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 Five: Summary and Recommendations
Summary
Presently, there is a crisis in the teaching of history history; most students are not actively engaging in learning about past events. For the educator this crisis has evolved due to a number of reasons, three of which are: the curriculum, the textbooks and the resources. In B.C. the curriculum is overwhelmed with content needed to be covered. As a result, teachers need to skim over the topics rather than going into depth. The textbooks themselves have to include information on a wide array of topics and thus, often cannot go into depth or present two sides to a story. Curriculum and textbooks aside, even if educators wanted to engage their students and provide them with opportunities to critically think and reflect on history, there are very few resources available to teachers. This project provides educators with an educational tool to remedy the lack of student engagement. In order for students to critically analyze the narrative of the text, this project utilizes the evolution of the King Arthur story.
The literature review examines the history of the discipline of history. Over time the documentation of history has become more clinical, almost scientific in nature. With society’s emphasis on the importance of revealing the facts, history’s inclusion in the realm of science was much desired. The result of such writing, however, is that the historian became omniscient in his reconstruction of the past. With Metahistory, H. White caused historians to reexamine the presentation of history, specifically the historian behind the presentation. Suddenly historians were aware that their accounts of history were merely stories. “The historical work is a verbal artifact, a narrative prose discourse, the content of which is as much invented – or as much imagined – as found” (Jenkins, 1995, p. 19). Using historical fiction, such as the King Arthur legends, is one way of getting students to reveal the narrative of the historian.
The literature reviewed also revealed that stories are powerful. Readers connect with characters in the stories, and, for a time, live vicariously in the world of the story. The most potent of these stories are the myths and legends of cultures because they have endured time and are part of our collective cultural knowledge. The inclusion of historical fiction in the classroom is also supported by the literature. Students who read historical fiction can become immersed in the time period discussed and want to learn more about it. They also demonstrate frustration with their social studies textbooks because they do not provide students with the information they want to know. Stories bring history alive, as students are suddenly immersed in the period being discussed and also introduced to individuals acting out their daily life in that time era.
Based on the findings from the literature study, a series of lesson plans was created. Using the King Arthur legends as its basis, the lessons are designed to engage students in learning about history. The historical figure of King Arthur exists primarily in fiction. Thus using the legends based on Arthur will highlight the narrative constructed to tell his story. For, as Jenkins (1995) explains,
historians consider that the characteristic form in which they represent their accounts of the past to their audience – that is, the narrative form – is the actual content of the past …then go on mistakenly to treat such narrativity as an essence shared by both the historical representation and the sets of event sin the past (1995, p. 19).
The goal of this project is to make students aware, through the in-depth study of the Arthurian legends, of the blurring between fact and fiction in the historian’s narrative.
Although getting students to recognize this blurring within the narrative is a huge undertaking, it is crucial. First students must realize that accounts of historic events are interpretative. If they can see that even though a historian uses a voice that makes history sound absolutely factual and it is not, then they can start delving into the topic even further. They can then become historian’s themselves. This is the aim of the project, to get students to truly engage in critical thinking by learning to decipher and analyze material
Students will be examining excerpts from early sources dating from the Middle Ages. From these early quotations, students will act as historians and compile a character sketch of Arthur. Students will then read a variety of short stories based on the Arthurian legends. It is hoped students will notice how much the depiction of Arthur has changed. Also, students will hopefully detect the change in the narrator’s voice to a more romantic mode. In the final stage of the lesson plans, students will examine Arthur’s latest reincarnation: in film.
Using the King Arthur legend as the vehicle by which students analyze history texts is based on a variety of literature. Students are more interested in studying a time period when historical function is incorporated. We live vicariously through story. “We put ourselves in the places of fictional characters and – by reading about their successes and failures, their thoughts and deeds – we act out, for a time, our own” (Heffernan, Johnston, Hodgins, 1987, p. 4).
Myths and legends are some of the most powerful stories because they connect with the individual. The appeal to the social studies educator of using the King Arthur myth is the dubious nature of Arthur’s existence. For this project, the students’ inability to approach the activity with the right answer to the question: Did King Arthur exist, is imperative. With no correct answer at hand, students are forced to wrestle with the narrative themselves.
Interdisciplinary Education
Although the object of this project is to have the lesson plans incorporated into the Social Studies Eight Curriculum in B.C., Arthur is not the sole domain of history. Arthur’s flexibility in genre makes him an ideal topic for an interdisciplinary study. The very nature of the project, that is its historical sources being literature based, blurs the boundaries of English and Social Studies. As much as this project could be studied through a Humanities lens, it could also be seen as a merger between Social Studies and Film Studies. To incorporate another discipline into Social Studies, brings lucidity to students. Suddenly, the discipline of Social Studies does not exist in isolation. Instead its relevance can be seen in other areas of study.
The idea of an interdisciplinarian approach is not far fetched. In the middle school system where teaming occurs, the King Arthur lesson plans could easily be incorporated. With teaming, students remain with the same students for all eight of their courses. Thus, the same students travel to English class and Social Studies. For the educators, this means that they can create themed units that overlap with other disciplines. Using the Renaissance as an example, while the Social Studies educator teaches the time period, the Science teacher could delve into the science of the time, the Art teacher could explore the Renaissance artists and the English teacher analyze literature from the period. In doing so, the students would have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the Renaissance.
Being culturally aware is an important thing to teach students for a variety of reasons. Learning about cultures broadens their understanding in order to engage them to want to learn. In addition, students have the opportunity to explore beyond their immediate existence and knowledge, while making sense of their own society’s symbols and traditions. Through an in-depth examination of history, students will hopefully become life-long thinkers and learners.
Recommendations
There are two primary recommendations to come out of this project. Each recommendation is as important as the other. The first suggestion is in regards to narrative, while the second involves the Arthurian unit plan.
Although the project and educational resource was created based on the literature reviewed, at present the King Arthur lesson plans have not been evaluated in a classroom setting. As a result, the recommendation would be for this project to be implemented and assessed. Ideally both quantitative and qualitative research would be conducted.
Quantitative data could be compiled through testing before, during and after the lesson. This information would be useful in determining what sections of the unit plan are most effective. Also, the findings would show if students meet the learning outcomes. What would be of interest is whether the students grasp the concept of historian’s narrative and know that they can question the presentation of material in textbooks.
Qualitative data is also necessary. Surveys could be done before and after the unit to determine student interest in the topic of King Arthur as well as their thoughts of undertaking such a challenging activity. Both forms of assessment could then determine the effectiveness of the unit.
More importantly than the King Arthur lesson plans is implementing teaching through narrative. It is hoped that through the use of these lesson plans, educators will see the benefits of narrative. Teaching through story is an age old tradition that is very powerful. Students are interested in stories, they want to learn more about the everyday life of individuals as well as the intrigue of the past.