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Understanding the Past, Creating the Present, Imagining the Future
Understanding the Past, Creating the Present, Imagining the Future
“Oh no, not another person and date to memorize!” The boy in world history class thought to himself as he slouched into the cold plastic seat. “Who cares? Why do we need to learn about the past? So what if he said this, or she did that? Why can’t we talk about what’s happening now?”
That boy was me. I hated history. It was an endless barrage of people, places, and dates that we had to memorize and recall on tests. I didn’t see a use for it nor did I care about what happened.
Fast forward about ten years, and I was asked by my supervisor to teach World History. I’m primarily a math teacher. So I’m sure the look I gave her was a look as if she was talking to the wrong teacher. I ended up taking the assignment.
Teaching world history taught me to understand where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and why we’re in the state we’re in today. I had to admit; I was learning a lot about history, even if it was a day before the students. I made sure my class was not the boring class I had to endure. I think I ended the year learning more than the students did.
My appreciation for what we have today is deep-rooted in the appreciation for the sacrifices people made in the past. Like my parents, countless people have sacrificed nearly everything so that future generations can have a better life. I want to make sure that those sacrifices were not done in vain.
One of the central themes of Academy of the Renaissance is “understanding the past.”
This theme was inspired while I was touring Italy. As I ventured through the country, I realized the cityscape was a mosaic of ancient ruins and modern architect. Tour guides repeatedly emphasized how Italians value the preservation of their past in order to understand and inform their thinking about the present and future.
As these words echoed in my mind, it inspired me to create the first part of our tagline, “Understanding the past.”
It is crucial for our students to understand the past. Similar to my experience, I would like students to appreciate that what they have were the results of the efforts and sacrifices people have made. This will include the hard work in building the school, creating the curriculum, developing relationships with community members, our donors, and the efforts big and small from many people and organizations.
Nothing in the present has occurred in a vacuum of time independently of other events nor has anything been created without countless iterations through trials and errors. It would be foolish to create a new product without researching the history of iterations that that product has gone through. Otherwise, one could literally “reinvent the wheel!”
Our integrated approach to curriculum development will help facilitate the importance of history. Foundations in all subject areas are built on a history of perspectives and approaches.
Even the process of restorative justice starts out with students attempting to understand the altercation at hand. Learning and understanding the perspective of others helps to inform not only the parties involved but also the adults because it paints a broader picture about an incidence, which could not be done purely from observations. Understanding this history allows everyone to create a healthy plan to move forward.
Understanding history also motivates students. Students have often walked away from motivational speakers telling me how inspired they were from the speaker’s story. I often saw them emulate certain things about the speaker or started doing things suggested by the speaker. I have also heard students tell me how a person in history inspired them to seek careers in different fields.
If we want our students to become meaningful adults, we must show them historical adults who have done meaningful work that contributed to a progressive and healthy society.
Creating an exemplary school has required us to examine and understand the history and purpose of education. This has informed us in the creation of our pillars, values, and vision. It will further help us to develop meaningful curriculum, education policies, and standards. We cannot predict the future for our children, but we can maximize their potential to become meaningful adults.
