Forgotten Histories: The Need for a Multi-Narrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies

Author(s)

Madison SmithFollow

Abstract

This paper discusses the idea of using a multi narrative approach to teaching social studies and focuses on a presentation meant to bring about change among teachers. The presentation used to present at the Ohio Council for Social Studies Annual Conference in October of 2020 brings this concept to the forefront and provides practical ways in which teachers can implement this approach when teaching history. A multi-narrative approach focuses on combining and using multiple sources from multiple perspectives with the intention of creating a more inclusive story of how events played out. The typical way in which history is taught is through the experiences of rich white men who were educated and could afford to write down what was happening. Over time, these experiences became the central narrative that is used when talking about history. This narrative is pervasive in the content standards for social studies and is frequently the focus of social studies curriculum. By presenting this, my goal was to inform individuals in the field of education of how to actually go about constructing a multi-narrative history with their students. This goal was successfully achieved based on feedback received and ultimately I plan on using this multi-narrative approach when I have my own classroom.

Major

Integrated Social Studies Education

First Advisor

Jeffrey Burkett

First Advisor Department

Educational Foundations and Inquiry

Second Advisor

Dr. Thomas Edge

Second Advisor Department

Ethnic Studies

Publication Date

Spring 4-21-2021

Repository Citation

Smith, Madison, "Forgotten Histories: The Need for a Multi-Narrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies" (2021). Honors Projects. 610.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/honorsprojects/610