Teaching World History in Regular History

Truthfully, many of the post here on Historical Friction are based in American history. Being and American myself, it's hard to try and remember what I've learned outside of my own country's history. Thankfully AP World helped me learn more, but for many people, world history is foreign to them. They don't know what the Battle of Hastings is, or who Charles de Gaulle was. This is why world history should be necessary knowledge for everyone, everywhere, not just those in the US. As usual, it comes down to the teachers and what their curriculum requires, but in order for history to be better understood, it's their job to make it simple for even a kindergartner. Here are a few suggestions to help give your students the necessary knowledge of history without going outside of your teaching plan, even for those who are already world history teachers.

1. Provide Background Information

Non-World History: There are many countries in the world who share roles in historical events, some good and some bad. Because of this, their history course will often overlap each other, but at mention of other countries, many teachers won't even discuss what the contribution was; the home country always seems to get priority. This is evident in many American history classes when discussing the Revolutionary/Civil War, as England is either painted as the supreme tyrants or barely mentioned at all. So, the next time you teach a class on an international experience, go further. Reach outside of your bounds to the curriculum to teach the class about what other countries did that caused theirs to intervene. For instance, the US only entered WWI in 1917, a year before it ended. If a US History teacher only taught about America's involvement, it would seem as though our entry was the beginning of the end. Nowadays some teachers have gotten smarter, and will switch to a "World" history format for events like this; we focused on Europe and played the "WWI Game" in US History for a week before we got into the American part. It makes it not only more informative, but more eye-opening to how some things we once saw as a local effort were actually a global one.

World History: Provide more info on the eras you teach. Many times world history teachers will skip a subject or only glance at it if it puts them off schedule. Even if it takes the bulk of class, teach these kids about it. For those in the US, it will help them as they go into US History the following year, as many of those overlooked events (like the opening of Japan) had involvement from the States.

2. Be Internationalist

Non-World History: What I mean by this is, "Don't act like your region of history is the only thing important." What good is it to praise Brazilian history only to spit on Cuban history? I get it, you may have a favorite subject in history; we all do, even myself (the 1960's, man). Does that then give you the right to say it is the only "important " history? Tying back into the previous section, more than one country was in wars/crises/any historical event ever. It's almost akin to censorship by leaving out their role and idolizing yours. Basically, the idea of internationalism is a strong tie between international cultures, and it usually leads to the strengthening of alliances between them. By teaching the goods and bads of history equally, without bias, you can teach the students a lot more without straying to far from your lesson plan.

World History: Considering internationalism is a main term, you should already be doing this. Just do it MORE.

That's it. Yes, you only need two steps to help make the history of the world become a part of your students' learning, even if you aren't a world history teacher. Why is it so short? Because it's implied that as a teacher you're doing this already. My APUSH teacher, Mr. Benedict, will often go into the background of why the US is interacting with a certain country, and will admit when the US was in the wrong in history. That's not even required in his curriculum; he could only focus on the US and I'd be more knowledgeable of my own past, but intolerant of another's. So, world history helps teach tolerance. If we want to move forward as a society, we all have to learn it, and it's up to the teachers to guide us.

-Pharaoh Noh-Tyep