughlines of the last four units. This time I do not give the questions out ahead of time, in order that students will keep their thinking as open as possible during review, but I tell them that the questions will be based on the last four throughlines, and so there are no surprises. Students choose one of three essays from each of three parts. Some questions are fairly concrete, such as, "Compare the workings of government in two of the following cases, and emphasize where power lay in each situation: England in 1832, Germany in 1932, and India in 1935." Others, such as the one described by Luke below are very broad.

We hand out the exams outside the examination room and encourage the students to discuss them with each other before entering to write. They may also leave the room periodically to confer, as long as they are not disruptive. A few students are able to complete the examination within the formally assigned two hours, but most need three or four hours, and several use more than twelve, returning on successive days to work in my classroom. When they take this much time, I designate the questions they will write on, in order to preclude accusations of favoritism. They are comfortable with this, since they are prepared for all of the questions, and also, because, in actuality, I pick ones which suit the ways they learn. The students who need the most time write some of the best essays.

Luke: The notion of a final exam instills fear into the heart of every student. This one was at the same time creative, accessible, and impossible. Creative, because notes were permitted and we could leave the room to discuss the writing. Accessible because each section employed sub-questions. For example, one question asked, "After examining the tempestuous events of the twentieth century, what are some conclusions we can draw about human nature?" By itself this would be tough, but the subquestions guided you along: "Arrange some of the following ten writers into schools of thought, write up their shared and conflicting positions, and then add your observations." Each person could incorporate what they knew or what interested them into their exam. Finally the test was impossible because there were three sections. To write a comprehensive essay one must structure one's ideas into logical paragraphs, find references from diverse sources or time periods, and write the whole thing in a persuasive manner. Three essays were impossible. I left the test and could not even think, much less rejoice at having finished the school year. I would have to say the final exam was quite an experience.

VII. Conclusions

Darren: An advantage of this kind of course is that it is simply more fun. When we don't have to worry about whether there will be a pop quiz, but work to compile our ideas in reference to the throughlines, we spend the time running concepts through our heads, folding ideas onto each other, kneading the information into a form we can use and understand. This makes the class more enjoyable because students can share their uniquely constructed viewpoints, further broadening the class' understanding.

Reed: It is difficult to reveal the character of today's complicated world. Experts offer explanations, but in our complex and ever-changing planet, right answers seldom appear. Our variety of sources helped re-enforce the value of skepticism. Authority and experts are not bad things, but thinking for oneself is better than accepting what has been handed down. It is also fun, and it relieves anxiety to think of oneself as something of an iconoclast. Thinking for myself and respecting the rights of others are two ideas that this course has re-enforced. These not only benefit society when I make better choices, but they pay off in areas like school, relationships and general well-being. A year later I am looking back at how I grew, or how I did not. Although what I learned has blended with what I have done, and it is difficult to separate the two, the course brought up ideas that forced me to look at myself as an "area of study." Personal choice became more important to me. Choice will not by itself save the world, but one's actions do matter

Appendix A: Throughlines

1. What is thinking?

How do I learn

How may I refer to sources?

When should one view parts, and when systems?

2. What is history?

What should be included?

What is the relationship between facts and interpretation?

What are the distinctions between reference, inference, and speculation?

3. What is a society?

What systems operate in societies?

How do individuals make choices?

When do individuals have power?

4. What are values?

What is the role of religion in society?

Which values are consciously held?

When is diversity beneficial?

5. What is a political system?

What is the source of authority?

What is the relationship between political liberty and economic liberty?

When is disobedience justified?

6. What are nations?

How may we define nationalism?

How have nations modernized?

What are intercommunicating zones?

When is nationalism a positive force?

7. What is diversity?

What are the sources of prejudice?

What is the relationship between prejudice and genocide?

When is toleration possible?

8. What is human nature?

Is brutality innate or learned?

Can humans re-direct biological or unconscious motivations?

Can people and societies improve?

Appendix B: Syllabus For Unit B, Islam

Throughline # 2. What is history?		Throughline # 6: What are nations?
What should be included? What is the relationship between facts and interpretation?		What are intercommunicating zones?

Topic Assignment Instructions

History E.H. Carr, "The Historian and His Facts," What is History? passim. Compare the three schools of history. Which view do you prefer? Why?

Journalism Molly Ivins, "'Objectivity' Makes Lazy, Dull Writers," Seattle Times ca. 1975 Relate Ivin's views to those above. What is good journalism?

Geography Eric Wolf, "The Political Geography of the Old World," Europe And The People Without History, 25-34 Very difficult reading. In class we will spend two days, working in teams of two, to draw pictures which represent the main features of this reading.

Early Islam Stavrianos, textbook, 193-205 Identification topics: Mohammed, Conquests, Bagdad Caliphate

Islamic Intercommunicating Zone Thomas Abercrombie, "Ibn Battuta, Prince of Travelers," National Geographic, December, 1991, 2-49. Read quickly with attention to outstanding features of Islamic cultures. Note that there are two subjects here: Aber- crombie's journalism in the present, and Battuta's travelogue in the fourteenth century. Focus on Battuta's journey.

Geography Abercrombie (Cont'd) Draw on map: 1. Places on handout 2. Battuta's route 3. His mode of transport for each segment of the journey.

Autobiography H.A.R.Gibb, "Ibn Battuta's Travels," internet. Study the geographical layout, and take notes on some topics of interest.

Islamic Civilization Stavrianos, textbook, 201-5. Identification: Islamic civilization

Islamic civilization Film: The Story of Islam Connect film with readings

Ottomans Esler, textbook, 364-373 Identify: Ottomans, Suleiman the Magnificent, Safavid Persia, Mogul India

Notebook instructions: Your notebooks are history that you write. Take homework notes on the left page, and class work notes on the right page. You may include mind maps, diagrams, or pictures. Begin a new set of pages each day, and write the topic and the date at the top. You can use your notebooks during examinations.

Appendix C: Research Projects For Unit B, Islam

Write on one of the following topics. They are categorized according to four learning styles. If you choose a topic outside one of the styles that you are comfortable with, it is best to confer with the instructor for suggestions about how to match your thinking with that topic.

I. I am well organized, and I like structure and precise instructions. I enjoy facts and details, and I prefer things and hands-on projects.

Describe the connection between religious expansion and trade within the Islamic world.

Compare the Mongolian horse, its function and equipment, with that of the Spanish cavalry.

Compare the function and construction of the Arab dhow, the Chinese junk, and the Portuguese caravele.

II. I am an information person. I like ideas, facts, and theories. I work best with clear structures, and I like to analyze things.