Why Do We Have To Learn History?

After reading a blog entitled, "Why Do We Have To Learn History?" by William Chamberlain, Dr. Strange asked us to take some time and truly think about responding to an elementary student with an answer to why exactly do we need to learn History. My original go to response was the typical one liner given to all students,"because we need to learn from our past, so we don't repeat the same mistakes in the future." However, as Dr. Strange pointed out, this isn't an answer that's actually going to satisfy an elementary student in any way, and honestly I have to agree.

When I was in 5th grade I can clearly remember being so excited, because we were able to use our calculators during Math class for the first time. However, I was slightly disappointed, due to the fact that we hardly ever got to use them, our teacher still wanted us predominantly using mental math. So, whenever we would ask the famous question ,"can we use our calculator?" We were always met with the same reply,"No, you aren't going to have a calculator in your pocket all the time in the real world, you need to learn how to use your brain." The answer when I was in school was of course no, we wouldn't have a calculator in our pockets at all times, today however, the only argument a student needs is one word, Smartphone.

This argument can be used for almost any subject in schools today, including History. Any date, any event, literally any historical fact needed, you are able to find online, and most kids as young as four years old have, if not a smartphone, a tablet device of some sort with internet access. Once again, why exactly do we need to actually need to learn History? To be completely honest, I can't think of a very good reason that would actually satisfy the mind of a young student. The best thing to do as an educator is to make the student interested in the content, and find new ways to teach without the students feeling as though they are constantly just having to memorize facts. Technology is forever changing the face of education and the way educators will be able to teach. The best thing teachers can do is to get on board and to find ways to truly expand the mind of their students.