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Continuing Series
Interviews with Exemplary Teachers: Orville Vernon Burton and Beverly San Augustín
Roy Rosenzweig and Kelly Schrum
George Mason University
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This continues a series of interviews in which distinguished
teachers share their strategies and techniques. Good teaching is
more often honored in rhetoric than reality. And great teachers
are generally known locally within their own schools, but less often
to a larger group of national colleagues. The goal in these interviews
is, in part, to identify and honor those people who have taught
with excellence, dedication, and distinction. But more than that,
we believe that these teachers have lessons to offer the rest of
us and that there are remarkably few forums for hearing their wisdom.
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These interviews have been conducted
by Roy Rosenzweig, director, and Kelly Schrum, associate director
of History Matters, Center for History and New Media (CHNM)
at George Mason University. They originated as part of the web site
that CHNM and the American Social History Project have organized
for history teachers and students: "History Matters: The U.S. Survey
Course on the Web." Designed for high school and college teachers
of the United States history survey courses (and supported by a
grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation), this site serves as a gateway to web resources
and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents
and threaded discussions on teaching United States history. You
are invited to visit it at: http://historymatters.gmu.edu.
If you would like to propose a teacher for inclusion in this series,
please e-mail Roy Rosenzweig at rrosenzw@gmu.edu. |
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Interview with Orville Vernon Burton
by Roy Rosenzweig
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ORVILLE VERNON BURTON is Professor of History and Sociology at the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is also a Senior
Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications
where he heads the initiative for Humanities and Social Science
projects. His major areas of research are race relations, family,
community, and religion. His work has appeared in more than a hundred
articles in a variety of journals. He is the author or editor of
six books (one of which is on CD-ROM), including In My Father's
House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South
Carolina (1985). He is the current President of Agricultural
History Society. Recognized with teaching awards at the department,
school, college, and campus levels, he was designated one of the
first three UIUC University "Distinguished Teacher/Scholars" in
1999. He was also selected nationwide as the 1999 U.S. Research
and Doctoral University Professor of the Year (presented by the
Carnegie Foundation and by CASE). In the 2000-2001 academic year,
he was named a Carnegie Scholar as well as Mark Clark Distinguished
Visiting Professor of History at the Citadel.
What drew you to history teaching?
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I grew up and attended school in the
rural cotton mill town of Ninety Six, South Carolina. The high school
history teacher was our football coach, and those of us on the team
sometimes went to the gym or had team meetings instead of attending
class. We did have a very good football team and won the state championship,
but I learned very little about history in high school. I did read
a lot, including all the history and biographies in the bookmobile
that visited every other week. Also, as I rolled newspapers for
my paper route each morning, I read three different papers with
totally contrasting political views, which was intriguing to me.
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Ninety Six is a very old colonial
town surrounded by reminders of history. Today, it calls itself
the "garden spot of history." Like many people, I learned my history
from the memorials that surrounded me—the old house that someone
pointed out as historical, the Revolutionary battlefield that was
about three miles outside of town, and local historical markers.
One marker celebrated native son and U.S. Congressman Preston Brooks
and his brutal caning of Massachusetts abolitionist Senator Charles
Sumner in the Senate Chamber. In Brooks's own words: "I struck him
with my cane and gave him about thirty first rate stripes with a
gutta percha cane.... Every lick went where I intended.... Towards
the end he bellowed like a calf. I wore my cane out completely."
The New York Times reported in 1856 that Ninety Six honored
Brooks with the largest gathering ever in the upcountry. Thousands
of canes were presented to Brooks to replace the one he had destroyed
while beating Sumner. Sad to say, but Sumner's caning was what I
saw celebrated as history. |
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As a youngster in Ninety Six, I liked
all the people, and all people were so good to me, so I could not
figure out the negative attitudes towards others in the community.
As a religious child, I was perplexed about the animosity of some
whites towards African Americans, especially in the years after
Brown v. Board of Education. I wondered why the white
people in my church who were so good to me could have such strong
negative feelings about African Americans. Why would they
not want them to attend our church? That "why" question led me into
thinking about the history of race relations. |
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Thus, as a young man growing up in
the South during the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War,
I was witness to the abuses of history, a history that justified
exploitation and racism. I realized then that history should explain
the past, not glorify it. I came to believe that history is a way
of life, a way of making sense of the world and of oneself. But
that was not until much later. |
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You talk about your deep affection for your hometown but also
your deep criticism for the version of the past that you learned
there. Did that realization that you were witnessing "abuses of
the past" come suddenly or as a gradual process?
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That view came gradually, but fairly
early. I also learned much about the complexity of history by growing
up in a bi-racial rural, cotton mill area. We had triple segregation
in the early years, African Americans in one school, white rural
and town kids in my school, and kids whose parents worked in the
mill went to the mill school for elementary grades. So there was
an early recognition of class and caste along with race. |
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Something very important to me was
my friendship with Charles Willis Williams; our homes were near
each other's, only across the cow pasture, and he and I were pretty
much inseparable. Like everyone in his family, I called him "Brother."
I was pretty naïve; it took me a long time to know why some
whites teased me about my "black brother." So I learned rather early
on from African-American friends that there were other versions
of history, another view of my hometown community, and a different
understanding of people's motivations. |
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Did your historical views change in college?
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I had wonderful history professors
at Furman University. At first I was pretty quiet, because I talked
"country" and dressed rather unstylishly. Even in 1965 Furman was
the best school in South Carolina, and most of the students were
from upper middle-class families with a few poorer students who
might be heading for the ministry. One day, Dr. Winston Babb, a
wonderful professor and human being, was talking in history class
about how when he first came to Furman everyone knew what a "lint
head" was, but that for the last fifteen years not one student had
any idea of what the term referred to. For some reason, I spoke
up and told him I knew, and that I had worked in a cotton mill.
From that day forward Dr. Babb "adopted" me. I suppose I became
a history major because of his personal interest in me. And the
personal caring about students that the Furman faculty exhibited
certainly influenced me. |
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I suspect it was mainly Dr. Babb's
doing, though I do not know for certain, that I was selected for
the Ford Carnegie Harvard-Yale-Columbia Intensive Summer Studies
Program. It was a wonderful program that was designed for minority
students. There were about five or six non-African-American participants
out of a total of probably one hundred students. In 1967 at Columbia
University I took the Great Books "Contemporary Civilization" course
that was set up for us in the program, and I had to take another
"regular" summer course being offered. Someone placed me in a graduate
lecture course on the Old South. They assumed, I suppose, that since
I was from the South, that I should be OK in this graduate-level
course, but I had never had any American History. Visiting Professor
Eugene Genovese from Rutgers, celebrated at the time for his opposition
to the Viet Nam war, had just published a book, The Political
Economy of the Old South, that electrified the profession. He
was an extraordinary lecturer, weaving a remarkable web of ideas,
and, if you bought into the tenets of his argument, you were hooked.
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What I remember about the course
(in addition to wondering why Gene and I were the only two males
not wearing a beanie—never having seen a yarmulke before) is the
paper we had to write on W. J. Cash, Mind of the South. I
was so angry with Cash's depiction of mill workers that instead
of the four-page required paper, I wrote about thirty pages about
how great the folks working in the cotton mill were and how Cash
was wrong. Gene did not like the paper. He just wanted us to say
that other areas besides the South had a frontier. He had no idea
where I was from, and he assumed I was being presumptuous about
my knowledge of the South. Gene got me very interested in Southern
History. Interestingly, while Gene was a masterful teacher, I later
elected a very different style from his. I prefer to present students
with multiple interpretations in addition to mine, very different
from Gene's effective way of presenting a tight argument. |
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The following summer at Yale University
I had a class with Bill McFeely and Joe Ellis. We read C. Vann Woodward's
Tom Watson: Agrarian Rebel. That book showed me that history
could make a difference, and that is when I considered becoming
a historian. Because of Woodward, I began to see that one could
use history to help people understand, and a new understanding can
change the world, especially in terms of race relations. |
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In college I became active in the
Civil Rights Movement and voter registration. In February 1968,
the South Carolina Highway patrol killed three African-American
students and wounded twenty-seven others who were protesting a segregated
bowling alley in Orangeburg. This Orangeburg Massacre and the way
the state officials tried to explain it away in the papers had an
influence on me; I again realized how powerful the truth is and
how important it is who wrote and taught history. I remember at
a sit-in at the attorney general's office, questioning the spin
that the state was putting on what happened. |
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My senior year at Furman University,
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays spoke during Religious Emphasis week. I had
known a great deal about Preston Brooks from Ninety Six, but I had
never learned that Ninety Six is also the home of Benjamin E. Mays,
the long time president of Morehouse College, the spiritual mentor
of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and the godfather of the
modern Civil Rights Movement. No memorial markers commemorated this
apostle of peace whose very life represented a heroic struggle for
dignity and for civil rights. Getting to know Dr. Mays, learning
that he often visited our same hometown, and that whites were unaware
of who he was also influenced me about wanting to become a teacher
and a historian. (There is now a memorial to Dr. Mays in Ninety
Six.) |
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The wonderful professors I had at
Furman encouraged me to go on to graduate school. Because of the
Harvard-Yale-Columbia ISSP, I was also recruited for graduate school,
and I elected to go to Princeton. There I encountered other really
great teachers and role models. |
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I am still learning and changing my
historical views of teaching. This last year has been terrific for
me as a Carnegie Scholar. Through that program I have begun to explore
the scholarship of teaching and learning in a systematic way. I
was introduced to the work of Sam Wineburg, who studies how historians
and students learn history. I have been trying to use some of what
I have learned in my own teaching. |
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You have mentioned a number of positive and negative role models
of history teaching that you have encountered from your high school
days through graduate school. Which teachers do you think most
influenced the kind of teacher you have become?
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My Furman teachers influenced me because
of how much they cared for students. They reached out to me and
made me work hard to learn and to make up for my background. I will
always treasure those relationships with my professors at Furman.
I appreciated Bill McFeely's passion for history and Joe Ellis's
encouragement. At Princeton, Sheldon Hackney was a role model as
someone who is inspired by ideas. I am still using his ideas thirty
years later, and they still seem fresh and new. Jim McPherson was
a role model in the incredible breadth of his knowledge and his
ability to synthesize and explain different interpretations. Both
Sheldon and Jim made me feel like a part of the Princeton intellectual
community and that made me work even that much harder in graduate
school. I have tried to show that sort of respect for my undergraduates
(and graduate students), and I believe that they work harder, are
willing to read and write more, because they know that I genuinely
respect them and their ideas, and that I care about them. |
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When did you start teaching?
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I taught at Mercer County Community
College while a graduate student at Princeton. I have been teaching
at the University of Illinois since 1974. In the summer of
1987, I taught at the Governor's school for high school students
in South Carolina (located at the College of Charleston). But the
spring of 2001, when I visited at The Citadel, was the first time
I taught full-time outside of Illinois. |
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What courses have you taught?
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There are just too many to name, literally
dozens of different courses. At the undergraduate level, I have
particularly taught courses on Southern history, race, family, Civil
Rights, and historical methods as well as the U.S. history survey.
For graduate students, I have taught a similar range of courses,
particularly Southern history and historical methodology. |
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Which are your favorite courses to teach?
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What I really enjoy teaching is the
students. But I guess my favorite courses are Southern History,
race relations, Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights
Movement because they deal with race relations, and teaching race
relations can make a real difference in someone's life. |
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Having been at the University of Illinois for more than twenty-five
years means you have taught about the history of race and race
relations in some fairly different historical moments. How has
teaching about race changed over the years?
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When I first went to Illinois, we
were still in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. My students
seemed to believe that the U.S. was tilted so that all the evils
rolled down into the South. As I taught race relations over the
years, this view has shifted. I still remember in the 1980s when
I was teaching a course on race relations and a white student came
up to me and said, "Professor Burton, you don't understand, you
are from the South where all races of people are cordial." She went
on to explain in terminology very similar to the old pro-slavery
"bestiality" arguments that "'those people' in South Side Chicago
are like animals." The South has now become in popular movies and
books a place where race relations are OK. Now it is the inner city
North that has the problem. African American as well as white students
reflect this naïve view. |
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Perhaps an even more important way
that the teaching of race relations has changed is the reflection
and awareness of the diversity of America. The increasing Hispanic
and Asian-American population and the recognition of Native American
rights (especially with the University of Illinois's retention of
the "Chief" as their athletic symbol, clearly an insult to Native
Americans), have all come to be more important in the teaching of
race relations. When I began teaching race relations in 1974, one
of the questions we explored was which came first, race or slavery.
Of course, this would not have been a question of significance if
it did not have ideological implications relevant to our own times
and the Civil Rights Movement. If the institution of slavery was
a very slow growth and was not complete until the beginning of the
eighteenth century, then racial prejudice was not the inherent and
automatic reaction of the British and European people when meeting
Africans for the first time. The corollary of this line of thinking
is that the eradication of racial prejudice would come with the
elevation of the economic status of the subjugated group, and prejudice
would melt away quickly. It's a relatively happy view. |
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On the other hand, if the reaction
of the English and Europeans when first meeting Africans was to
enslave them, then racial prejudice may be so ingrained in human
nature that the truly integrated society that we want is impossible.
This sort of dichotomous thinking worked well for students to wrestle
with in those years. But as we became more aware of the many sides
and forms of racism in our multi-ethnic society, this dichotomy
does not ring true. Now we talk about the creation of race and the
creation of "whiteness." The relationship of class and gender to
race relations has to occupy a large portion of any class. I like
to present these arguments to students as scholars developed and
changed the arguments over the years. Then, I have the students
ponder why historians wrestling with these issues might have come
up with the theories they did at a particular time. |
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The issues of affirmative action and
minority rights, especially the end of segregation under the 1964
Civil Rights Act and the emergence of voting rights under the 1965
Voting Rights Act, have also influenced the circumstances in which
I teach about race. I do not hesitate to bring in my experiences
in the courtrooms as an expert witness for minority plaintiffs in
voting rights or discrimination cases. Students learn, just as I
learned, that the discrimination against Latinos in El Centro, California,
was very much like the discrimination against African-American laborers
in the South. I often share with them how people in El Centro elected
African Americans to the school board, although African Americans
were only about 3 percent of the population, but would not elect
Hispanics who were over 40 percent. These sorts of real life issues
help students understand the relevance of history in race relations
and how important it is that all peoples have their stories told.
A recent case where a San Diego African-American Postal Worker was
called "boy" by white co-workers really engaged the interest of
my class. They tried to understand why that term is so demeaning
to an African American male and does not have the same negative
connotation for whites. This was precisely the issue that I was
asked to explain to the court. Thus, seeing how history is used
in the courtroom, helped my students understand the power of history.
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What about the U.S. History Survey course? In what formats
do you teach it?
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I regularly teach the U.S. History
Survey, both halves, and have since 1974. At the University of Illinois,
I lecture with as many as 750 students in an auditorium. Students
attend lectures twice a week and meet with a graduate student teaching
assistant in discussion sections once a week. Early in my career,
I would try to lead one discussion section of the survey, and that
helped me do better as a lecturer. But finally the realities of
tenure and pressures of time convinced me to give up the additional
course. |
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We all recognize the economic realities underlying large lecture
courses. But do you think that lectures serve a useful, educational
purpose?
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I do not like the large surveys. Any
good teaching done in those courses is done by graduate student
teaching assistants in the discussion sections. Given that this
is what the students have to take, I am always trying to find effective
teaching techniques. One approach I try in these large surveys is
to be deliberately outrageous on a controversial issue. I establish
with the teaching assistants ahead of time how they will handle
the issue in discussion section. The teaching assistants and I would
take opposing viewpoints, forcing the students to challenge at least
one of the "authority" figures in the class. That seems to work
very well. By the way, supervising up to nine graduate teaching
assistants, and helping them with their teaching, is also a part
of teaching the survey. |
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Students used to attend two discussion
sections each week in addition to the two lectures. I am sorry to
say that the department made the mistake of changing the format
so that students only meet once a week with the teaching assistant.
As far as I can tell, all of us who taught the survey voted against
this change. But the corporatization of the university and those
who care more about the administrative side than about pedagogical
issues carried the day. Now teaching assistants only meet thirteen
or fourteen times for fifty minutes each throughout the year with
students, hardly enough time to establish the kind of relationship
needed for good teaching, let alone set an atmosphere where the
teaching assistant can handle the kind of complex issues I try to
provoke. It also means that I have to spend more time covering material
that the teaching assistant could do better in the small sections.
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I am always amazed that some students
like these huge survey classes, but, because of these classes, we
actually get a number of history majors. I am told that I handle
these large surveys well, which is to say less worse than others,
but that is not exactly a great compliment. I do not want to declare
that these large lecture courses serve no useful educational purpose,
but I personally see very little benefit except for the economics
that may benefit the universities. When I teach history, I want
to teach students to become historians, to think critically and
skeptically, and that is difficult to accomplish in a huge survey
class. I really enjoy questions and exchanges and discussion of
readings and the Socratic method possible in my smaller classes.
And I do try to incorporate these into the large survey classes
as much as possible, but it does not work as well. |
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What are the biggest themes that you try to convey in the survey
course? What are the organizing principles of your survey course?
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I have always tried to incorporate
social history and the history of "all the people" into the surveys.
Race and ethnicity play a large part. The meaning of democracy and
coming to grips with how democracy in the U.S. deals with problems
is always a part. I also discuss "deep" issues such as integrity,
justice, and ethics. Because I study community, I have often used
"community" in its various formats as an organizing theme for the
course. Because society has come to adulate individualism and belittle
family and community, I put more emphasis on the relationship of
individuals to their community. |
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What do you most want students to take away from a U.S. survey
course with you?
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My first year at the University of
Illinois when I was teaching the survey, I was called in by our
most distinguished U.S. historian. I am sure he meant well, but
he informed me that there were many problems with my teaching: my
clothing (wearing dungarees to teach in), my Southern accent, my
assignment of social history books like Robert Gross's The Minutemen
and their World, and my determination to discuss "social class."
But he thought my biggest problem was that I was confusing the students
by discussing how different historians thought differently about
issues. "This is the only history course that most of these students
will ever take," he told me, "and they need to know the facts."
I disagreed. If this is the only history course students ever take,
it was all the more important that they know that historians disagree
over what the facts are as well as over interpretations.
I still believe that. |
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I want students to be able to use
critical, analytical skills and learn to think, not just memorize
facts. Students do need information, but it is much more important
for them to understand that someone puts that information together
and that biases and prejudices always affect how we put order into
the wonderfully complex chaos of history. I personally hope for
learning miracles—that my teaching might inspire students to confront
their passivity, to think about and apply social justice issues
at the grassroots level. |
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Probably everyone who teaches the survey course struggles with
these issues about the degree of importance we attach to the "facts."
Do you think that historians try to "cover" too much in their
survey courses? Do textbooks help or hinder our efforts?
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I think we all try to cover too many
facts. That is why I originally wrote some computer drill and map
exercises, so that students could master the "facts" and then hopefully
we could discuss the important issues of history. I am careful to
explain that there is too much to cover and that we are leaving
things out, but whether it is a lecture or a textbook, nothing is
ever left out by default and that students should always question
and challenge me and the textbook. |
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Ultimately trying to do too much,
both coverage and in-depth, led me to develop an overall teaching
philosophy: a mission statement and goals for each class. Over the
years I have modified both of these, and in the last few years I
got great advice from the University of Illinois Instructional Resources
Office. They helped me rewrite my goals for each class from the
perspective of the students rather than from my perspective. |
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In the basic American History surveys,
I try to present students with a solid grasp of the narrative sweep
of the period covered by the course: periodization, principal events,
ideas, people, and trends and why they are significant. I also try
to give them critical reasoning tools through written assignments
and class discussion. Here it is especially important to introduce
the idea of differing viewpoints and interpretations. Finally, and
most important, I encourage the students to construct and present
arguments of their own, always having the students incorporate both
primary and secondary sources. These "projects" are essential if
we want to give students a sense of the complexity inherent in history.
In other words, while I acknowledge that students do need some of
the traditional coverage of the survey, I think that within the
context of the survey, a teacher can design research projects that
allow students to develop a deeper understanding. Then, hopefully,
they learn how to apply those skills to other problems. We are trying
to get students to think critically. |
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I also stress in the early lectures,
that all historians, including myself, and also the textbooks, select
certain facts, and how someone selected these facts tells us something.
I try to get students to ask why we are stressing a particular set
of facts and to ask themselves if other groups (Native Americans,
Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans, non Europeans) would
have used the same facts or interpreted them the same ways. In other
words, I challenge students to imagine different voices telling
the story. Excellent examples for this is in the work of sociologist
James W. Loewen, who wrote two thought-provoking books, Lies
My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got
Wrong and Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get
Wrong. Since Loewen studied high school history books in the
first of those works, and since so many of our students in the survey
are just one year removed from high school, I find the book and
its examples work very well. Thus, I might begin with the myth that
Loewen uses of the Dutch purchase of New York for $24 worth of beads
and then take the class through an analysis of the event. |
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What do you think about the argument that we should just abandon
the textbook because it leads students (and professors) to focus
too much on shallow "coverage" rather than in-depth understanding?
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This is a tough question because textbooks
both help and hinder our efforts at teaching. It is a terrible tradeoff
that I have wrestled with for years. I do assign a textbook, and
I assign about six monographs to supplement the text. When I use
the textbook and other readings to take some issue with, I have
to assume that students have done the readings; this can be a problem.
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What are the most effective assignments that you use in the
U.S. Survey course?
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I have several that involve the former
slave narratives collected by the WPA (now conveniently available
on the Web). First, I have students read selected essays on the
problems of working with these narratives. I have one exercise comparing
how two African Americans relate stories of their ancestors who
were involved in two slave revolts, the Stono and the Denmark Vesey
rebellions. It is interesting that most students miss that both
people being interviewed were born after slavery. That leads to
why the white interviewer was so interested in these stories. Also,
both of these African Americans are proud of their ancestors, and
students see how that contradicts the essays warning readers that
the narratives tend to give "conservative" answers to please white
interviewers. |
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Another exercise with the former slave
narratives uses the example of a former slave, Susan Hamlin, interviewed
twice, once by a white interviewer and once by an African-American
interviewer. These two narratives are available and analyzed in
Mark Lytle and James Davidson, After the Fact: The Art of Historical
Detection. However, I want students to do the analyzing. I typed
up the originals and distributed them to students, leaving out identifying
pieces of information. Few students figure out that it is the same
interviewee. In the huge survey, I break the students down into
small groups to do this exercise. It works very well as they go
through the process of discovering that this is the same person
being interviewed, but telling two different stories. |
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Another exercise that has stimulated
real thinking is when I have had students conduct a small study
of their own community. Students use the unpublished manuscript
census returns to analyze some aspect of their home community, whether
occupational structure, wealth, mobility, or any other things. Students
learn about sampling, organizing data, and, because it is their
own community, it helps them understand change over time. This exercise
generates excitement about history in general. |
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I have also used very successfully
a research exercise on the Age of Segregation. Students have to
find a law about segregation and then contextualize that law within
the C. Vann Woodward and Howard Rabinowitz debate on the origins
and timing of segregation. I have also had students choose three
or four pages from an autobiography and analyze it for the same
issues. This exercise engages them directly in a historical debate.
Lately, I have been using my website (http://Riverweb.cet.uiuc.edu)
to do exercises with original documents. |
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College students have changed dramatically in social backgrounds
since you started teaching—reflecting, in part, larger changes
in the ethnic make-up of the nation. Has that affected the teaching
of a specifically national history—the story of the United States?
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This is a very complex question. There
are many ways to teach history, and often we have to adjust to engage
the interest of diverse students. We need to understand where all
students are coming from in order to get them to think about the
history of our country. And, of course, if they have been left out
of that history, they are much less likely to be interested in it.
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What is your most memorable teaching experience?
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There have been so many of these—some
very personal and very touching and very rewarding. I once led a
class of 750 students in Old English contra dancing, explaining
as we did it how this represented community. That was pretty memorable.
I also enjoy giving some of the students in Southern History their
first taste of turnip greens. |
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What were your worst teaching experiences?
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Well, I've had my share of these too.
One time a planned lesson went awry because a student tried to "rescue"
me. Until it became rather notorious and students expected it and
visitors came to the first class to just see it, I used to have
two other faculty or two graduate students come in to class and
attack me verbally and start a mock fight. They would then rush
out of the room, or someone would come in and drag them out. Then
I asked for the students' "help." I asked them to write up what
had happened, describing the incident and the people. It was an
excellent way to introduce students to "first-hand" records because
their accounts differed radically. One time, unfortunately, one
of the students came to my defense, and I had to grab him to keep
him from harming the professor who was pretending to attack me. |
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Another time I had an experience during
an exercise where I ask students about stereotypes: What do they
think about when they hear the word "Southerner?" "Yankee?" "Midwesterner?"
I was on the platform in front of about 750 students at the time,
and a friend of mine, Franky Davis, from Ninety Six, my hometown,
was visiting. Franky is one of those "hell-of-a fellow" sorts described
by W.J. Cash in Mind of the South. Franky would follow me
everywhere, wearing his construction outfit, his steel-toed boots,
and a knife at his side. As I was doing this exercise, and the students
were responding to the stereotype of "Southerner," some suggested
terms like racist and ignorant. Franky lost his temper
and started to go after the student. I had to jump after Franky
to get him out of the class. That was a bad situation, but another
student broke the ice when she piped up, "How about violent?" |
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How do you think teaching has changed over your career?
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Each year as I get older, my reference
points and experiences are becoming more removed from the students.
Students do not read as much as they used to, and I find it disturbing
that they do not want to, or do not know how to, read books and
essays for arguments. Some students today are geared for soundbites
and expect to be entertained in the way MTV does. On the other hand,
they do use the Web effectively. John Seely Brown argues that students
do learn differently today, for example, they multitask. Over the
years at Illinois, the student body has become multicultural and
more diverse. In addition, students are much more international
and interested in globalization, and our teaching has to reflect
that comparative perspective. |
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What tips would you give to a new history teacher?
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Ask for help. Seek out a "mentor"
who is an effective teacher and be honest and open about asking
for critiques and suggestions. And then analyze those critiques
and see what you can change and still maintain your integrity as
a teacher and scholar. If you have an administrative unit such as
the University of Illinois's Office of Instructional Resources,
establish a working relationship with them as soon as possible and
get all the feedback you can. Ask them to help you implement changes
that you think you need to make to improve your teaching. |
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You should also study students to
learn where they are coming from—their language, their values.
This may not be easy. I may not like much of their music, but I
want to find out what they are listening to. Sometimes just knowing
the words to songs provides a lead into a new topic or lecture.
When you are preparing your classes, start from where the students
are, from their world and their vantage point. It is important to
make a connection with your students. Metaphors are a powerful learning
tool, so use metaphors to which they can relate. This means changing
metaphors to keep up to date because while we do not get older,
these students get younger every year. |
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Furthermore, we have to respect our
students. Too often, we faculty (in the words of "Click and Clack,
the Tappet Brothers" of NPR's "Car Talk") believe that students
are "unencumbered by the thought process." A teacher needs to respect
students as they are as a beginning point before bringing them along
to reach a higher intellectual plane. I also warn young teachers
not to compromise on the quality in the classroom and their expectations
of students. The more you expect and demand of students (within
reason, of course), the more they will learn. This does not mean
trying to get in two hours worth of material in a fifty-minute lecture,
but it does mean expecting students to read and write and come up
to a certain level of quality. |
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And remember that students are members
of our community—future citizens who will be running the country
in twenty years and making decisions that will have an impact on
you and me. We need to teach students to think, to have compassion
and integrity, to be problem-solvers. |
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What, in your view, constitutes good teaching?
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Teachers who care about their students
and care that their students learn and grow. I like teaching history
because history underpins a liberal arts education. As an art, history
encourages intellect and spirit. As a discipline, history sharpens
analytical rigor. American history should be inclusive, meaningful,
and relevant to every age; it is inescapable and every person plays
a part. When we learn to make judgments about historical interpretations,
we are also learning to make judgments about the daily news, conventional
wisdom, and even our own ideas. I am firm in my belief that teaching
a critical perspective is essential, not for history alone, but
for all aspects of modern life. |
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Interview with Beverly San Augustín
by Kelly Schrum
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BEVERLY SAN AUGUSTIN has taught for more than twenty years in Guam
at both middle and high schools. The Council of Chief State School
Officers recently named her State Teacher of the Year in recognition
of her energy, creativity, and devotion to teaching. She teaches
a range of courses, including U.S. History, Guam History, and American
Government.
What drew you to history teaching?
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History was my favorite subject, in
part because I had very inspirational history teachers. They were
young and local and made history come "alive" by personalizing it
with their experiences or the oral history of their families. In
class, they included activities such as conducting oral history
interviews, rewriting history/journals, and cooperative learning.
They encouraged students to evaluate history beyond the historical
data provided. They allowed us to think critically, to appreciate
our local history, and to learn from it to prevent our political
and social leaders from repeating the mistakes of the past. They
taught me to appreciate Guam's history because it contributed to
making our society and country unique. I try to share this with
my students. |
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As I was studying the history of Guam,
some teachers assigned projects that emphasized local and family
history, such as creating models of local cultural arts and interviewing
grandparents and parents. This was especially interesting for me
because my parents came from different cultures: my mother was Chamorro
(native of Guam) and my father Filipino. For one project, I was
limited with knowledge and resources of what specific crafts I could
create, so I sought my grandfather's advice. He and I made slippers
from the dried fibers of a coconut tree. As we were making these
slippers, he shared funny stories about how he would loosen such
slippers and play tricks with friends when he was young. I became
much closer to my grandfather and I yearned to hear more about his
past and our history—stories that were not mentioned in school.
I was excited when presenting my oral history reviews in class because
my stories were interesting and humorous; my classmates enjoyed
them just as I enjoyed relating them. This helped me learn to appreciate
my family's role in history. |
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My father was another major resource,
sharing with me his history, his memories of life as a youth in
the Philippines. As I studied Guam history and American history
in school, my grandfather and parents related their versions of
historical events, such as the Great Depression and WWII, when Guam
was occupied by Japan. I would go home and compare what I had learned
with their memories. It was fascinating to hear the differences
and effects of how history took place on the U.S. mainland versus
in the Pacific Rim. I began to recognize the impact of various occupations
of Guam, especially on our native population and culture. |
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I also became curious about why there
was not much written about the roles of Chamorros in significant
historical events. Most of the history was taught and written through
the perspectives of non-native historians. This prompted me to ask
why so much information was not recorded and actually taught in
school. |
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Growing up, I was discouraged from
learning the local language. In school, we were penalized with fines
and corporal punishment for speaking the Chamorro language. We were
highly criticized for having accents and not being fluent in English
and were taught that those who did not speak English fluently were
not intelligent and would not succeed in professional careers. I
now emphasize to my students that having an accent does not reflect
intelligence. I encourage them to be proud of their ethnic heritage
and to learn their native language to keep their culture alive.
Thirty-five years later, students are required by law to study Guam
history and learn the Chamorro language. |
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As I teach U.S. history, I always
include local perspectives and encourage students to ask their families
for stories. This brings history alive for students, making them
realize that there are people who experienced the history they read
in books. The past also becomes more meaningful when students realize
that there are many ways of interpreting history. I was taught to
learn history literally, as it was written in the books. But as
I grew older, I realized that there were multiple perspectives.
I now teach history this way, challenging students to explore many
points of view before they try to evaluate the causes and effects
of historical events or predict how things might have happened differently.
I encourage my students to see themselves as historians, to rewrite
history based on these multiple perspectives. |
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I also became interested in teaching
history because of my own interest in significant historical events
and people. I was fascinated with the Spanish-American War, WWII,
and the American colonization of Guam—historical events that were
relevant to our local history. I lived on Guam most of my life until
I transferred to the University of California, Irvine to finish
college. One of my history professors, Dr. George Boughton, convinced
me that in order to become an effective history instructor, I needed
to acquire a more diverse background of historical knowledge. The
local university only had about four classes for history majors
in the late 1970s. I graduated from UC Irvine in 1977. |
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I also hoped to become one of the
first female local historians to write the history of our island.
Most of Guam's early history was written by European and Spanish
historians and based on the journals of Spanish explorers and missionaries.
These typically depicted local people as docile, passive, and ignorant.
There are now local historians writing our history, although few
are women. And U.S. history in general is now taught with greater
attention to cultural sensitivity and with an abundance of resources
that provide students the opportunity to gain a better understanding
of history. |
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When did you start teaching? Which courses have you taught?
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I started teaching American Civics,
Guam History, and American History in 1979. Through my twenty-three
years of teaching, I have taught English, U.S. History, American
Civics, Guam History, Journalism, Geography, Psychology/Sociology,
Student Government, American Government, and Advanced Placement
American Government. I have taught the U.S. Survey course in high
school for almost ten years. |
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History teaching has improved tremendously.
The lecture method has been replaced by more interesting and innovative
teaching strategies. Even the textbooks have improved—they are
no longer cut and dry. Students now appreciate Social Studies classes
more than other disciplines. This is a big change from the years
when students dreaded taking such classes. |
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What are the biggest themes that you try to convey in the U.S.
Survey Course?
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When teaching the U.S. History survey,
I emphasize skills that are necessary to be active, participating
citizens, such as critical thinking, cooperative learning, research,
and conflict resolution. I focus on the historical structure and
functions of the U.S. government, the principles and beliefs of
the Constitution, and democratic ideals. |
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I also emphasize several major themes.
The first is the "American Dream." We investigate this notion and
study different perspectives on how U.S. citizens define the "American
Dream" and attain their goals. We compare Americans in the twenty-first
century with those in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and
look at how different minority groups, such as American Indians,
African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Pacific Islanders, have
engaged with the "American Dream." Another major theme is Science
and Technology. We study the social and economic effects of technology,
assessing both advantages and disadvantages. We compare the influence
of science and technology today to earlier centuries, looking, for
example, at the Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age, the Roaring
Twenties, and the daily usage of computer technology today. I ask
students to predict how changes in science and technology will affect
the future. |
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Throughout the survey, we study cultural
diversity, looking at the effects (positive and negative) of diversification
on America. I ask how we should define the term "American" and how
we weigh the conflicts and achievements of the various ethnic groups
who contributed to the rich and unique heritage of our country.
For example, we investigate the experiences of American minorities
and the question of civil rights. I challenge students to analyze
civil rights, to evaluate which are most critical and why. How do
Americans preserve their basic rights and liberties in an ever-changing
and increasingly technological world? We study economic discrimination
historically and look at the legislative and social process of attaining
equality and political rights, for example for women and gays and
lesbians. |
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What materials do you incorporate into the survey? What do
you want students to learn?
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When I teach the U.S. History survey
course, I emphasize citizenship skills related to the struggles
of various minority groups for civil rights in the U.S. By using
primary and secondary documents, I emphasize historical figures
such as Harriet Tubman, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, and Martin
Luther King, Jr. I want students to understand their efforts and
achievements in order to be inquisitive, active citizens in America.
I am hoping students will emulate such figures in order to fight
injustices in our society today. I also emphasize the need to understand
the plight of American Indians, African Americans, Jews, and other
minorities and to reduce racism and inequality in our society. I
encourage my students to utilize the knowledge and the accessibility
of various resources available today to want to make a difference,
especially when compared to the obstacles faced by these historical
figures. I have students analyze various types of propaganda and
assess the validity of its uses politically, socially, and economically.
By informing students of various ways to make a difference, I am
hopeful that students will become active directly and indirectly
by ensuring the accountability of our political leaders, becoming
involved with interest groups, and being informed by the time they
can exercise their right to vote. |
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I usually try to work collaboratively
with the Language Arts Department, aligning my assignments with
the literature they are using. But due to drastic changes of instructors,
this can be challenging. Some of the primary documents I use are
the U.S. Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg
Address. I also use Time Life "Voices of the Civil War" and
excerpts from speeches such as Abraham Lincoln (1858) and Barbara
Jordan. Some books I encourage students to read or use for reference
are The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Red Badge
of Courage, The Underground Railroad, and Battle Cry
of Freedom. I also use significant Supreme Court cases such
as Dred Scott, Brown vs. Board of Education, and Plessy
vs. Ferguson. I incorporate several books on Guam into the
survey, including A Complete History of Guam by Paul Carano
and Pedro G. Sanchez, The Organic Act of Guam in 1950, and
Bisita Guam: A Special Place In the Sun by Ben Blaz. |
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I don't think I teach history in a
dramatically different way from the textbooks. What I do is provide
supplemental readings to provide a broader representation of historical
events, especially now that teachers are encouraged to be culturally
sensitive to the diverse student population. I have seen positive
changes in textbooks that now provide multiple perspectives of history.
I utilize what is credible on the Internet such as Exploring
Amistad: Race and the Boundaries of Slavery in Antebellum Maritime
America (http://amistad.mysticseaport.org/main/welcome.html). |
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How do you balance teaching the U.S. History survey with the
unique local history of Guam?
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First, I relate the historical background
of U.S. history and the reasons for expansion beyond the mainland.
Then I relate Guam's significant role as a territory/possession
in U.S. history, from the Spanish-American War in 1898 through occupation
by Japan during World War II to its current political state. In
the U.S. survey course textbook, there is very little mention of
Guam other than its status as a U.S. territory. The book often does
not even specify that Guam is an "unincorporated" territory under
the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior, although it usually
mentions its acquisition during the Spanish-American War and its
role in WWII. |
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Aside from the history books, students
learn personal insights from their relatives who survived WWII.
Guam residents have a profound sense of patriotism, especially during
the celebration of Liberation Day on July 21, one of the most significant
holidays on the island. Each year, Guam invites the local military
veterans of WWII to serve as parade marshals and special guests. |
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How do your students study the relationship between Guam and
the United States?
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By first understanding U.S. history,
students in Guam have a better foundation for understanding the
cause and effects of events impacting their island. Since the island
is still developing rapidly, students can relate to U.S. historical
events by pursuing the interests of conservation of natural resources,
reducing the various types of pollutants in the environment, and
preserving their language and culture. Sometimes there is conflict.
For example, my students do not quite comprehend their roles as
U.S. citizens because they cannot vote for their President nor can
their congressional representative vote in Congress. They do not
fully comprehend the political status of the island in relation
to the federal government or their citizen's rights compared to
their counterparts in the U.S. mainland. They begin to ask if they
are only half-U.S. citizens. |
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It is no wonder that stateside Americans
do not associate themselves with the "other" fellow American citizens
in the U.S. territories. Americans feel that we are not American
citizens but "foreigners," which attributes to the prejudice, racism,
and misconceptions of political, economic, and social equalities
when territorial U.S. citizens migrate and reside in the U.S. mainland. |
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It is challenging to teach our students
that they are a part of this rich democratic heritage when they
read textbooks and resources that reflect otherwise. They leave
the survey course with questions about their true role and responsibilities
as American citizens. Our textbook on the history of Guam supplements
this with historical data on the plight of Chamorros politically,
socially, and economically. I use a variety of resources, such as
primary resources and novels, to supplement my teaching of U.S.
history because of the cultural sensitivity of diverse learners.
For example, the textbook Americans by McDougal Littel (Houghton
Mifflin) adheres to such needs. It includes special features such
as personal stories or journals of daily life which increase students'
interest in history. |
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Students in Guam tend to feel overwhelmed
by American popular culture. They demonstrate much pride, but they
are often confused because they feel that life used to be simpler.
They feel that there are advantages and disadvantages to technology
and that so much diversity can create confusion and greed that affects
them and their families. They feel that Americans have become so
competitive and materialistic that they need to adhere to the basics
such as conservation, preservation of the environment, and social
values. |
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The military population has not changed
the relationship with the U.S. The military base closures and reductions
have affected the island economically more than politically. There
are Department of Defense schools for each level (elementary, middle
and high school) so the children of military personnel attend their
own schools. |
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What are your most important goals in teaching the survey course?
What do you most want students to take away from your US survey
course?
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I feel the most important goals are
the following: to provide historical knowledge and foundation; to
give the opportunity for students to synthesize and analyze the
causes and effects of historical events necessary for understanding
current political, economic, and social issues; and to emphasize
the responsibilities of citizenship. I want students to be able
to appreciate the history of Guam and to be able to probe, analyze,
and evaluate contemporary issues. I want them to become actively
involved in the political and social life of Guam, to make a difference
for our country. |
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I feel I am most effective in meeting
the goals of the U.S. survey course by providing students opportunities
to conduct research, engage in debates and role-playing, and participate
in cooperative activities. For example, when I cover the U.S. Constitution,
I have students work in cooperative groups. I divide the Constitution
into sections and each group is responsible for understanding and
explaining their piece. I provide some questions, but encourage
them to pose questions on their own. For example, in reference to
Article 4, I ask students if they think it is fair that a nonresident
must pay a higher tuition at a state college than a resident of
the state. In addition, students choose controversial issues that
are relevant to specific constitutional amendments, such as gun
control, school prayer, or the death penalty. Students have the
option to support, eliminate, or change an amendment by researching
and debating the issues. |
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I teach the Constitution for two to
three weeks. First, I relate the historical background of the conflicts
and compromises related to the development of the Constitution.
Based on this information and their readings, I ask students to
imagine or reflect on the unique personalities of the framers of
the Constitution or to describe the Constitutional Convention. As
I focus on the Preamble, students work in groups and prepare short
dramatic or comical skits relating their understanding of the goals
in the Preamble. Then we discuss the goals, purposes, and principles
of the Preamble and the U.S. Constitution. Students work in groups
to identify sections of the Constitution that support each principle
or goal and share their findings with the class. We also address
significant Supreme Court cases and why there are so many cases
questioning the constitutionality of various laws. Students then
research and debate constitutional amendments before the class.
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Finally, students develop their own
constitution as a group defining their beliefs, values, and rights
as students. Or students may analyze and evaluate the constitution
of a school organization. Students present these to the class and
post them for all to read. Overall, students enjoy the activities
and gain meaningful understanding of the U.S. Constitution. |
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With these activities, students are
stimulated and eager to discuss the issues of the Constitution.
They come to class motivated and bring many questions as they prepare
for their debates. They understand the complicated nature of these
issues, especially with our complex and ever changing technology
and society. They are amazed that such a historic and "living" document
is flexible enough to adjust to the needs of our government and
country, despite the drastic changes over the last two hundred years.
Guam is currently debating our political status and developing a
constitution for the island, so the students are curious, concerned,
and more involved in the process because it relates to their current
lives and the political status of the island. Yet the process also
makes students more unsure of their role as U.S. citizens under
the "unincorporated U.S. territory" status and their civil rights
as residents of the island. |
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How does the Internet affect your classroom and your teaching
of the U.S. History survey?
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The Internet has positively impacted
learning and instruction in my class. I find so many resources and
activities that enhance the learning process of students and provide
innovative teaching strategies. The Internet does have limitations,
though, and teachers should think about the appropriateness of sites
for relating history. I feel that instructors must be able to maintain
a balance between using the Internet for activities and research
and encouraging reading and traditional sources. |
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Guam does feel much closer to the
U.S. because of the Internet. Our improved telecommunications system
has made everything available "at our fingertips." It also provides
opportunities to cultivate our local history and language because
residents on the mainland can stay in touch and learn what is occurring
on the island. |
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What tips would you give to a new history teacher—particularly
someone approaching the survey course?
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I would suggest to new history teachers
that they establish a teaching philosophy about how to best provide
a broad based knowledge of history and best help students understand
and appreciate history. Second, I would recommend that new teachers
review the textbooks and identify additional resources to supplement.
I would advise teaching the survey course thematically, identifying
significant historic events. Finally, to try to make history "alive,"
to share with students that studying history can be interesting,
challenging, and most importantly "fun." |
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