Within Teaching World History in the Twenty-first Century: A Resource Book, Christopher Ferraro makes some excellent points about ways in which World History, more specifically the 18th century, as a subject, can be taught from a thematic approach rather than strictly chronological. Teaching it as such opens up the curriculum for a less Western-based discussion and, in turn, opens up more topics from certain countries other than those in North America and Europe. He argues that when teaching about that period, it is essential to teach the impact of revolutions of all kinds and to keep an open mind when defining revolutions. This speaks perfectly to what Jayson Chang states and practices within his classroom. After reading the Civic Spotlight on Jayson, I enjoyed reading about this teaching philosophy and how it revolves around two simple questions. Why do I have to learn this? How has this affected my life and the world and society in which I live today? These are created questions to live by as a history educator because they get at the root of learning; after all, the goal is NOT to make mini-historians over a semester, but it is to help students understand and develop a sense of how history can affect modern day life, and determine what history might be able to tell us about our direction.

~Andrew Westmoreland

Christopher Ferraro’s “Teaching the Long Nineteenth Century (1750-1914)” in Teaching World History in the Twenty-first Century: A Resource Book, pp. 54-56.

Jayson Chang, “Civic Spotlight: Redesigning a Thematic World History Curriculum,” The Civic Educator (2017).