LookAtVietnam – History is referred to by students as a “school killer” since the worst grades of students are always in this subject.

Students want to watch historical films and drama that illustrate the content of the lessons. If so, history will not just be simple dates and events, but it will be more interesting

Thach affirmed that many students who have high scores in history, in fact, do not well understand and love history.

“Sometimes I met those people, who always have 9-10 scores for history (10 is the highest score), but they do not know who Princess Huyen Tran is or the significance of March 26,” he remarked.

Traditionally teaching history in Vietnam is a matter of rote memorization of facts and figures, just as in many other countries. Students “learn by heart” rather than analyzing evidence or interpretations.

Thach admitted that “We would like another method of teaching history. We want to watch historical films that illustrate the content of the lessons. If so, history will not just be simple dates and events, but it will be more interesting.”

Dao Anh Tuan, a former student of the HCM City Law University who won many prizes in history, questioned: Why do many Vietnamese students and people know South Korean and Chinese history better than Vietnam’s?

Tuan believes that it is necessary to help students link academic knowledge in textbooks with practice and activities. He offered a simple example: students should know why the road they live on is named for a historical hero or historical event.

Tuan pointed out that cinema and game shows have played very important role in helping people understand more about history. Chinese history is well known by many Vietnamese people thanks to popular films.

A female high school student complained that she feels too tired when studying history. A teaching period, under current regulations, lasts 45 minutes. In fact, teachers spend 15 minutes to test students and then they have only 30 minutes to discuss knowledge from an average of six textbook pages per class.

“I cannot understand why we have to remember so many figures: how many aircrafts and tanks of the enemy and how many soldiers were killed?” she lamented.

Tran Nguyen Khang, a HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities lecturer, also thinks that instructors should apply more suitable and modern methods to help students learn to love history.

Khang said that knowledge can be provided to students via images and films. He noted that he always spends time to discuss with students about historic films.

For example, when watching “Indochine” or “Gone with the Wind”, students better understand about what happened in the past with the support of lively stories, colors and sounds. They also learn to analyze the historical content of films to determine the purpose of the movie, its message, and how history can be interpreted in various ways.

VietNamNet/TT