The teaching of social sciences has evolved from memorizing names, dates, and events to identifying the effects of such historical essence to the present lives of the Filipinos. While looking back to the past can help us understand best the present and prepare for the future so we can avoid the mistakes, for me, knowing the facts is still important as it can help in the cognitive improvement of the brain and the historical allusion could add to human knowledge.

Gone were the days when the students know the capitals of places, names of heroes and heroines, and historical events. Compared to what we know and how we were trained, we learned to memorize but also to connect the significance of any historical event or figure to lessons of the present.

Accordingly, history is the study of life in society in the past, in all its aspect, in relation to present developments and future hopes. It is the story of humans in time, an inquiry into the past based on evidence. Indeed, evidence is the raw material of history teaching and learning. Thus, it is important to study history with the critical sense of analysis for students to appreciate what is the link of past events to the present life we have.

One caveat is that when we say history teaching, it is boring. Well, it is based on the strategies of the teachers. It is also dependent on how the activities are engaging which can make a so-called boring subject become interesting.

Names, dates, events or simply facts can have meaning depending on how they will be connected to our human experiences at present. Critical thinking therefore is a product of proper questioning which can liberalize the thinking of students once they are guided properly.