April 9, 2012
By Saleem Rana
Interview by Allen Cardoza
Sara Schwebel, an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, has developed a new slant on education, a unique approach to enhancing literacy, verbal communications and other linguistic skills in children. In her guide, “Child-Sized History,” she offers younger readers a new way to conceptualize America’s historical past. Her book spans American history, is both educational and entertaining, and features topics such as American Indians, war, and slavery.
Talking with radio host Allen Cardoza of Answers for the Family, she shared the academic efforts of teachers who make use of historic novels within the classroom. Historical novels, she explained, make students conscious of how past events can relate to the present.
Schwebel discussed how historical novels are different from the standard textbooks. While textbooks are regularly revised after public debates, historical novels have endured as legacies of the past. In fact, many current troubling interpretations of the American past are revealed in historical novels.
She recalled how many of the books she enjoyed as a child were still taught in schools. For more than 30 years, the same children’s historic novels like Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry have been taught across the United States.
Appreciated for their literary quality and for their historical insights, these historical novels continue to stimulate creativity in children, transporting them from the American past and inviting them to speculate about the future. As works of historical interpretation, however, many are startlingly out of step with current historiography and social sensibilities, particularly with regard to race.
Academics that make use of historic novels within the classroom will help students acknowledge and interpret historical narrative and sensitize them to how the past has influenced the ethical and ideological ideals of our present.
