Why history is important for children to learn

Why should our elementary school children study history?

There is no doubt that the primary purpose of schooling is to prepare students to function effectively in the world, and thereby to assist society to function effectively as well. We study the past in school not because students need to know a collection of old facts, but because history helps them understand how the world works and how human beings behave. Knowledge of the past is required for understanding present realities. When people share some common knowledge of history, they can discuss their understandings with one another.

What does history give?

Human self-awareness is the very essence of history. Arnold Toynbee said, “History is a search for light on the nature and destiny of man.” R.G. Collingwood wrote, “History is for human self-knowledge…the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is. Psychologist Bruno Bettleheim asserted that human self-knowledge is the most important role of education.” Most of all, our schools ought to teach the true nature of man, teach about his troubles with himself, his inner turmoil and about his difficulties in living with others. They should teach the prevalence and the power of both man’s social and asocial tendencies, and how the one can domesticate the other, without destroying his independence or self-love.”

Why history in the elementary level?

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In this age of the World Wide Web, globalization and international terrorism, knowledge of the larger world is seen as increasingly important even at the elementary school level. We have identified three basic principles of schooling. It should

1. Prepare students for the future.
2. Focus on meaningful understanding.
3. Be realistic in its expectations.

This is perhaps the most often-cited practical reason for studying history, and it was foremost in the mind of Thomas Jefferson when he wrote that schooling in America’s new democracy should be “chiefly historical.” He said, “the people…are the ultimate guardians of their own liberty. History by apprising them of the past will enable them to judge of the future. It will avail them of the experience of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions and designs of Hammurabimen.”