Teach Proper History in All Schools
History is important to teach children, and there are so many reasons behind this. It’s also important that we continue learning about proper history into our adult lives. This is because history is not something that can be “completed” or “ticked off” during your school years. And the value of learning about history cannot be underestimated.
There are so many different histories to explore and understand, from the histories of different countries and cultures to different political movements. Learning about these different histories should be a lifelong process, and can improve your understanding of yourself and the world around you. By looking at the past, we can try to understand why things are the way they are, and process how society has changed over time. If we understand context, we are far more likely to be empathetic to other people’s struggles and able to tackle problems in society head-on. This is because history teaches us political intelligence, morality, personal growth, and how to learn from mistakes. On a more academic level, learning history helps us develop reading and writing skills, how to craft our own opinions, research skills, and how to analyse situations and sources.
Teaching and learning proper history is very important. In the schools, the belief that history provides an education, that it helps us understand ourselves in time, or even that it explains something of how the present world came into being, has all but vanished. History can guide learners to see trends and processes in a broader, holistic perspective and to understand them. Through History they come into contact with other cultures and societies and in this way they gain a more holistic understanding of the contemporary world and their place in this broader context. One has to make value judgments in society today because certain norms and values apply. The study of History can assist learners in determining what these values are and assist them in making the required value judgements, based on an analytical and objective process. The study of History does not only lead to acquiring more general knowledge but also self-knowledge. The quest for more knowledge can be satisfied as learners can do their own investigations and in the process acquire self-knowledge. Opinions and judgements must be based on knowledge obtained through investigation and verification and not perceptions. It must be a search for the truth. Personal-individual investigations provide the opportunity to develop skills in working with abstract concepts and analysing knowledge. One needs to have self-knowledge in order to know and understand others and thus the study of History should not be just for the sake of acquiring general knowledge
Aristotle claimed that the difference between history and poetry was that history is the story of what actually happened rather than what we wished would have happened i.e. the real of poetry.
histories are subject to the prejudices of the historians who write them and are rooted in the power structures of society. Closely linked to the previous value, is the view that the present can be better understood by studying the past (Elton, 1967: 48; Carl, 1991:2). Making links between the past and the present can enable one to gain a broader and more holistic perspective and understanding of the past. In this way, learners can come to a greater understanding of current events or conditions through investigating how conditions developed over the years. Therefore, learners can have a better understanding of how technology developed, how it impacts on mankind and how it affects their own lives at present. From the above one can deduce that learners can thus develop certain historical skills to study the past in order to understand the present.