Social Education 76(1), pp 32–37 ©2012 National Council for the Social Studies Cold vs. Hot War: A Model for Building Conceptual Knowledge in History Geoffrey Scheurman Students often report that social studies is their most boring and least favorite subject. habits of mind unfolds, a by-product is As a child, Woodrow Wilson was bored by history, later describing his early studies the development of human intellectual as “one damn fact after another.” Of course, Wilson went on to become an eminent constructions we call concepts. In his- historian, but only after he learned to reach beyond the “closed catechism” of “ques- tory, a concept such as “revolution” is tions already answered”1 to the exciting themes and processes that gave those facts seldom black or white. Asking the right meaning. Central to Wilson’s discovery were questions that guide inquiry in the field, analytical questions leads to a continuum procedures that experts use to carry out this inquiry, and generalizations, principles of generalizations about revolutionary or theories that frame the results of that process. Together, these big ideas comprise conditions. Furthermore, it invokes a the conceptual backbone that holds the narratives of history together. Taking time to set of disciplinary processes which identify the big ideas in a lesson, unit, or course, insures that teachers do not drown themselves exist along a continuum. For students in too much minutiae. And coming to grips with essential concepts provides example, sources do not exist as simply the best chance for students to construct deep knowledge structures that will transfer credible or not credible; they are “more to contexts beyond the classroom. or less” credible relative to each other. By examining historical phenomena along Conceptual Knowledge in History ciples, or generalizations one can dimensions such as these on a regular and Other Fields extrapolate from content within basis, students will develop a disposition Although concepts abound in history, it the discipline—the products of the for understanding human disagreement is often more difficult to provide con- disciplined inquiry (e.g., “compo- as it really exists, not as a simple either/or crete examples for students than it is in nents a, b, and c reflect a reasonable but as “degrees of dissent” ranging from the physical sciences or even the social recipe for revolution in a society of “simple protest” and “riots” to “civil dis- sciences. To help in this process, the type A”). obedience” and “insurrection” leading teacher might wish to consider the nature to “revolution.” Constructing an effective of conceptual knowledge (CK) as it has • CK involves habits of mind—in continuum for a complex series of events been alternatively described by social this case, a set of disciplinary dis- enables a teacher to guide students away studies experts: positions and procedures held or from the rote learning of events toward employed by experts (e.g., “when a genuine understanding of historical • CK includes a set of analytical ques- studying a revolutionary event, processes. tions that guide inquiry within a never take a source of information at In any field of inquiry, we come to structured discipline (e.g., “what face value; always consider the per- understand what a concept IS in relation conditions existed when Revolution spective, motives, and credibility to what it IS NOT. For example, humans A began and how does this compare of eyewitness, contemporary, and would never understand a phenomenon with Revolutions B and C?”); secondary sources”). as basic as “light” if they never experi- As the process of framing questions, enced “darkness,” even though light and • CK includes the theories, prin- deriving generalizations, and forming dark exist as dichotomies only in theory. Social Education 32 In reality, they exist by relative degrees. both social decline and shifting values, principles, and rules that provide the In science, an object is not merely “buoy- depending on perspective. Another stu- springboard for further learning. There ant” or “not buoyant.” It exhibits a degree dent exploring the Industrial Revolution is a nice byproduct of this process as well: of buoyancy based on certain attributes in England established a continuum of students are more likely to remember and under certain conditions. In geogra- wants and needs. This inquiry led to the facts! phy, a peninsula is identifiable at least questions about whether needs lead to The following is a specific example of partially because it is not an island or wanting more, or wants lead to needing how a teacher can help students develop a continent. In economics, a product more, and inspired a robust debate on the deep knowledge of the concept known as is not merely “elastic” or “inelastic.” It connections between invention, industry, “Cold War” by collaborating with stu- responds to market forces along a con- expansion, advertising, and the notions of dents as they build a “degrees of coopera- tinuum of elasticity. In political science, actual versus perceived demand. Finally, tion” continuum between the USA and labeling people as simply “democrat” or a middle school colleague often builds USSR from 1942 to 1974. “republican” sacrifices the complexity continuums by drawing parallels between of each concept and loses the richness romantic and classical impulses, gather- Specific Example: Degrees of that such conceptual designations hope ing and domestication, self-sufficiency International Cooperation to convey. It is more beneficial to think and specialization, monotheism and Description: The conceptual continuum along a continuum of ideological views, polytheism, totalitarianism and democ- has many variations, but the essential ranging from “radical” to “reactionary” racy, and republicanism and empire as idea is that students are provided materi- with gradations of “liberal,” “moder- means for building conceptual founda- als from which they must derive “anchor ate,” and “conservative” in between. tions beneath the content of his middle points” along a single discernible dimen- Similarly, in the ebb and flow of social school world history courses. sion and then place additional examples history, people can seldom be identi- between them. In this case, the materials fied by such terms as “fundamentalist” The Conceptual Continuum are short descriptions of events pertain- or “progressive” without losing the rich By leading students to view concrete ing to U.S. – Soviet Relations between textures of historical interpretation. It artifacts and events, as well as people 1942 and 1974. is more useful to identify the degrees to and social phenomena, in terms of fluid Purpose: Building conceptual contin- which people exhibit these characteris- conceptual categories, we enhance their uums helps students and teachers identify tics in particular situations where one ability to discriminate the qualities the deep unifying structures that give disposition is defined at least partly in reflected by people in a given context. meaning to facts and figures contained in reference to the other. The more we practice this mental exercise, course content. The secret to understand- Once you train your eye, continuums the more we enhance our ability to carry ing a concept is to discriminate between appear everywhere in world history. on substantive conversation about the what something “is” and what it “is not.” Concept pairs such as pragmatic vs. content of the discipline in general and The concept “Cold War” in this exer- visionary, or conservative vs. innovative, to transfer understanding to contexts cise will be distinguished from related serve as valuable criteria for interpreting outside a particular academic setting. ideas such as “Peaceful Coexistence” and ideologies and evaluating the goals and The “conceptual continuum” describes “Détente.” policies of governments in different times an array of classroom strategies designed and places. Another favorite of mine is to help teachers and students grapple When to use this Strategy: comparing nation-states as relatively effectively with big ideas without sacri- This strategy can be used to begin a unit isolationist or internationalist in foreign ficing inordinate amounts of time in the on international relations (setting the policy as well as distinguishing differ- curriculum. The goal of the strategy is for stage for later content), in the middle of ent types of protectionist or imperialist students to take the “stuff” of history— a unit (when the teacher wants students practices. One of my students recently people, places, and events as revealed to see connections or build generaliza- based a continuum around whether through secondary texts, artifacts, and tions from among factual tidbits), or at the Middle Ages should be viewed as a primary documents—and manipulate the end of a unit (as a means to process period of collapse where human prog- them until underlying concepts and orga- or synthesize lots of information into a ress was severely hindered, or a period nizational structures emerge and evolve meaningful mental scheme, or as an ap- where new values rose to prominence into mental constructions. By observing plied assessment). and Europe simply embraced a new these abstract constructions along a con- Materials: Student Handout—Graph lifestyle. In between these negative and crete dimension and then holding them of events for rating relative degrees of positive poles, instances under investiga- at intellectual arms’ length, students are cooperation. The source used is “How tion were interpreted as a relative mix of more likely to arrive at generalizations, We Got Here: Moments that Shaped January/February 2012 33 (AP Photo/Ed Bailey) The Russian Vice Consul to New York, Vage Engibarian, second left, speaks at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY, Oct. 4, 2002. The museum commemorated the 45th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik. Looking on, left, is Paul Dickson, author of Sputnik, The Shock of the Century, and Vincent Suozzi, right, former mayor of Glen Cove, NY. A model of Sputnik is in the foreground.