Until lions have their own historians, tales of hunting will
always glorify the hunter.
-African Proverb
This is
perhaps my favorite history quote. I remember hearing it for the first time
when I was in grade 10 history and it has stuck with me ever since. I know
there are many quotes about history, but the idea that history is subjective
not objective has always fascinated me. Prior to grade 10 history, social
science classes had always been my least favorite class (my teaching major is
social sciences). I remember hearing this quote and thinking ‘well duh, it’s a
story about hunting of course it glorifies the hunter’ but something about that
quote stuck in my head and I remember starting to learn about the Renaissance
and the French and American Revolutions and it slowly clued in that the history
I was being taught was only the story from the perspective of the hunter.
As I progressed
through my high school history classes I began to develop what Appleman calls a
“postcolonial lens”. While I don’t remember my teachers ever taking specific
class time to teach us about postcolonial theory, I will say that whoever
introduced me to this quote started my love for history and my ability to
question the objectivity of historical facts.
Often times
I find that students hate history because they assume it is a bunch of boring
facts about a bunch of old, dead people. I think introducing students to the
different theories and perspectives they can use to approach history with may really help them change their minds. Basic questions about what caused the Lutheran Reformation or
how Hitler defeated miss huge parts of history that is often more interesting and
thought provoking.
A Postcolonial view allows students to broaden
their horizons and question what perspectives are provided in history classes
and where the truth lies between each version of the truth. Ask a student to
tell you about Hitler and you will get the basic synopsis of fall of Hitler, what that
student likely hasn’t thought about was why so many German people believed he was
good for Germany. By teaching students to use a postcolonial lens in examining
their education they can learn to critically examine the world they live in
today.
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