And, of course, a Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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PROJECT 1812: HISTORY FOR THE KINESTHETIC LEARNER
Teaching
history to kinesthetic high-schoolers is challenging because history is usually
studied by reading and listening; to learn history has heretofore meant using
books, or hearing about events from savants who, having devoted their lives to
such study, can highlight, and simplify complex matters for easy reception by
tender minds.1 Now, however, with students who find it difficult to
learn by such antique methods, modern pedagogues must develop new rubrics, new
praxis, new epistemologies.2
We
present here an exemplary project that we hope will stimulate many other
educational professionals (“teachers”) to develop and expand innovative
methodologies.
OVERTURE
One
of the most dramatic and important events of the early 19th Century was the
French invasion of Russia. Project 1812 focuses on the catastrophic dénouement
of this, the largest military operation before World War I, which set in motion
the downfall of the First Empire and the victory of the reactionary regimes of
the Age of Metternich (1815-1848).
The
retreat from Moscow has often been described--e.g. Tolstoy’s magnificent
treatment in War and Peace--but how can one bring the reality of what happened
to people who cannot readily comprehend the written or the spoken word? We
think we have found a way.
Most
Modern European History courses will reach the second half of the Napoleonic
Era in December or early January, which is the perfect--indeed, the only--time
when this Project can be properly conducted.
- On a very cold day with high wind chill, all the kinesthetic learners
will be driven to a mall, or other public location, about five miles from
campus. They may wear only light summer clothing, such as T-shirts, shorts,
cotton slacks, and sandals. Each will receive a sandwich, a pint of bottled
water, and a knapsack containing about fifty pounds of hockey pucks.
Rationale: The flimsy clothing and scanty food simulate
the dress and rations of most French soldiers during the retreat from Moscow.
The knapsacks simulate the vast assortment of loot that the French took from
the ruined city, confident that they could bring it back to France.
ENRICHMENT
Hardy
kinesthetics who insist on remaining at the school after Project 1812 will take
part in Project 1941, “Hitler’s Retreat From Moscow” (which is very
similar to Project 1812 except that the local people may use rifles).
Schools
in warm climates may obtain satisfactory results from Project 1917 (The
Project to End Projects), a simulation of Passchendaele (3rd Ypres). It takes
place in soft, muddy ground in early spring or late autumn. (Project 1917
provides a fine opportunity for some cross-disciplinary activity: for added
realism, the Science Department can manufacture phosgene and mustard gas for
use as the kinesthetics slog through the knee-deep mud towards distant,
unattainable objectives.)
----------------------------1 Kinesthetic (or “haptic”) learners (for the benefit of nonprofessionals who might not know) are those who, we are told, cannot learn much from reading or listening, but who learn best by doing things with their hands and the movement of their bodies. Some laymen, ignorant of current pedagogical “best practice,” might think that such students would not be enrolled in preparatory schools or aspire to college diplomas, but would instead be directed into shop classes, vo-techs, the lower enlisted ranks of the armed forces, and similar places where they could use their talents to best advantage without cluttering up the halls of academe; but that is not the case today.
