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| TEACHING WITH A TWIST - By Amy Gaston, HPT Staff I work for an organization whose mission is to preserve and protect Lancaster County's rich historic and architectural character through education, advocacy and direct action. Do I believe, therefore, that teaching with historic buildings and places is important? You bet. Will I be able to make you believe the same thing by the end of this story? We'll see. One way to do it is to instill a sense of excitement, interest and ownership in the next generation. But with all the pressures that are on students and educators today how do you sell preservation as something worthy of their time? Make it easy for the teachers and fun for the students. In preparation for my task I reviewed many documents that spoke about teaching with historic places and they were all quite interesting. In particular I was struck by the words of Marilyn Harper in a 1997 article titled “Including Historic Places in the Social Studies Curriculum.” She said, “Places have powerful stories to tell. They speak through relationships to their settings, their plan and design, their building materials, their atmosphere and ambience, their furniture, and other objects they contain. They can evoke the ghosts of the people who once lived and worked there. These places provide physical evidence of how broad currents of history affect even small communities. Supplemented with primary or secondary written and visual materials, they also teach such skills as observation, working with maps, interpreting visual evidence, evaluating bias, analysis, comparison and contrast, and problem-solving.” I have spent the last 12 years working for non-profit organizations in which part of my responsibility was to implement educational programs in schools. It is no easy task. In my experience, a majority of the teachers were genuinely interested but didn't know how they could incorporate it into their already packed schedules especially given the need to prepare students for endless testing requirements. If I were in school today, I might never have graduated due to all of the required testing. I was not a good test taker. I froze. If you needed someone to take good notes and complete their homework I was your gal, but proving that I understood what I had learned by taking a test wasn't my thing. We must also realize that all of this testing leaves little time for meaningful field trips for students out in their communities where they could see examples of historic buildings first hand. If you are a regular reader of our paper, you'll recall our last issue dealt with the question “What Makes It Historic?” It was a big question raised to get people thinking. We like to do that. It shakes people up and hopefully promotes healthy debate. If someone were to consider demolishing Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater home they'd probably be pushed into the water first. However, at the time it was built it was the ultimate in Modernist construction. Now it is considered a living art form. Preservation is a tough business. In a way, it expects people to have 20/20 hindsight in advance. Buildings are an important source for learning. They have powerful stories to tell and can turn students into historians. I recently read an article that said buildings should be viewed as primary sources like documents that help explain how people lived in the past and what they valued. Buildings as documents; I thought that was a very powerful statement. Students might even begin to think about preserving and restoring architectural history around them. Imagine that. I had the privilege to work with three educators who are passionate about their profession and are helping to inspire a new generation of historians. Connie Ginder, Linda Good and Jane Moore helped revise what had formerly been called the “tour curriculum” and is now known as Buddy the Building Detective. (I would be remiss if I didn't also thank Masterpiece Marketing for working with the team and coming up with the catchy new name and logo.) At times, it seemed as though they were speaking a foreign language. It all sounded so complex. I admired their commitment to their craft and their willingness to use creative teaching methods. My mom recently expressed how I'm sure many people felt about school. After hearing about plans for a new educational museum she said, “If they had taught history like that when I was in school I might have actually enjoyed it.” I think we're all guilty of walking by buildings and not really noticing them until there is a wrecking ball hovering overhead. Of course, you shouldn't always be looking up while you're walking down the street, but from time to time take a moment and look - really look- at the buildings you walk by during your lunch hour or while you're walking the dog. Would you know a mansard roof if you saw one? How about a pedimented doorway? If you live in a brick house can you impress your friends and neighbors by stating if it is Flemish bond, English bond or common bond? When I lived in Pittsburgh, the local PBS station produced a program called “Downtown Pittsburgh.” It was a celebration of the buildings, the history and the people who make the Golden Triangle great. Producer Rick Sebak did a fantastic job getting people to look at buildings they passed everyday in a new way. In fact, the next day it was reported that people who worked downtown were looking up at buildings and pointing out information they had learned from the show. They also went out of their way, in some cases, to go into building lobbies just to see the architecture that was described in the program. Wouldn't it be neat to instill that kind of curiosity and wonder about living history in a child? But I digress. My point is that everybody can use a Buddy and the Trust is proud to offer the Buddy the Building Detective Teacher Manual and Student Workbook to those educators willing to teach core curriculum with a twist. It is a chance to create excitement in students to learn about their communities. My friend Kelly M. Britt, Ph.D. Candidate of Anthropology, Columbia University in the City of New York also believes in the importance of teaching with historic buildings and places. “I like using historical buildings and places as a teaching tool, because the class not only gains an insight on the architectural techniques, aesthetics and building techniques of the time period, but because the buildings are visual and the students can occupy the space, they can also gain a sense of place. This is something that cannot be gained from reading about the time, architectural style, or techniques. In addition, as a teacher you can conduct many more activities and allow the students to use analytical skills that cannot be replicated in a classroom environment that provide a more holistic approach to learning and hopefully reach more students.” The learning adventure with Buddy begins as students embark on a journey back in time to the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries to discover historic buildings in their communities, observe what features were from what era and learn their community's evolution through its architectural history. Disciplines taught include Visual Arts, Mathematics, Health, Science, English Composition, Reading, Vocabulary and Social Studies. Similar to my mom's comment, I would have enjoyed math a lot more if Buddy had been involved. You may be thinking this all sounds very cute but what skills are students actually learning. Students will:
Although this curriculum was developed for 4th and 5th grade students, these skills are good for all ages. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, it is also a great resource for home school parents. Copies of the curriculum can be purchased for $10.00 at The Historic Preservation Trust office located at 123 N. Prince Street, Lancaster, PA. If you'd like more information give us a call at 717.291.5861.
2008 ANNUAL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
© 2005 Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County |
