Melodee White grew up as an MK in Germany. Upon college, graduate school, and several years of teaching in America, Melodee returned to her alma mater, Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany, where she taught social studies for four years. Melodee and her husband, Don, currently live outside New York City, where she is director of education for Sylvan Learning Center.
Having lived in Europe most of my life, I grew up loving soccer. When I came to America for college, I tried to transfer this love to football—at first, to no avail! It wasn’t until I actually watched a high school football game live that I began to understand the game. It was when I saw the whole field and was able to place the yard lines in my mind that I saw the purpose and strategy of football. By understanding those, I began to appreciate the game. The isolated football plays I’d seen before had made the game no more to me than meaningless scrimmages. Then I saw it from a new perspective, one that took in the entire playing field. Similarly, students often view dates and events of history in isolation, as if unconnected to a larger picture or purpose. It is precisely the connection with a bigger picture that we as teachers need to lead them to, so that my “ah-ha” experience with football will be theirs with history.
Stating the problem in this way naturally begs the question, “What is the big picture?” There have been, and continue to be attempts to write into the history curriculum a “big picture” approach. Skills such as cause and effect, time-lining, and common themes were center stage in the National Standards for Social Studies released in the 1990s. And indeed, there is some agreement on the skills students need to process history. Unfortunately, little attempt is made to explain to students why these skills are so beneficial, and little mention is made of how one’s worldview affects one’s understanding of the bigger picture. For example, someone who believes that human beings are simply a higher form of animal and live in a closed universe will have a hard time explaining how people can affect their own destiny.
Karl Marx believed that a communist revolution was inevitable, that history was propelling man in that direction, and that nothing could stop that development, not even man himself. On the other hand, Voltaire, whose worldview included the innate goodness of man, believed that with enlightenment man could perfect his world and determine his destiny through civilization. So while the skills currently taught are imperative if students are to see the bigger picture in history, studying and applying their worldview is invaluable if they are to understand that bigger picture.
A worldview strips away all details and events, and operates as a framework of beliefs. Simply stated, a worldview addresses questions about God, the universe, and the nature of truth. As we step away from the details of dates and events, we see that history takes place on the earth, which is confined to sequential time. Humans are the main players, making and recording history as they live their lives. The Bible tells us that God, who lives beyond the confines of time and space, created the world as it is: an orderly universe, governed by natural laws, operating by cause and effect in an open system. This means that each action becomes a cause that is followed by an effect. In an open system, the causes and effects are not preprogrammed, or known only by the sovereign creator of the universe. Humans, as the main players in history, are separate from the rest of creation in that they were created in the image of God and thus possess intellect, will, and creativity. Having these attributes in an open system allows humans to affect the future, all under the umbrella of God’s sovereignty. As leading Christian thinker Dr. Francis Schaeffer once said, “History is rooted in the thoughts of man.” Man invents, man experiments, man thinks, and the future of the world is affected. Man declares war, man makes peace, man destroys, and the history of the world is affected.
Further, the Bible confirms what humans feel and know. We all have a need to know where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Volumes of books address these questions. As we exist in a world ravaged by strife and decay, we are faced with the truth that we have not been, are not, and will not be able to live in harmony with ourselves, with others, and with the world. And yet we all have a hope and desire to change the world through our thoughts and actions. Knowledge of both that desire to regain the perfection enjoyed in the Garden, and the imperfection of our sin nature, sheds a tremendous light on the outworking of history.
Think of Otto von Bismarck, the cunning hero of German unification in the nineteenth century, as a mere human being like you and me using the results he enjoyed to justify his tactics. Knowing that Napoleon was created by God, that he lived with the same questions that haunt every human being, somehow makes Napoleon more real to us. What went on in his mind? What affected his actions? How did he answer those questions that every person asks? It’s humbling to realize that each one of us possesses the ability to be as menacing as Hitler or as gently convincing as Ghandi—both human just like us. What motivated those men? Did they believe in the supremacy of their own thoughts and actions? What would happen if man were given ultimate power?
As history comes alive for students through an understanding of the bigger picture of the unchanging commonality of man as God’s creation, living in time and space, the student of history is more able to appreciate the importance of cause and effect. For example, if Johannes Gutenberg had not invented the printing press, feudalism and the Catholic Church would have continued their hold on the common man. If Germany had not been made to bear the full burden of World War I, and the Great Depression had not had such tremendous ripple effects on Europe, Hitler would never have ascended to power in Germany. History is people, like you and me, living, reacting to, and acting upon circumstances. The teacher of history appreciates and understands these connections. Giving this love to students is one of the greatest accomplishments for any teacher. It means handing them the tools that transcend the classroom, enabling them to see the dates and events in light of the bigger picture of the world—past, present and future—through the open eyes of a God-centered worldview.
Helping Students Gain a Biblical "Big Picture View" of History 5.1