Journal Response #3: Teaching History

This is a response to the journal:  Teaching History.  140 (Sept. 2010).

Rather than simply read one article, I decided that my review really should constitute the entirety of the journal.  This is partly because I feel my last two posts have failed to constitute the breadth of articles contained within the entire journal, but mostly, I really enjoyed reading through Teaching History.  I found it to be a very engaging text, and I will likely sign-up for a subscription to it, regardless of what I teach.

This was not my initial reaction: not in the slightest.  The second I opened Teaching History I immediately closed it again so that I might check the title page.  Inside, I had beheld colours, shapes, diagrams and word banks.  I found colloquial summaries of whole articles on every page.  Where were the crisp, white, text-laden articles?  Where were the plain formalities of academia?  I thought I had grabbed a Scholastic Weekly by mistake, or worse, some kind of parenting journal.  The format confused me entirely, and I felt vaguely hurt by Teaching History's complete lack of pretention.  I'm a university graduate.  I don't need colourful blocks telling me the articles main points or illustrating lesson plans.  The only information I care about needs to be presented in essay format with a thesis, subtopics, and concluding statement.  It should be arranged with an Abstract at the beginning, contain only important images and figures, span at least ten pages in length, have five words I don't understand in the first paragraph alone, have a boring title, and should be authored by someone with the letters PhD accompanying their name.  Thank you very much.

Once I had confirmed I was reading the proper journal (and worked through some of my academic snobbery), I actually took the time to read the subtitle printed on the cover: Creative Thinking.  The whole issue - in fact, the entire journal - was devoted to parting with the stuffy traditions mandated by academic journals and developing new ideas not just for teaching but for communicating in general; hence, the illustrations, figures, word banks, summaries and definitions.  The journal wasn't being patronizing in the slightest.  In fact, its layout spoke to multiple intelligences, and as I began to read with an open mind, I found myself retaining more information thanks to the new, bold format Teaching History had to offer.

I was still disappointed somewhat in the language.  I do believe that academic writing should be formal, and the contributing authors in Teaching History used mostly colloquial language.  I realize that this is a part of their 'thinking creatively' mantra, but it is possible to use formal writing and be engaging with an audience.  In fact, and perhaps this is just my snobbishness speaking, I believe it takes a better writer to use formal language and still hold the audience's attention.

However, the layout grew on me.  It was rich with information, provided important context in a few short spaces rather than several paragraphs, and really helped me retain a lot more information than I would have if I were simply reading those white academic pages I had been so desperate to see.  Best of all, the magazine offered a lot of ideas for lesson plans and activities to use in the classroom, and rather than write out the lesson, the illustrations clearly explained the expectations.

The use of popular culture was also a nice touch in the journal.  I'm a huge advocate for using popular culture in the classroom, so seeing music, movies, and television series not only mentioned but employed as teachable materials was really helpful and gave me some great ideas for my second placement.  I've often lamented the Ivory Tower's disavowal of pop culture for the sake of the classics; thanks to Teaching History's emphasis on creative thinking, I no longer have to.  This was a wonderful journal, and I really enjoyed it.  It was engaging, fresh, and original, which compensated for its decided lack of academic rigor in some respects.

Notable articles:  using Bob Dylan music for lessons.  Beautiful!