Deconstructing Christopher Columbus

This "deconstructing" of Columbus takes place over the entire month of October, while other classes are reaffirming the myth of Columbus. First, the teacher Paul * explores the students' prior knowledge about Columbus, and usually finds the responses to be fairly uniform -- explorer,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Peace and freedom (1978) 1999-08, Vol.59 (3), p.24
Main Author: McCafferty, Jacqueline
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Culture
Education
Educators
History
Human relations
Interpersonal communication
Minority & ethnic groups
Personal relationships
Race relations
Teaching
United States
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Summary:This "deconstructing" of Columbus takes place over the entire month of October, while other classes are reaffirming the myth of Columbus. First, the teacher Paul * explores the students' prior knowledge about Columbus, and usually finds the responses to be fairly uniform -- explorer, founder of America, etc ... Paul said that in the 12 years he has been teaching this new perspective of Columbus he has rarely had a student question what they have been told about Columbus. This is exactly what Paul hopes to see. He believes in students being active learners. Part of the Columbus lesson includes designing a questionnaire to survey common knowledge about Columbus among the adults in the school. The outcome of the questionnaire showed that most adults didn't know the real history of Columbus. The purpose of this exercise is not the results, but rather to develop the students' ability to generate questions -- to become seekers of knowledge. Paul is creating little researchers in his students who, by questioning historical interpretations, learn to question daily events in their life. There is so much to look at when deconstructing history, such as how language is used as a tool to maintain stories that don't represent reality. With Columbus, students connect the threads to their own lives -- not just that he was a slave-owner and murderer, but how that connects to their lives today. In 1992, there was a "Celebrating Columbus" essay competition among the local public schools. Teachers were asked to choose the best students to represent the school in writing an essay honoring Columbus. A ninth grade history teacher chose two of her top students. When the students -- who had studied with Paul -- learned of the essay topic, they refused to write it. They refused to celebrate this man because "it wouldn't be telling the truth about Columbus."
ISSN:0015-9093