Historical Thinking
From Dr. Shannon Whiteside, Alveary Program Director
My teenage son mows lawns in our neighborhood to earn extra money. One of our neighbors asked him what school he attended, and he replied, “I am homeschooled.” Then the neighbor proceeded to drill him with questions about the dates of historical events— “When did Columbus sail to America? When was the Civil War? When was World World II?” My son knew all those dates (phew!), but as Mason educators, we know history is not about memorizing a bunch of dates or knowing a lot of facts. Mason said, “Next in order to religious knowledge, history is the pivot upon which our curriculum turns. History is the rich pasture of the mind––which increases upon the knowledge of men and events and, more than all, upon the sense of nationhood, the proper corrective of the intolerable individualism of modern education. (School Education, p. 273).
I want to focus on that last part of the quote—History is “the proper corrective of the intolerable individualism of modern education.” If Mason thought her day and age suffered from the harms of individualism, what would she think about our 21st century culture of digital technologies and the internet? In her book Priests of History: Stewarding the Past in an Ahistoric Age, Sarah Irving Stonebreaker uses the term “ahistorical” to define our present culture that has no interest in history or the wisdom we can glean from the past. She states, “[W]e are just autonomous, atomised individuals creating our authentic selves; we are trying to live our best lives and look only horizontally around us in the process. What does history have to teach us if this is who we are and what life is about? Why would we need or see any virtue in genuinely engaging with the past? …Our culture is now, in a word, ahistorical” (p. 13-14). Many people value individualism and are preoccupied with “finding their true selves” instead of seeing themselves as part of God’s grand story of creation, fall, redemption and the hope of the new heavens and the new earth. In A Little Book for New Historians (part of Alveary HS curriculum), Tracy Mckenzie reminds us that historical thinking plays a vital role in faithful Christian discipleship. He states, “When we’re stranded in the present, the fads of the moment can look like timeless truths. Because we cannot imagine life any other way than it is, we can be shaped by our contemporary contexts without even realizing it. Nor can we “take captive every thought” when our present mindedness renders our most deeply ingrained ways of thinking invisible to us. In both cases, the first step to obeying the biblical commandment faithfully is seeing both ourselves and the world around us rightly. The study of history can further this goal” (p. 53).
In Book 2 of Ourselves, Charlotte Mason discusses how the virtue of prudence should guide our consciences. Prudence can be defined as “practical wisdom.” Please take a moment to look at the statue from Michel Columbe called Prudence. This statue personifies the virtue of prudence and gives us a tangible way to contemplate this abstract concept. You will see multiple faces. The old, bearded face represents “Old Man Memory,” or, more simply, the past. We not only have our personal memories to draw upon, but we have the collective experiences and wisdom of those who have come before us. In Becoming by Beholding, Lanta Davis says that the quality of docility—being open-minded and willing to admit we don’t have all the answers—is a fundamental part of prudence. To seek outside wisdom requires humbly acknowledging that others may know better—and more—than we do. Looking backward with the eyes of Old Man Memory vastly widens our field of vision (p. 159). That is one of the rewards of the study of history. It gives us wisdom and experience beyond our years if we are humble enough to receive it. The rest of the quote by Mason at the beginning of this article discusses this idea. She quotes Jacques Amyot, A French scholar, who stated, “How greatly is the reading of histories to be esteemed, which is able to furnish us with more examples in one day, than the whole course of the longest life of any man is able to do. Insomuch that they which exercise themselves in reading as they ought to do, although they be but young, become such in respect of understanding of the affairs of this world, as if they were old and grayheaded and of long experience. Yea, though they never have removed out of their houses, yet are they advertised, informed and satisfied of all things in the world” (School Education, p. 273). Mason valued the study of history and that is why she made it the pivot of her curriculum.
If you want to learn more about the study of history and how we can think Christianly about it, I encourage you to check out the books mentioned in this article.
Notes
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