CIVIL WAR
There’s a war being fought in the classrooms of Secaucus Middle School. It’s the American Civil War, and it’s much more than that. A group of teachers have expanded their social studies classes to incorporate history and art and literature and culture to teach their students about the war to restore the Union as well as the nature of violence in general across the ages.
One classroom has been transformed into a battlefield of the mind by the addition of three painted backdrops, each three feet high and 17 feet long, depicting abstract scenes of conflict, desperation, and loss. One black and red panel is surrounded by two more of black and white, all filled with silhouettes and hazy images and hints and snippets of some undefined war.
“I deliberately kept the painted images general to make it easier to make analogies between the civil war and the violent protests in Baltimore or in Ferguson,” said art teacher Doug DePice, who created the panels. “These are all different places but the story of violence is the same, whether it is the Civil War of the 19th century or the civil unrest in the 21st century. I made these pieces to help the students think about the psychological and social roots of violence.”
And it worked. According to social studies teachers Don Somerset, Amanda Jones, and Chris Innis, the immersive atmosphere and expansive agenda engaged the students in a more emotional way, leading to a fuller learning experience.
“These are all different places, but the story of violence is the same whether it is the civil war of the 19th century or the civil unrest in the 21st century.” – Doug DePice
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In a series of beautifully crafted tales, students imagined themselves as soldiers caught up in the draft, as reluctant fighters watching their friends die, as wives left behind while the war ravaged the nation, as children orphaned when their families were ripped apart.
“So much of the year is dealing with dates and events,” said Somerset. “I wanted them to step back, connect it to the Revolutionary War, to the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, all these different wars, and just talk about what war does. I wasn’t really anticipating it, but some of the kids that were most affected in the class were the ones who have lost brothers and sisters in Iraq or kids whose parents are currently away at war. And it really connected.”
“When they have that emotional connection, that’s what sticks with them,” said Jones. “I could go on and on about the battle of Antietam, and guess what? Twenty years from now they’re not going to remember a thing. But they’ll remember this. They always remember how they felt. Maya Angelou said it isn’t what you did, it’s how you made them feel.”
Anne Frank and Alice and Wonderland
This is not the first time DePice has brought a new environment into the classroom. Last February he transformed a different room into a dark sanctuary with a series of paintings suggesting Anne Frank’s hiding space and grim experiences. Then he went in the other direction with a whimsical fantasyland of Alice in Wonderland images.
When he approached the social studies teachers to offer his services within their realm, they told him the course of study was approaching the Civil War, and he latched onto the topic. Somerset originally offered reference photographs from the war but DePice demurred.
“I told them I really don’t want to do a battle scene,” said DePice. “I don’t want to go in a history book and copy Gettysburg or whatever. I said I would really much rather explore the nature of violence.”
“And I’m so glad he did that,” said Somerset. “Because I think if it had gone the other way, what I was thinking originally, it might have just been like a more fancy PowerPoint presentation, still just looking at photographs.”
Instead, DePice offered up a set of images the students could relate to not only viscerally but personally. “Normally somebody makes a joke in class and it lightens things up,” said Somerset. “This week they came in and they focused right on it and didn’t stop talking. I had to end the discussion after two days because they kept coming up with new ideas all the time. It was all very serious. There was no joking.”
An integrated approach
All 160 seventh grade students in the school will be rotating through the classroom to take the Civil War class. Which is, of course, about much more than just the Civil War.
“It’s not history anymore,” said Somerset. “It’s social sciences. You’re looking at economics, you’re looking at psychology, sociology, geography, civics, religion, all different types of things. You’re trying to figure out not only the dates and the timeline but also what drove these people to make the decisions they did that changed the world from that point forward.”
“It’s a chance to be creative,” said Jones. “It’s a chance for the students to express their opinions. A lot is expected of them, especially with the PARCC testing and state testing, and a lot of them are stressed out about what’s in the book and what’s on the test. This is a great way for them to still utilize those common core skills that we’ve been teaching them all year, but in a very different way. This is a real life connection.”
DePice strongly agreed. “PARCC is a little too linear. This is more integrated. We’re using a specific event, the Civil War, but its application touches upon global learning.”
And beyond learning, beyond understanding the facts and the history and the sociology, it’s about developing each individual student.
“You want to motivate them to believe that they can make a change in their community,” said Somerset. “To make them leaders, so that even if they’re not the type of person that wants to be the one in front, the boisterous one, they can be the one behind that helps whoever they believe in to actually make these changes. You have to look at their environment today and in the past, and hopefully it helps them understand their future, wherever they’re going to be going.”
That’s a lot to ask from a single social studies class. But then, that’s the nature of teaching.
“The essence of the word ‘educate’ means ‘to draw out,’” said DePice. “These pictures are drawing out of them whatever intense ideas or feelings or memories they have, and they’re really getting educated now. Because it’s coming from them. I think that’s the best way to learn.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.
