Cherishing Nuance

Humanities Teacher

'It was neither true nor false, but what was experienced.'—Andrew Malraux

I recently came across the above quote whilst flicking through a book by late American photographer Lewis Koch. Koch was known for playfully exploring the revelatory power of juxtaposed images and words to elicit curiosity and wonder, to craft narratives and new ways of seeing. I’ve been pondering his choice of this phrase a lot lately. Taken originally from the 1932 novel La Condition Humaine by French writer Andre Malraux, it quite poignantly captures the subjectivity and complexity of the human experience. Specifically, for me, it has brought sharply into focus, the importance and challenges of truth-telling in the History classroom—the opportunities afforded therein and benefits beyond—for our students.

We live in siloed times, with ever-increasing polarisation and hyper-partisan attitudes and beliefs, as social media algorithms insidiously push content tailored to users’ identified interests. This reinforcement of preexisting views, and the artificial imposition of others, stifles exposure to diverse perspectives and heightens the resistance to, and dismissal of, inconvenient truths. With post-millennials, in particular, consuming ‘news’ this way, it is even more beholden upon us as educators to equip our students not only with the tools to discerningly navigate this space, but with the emotional maturity and wisdom to be open-minded to difference. To seek to understand and connect, rather than retreat from or reactively judge.

Current affairs have never seemed more fertile soil than at this point in my time as a history teacher. More than ever, I feel I am perpetually referring to the news to offer examples and draw parallels; the present mirroring the past—history happening in real-time. From the long-term impacts of colonisation to populism, echoes of the Cold War and crises in the Middle East, we are in familiar intractable territory where, as recently cautioned by American Ambassador Denis Ross, ‘parallel societies [are] consumed by their trauma, their own pain, and incapable of seeing that of others’ (2024).

But, in the History classroom our engagement with, and understanding of history is not static, and as Alison Dare (2024) argues, history by its very nature ‘is not binary…The reality is that all history was and is contested space’. There is not one truth, no one right response. We must, and indeed have an obligation to give a voice to varied perspectives and experiences. The History classroom then, asks us to sit with the discomfort, to come to appreciate nuance. But, this absence of certainty often challenges the thinking of our students, who can be more inclined to the security of absolutes. Naturally, it can also be difficult to engage with unfamiliar and confronting historical truths. However, as former Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney explains ’it’s hard for us to know about, it’s hard to read, it’s hard to look at, but if we don’t look at the past, we can’t craft the future‘ (2021).

Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, Sam Weinburg, renowned for his pioneering work in history education and the study of historical thinking argues, that ‘coming to know others, whether they live on the other side of the tracks, or millennium, requires the education of our sensibilities’ (1999). In other words, working through sometimes difficult positions as we come to know and understand each other, fosters a greater self-awareness. Weinburg argues that Humanities as a discipline, is meant to ‘spurn sloganeering, tolerate complexity, and cherish nuance’ (1999) and as such, when taught well, its value lies in its capacity to ‘humanise us in ways offered by few other areas in the school curriculum’ (1999). Wineburg’s claims regarding the purpose and potential of Humanities—though hardly new—are, I feel, timely. He stirringly articulates the critical thinking skills and empathy I sincerely hope my Modern History students are guided by when they navigate their futures and engage with the world beyond our gates.  As asserted by Dr Bruce Addison (2024), genuine dialogue informed by compassion, tolerance, and understanding can take us to ’deeply human spaces‘, where intractability and bluster can give way to humility and meaningful connections. Thus, like the way Koch arranged seemingly disparate texts and images, giving prominence to ‘what was experienced’ from varied perspectives can illicit curiosity and wonder, and craft new narratives. The collective experience reflective of a greater, more representative truth.