Making History an Interesting Subject

Concerns when History is an elective subject

According to the Ministry of Education and Training, inGeneral education program2018, each subject has different functions, tasks, roles and positions, contributing to educating students to become well-rounded people with enough talent, virtue, and useful citizens for society. In particular, with History, in the basic education stage (from grade 1 to grade 9), this is compulsory content.

During this period, the History program will equip students with general, basic, core knowledge of the entire world history, Vietnamese history from primitive to ancient, medieval, modern and modern. In high school, the career orientation education stage (from grade 10 to grade 12),Historyis arranged as a subject in the social science group.

Students of Hoang Tru Primary School (Nam Dan) visit Uncle Ho's hometown. Photo: MH

According to the roadmap, the 2022-2023 school year will be the first year to implement the textbook replacement for 10th grade students. Specifically, in the 10th grade program, instead of studying 17 subjects, students will only study 12 subjects, the remaining subjects will be freely chosen according to their interests and talents. In particular, History and Physics, which are considered core subjects, are now included in the elective list.

In recent days, regarding the change of History from a compulsory subject to an elective subject, many opinions say that this will inadvertently cause students to forget the past and forget the good values ​​of the nation.

Sharing about this, teacher Dang Quang Tam - teacher at Dang Thai Mai Secondary School (Vinh City) "expressed deep concern about this change and the decision to make History an elective subject needs to be reconsidered".

Students of Ky Son Secondary School (Tan Ky) in a History class. Photo: Duc Anh

He himself is an English teacher and admits that he is not good at History, but 2 years ago, he spent a long time studying for a master's degree in the US, so he realized that History is a very meaningful subject and is highly valued even in the US. "During my time in the US, I went to the school where my child studied (as a parent visiting the class for the first 15 minutes of class) at the invitation of the teacher, and I saw that in the US, History is taught very carefully, from the formation of the country, language, history of the state the students live in to the typical individuals who have contributed to the country.

From there, students are taught what they have done and what they hope to do to contribute to building an increasingly prosperous country, to eliminate injustice, poverty and social evils in their country. I see that they also frankly teach students about mistakes and disastrous defeats in history, including teaching about America's failure in the war inVietnambecause it is an unjust war.

Students of Hong Son Primary School meet historical witnesses. Photo: MH

From the above reasons, I believe that studying history helps students see many perspectives, great achievements, and mistakes that we can learn from. Moreover, it will guide students to think more carefully in important decisions and guide students' thinking for a peaceful world and human civilization.

Sharing the same view, teacher Nguyen Dinh Phuc - Vice Principal of Phan Thuc Truc High School (Yen Thanh), a History teacher, also said that if students do not learn history, it will leave a gap because "historical knowledge taught in the system of all levels in general schools is basic, reflecting the core content of the historical process".

He also said that many opinions say that if students do not learn history in textbooks, they can learn on their own through many other information channels. However, "that historical knowledge is often approached in a "discontinuous" way, each event separately, sometimes the understanding is only "curious", so understanding fully and completely is often difficult".

Innovation in teaching and learning methods

As soon as the new General Education Program made History an elective subject, in addition to opinions disagreeing with this issue for many different reasons, one of the issues that many people are concerned about is that "students will not study History if it is not a compulsory subject".

This may sound contradictory, but it is a reality shared by many students, because History has long been one of the unattractive subjects with too many figures and events, lacking liveliness and appeal. Student Nguyen Khai - Nghi Huong Secondary School (Cua Lo town) said: "Studying History has a lot of knowledge, is difficult to remember, and the test scores are often low. Therefore, next year in grade 10, I will choose another elective subject instead of History."

On the occasion of the country's important holidays and anniversaries and to promote the value of the thematic exhibition "Memories of the Fire and War Period", Nghe An Museum in collaboration with the National History Museum organized an educational program for the young generation in the form of the "I Love History" Club with the theme "Memories of the Fire and War Period" at Nghe An Museum. Photo: TK

At Huynh Thuc Khang High School, although there has not been any survey on students registering for subject groups for grade 10, the results seem to have been predicted, because over the past 10 years, the number of students studying and registering for block C (Literature - History - Geography) has been very small.

Ms. Hoang Thi Bach Tuyet - History teacher of the school explains this for two reasons. Firstly, because this is a difficult subject to learn, heavy on knowledge and low on test scores. Moreover, when students choose a career, the number of universities that recruit group C students is very small.

Teacher Phan Xuan Huynh - former Principal of Hermann Gmeiner High School frankly shared: "In fact, it is not the fault of the subject of History or those who do not like to study History, but the fault lies with those who have made the subject of History less attractive. Therefore, instead of forcing us to study something, we need to make something really attractive and practical for life, then students will choose it."

History will contribute to educating students about patriotism and national pride. Photo: MH

In order for students to love history and be attached to history, in recent times, many teachers in Nghe An province have also made efforts to innovate teaching and learning methods and organized many field trips to make learning history more effective.

For example, Hong Son Primary School (Vinh city) with the model "Borderless Classroom" has connected the school's history lessons with schools in Quang Tri, Hanoi, Dak Lak and through that, students will be introduced to historical sites in their hometown by their friends in those localities, visit memorial houses online and meet historical witnesses such as Colonel, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Le Duy Ung - the main character in the story "The determined soldier" (Vietnamese textbook for grade 4).

In many other schools, history lessons are also linked to visits to local historical sites, changing the way of testing and assessment...

Besides, many teachers also expect that the new History textbook will contribute to changing the thinking about History and changing the way of teaching and learning this subject.

“The new textbooks are very eye-catching and attractive to students. The way the lectures are organized will also be different, according to each topic throughout and students will learn according to mind maps, making it easy for students to understand. In addition, the way of asking and approaching problems in an “open” way will create interest for students and have a connection between the past and the present so that students can see the practicality and applicability. With this new way of teaching and learning, I believe that students will not be afraid to study History and will approach this subject in a gentle and simple way.”

Teacher Bui Bich Hau - A teacher who has had many students win prizes at provincial and national competitions for excellent students and is currently working at Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted added:

At the plenary session on May 22, the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education unanimously proposed that the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) take into account the opinions of the people, history experts, and National Assembly deputies, and stipulate that the History subject at high school level in the 2018 General Education Program is a compulsory subject.