The Impact of Revisionist History on Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Worldviews

Students sometimes find the study of history to be boring and irrelevant. Many question the accuracy of accounts given. The introduction of revisionist history to a convenience sample of students (N =164) from a college of education program located at a Midwestern university made a positive difference in historical learner perspective. Students gained a greater appreciation for the study of the past, as well as a better understanding of how the melodramatic hyping of events and heroes discourages the formulation of a balanced and accurate view of history and its leaders. Pretest-to-posttest changes in mean scores were found to be highly significant. Results were independent of 8 selected demographic variables. Despite inherent differences, classical and revisionist versions of past events and its heroes do not have to be adversaries. Creative contrasting of the two approaches has the potential of increasing student appreciation for the study of history.