On October 26th on Teacher’s Institute Day, while several students slept in after an exhausting end to first quarter, 63 Illinois high school history teachers, from District 155 to as far as Chicago, woke up bright and early to attend the “Getting U.S. History Right” workshop hosted here at Prairie Ridge. PR social studies department chair Mr. Pellikan organized this workshop with guest speakers such as Illinois Labor History Society President Larry Spivack, high school teacher Dr. Jim Staros, and renowned bestselling author Dr. James Loewen (Lies My Teacher Told Me).
“I have always enjoyed workshops as an opportunity to grow as a thinker and teacher,” explained Mr. Pellikan. “[I] wanted an opportunity to provide teachers with, what I feel, would be an optimal experience.”
Mr. Terhaar, who attended the workshop, agreed wholeheartedly. “When you get history teachers together, from going over lesson plans to discussing history, you can walk away with something,” he stated. “You never really get a day to focus on teaching history otherwise.”
In addition to teachers, some AP US History students from Mr. Pellikan’s class decided to experience the workshop and learn. “After reading James W. Loewen’s book, I saw history in a different way, and I was really interested in learning more information about the truths of history,” said junior Martin Wasilewski. “The curiosity of the real truth made me want to attend the workshop.”
Junior Paul Sindberg added how “it looked like a fascinating opportunity to get into the heads of the teachers and understand how they think history should be taught.”
To begin the workshop, Dr. Loewen presented a keynote speech on his book Lies My Teacher Told Me.
“Dr. Loewen is a very important figure in the world of teaching US History,” Mr. Pellikan stated. “His ideas challenge the way the class has traditionally been taught and provokes critical analysis of what we do as teachers.”
After the introductory speech, teachers split into three groups and attended different talks from each speaker. Topics ranged from the content taught in US History classes to the social issues around certain high schools in the South Side of Chicago, according to each speaker’s presentation. Then, all of the attendees reconvened for a lunch and learn session sharing lesson plans, followed by an open forum discussion by Dr. Loewen.
“All of the speakers shared very interesting information, and it was definitely an honor to be in their presence,” history student Martin Wasilewski stated.
Several people that attended thoroughly enjoyed their experience. “The coolest thing about the workshop was the social issues session where a high school teacher from the southside of Chicago shared interesting facts regarding the feelings and environments of students in that area,” Martin described. “[One of his students] lived in a neighborhood where everyone… was part of a gang. [The student] failed both of his semesters [of history] to stay at summer school and away from his neighbors.”
“My favorite part was Jame’s Loewen’s talk about historiography, which is the history of history,” added Paul. “It is the idea that past events influence the way that we understand them. It takes history to a whole other level.”
Mr. Terhaar stated how he “liked the fact that [Dr. Staros] talked about differences between his school and our school.” He gave me some ideas that I could work together with him to increase cultural awareness.”
The workshop turned out to be a huge success. “The feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive,” described Mr. Pellikan. “Overall, the teachers had the opportunity to think about how they teach and to learn some history they may have not been familiar with.”
