Teaching History, with Daniel Gidick

“We learn the most from those who came before us, not by gazing up at them uncritically or down on them condescendingly, but by looking them in the eye. And taking their true measure as human beings, not as gods.” (Daniel Gidick, quoting historian John Meacham)

“When does the revolution end? … It doesn’t.” (Daniel Gidick on Thomas Jefferson)

“This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.” (Daniel Gidick, quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt)

Teaching high school history in our current social and political moment represents a formative transmission of the past to the present. Not to mention that a high school level US history course is often one of the final steps toward citizenship and public participation for young adults entering American society.

In this episode, Mark welcomes high school history teacher Daniel Gidick for a discussion of how the teaching of history and the education of young people influence human society.

Together they discuss the connection between history and contemporary society; the stories of conflict and human interest; the joy and challenge of secondary education; the politicalization of high school history; how students adopt a connection to the past; the importance of fact-based history teaching; how history affects American democratic citizenship; and the personal connection Daniel has with the study of United States history.

About Daniel Giddick

Daniel Gidick teaches US history and government at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Show Notes

• US history and the constant turmoil of the social landscape
• History as “stories of human conflict and human interest”
• Inspirational historical figures
• The depth and impact of high school teachers on young people
• “Battlefield breakfast”
• “The last teacher they’ll have before they take on the greatest title that you can have (other than parent), which is citizen.”
• “A parodied speech of Eisenhower’s D-Day speech” to motivate test takers
• Historical documents
• The politicization of high school history
• Jon Meacham: “We learn the most from those who came before us, not by gazing up at them uncritically or down on them condescendingly, but by looking them in the eye. And taking their true measure as human beings, not as gods.”
• American Civil War
• State versus national power
• “When in doubt, the answer of the division of history is: slavery.”
• The New Deal: “The pivot point of the twentieth century.”
• Immigration
• How do students feel about America?
• “Lincoln has to be dead by Christmas.”
• “When does the revolution end? … It doesn’t.”
• A connection to the past, finding relevance
• What is your theory of history?
• Fact-based historical teaching
• How history affects American democratic citizenship
• An inflection point in American history
• “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” (FDR)
• “This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.” (FDR)
• “One of the points of reflecting on the past is to prepare us for action in the present.” (Jon Meacham)

Production Credits

Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment Magazine and Fuller Seminary.