BY: Mike DiMatteo
I was asked more than once by students “why do I have to study this stuff?” After a time, I’d begin the new school year by preemptively asking them, “Why do you think we—the all powerful—make you study this stuff? I mean, who’s going to sit at dinner tonight, other than me, and say, ‘I’d like to discuss the effect on Enlightenment thought on Western European culture.’”
Most of the time, the kids smiled, laughed, and nodded their heads. Occasionally, I’d get one student that would say, “I would, Mr. D,” followed by the appropriate groans.
I asked that question in the beginning of the year, the first full day, to set the tone, but also to try and bring a semblance of reason to the classroom, and to the students. Modern students are much more nuanced than “we” were. They will respond if they understand the “why”. I found the same as a long-time coach—athletes want to know why their doing something, how it all works, and how it’s going to make them better. Answer those questions in the classroom, and you’re on your way to not only being a better teacher, but having a more interactive class.
Most of the time when asked why we study history, students responded with the same old trope, “So we don’t make the same mistakes we made in the future that we made in the past.”
I’d say, “If that’s true, then why do we still fight wars? We all know war is bad, right? It’s an equal opportunity destroyer, so how come, even after the most devastating war in world history, do we fight them? Did we not learn anything?”
Students would nod their heads, or quietly implode, as what I’d just said short circuited their brains a bit, casting doubt on everything their middle school teacher told them.
Once the smoke cleared, I’d say, “Here’s why we study history. Because you can’t know where you’re going until you understand where you’ve been.” It is not the George Santayana quote which states, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” at all, but rather one of discovery, of determinism.
If one is lost, how do you find your way back? Retrace your steps until you come to something familiar, then, start again. It’s not the same as Mr. Santayana’s quote, just a variation. Learn your past. Study it. Understand it. Then, apply it. Studying history is active—not quite a predictor of the future, but certainly an indicator. When you can recognize the indicators, only then might you be able to change course, or at least minimize the damage.
Inevitably, someone would then say, “Well, then, what about math? When am I ever going to use algebra?”
“I can’t disagree,” I’d say. “No one walks into a grocery store, looks at the stacked boxes of Frosted Flakes and declares, ‘Now I have a conundrum. If x is over y, then y must equal t, which is the square root of…”
Again, laughter.
“But, think on this… math teaches you logic. Algebra is just a further extension of that. You’re working another part of your brain as it’s developing. You’re not just cramming knowledge into it, you’re working it, like one lifts weights. So, with history, you’re thinking spatially, learning to recognize patterns of human behavior, while learning to apply it, and with math, your reinforcing the notion of logical thinking, and for most of us, logic is paramount.”
“Well, then why English? I hate reading. Why do I need Shakespeare, or any of the other stuff they make us read? I ain’t gonna read this stuff when I graduate? I don’t really read it now.”
Laughter.
“I get it. Shakespeare has been gone a long time, and we don’t speak or read that way anymore…think about that for a moment. Anyway, the point is humanity is found in its literature. All of it. Our collective memory, for good or bad, is found there. Humans and the human condition don’t really change throughout history, and because of that, the ancients have much to say to us, to teach us…but we must be willing to listen. The same problems today were the same problems in Shakespeare’s time: Love, despair, betrayal, hatred, jealousy…they’re all there. How did they handle it? What words of wisdom might we gain from reading them, hearing them?
“Is there any book more important politically than The Prince? The Art of War? Who are we? What do we want most? What moves us? These are the eternal questions posed by humans throughout history, and the answers, or at least the wrestling with the answers, is found in literature. You just have to be brave enough, have the discipline, to begin reading.
“Is it hard? Yep. But, I’ll tell you this…if you can read that, you can read anything and when that happens, an entire world of knowledge and understanding is at your fingertips. Way better than some video game that dulls your senses, and gives you a dopamine rush. Why? Because you’re bettering yourself, and strengthening your mind at the same time.”
Silence usually followed.
The conversation that first day continued, with me emphasizing the importance of being willing to change one’s perspective, if nothing else, so as to learn about “the other side,” whatever that side was, and to give oneself the opportunity to be more enlightened.
Every year, someone would stay after class and say to me, “Mr. D… I never thought of it that way before.”
I’d smile.
