Starting next school year, the long-standing sophomore regular history class, World History III, will have a new look. Instead of taking WHIII, incoming sophomores will take Global Studies, which covers broader topics such as conflicts and current events to get students caught up with the world today.
History teachers Brittany Fannon and David Dingler are optimistic about the transition, hoping it will broaden student horizons and help them become more well-rounded.
“I’m super excited about it. It’s project-based and student driven, so even if we look at conflict, the students choose what they want to look at,” Fannon said.
One question raised about this switch is the difference in curriculum material between the two classes. What actually changed?
“The biggest difference is the content being taught. World History III started with the Cold War and over the course of the year worked up to today. Global Studies is very much looking at the now, so a lot of our content will change year-to-year based on what’s happening in the world,” Fannon said.
The new curriculum will be adaptive, changing between semesters and school years as the political climate and world stage moves with current events.
Another major difference is the class layout. Instead of the traditional test, quiz, and assignment format, the class will be largely student-centered and project focused.
“It’s very much driven by the student- it’s global topics with a simultaneous through line of curriculum and guidance,” Fannon said.
The change prompted a mass collaboration between history teachers to prepare for the new school year, something that required the attention of everyone involved.
“We have a lot of resources, so it’s kind of about reconfiguring everything, we’re moving stuff around in the curriculum to make it more relevant to today,” Dingler said.
To prepare for the shift, freshman teachers have been integrating material from WHIII into their classes to set students up for success.
“We’ve been in the process of moving the curriculum back. The goal this year was to get through the Cold War, so the group of teachers that handle that have been slowly shifting their timeline back a bit,” Fannon said.
Among the other academic changes to next year, Global Studies has been one of the most anticipated.
“I’m so excited,” Fannon said.
