Critical Thinking in Social Studies: King Arthur
By
Dayna Hart, M.Ed, B.A.
Chapter Two: Literature Review
Chapter Four: Instuctional Unit
Chapter Five: Overview, Evaluation and Future Considerations
Chapter Four: Instructional Unit
Introduction
Educators, initially, might look at this project and complain because the Social Studies curriculum at every grade is already weighed down with topics to cover. To teach such a wide array of topics in such a short amount of time means that students are subjected to a piecemeal approach to learning. Such an approach can be detrimental to student learning, because students are given pieces of information from which they are to create their own meaning of history. This does not do justice to the discipline of history. At the grade eight level, for example, educators are expected to cover 1100 years of history from several different civilizations. This hardly gives educators opportunities to explore topics with their students, let alone introduce critical thinking activities. Yet, as Schwartz (1997) points out, “if I waited until I had time in my already overloaded curriculum to teach critical thinking, I would never get to it” (p. 22).
If desired, room can always be found within the curriculum to teach topics in depth. Although teachers are governed by established curriculum, they do have some flexibility in both what they teach and how they teach it. The difficulty lies in finding the balance between curriculum and outside interests.
Before choosing what extra material should be taught, Social Studies educators must decide for themselves what the purpose of Social Studies is. If Social Studies is to provide students with “inert ideas” [1] (Whitehead, 1929, p. 13), then the critical thinking activities involving King Arthur are useless. However, if educators believe like I do, that Social Studies is to provide the students with skills that they can transfer to a variety of situations, then this project is an excellent example of what could be implemented. There are three different areas of thinking that support the inclusion of such a project into the curriculum: cultural literacy, imagination, and the rhythm of education.
Cultural literacy
In weighing the decision whether to incorporate the Arthurian stories into the curriculum, educators might ask themselves, why teach King Arthur specifically? Indeed, educators might question the integration of any myth or legend from the Middle Ages, even the Robin Hood tale, into the Social Studies curriculum. The justification in choosing to use the King Arthur legend, lies in critical literacy theory developed by Hirsch. Cultural literacy is defined by Hirsch as “the ability to read with full understanding” whereas literacy is merely the ability to read (Spring, 1994, p. 91). Cultural literacy then is a much more expansive term.
With these definitions in place, educators see the importance of teaching cultural literacy. For each educator, teaching the concept of cultural literacy will depend on the location, and more importantly, the cultural setting. To put cultural literacy into a Canadian context, the phrase ‘he iced the puck’ holds very little meaning to a simply literate individual. In fact, the phrase sounds quite odd. But to one familiar with hockey, the phrase makes a great deal of sense and conveys meaning. The hockey aficionado knows that the team that iced the puck was not short handed and might begin to wonder why the puck was iced: was it an accident, was the team under pressure, or was it done merely to get a line change? Although the above hockey example is a little simplistic, it does illustrate the importance of being culturally literate.
Hirsch believes that educators must provide students with the information they need to be culturally literate. Basing myself in cultural literacy theory, I believe King Arthur should be incorporated into the curriculum. There are two reasons that justify Arthur’s inclusion in Social Studies Eight: the longevity of the myth and the fact that the King Arthur legend is an excellent example of the hero’s journey.
i) Longevity
The popularity of the King Arthur myth is evident in its longevity, as it has survived over 1500 years. Looking at the historical data, clearly King Arthur is a figure with cross cultural importance. Wales, Scotland, and, of course, England claim Arthur as their own because he is prominent in each country’s legends. The Arthurian tales also have a long history in French literature dating back to the 12th century. Over time, Arthur has crept into various cultures around the world. Interestingly, the Grade eight textbook does not mention Arthur in the Middle Ages sections, which means that the myth must survive through other textual forms. In the hands of authors over the centuries, the image of Arthur has transformed. As seen in the previous chapters, the King Arthur story has adapted itself to fit a wide variety of forms from classical music to comic books.
The array of genres that the Arthurian legend is present in gives the King Arthur myth an almost omnipresent feeling. King Arthur seems to appear everywhere. Thus, including the King Arthur legend in students’ learning is a crucial part of cultural literacy, especially since the legend often appears in literature. The motif of the Arthurian legends is especially prolific in fantasy novels for young adults. It is, therefore, important that the students know the historical background of the myth so that they can recognize the myth in its various forms and appreciate its cultural relevance. As Ralston (1974) explains: “myths are a part of a student’s literary heritage and they are necessary to the understanding of many fine literary works which he will encounter in advanced studies…Our language and our thinking are full of words derived from these sources” (p. 7). The King Arthur legend is one of those sources.
ii) The Hero’s Journey
When reading or hearing a myth for the first time, the myth often has a feeling of familiarity. Scholars of myth, namely Jung (1936/1990), Campbell (1949, 1986, 1988) and Raglan (1936), have broken down this familiarity in myths and each has identified it in his own terminology.
Jung studied mythology and psychological symbols and identified certain symbols, which he called archetypes. According to Jung, these archetypes are present in all myths. He proposed that these archetypes are “stored in some dim part of every person’s mind…[and are] why similar figures appear so often in the myths of all nations, in fairy tales, religion, and in dreams” (Bennett & Kerr, 1966, p. 5). For example, looking at fairy tales, the archetype of the evil female sorcerer – often a wicked witch or an enchanteress, occurs frequently. The wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel lures the children with candy, Snow White eats the witch’s poisoned apple, while, Rapunzel is taken from her parents and locked in a tower by the witch.
Archetypes are an important literary device for students to learn. They are useful in teaching students how to identify character traits, traits which they can then identify in the world around them. Also, by examining archetypes in a variety of situations, students learn to recognize patterns, a useful skill that they can apply to everyday life.
Raglan (1936), in his book The Hero, took certain symbols and identified 22 archetypal incidents of mythical heroes. Heroes from a variety of mythologies have been subjected to Raglan’s scale and have scored quite highly, the four highest being Oedipus 21, Moses 20, King Arthur 19 and Gilgamesh 15. What is interesting about the top four heroes is that they come from very different cultures; Oedipus is a character from Greek mythology, Moses a Biblical hero, King Arthur dates from the Middle Ages, while Gilgamesh, the oldest of the heroes, dates from Babylonian times. The high results suggest shared traits among heroes. If they have similar traits, do heroes lead similar lives?
Indeed, mythical heroes do share similar lives. As Campbell (1988) notes: “all these different mythologies give us the same essential quest” (p. 129). Campbell analyzed myths from around the world and determined that heroes typically experience similar events. The hero’s journey is cyclical in nature as he travels from his known world to that of the unknown and returns (see Appendix C for chart of the hero’s journey). The journey is broken down into three stages: initiation, separation and return, each of which is marked by a series of culminating events. From his initial call to adventure, the hero will be assisted by a helper, and face a series of trials until his return.
This journey that the hero undertakes is important to his character development. Embarking on a heroic quest means that the hero will learn more about the world. Also, the hero learns about himself and thus, his character is strengthened. By living vicariously through the hero in his journey, the reader will acquire knowledge and strengthen their own character in doing so. In addition, the hero’s journey reflects each individual’s own journey that he must make in the world.
King Arthur is an excellent example of the hero on a journey. Each of the early works about Arthur talk about various parts of his quest. Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1136) presents Arthur’s call to adventure as an event decided for him upon his father Uther’s death. “After the death of Utherpendragon, the leaders of the Britons assembled from their various provinces in the town of Silchester and there suggested to Dubricius, the archbishop of the City of the Legions, that as their King he should crown Arthur, the son of Uther” (as cited in R. White, 1998, p. 30). In more modern versions of the tale, however, the call to adventure is described as being determined by mystical means. Arthur is able to pull the sword out of the stone, which only the rightful king can do. Most of the Arthurian works also comment on a helper, most often this is Merlin; however, in modern works, most notably The Mists of Avalon, the Lady of the Lake is mentioned. Throughout his quest, Arthur is beset by tests and trials, only to return home finally and be slain in battle.
It is the legend’s scope and depth that increases its appeal. Arthur is seeking hope in a time of darkness as he searches for the Holy Grail. It is this idea that goodness prevails that is alluring to the reader. Everyone desires good to triumph over evil. The second World War has been condensed to the good, the West, eliminating evil, Nazi Germany. In Bush’s first State of the Union Address after the September 11th attacks, once again the age-old dichotomy of good versus evil was articulated. President Bush suggested: “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world” (Bush, 2002, State of the Union Address). This same struggle of good and evil can be applied to the Arthurian legend.
During the Middle Ages, the British Isles were cloaked in a time of darkness; learning and the arts had fallen to the science of military ingenuity. As war reigned supreme, Arthur attempted to unite Britons and keep invading armies out of his homeland. Arthur, however, is not only a hero of the Middle Ages but has the potential to be a hero once more. Perhaps the most intriguing feature of the Arthurian legend is the belief that Arthur is the once and future king; Arthur shall return. “Throughout its long history, a recurring theme in the Arthurian legend has been that of the "British Hope," in which Arthur or an Arthur would return to aid Britain/England in the hour of its greatest need” (Torregrossa, 1999, p. 1).
The Arthurian legend is not only limited to Arthur and his experiences on the quest. Readers intrigued by the Arthurian legends can follow the Knights of the Round Table, such as Percival and Lancelot, on their journeys. Students can then compare the heroes to discover that although character and quest may vary slightly, overall the experience is the same.
Imagination
In his Imagination in Teaching and Learning, Egan (1992) outlines the importance of incorporating imagination in teaching. First, he recognizes the difficulty in using such difficult term to define as imagination. As educators, we are encouraged to find students who are imaginative, but generally it is a creative work that attracts attention. While large class sizes make it difficult to recognize imaginative students from their interactions within the classroom, the educators’ training also hampers observation. Due to the pressures of shuffling students through the education system, educators who work in the traditional classroom environment tend to stifle imagination and creativity, promoting rote learning instead in an effort to cover ministry requirements. Unfortunately, while this factory line production method of turning out students often filled with just enough information to get them through exams, is exciting to neither students nor teachers. To ensure students do not just memorize facts for the short term, but actually learn the presented material so that they can apply it to ‘real life’ situations, educators need to incorporate imagination back into the curriculum.
There is a stigma that imagination is not real learning. Imagination needs to be reintroduced into the education field and valued as a form of higher learning. To continue viewing imagination as a simplistic thought process is to overlook a powerful teaching approach.
Rhythm of Education
Whitehead (1929), well ahead of his own time, predicted the decline of education and called on educators to implement the rhythm of education into their classrooms. He identified this rhythm as consisting of three stages: romance, precision and generalization. Whitehead’s outlines provides the structure by which to implement Egan’s belief that imagination should be promoted in the classroom. Because these three stages also align themselves with the King Arthur critical thinking unit it is essential that educators understand the stages.
i) Romance
Romance refers to the first stage in the rhythm of education. Here, students begin to explore the topic presented (in this case King Arthur). Whitehead chose the term romance because students will be excited about learning a new topic and have few negative feelings about the subject. As Whitehead (1929) explains, “romantic emotion is essentially the excitement consequent on the transition from the bare facts to the first realizations of the import of their unexplored relationships” (Whitehead, 1929, p. 29).
In the King Arthur lessons, for example, the pre lesson activity represents the stage of romance. Students are beginning to share their knowledge as they explore the new topic. However, they also begin to realize the direction of the lessons when they discover a great deal of their knowledge regarding King Arthur does not come from school. Fragments of Arthurian knowledge in hand, students realize they need to acquire more information about the legends and about the man, King Arthur, himself.
Romance is an important stage that is, unfortunately, often overlooked. This stage hooks the students into the topic and gets them interested. Student interest is essential in preparing students for the second stage, precision.
ii) Precision
In the precision stage, the longest of the three, students gather more information about their topic. Yet, they also incorporate the facts from the romance stage; precision cannot exist without romance. If the two are not interconnected, romance and precision dissolve merely into the ‘inert facts’ that Whitehead warns about.
In the King Arthur unit, students will be looking at a variety of early accounts about Arthur. At this point, the students examine quotations from these early sources and they interpret what additional information these primary sources can provide. Students will, through these means, compare once source to another and determine their credibility. Also, in the precision stage, students look at one film in addition to the various quotations from historical fiction. These other sources allow the students to garner more information about Arthur. They would also be analyzing how Arthur’s character changes over time.
This alteration in description is significant because it allows students to se the power a historian has in telling the story. Through the precision stage, students will become aware of the historian’s narrative. Once the importance of the historian’s narrative is highlighted, students are ready for the next stage, generalization.
iii) Generalization
The generalization stage is the final stage and the point where students integrate all their knowledge. “It is a return to romanticism with added advantage of classified ideas and relevant technique” (p.30). Using the King Arthur lessons as an example again, at this stage, the students decide what king of individual Arthur would have been, drawing on their information from the precision stage. Here, students come to their own conclusions about the topic and should be able to defend their opinions.
The rhythm of education, like the hero’s journey is cyclical in nature. Although there are stages to journey through, each event is not clearly defined. Instead, each of the sections of the rhythm of education is integrated as students acquire information along the way and reflect on what they are reading and learning.
Each of these theories: cultural literacy, imagination and rhythm of education are very similar in what they wish to achieve. At the heart of each teary is the desire for students to engage in a deeper study of the topic presented. Students should be exploring subjects that are relevant, engaging and transferable to the world around them. King Arthur is one such topic.