Takaki Chapter 5 reflection and Wineburg Chapter 2 Reflection

As I was reading Takaki Chapter 5, I reflected on the some of the material I discussed with my students and came up with some ideas as to how to better present the material for next year. In particular, one of the misconceptions my students had about Southern Whites is that they were all landowners and were supportive of slavery. As Takaki notes, that is not entirely true. I made copies of this chapter and placed it in my "good idea" file so I can use it next year.

As I read Takaki, I'm find myself reflecting on what I have taught my students and how might I use some of Takaki's research for future classes. His approach is vastly different than the approach taking by the county approved textbook. As I come across the differences, I make notes in the book about what they are and how I might incorporate them in class.

Wineburg's examination of teaching social studies in school is particularly fascinating because it raises some poignant issues concerning what we teach students and how the social studies curriculum should be developed in schools. I teach high school psychology and have just finished a unit on the social development theories of scholars like Piaget and Erikson. While certainly interesting and noteworthy concepts, I found myself asking the question "are high school students really capable of understanding such abstract concepts" and "will they even remotely remember these people/concepts after the test is completed?" I personally believe that the book mentions these concepts and names to simply inform students about what/who they are and not to help students construct knowledge. It's as if we simply firehouse students with information so they can succeed on Jeopardy and not because we want them to generate/create content or knowledge.

To apply Wineburg/Takaki in my Psychology class, I would reference Takaki's mention of Dr. Samuel Morton's research on the size of cranium capacities and the impact it has on intelligence/behavior. The science of measuring one's cranium to help determine behavior is called phrenology. Much like Historians who study historiography, my first unit in psychology deals with how psychology has evolved and how psychology used to be studied. I would use Dr. Morton's research to provide contextual evidence to my students about how individual behavior used to be determined and contrast it with how we study behavior today. Dr. Morton's research is a great case study to use because most students, even with their limited knowledge of psychology, would never even consider using cranium size as a determinant of intelligence or behavior.