Graduate Level History Question

NY Thinks Outside Teacher Education Box

President of the American Museum of Natural History, Ellen V. Futter in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth in the Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York. The exhibitions in the Hall of Planet Earth feature earth and planetary science content that will be a key resource in the museum MAT program.

Of all the states that have taken steps to rethink systems for preparing teachers, New York appears to be experimenting with the greatest variety of approaches.

Under a series of actions by the state board of regents over the past 1½ years, it has approved the first new graduate school of education in the state in more than half a century; cracked open the door to allow nonuniversity programs to prepare teachers at the graduate-degree level; and financed a variety of “clinically rich” pilot training programs at traditional schools of education.

The state is also in the beginning phases of tying a series of teacher assessments to its tiered-certification system, a move that ultimately will require all teachers to pass performance exams and demonstrate their impact on student learning to...

The Discarded Image » Book Review: The Essential Historiography Reader

Tells the story of the struggle Protestants encountered in bringing religious change to the nation. One hero stands out, John Knox, a particularly brave soul who, while feeling he was too lowly of a tool to do great things for God, nevertheless spoke his mind and challenged authorities. The pious figure is depicted as God’s prophet in Scotland and is unforgettable—for some today, he is still a role model.

One could easily admire the nobility of our hero’s character, that is, until it is remembered that it is Knox himself who wrote the history. It is Knox who is controlling what we see and how we see him. In this text she introduces the subject of historiography to students and provides a fantastic reminder that there has never been one perspective on how to approach the discipline of history.

The graduate-level history courses I teach are for seminary students. Many are second-career students, often without a background in the subjects they are studying. For the seminarian in a professional master’s program (e.g. Master of Divinity), learning about the history of Christianity is more of a crash course in the big picture. While this reader is aimed at the beginner undergraduate history student, it still works for this type of seminary environment.

Historiography, a “critical examination of the various philosophies, theories, and methods which have been used by historians over time,” as Hoefferle defines it, is rarely the focus of the professional seminary degree. In my classroom, I introduce historiography as a way of helping the student understand the issues involved when engaging the history of Christianity, a subject near and dear to their personal identities.

There is a temptation in theological education to approach history as did Knox, that is, with the “heroes of the faith” perspective. I want my student to ask questions of their methodologies and to understand their own presuppositions. I want them to know that history is not theology.

Given that, Hoefferle’s book provides a great look at those theories and philosophies that inform the histories we read. The introduction to The Essential Historiography Reader provides a brief, but helpful overview of the questions, concerns, and perspectives one might bring to the study of history.

“Our personal philosophy of the meaning of life, of our role and responsibilities in life, and of how the world really works…has an impact on our historical philosophy,” writes Hoefferle, “and our historical philosophy helps to determine which historical theories and methods seem most reasonable to us.