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For years, some commentators have called for K-12 teachers to take on fake news, media literacy, by . This push for schools to do a better job preparing young people to differentiate between low- and high-quality information often focuses on social studies classes.
As and former high school history teacher, I know that there鈥檚 both good and bad news about combating misinformation in the classroom. History class can cultivate critical thinking 鈥� but only if teachers and schools understand what critical thinking really means.
Not just a 鈥榮kill鈥�
First, the bad news.
When people demand that schools teach critical thinking, . Some might consider critical thinking a trait or capacity that teachers can encourage, like creativity or grit. They could believe that critical thinking is a mindset: a habit of being curious, skeptical and reflective. Or they might be referring to specific skills 鈥� for instance, that students should learn a set of steps to take to assess information online.
Unfortunately, cognitive science research has shown that critical thinking is not an abstract quality or practice that can be developed on its own. Cognitive scientists see critical thinking as that involves problem-solving and making sound judgments. It can be learned, but it relies on specific content knowledge and does not necessarily transfer between fields.
Early studies in the 1970s and 鈥�80s helped show how the kind of flexible and reflective cognition often called critical thinking is really a product of expertise. Chess masters, for instance, do not start out with innate talent. In most cases, they gain expertise . This deliberate practice helps them recognize patterns and think in novel ways about chess. Chess masters鈥� critical thinking is a product of learning, not a precursor.
Because critical thinking develops in specific contexts, it does not necessarily transfer to other types of problem-solving. For example, chess advocates might hope the game improves players鈥� intelligence, and studies do suggest learning chess may help elementary students with the kind of they need for early math lessons. However, research has found that being a great chess player at .
Historical thinking
Since context is key to critical thinking, learning to analyze information about current events likely requires knowledge about politics and history, as well as practice at scrutinizing sources. Fortunately, that is what social studies classes are for.
Social studies researchers often describe this kind of critical thinking as 鈥渉istorical thinking鈥�: and assess its reliability. has shown that high school students can make relatively quick progress on some of the surface features of historical thinking, such as learning to check a text鈥檚 date and author. But involved in true historical thinking is much harder to learn.
Social studies classrooms can also build what researchers call 鈥�.鈥� Fact-checking is complex work. It is not enough to tell young people that they should be wary online, or to trust sites that end in 鈥�.org鈥� instead of 鈥�.com.鈥� Rather than learning general principles about online media, civic online reasoning teaches students specific skills for .
Still, learning to think like a historian does not necessarily prepare someone to be a skeptical news consumer. Indeed, a recent study found that professional historians at identifying online misinformation. The misinformation tasks the historians struggled with focused on issues such as bullying or the minimum wage 鈥� areas where they possessed little expertise.
Powerful knowledge
That鈥檚 where background knowledge comes in 鈥� and the good news is that social studies can build it. All literacy relies on . For people wading through political information and news, knowledge about history and civics is like a key in the ignition for their analytical skills.
Readers without much historical knowledge may miss clues that something isn鈥檛 right 鈥� signs that they need to scrutinize the source more closely. Political misinformation often weaponizes historical falsehoods, such as the Christian nationalist book claiming that Thomas Jefferson did not believe in a separation of church and state, or claims that the nadir of African American life , not slavery. Those claims are extreme, but politicians and policymakers .
For someone who knows basic facts about American history, those claims won鈥檛 sit right. Background knowledge will trigger their skepticism and kick critical thinking into gear.
Past, present, future
For this reason, the best approach to media literacy will come through teaching that fosters concrete skills alongside historical knowledge. In short, the new knowledge crisis points to the importance of the traditional social studies classroom.
But it鈥檚 a tenuous moment for history education. The Bush- and Obama-era emphasis on math and English testing resulted in in history classes, particularly in elementary and middle schools. In , 27% of schools reported reducing social studies time in favor of subjects on state exams.
Now, history teachers are feeling heat from politically motivated over education that and and that ban books from libraries and classrooms. Two-thirds of instructors say that they鈥檝e about social and political topics.
Attempts to limit students鈥� knowledge about the past imperil their chances of being able to think critically about new information. These attacks are not just assaults on the history of the country; they are attempts to control its future.
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