Point-of-View in History

As a student growing up, I took for granted the point-of-view in which I learned about history. When I read my textbook about historical events, I thought all information was exactly the way the event happened. However, I now know from living in another country, meeting people from other countries and reading about issues in another country's perspective, that there are several viewpoints about historical events and they are not all the same.

Exposing students to several viewpoints is something that I am going to be consciously aware of and implement. It is especially important to do this with a class that includes ELL students. ELL students may have already learned about the topic in the country where they lived prior to the US. Therefore, it is important that we discuss that country's point-of-view, the United States' point-of-view and other country's point-of-view. By studying each of these viewpoints, students will be more educated and will be able to make their own informed opinion about the topic. Students may also want to perform further research on the topic. Therefore, as a teacher, it is important that I provide resources that portray events from different points-of-view.

One thing I will keep in mind is that different viewpoints and perspectives do not only need to be about historical facts. I will encourage my students to think from other perspectives or points-of-view in other areas as well, including literature. One project I am looking forward to implementing in my class is having students write letters or stories from another point-of-view other than the main characters. To give the students an example, I will share with them Jon Scieszka’s book The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, which is written from the wolf's perspective. Reading this book will help students realize that the story may be different depending on the perspective or point-of-view of who is telling the story or talking about an event.