Why I Would Teach History as a Teacher? by Sheyania

Why I Would Teach History as a Teacher? by Sheyania - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

As a graduating high school senior, thinking back on my four years of school, I realize that every student has had a favorite subject, as do I. As true as history is the study of the past, it is true that it is my favorite subject. If I was to become a teacher, I would teach history for many reasons.
When thinking about history, I am reminded of a quote that Michael Crichton stated, “If you do not know history then you do not know anything. You are a leaf that does not know it is part of a tree”. When I was little, I only grasped that this was a pretty quote and did not actually grasp its real meaning, but now I understand its meaning. History gives each and every person an identity. This is unquestionably one of the reasons all modern nations encourage their people teaching in some form. Historical information includes facts about how families, groups, institutions, and whole countries were formed and about how they have evolved while remaining together. Peoples’ family identity can be established and confirmed through their history. Other institutions, businesses, communities, and social units can also establish their identities the same way. I think it has been proven for many different groups that identifying only your present pales in comparison to the possibility of forming an identity from a rich past. Also, there have been many examples where nations have used their identity well and did morally right deeds, and there have also been times where nations have abused their identity to do amorally wrong deeds. History gives people and nations this ability by providing an identity.
Another reason why I would teach history is because it enables young minds to become good citizens; this is the most common justification for the place of history in school curricula. The importance of history for citizenship goes beyond a narrow goal of promoting national identity and loyalty through historical stories. Rather, history lays the foundation for genuine citizenship; a foundation that includes national institutions, problems, and values making history the only significant storehouse of this kind of data available. Further, history enables people to understand how recent, current, and prospective changes that affect the lives of citizens are emerging or may emerge and what causes are involved. However, the best way history can make good citizens is through encouraging habits of mind that are vital for responsible public behavior, as a national or community leader, informed votes, petitioner, or simple observer.
My third reason why I choose history is because it contributes to moral understanding and contemplation. Studying the stories of people and situations in the past allows a student of history to test his or her own moral sense. Also, studying people who have faced adversity not in some work of fiction, but in real, historical circumstances can provide inspiration because “History teaches by examples”. History portrays real men and women who successfully worked through moral dilemmas and who provide lessons in courage, diligence, or constructive protest.
Why study history? The answer is simple; the answer is because we virtually must. When we study it reasonably well, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness. Studying history can help us develop some literally “salable” skills, but its study cannot be pinned down to one era or event. Some history can be confined to personal recollections about the immediate environment, which is vital to our functions beyond childhood. One the other hand, some history depends on personal taste, where people find beauty, joy, or intellectual challenge. Between the inescapable minimum and the pleasure of deep commitment comes the history that, through cumulative skill in interpreting the unfolding human history, provides a real grasp of how the world works. For all these reasons, each generation needs to learn history, and in order to do that, you need a teacher. That is why if my role was reversed as a teacher, I would teach history for all of these reasons: history provides identity, promotes citizenship, and contributes to moral understanding and contemplation.