World History in American Middle Schools: A Problem and an Alternative Pedagogy

Description

Most states’ secondary-level World History course follows a “Western Civilization Plus”
curricular design. As a result, the course is decidedly Euro- and androcentric. Parts and peoples
of the world deemed more peripheral to its prerogative are treated as supplemental, and a
metanarrative based on the supposed (neo-)European march of progress towards “modernity,”
left intact. This is an ahistorical approach to the world’s history, and this project joins the call for
historiographical and curricular correction. To do so, it exemplifies the problem through a
representative curriculum and deconstructs the conceptual framework upon which that
curriculum rests. Specifically, it hones in on the “early modern period” to find a distorted epoch
fashioned teleologically that, when loosened from its tunneled constraints, reveals an historical
world steeped in interconnection. Finally, this project envisions a pedagogy for teachers working
within the aforementioned state majority—one that respects both their professional obligations
and their role to facilitate students’ wholistic historical understanding.
 

Team

Members

Student:

Jaclyn Pastorini

Supervisor:

Prasenjit Duara