History is often considered an “important but boring” subject. For students, it is frequently associated with marathon memorization of dates, names, and complex terms. But what if the problem lies not in the discipline itself, but in the approaches to teaching it?
“UP. Life” discussed this with co-author of the educational project “Treasury” methodological materials, Valerii Khmelnytskyi, history teacher Maria Vorotylo, and PhD in History Antonina Makarevych. The experts shared tips and tools that can help teach history to children interestingly in the 21st century, as well as reflections on whether history should appeal to everyone and what should genuinely remain at the center of the school curriculum.
Should history lessons appeal to everyone?
Valerii Khmelnytskyi believes that it is not worth trying to make every child passionate about history with the same fervor – he argues that setting such a high goal is even harmful.
“Not all children are interested in history – and that’s normal; we shouldn’t expect everyone to have fire in their eyes when discussing past events. Naturally, some like physics, while others enjoy dancing. This is great, and we should support that natural interest of the child as much as possible. Then they gain joy from education and trust you more as an adult/teacher/part of the educational system,” says the educator.
At the same time, the expert agrees that there is a certain base of historical knowledge necessary for every person.
What destroys students’ interest in history (and how to avoid it)?
Maria Vorotylo, a history teacher, blogger, and lesson author for the educational project “Treasury,” believes that interest is often “killed” by dry delivery: when history is reduced to dates and paragraphs – without context, emotions, or connection to modernity.
“Children ‘fall asleep in class’ due to a lack of excitement, the search for truth. It’s about cases where students are simply ‘given the truth,’ with no chance to doubt the logic of events. This way, students have no opportunity to discover something themselves, find information, or ask questions. For example, mechanical memorization of dates and facts works like this – without explaining why this is important? Why these dates? Why these people? Why did this event precede that one?” explains the expert.
Antonina Makarevych agrees that the presentation of history without discussion “kills” interest in learning history.
“It was that way, period” – this is uninteresting to listen to. History is about life, about our ancestors, who loved, hated, empathized, suffered, pondered, and made various decisions. These decisions can be discussed, contemplated, and analyzed. It’s engaging when we involve students in lively discussions,” she notes.
How to awaken children’s interest in history?
Maria Vorotylo emphasizes that the modern generation of children is not used to a monotonous 45-minute lecture filled with dates, various characters, and unfamiliar terms. Therefore, changing the “presentation format” of the material is necessary.
“We must deliver the same material but in different ways, so that certain moments of the lesson are remembered by both the teacher and the students. Lessons can be transformed into historical quests, movie screenings followed by discussions, workshops on creating artifacts, or role-playing events in the format of a ‘trial’ or ‘reporting from the past,’ where each student has a unique role.
When students see that history is not just dry text in a book but an adventure with choices, emotions, and creativity – interest arises naturally,” says the teacher.
Antonina Makarevych believes the main secret is to show that history is not about random people and distant events, but about real stories that explain our present world.
“Convey to children that it is in history that the answers to questions lie: ‘Why is your neighborhood called that?’, ‘Where did your favorite dish come from?’, ‘Why do we celebrate these specific holidays?’. When students understand that history surrounds them every day, it stops being an abstraction.
A powerful tool is personalization. When we say, ‘Imagine you are a 14-year-old teenager in Kyiv in the 13th century. How would you spend your day?’ students instantly engage when they can envision themselves in the place of historical characters,” the expert notes.