History requirement is a gift to Alaskan students

Frontiersman editorial board

Alaska's Board of Education voted unanimously in favor of a regulation requiring high school seniors to demonstrate a knowledge of Alaska history before graduation.

The board rejected a similar plan 30 years ago, allowing individual districts to decide whether or not to teach Alaska history as a required subject. Many districts chose not to require state history curriculum.

There are many different opinions about whether history is an important core subject and, if so, why. Some say a knowledge of the past prevents us from repeating the same mistakes, but that doesn't always hold water. Some believe history is an important way to instill national or state pride in students, but that is only true when history is presented with a slant.

The true benefit of historical knowledge is that it enables students to put other information into different contexts. A knowledge of history is the foundation of cultural literacy, and cultural literacy is the basis for meaningful discourse and progress toward truly long-term cultural/societal goals.

To set a course for a beneficial, common future, we apply our most current knowledge to modern challenges, but we can only do that successfully if we use an accurate knowledge of our history as a reference point.

We must know from whence we came, and why our culture followed a given path before we can even consider the idea of progress. Without history as a keel, the ship of state simply drifts in meaningless circles.

Alaska's history is rich. In fact, it is the first American chapter in the peopling of this continent. The relationship between ancient and modern Alaska history is critical knowledge if Alaskans are to make meaningful decisions about the future of our state.

Perhaps the most critical aspect of gaining historical knowledge is that it allows people to perceive human experience as a continuum. History is not something that happened, but it is, rather, the ongoing story of humanity.

History is not something simply to look back upon, but it is something to be immersed in. This requirement will enable students to become immersed in the living history of their state, to understand that history is still happening and that they can take part in it.

We applaud the decision to require Alaska history in school curriculum, and we congratulate Alaska students for gaining this opportunity.