THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING HISTORY 1

The Importance of Learning History:

The Reasoning, Motivation, and Engagement of High School Students in Social Studies

Kevin Dolan

Manhattan College EDUC 206

Abstract
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This essay uses empirical research to determine the answer to the same question every

high school student asks, “why do we have to learn this?” In order to answer this question,

particularly in the field of social studies, research has been gathered and analyzed to determine

the importance of learning history in a contemporary high school history class. Researchers and

historians have agreed that history is important in the development of character and citizenship,

and is essential for the adolescent mind in order to develop critical thinking skills and the ability

to participate in academic discussion. This answer was then taken and applied to how students

might be motivated based on this answer. First, methods and research of student engagement was

collected in order to develop an understanding of how students are motivated, which can then be

used to decide which strategies would be best to use in order to motivate students and increase

engagement in a social studies classroom.

Keywords: history, social studies, motivation, engagement

High school students consistently question the importance of the material that they learn,

and teachers must satisfy this curiosity through their hidden curricula, but what exactly is the

answer to their question? To an adolescent, knowledge is only as reliable as it is applicable, and

subjects like social studies come under constant scrutiny by students who don’t see the value in

learning the subject. This becomes an issue in the classroom; if students don’t see the value in

the material they are learning, they will lose motivation and become less engaged in classroom

activities. Therefore, it is imperative that, through the hidden curriculum, students understand the

value of social studies and teachers know how this understanding can help motivate students to

learn.

It is particularly difficult for students to understand the importance of learning social

studies, and this has led to a decrease in both motivation and engagement of students. As Susan
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Gibson points out, “A number of research studies consistently found that social studies is often

the least liked course that children and youth take in school and the one that they feel most lacks

relevance to their lives” (Gibson, 2012), which leads students to believe that social studies is not

worth learning or that history classes are not worth taking. Gibson answers the presented

question by stating, as many researchers and historians have, that social studies is important in

order to learn to become a good citizen. She claims “Learning to be a good citizen is rarely

mentioned even though social studies programs across Canada have a long history of

citizenship education as their primary goal” (Gibson, 2012). Although talking about education in

Canada, it is not far from the civic aspects of education taught in the United States. As history

professors and teachers have pointed out in my experience, becoming a good citizen and creating

character is the foundation of why social studies is a subject in schools in the first place. Gibson

recognizes this as well, and wonders why her undergraduate students don’t remember citizenship

education from social studies classes in the past and answers her own question by studying

various elementary school teachers. She found that “Even though the teachers had examined the

overarching goals and purposes of social studies in the Program of Study during their

professional development sessions on the new curriculum, no mention was made of the

important role that citizenship education plays in social studies” (Gibson, 2012), underlining that

the main issue with students’ fundamental misinterpretation of the goal of learning social studies

falls to the teachers that could not or did not incorporate it into their lessons. To Gibson, social

studies is important to learn because of its lessons on citizenship and the role social studies plays

in citizenship education, additionally she points out that students ask this question because social

studies classes do not make this a focal point of their lessons and teachers aren’t properly

applying it.
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In another study, Mark Sheehan is concerned with how students are motivated to think

historically. Sheehan claims that “The aim for young people learning to think historically is for

them to develop reasoned, evidence-based understandings of the past that prepare them to

participate in society as critical citizens who can think independently” (Sheehan, 2013). In a

sense, Sheehan agrees with Gibson; social studies is important to learn because it heavily

contributes to a student’s development as a citizen and the ability to think independently and

critically. As stated before, Gibson points out that this hidden curriculum of citizenship

education is ignored or missed by students who take social studies classes, with one reasoning

behind this being that some social studies teachers don’t incorporate citizenship education in

their lessons. With the question of social studies’ importance out of the way, what does this mean

for the motivation of students? How should this be incorporated into a lesson and can it be used

to motivate students to learn?

In order to understand how this answer can influence student motivation, it must first be

seen how students are typically motivated by teachers. In his 1994 study, Edward W. Hootstein

claims that “teachers make the U.S. history curriculum motivating by including supplemental

activities to make instruction interesting and appealing” (Hootstein, 1994). Although his research

takes place in the late nineties, the strategies used by teachers are very much applicable today.

By making the class more interesting through activities, students are more motivated to learn

based on their own self interest in the material. In personal experience, social studies teachers

have used this strategy to help student engagement. For example, it is very common to play the

game “Jeopardy” in social studies classes, which help to both teach students and get students

motivated to learn the material. In another of his studies, Hootstein offers teachers of the time

general motivational strategies to help keep students engaged. Hootstein offers basic advice,
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telling teachers to call students by name frequently, to smile, using incentives and offer choices

to students. While the advice seems very basic, an integral part of engaging students in lessons is

giving students respect and keeping a positive attitude for the duration of the lesson. As many

students know, it can become quite boring to listen to a monotonous lecture on history, rather

than play a history-based game, for example. Evidently, students are motivated by activity, an

energetic, positive teacher, and relevance to their lives.

The future of my own teaching strategies will be affected by the research presented. It has

become clear that I will not only have to motivate my students to learn, but also integrate within

my lessons citizenship education, for this is the purpose of learning social studies. While

teaching history, I plan to use a variety of tactics in order to teach effectively and engage

students while interweaving citizenship education throughout my lesson, all at the same time.

Like many teachers before me, the use of technology will be imperative to my lessons. Each

direct instruction lesson and lecture will utilize PowerPoint presentations that will not only be

informative in content, but appealing in both appearance and organization. By using software

like the “Kahoot” app, I can have students use their smartphones in order to solve history-based

questions and develop their critical thinking skills. Additionally, I will prepare games for certain

lessons which, much like the “Jeopardy” example, will both teach students and have them

actively engaged in the material. In order to fully integrate citizenship education into my lessons,

I will go about describing the purpose of history without mentioning “citizenship.” For example,

I could tell students that a specific lesson could help them to become a better boyfriend or

girlfriend, rather than telling them that the lesson will make them a better citizen. To me,

presenting the idea of “citizenship” into social studies directly can cause student motivation to

decrease because of their disinterest in becoming a good citizen. By describing it in a way that
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students might be interested in learning, one can hook students into the lesson that would have

otherwise been disinterested.

In conclusion, social studies classes exist not only to teach students about the all-

important lore of the world around them, but also to help them develop into better citizens who

can engage in intellectual, critical, analytical, and individual thought. Adolescents are not

inherently eager to learn, and it is the duty of the teacher not only teach the students, but have

them motivated to learn and engaged in the material. Unlike math or science, which have a more

tangible practicality, students do not see the value in learning social studies, as a general

knowledge of the Russian Revolution of 1917, for example, might not seem to have any use in

real life. Although the reasoning behind the existence of social studies is no secret to educators

and historians today, the average student passes over the very meaning behind the lesson in

social studies classes. Hopefully by introducing history and critical thought in a way that

adolescents relate to, I can create a motivated and engaged environment in my classroom, filled

with students eager to start the next lesson.

Word Count: 1546

Work Cited

Gibson, Susan. "Why Do We Learn This Stuff"? Students' Views on the Purpose of Social
Studies. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ972852

Hootstein, Edward W. Motivating Middle School Students to Learn. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.1994.11495219

Hootstein, Edward W. Motivational Strategies and Implicit Theories of Social Studies Teachers.
Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED381446
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Sheehan, Mark. 'History as something to do, not just something to learn': Historical Thinking,
Internal Assessment and Critical Citizenship. Retrieved from
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=859001163523493;res=IELNZC