Sam Wineburg, the world’s leading scholar on K-12 historical thinking, turns to his Twitter feed to show us how it is done. Teachers take note:
What does web savvy have to do with historical thinking? Lots. Here’s a meme that came across one of my social media feeds. 1/8 pic.twitter.com/oKqanfgBED
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
I have innumerable gaps in my historical understanding, but 20,000 free Black people who died in a Union guarded “concentration camp” after the war? That’s serious. How come I’ve never heard of it? 2/8
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
Even more interesting is that it is also listed on Southern heritage, Lost Causer sites. So, strange bedfellows–sites on Black history, and sites of Lost Causers that as a bonus offer memes on the “War of Northern Aggression.” Hmm… 4/8 pic.twitter.com/nxlyOZz0jy
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
No Wikipedia entry; nothing on Google Scholar. (The 1st places I’d tell students to look if they came across something of this magnitude they’d never heard of.) Yet . . . it appeared on the news! WJTV, the CBS affiliate in Jackson Mississippi. https://t.co/2s9P5katVF 5/8
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
It turns out that it rests on the historical sleuthing of a researcher named Paula Westbrook. She can be found at this organization: 6/8 pic.twitter.com/GPJpPxPAz6
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
There you have it: How History is invented & spread in the digital age. Memes scream “This is Fact.” Improbable bedfellows pick it up and spread it further. Instead of teaching kids how to check this stuff out, we’re keeping their eyes glued to print textbooks. 7/8
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
Today’s students are becoming historicized by what they see on their screens. Want to make history class relevant again? Teach them how to separate digital fact from fiction. You might even save democracy in the process. 8/8
— Sam Wineburg (@samwineburg) November 3, 2019
Do you want to learn more about Wineburg’s work? Check out his appearance on Episode 52 of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast.
