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This mixed-methods study explored the factors secondary history teachers use to determine historical content for their classrooms and the degree of perceived control in decision-making. Through a survey (N = 260) and follow-up interviews (n = 23), we found that secondary history teachers in the United States ranked historical significance most highly in their curricular decision-making, but the extent to which teachers felt they were able to exert control over curricular decisions was influenced by required assessments and other contextual factors. Nevertheless, many teachers also prioritized student interest and relevance when choosing historical content. Interviews revealed complexity in teachers' thinking and additional context-specific (dis)incentives (e.g., fear of controversy) regarding curricular choices. Implications for teacher education and policy are emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the teaching of disability history, specifically concerning the historical figure of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). Drawing upon literature from multicultural education, disability history and disability studies in education (DSE), the authors discuss historical content and teaching ideas for instruction about FDR. The authors present findings from a content analysis of six middle level and secondary United States history textbooks, noting unanimous coverage of FDR's disability resulting from polio. These textbooks noted how he overcame his disability and strengthened his character, referenced his decision to conceal his disability, and quoted FDR directly regarding his disability. The authors follow this analysis with discussion of several middle and high school teaching ideas that might augment textbook coverage and representation about FDR. This article explores how teachers of United States history might further develop their teaching of history through the inclusion of disability history within the context of a famous historical figure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author looks at subject-field disputes about what to teach in the field of social studies in the U.S. He identifies the selection of subject matter to teach as a first source of conflict about the field's nature given the scope of history, geography and other social sciences. Other topics discussed include the role of representation in teaching, the creation of a definitive agreement of what to teach and a body of knowledge, skills, attitudes and orientations that will benefit students.

The authors introduce a history teaching instrument known as the Protocol for Assessing the Teaching of History (PATH). The authors claim that PATH provides the establishment of a conversation among history teachers concerning teaching behaviors that contribute to quality instruction in the subject of history. The authors state that PATCH attempts to engage students in what is termed the decomposition of practice for history teaching techniques. The authors state that PATH was modeled upon the Classroom Assessment Scoring System-Secondary (CLASS-S).

In this study the authors investigate whether a whole-class educational blog could facilitate culturally relevant instruction and authentic intellectual work in U.S. history. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed that included student comments posted to an educational blog, classroom observations, and follow-up interviews. Based on the analysis, the authors determined four major findings: (a) Students were able to engage in historical analysis while working in the blog environment when it was focused on a single source and included a hard scaffold; (b) when students situated the activities in relevant cultural experiences, they were able to better use their prior knowledge;(c) a variety of affordances related to blogging encouraged and supported students as they completed their work; and (d) the blogging activities were constrained by the limits of students’ literacy and historical skills, and the limits of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, the authors present several issues which were raised and discussed during the World History Institutes which were conducted and designed by the College Board in the U.S. to prepare the way for the implementation of the 2011-2012 revised curriculum standards. These issues include the changes in the World History Course, the key concepts covering the essential content of the course, and how to use the content outline to help guide instruction.

The rise of Global History has important influences on the world history teaching in the United States. Firstly, courses titled "Global History" or "World History" rapidly entered into many universities, even Ivy League; secondly, the teaching of world history in middle school also made a great progress; thirdly, American government formulated the world history teaching standard in 1994; fourthly, Global History impacted on Western Civilizations course; finally, Global History changed the word history textbook compiling deeply, "cross-culture study in world history" became the central theme of the textbook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's personal reflections on his experiences teaching U.S. history at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon in 2009. Details are given describing premise and central themes of his course "Introduction to American Studies," highlighting questions regarding the students' perceptions of what "America" was. Discussion is particularly given noting the influence of the U.S. military presence in the area with the Iraq War and the War on Terror. Additional subjects discussed include the benefits and pitfalls of comparisons between U.S. history and other nations' histories, encountering and critically examining American cultural mythology, and the centrality of ideology in the understanding of history.

Human history is often shaped by the outcomes of arguments, not only in the sense of disputes between people or governments, but in the sense of the more rational pursuit of trying to convince others to accept or do certain things by offering reasons that are presented as compelling for so doing. Yet history teachers have done little to help students learn how to identify arguments in this sense, figure out what the arguments being offered are, and evaluate them. This article shows how a generic instructional technique—infusing direct instruction in skillful thinking into content instruction—can be used in the teaching of American history in ways that help students develop and use these thinking skills and that enhance their deep content understanding of the history being taught. The context is a secondary school classroom studying American history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article suggests an approach to teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the context of World War II. It describes strategies and activities on learning the history of the UDHR that have been implemented in university preservice and inservice social studies education classes in the U.S. These activities include the comparison of the UDHR with other major historical documents that support individual rights and the students' examination of the current implementation of the declaration's articles.

The article focuses on the application of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in history in the U.S. Teaching was identified as a form of scholarship in "Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate." In practice, SoTL is discipline specific because different disciplines live by epistemological standards. SoTL in history is composed of five elements. The historian explains to students what historians do, shows them how to use historical sources, provides feedback about the use of sources, assesses teaching after the fact and shares discoveries.

The article presents a lesson plan designed to analyze the debate about national identity and nationalism in the United States during the 1930s. The plan also explored how songs during the period reflected the politics and values of the era. According to the author, the lesson plan is an ideal exercise for history students and teachers. It could help them understand the reasons why the definition for the terms America and American vary by time and space and what songs depict the idea of nationalism in the country.

The article narrates the experience of the author about the use of the magazine, "North & South" as a medium in teaching the history of the U.S. Civil War. The author claims that the magazine is ideal since its article are of appropriate length and are written by experts, which include some of the most respected Civil War historians. He also appreciated the presence of discussions on the lives of soldiers, their experiences of battles, which students read through wartime letters, diaries and essays of soldiers that may be found among the issues of the magazine. The students were also asked to read articles on former president Abraham Lincoln and on the role of African Americans in the war.

The article discusses a lesson plan in teaching market revolution in the U.S. The activities included in the lesson are directed towards fulfilling standards in the National Standards for United States History. Student objectives that are involved in the study of market revolution are presented. Large manufacturing experiments were conducted in Lowell, Massachusetts that involved employing young country girls who are at the right age but not yet married. These exercise would let students experience in situations that they may face if they are in antebellum America.

Focuses on the similarities in the authors' teaching approaches to modern history following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. Plan by Sandra Young in to focus on discussing alternative views and opinions on the attacks in her advanced composition class for English and Media Studies majors; Observations by Louise Spence about the resistance by the students in her Native Americans and History class to discuss historical cases of violence committed by the United States following the bombings.

Describes a teaching technique used in teaching history to American undergraduate students. Concept and format of the structured debate teaching methodology; Roles of students in the teaching methodology; Advantages of using a structured debate technique in teaching history; Criteria used for assessing student's performance in the debate.

History can be an empowering tool in the education of those working in addiction-related occupations. This article explores the importance of the historical perspective in addiction studies, outlines principles to guide the presentation of historical data, and reviews some of the best resources that can be used to present historical material in a comprehensive, objective, and engaging manner. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Discusses various measures that should be taken to improve world history teacher training in public schools in the U.S. Characteristics of an effective undergraduate survey of world history; Importance of the undergraduate survey to teacher training; Methods and strategies in teaching world history.

Explores the teaching of nationalism and national identity in the Middle Eastern history. Information on the Middle Eastern history course offered at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York; Themes of the course; Methodology of teaching Middle Eastern history; Syllabus of the course.

Deals with a study about the teaching of history to students as a part of social studies curriculum in the United States. Controversy over national curriculum standards for history; Design of the study; Results and conclusion.

Presents an article on the materials and resources used in teaching medical history at the undergraduate level in the U.S. Emphasis of the Medical History in Cultural perspective course; Influence of race and gender on the types of medical care offered; Response of medical students to a 1915 condemnation of midwives in the U.S.

One of the least examined forms of school/university collaboration is that which brings together scholars in a given discipline and teachers in the corresponding school subject. The paper investigates four summer institute sites of the California History Social Science Project, focusing on the language used by historians and teachers to describe their own and each others' roles and contributions. The study reveals two sets of discourses. The first involves the notions of 'content' and 'pedagogy'. Although these terms seem to level the playing field of professional authority between discipline-based professors (as 'content experts') and teachers (as 'pedagogy experts'), they provide a problematic, fundamentally technical model of history teaching and learning. The second, revolving around 'doing the discipline', provides a far more satisfactory account of, and trajectory for, collaborative professional work aimed at teaching and learning for understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an article on teaching the history of cities, Bombay, London and New York which will provide students with a comparative perspective that enables them to question assumptions about history. Origins of the course; Course description and outline; Use of movies in teaching the course.

Discusses the teaching of a college course about the history of the war on poverty in the U.S. Course description; Details on the books used in the course; Method of instruction and study.

Presents an article on teaching the Age of Empire at the California State University in San Marcos, California. Interest of the students in the topic; Teaching methods used; Information on how the discussion of secondary sources were began; Documents with effective impact on the students' thinking.

The article discusses the findings from a study on graduate teachers of the year 1979 to 1980 who had not found teaching employment by 1982 in the United States. It used a four-part methodology to examine some of the structural, individual and personal characteristics which contribute to the ability of teachers to obtain a teaching post. The findings indicated that the characteristics of graduate teachers who were still interested in obtaining a teaching post in 1981 include: graduate of History or general arts program; female and have trained in their PGCE year to be primary teachers. The study supported the view that commitment to teaching is related with being female and with an interest in working with the younger age group.

Albert Bushnell Hart was a leading figure during a critical period in the development of history education in the United States. Throughout his career as a professor of history and government at Harvard University (1883-1926), he made many contributions, arguably more than anyone else of his generation, to history's emergence as a modern school subject and to its inclusion as a core component of the school curriculum. In doing so, he helped fashion the door through which social studies subsequently entered the schools. His career, therefore, offers an interesting and enlightening perspective on both the theoretical and institutional foundations of social studies education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Liberia Project that focuses on teaching students on human rights in the U.S. It states that teachers and students are working together to developed new teaching strategies to introduce the complexities of the past particularly history and human rights, and its enduring impact on people's lives. It explores the Liberian children's situation and the possible impact of its history on teaching American children and other students throughout the school. Moreover, teachers challenged their students to think for themselves as they challenged themselves to reach across the discipline and involve their colleagues in an amazing multidisciplinary approach to history.

Discusses the approach to teaching the history of the Americas in the U.S. Factors that have perpetuated a parochial view of the Americas; Intellectuals and activists that are linked to the efforts to view the region in terms that transcend the nation-state; History of the Americas according to historian Herbert Eugene Bolton; Approach of Kate Masur in teaching the history of Americas.

The article offers information on a website which focuses on the teaching of history. It states that this website is co-directed by Sam Wineburg of Stanford University in Palo, Alto, California and Roy Rosenzweig of George Mason University. This site enables teachers to download four investigations, or lesson plans on the Spanish-American War, Social Security, Rosa Parks, and the Scopes Trial. Moreover, each unit has all teacher and student materials and a downloadable film clip showing the teaching methods, the skill and content standards from Texas and California and fiver others states in the United States.

Presents an overview of two articles on teaching U.S. history. The first article, by Lendol Calder, explores how the author has radically restructured the most traditional of courses, the U.S. history survey, in light of the scholarship of teaching and learning. The second article by five historians explain that questions of teaching and learning quickly became central to their thinking about how to engage their students in using visuals and new media to develop a sophisticated approach to history.

The article discusses how music can help American history teachers in their teaching tasks. According to the author, using songs to teach history is a way of training future generations to hear the voices communicating across time. The use of music, according to the author, will help build students' appreciation of their country's history. The author also discussed the uses and functions of music and how the use of music in communication gave rise to music's most important values for teaching history.

The article explores how music can be used to teach American history. According to the author, music is laden with feelings, and because of that, people will typically remember the activities it accompanies. The teaching of history can be made more interesting, more profitable and less boring to students if teachers will use music to impart their knowledge. The author also gave advice on what music should be used in teaching history and the factors that influence the success of using music in teaching.

Focuses on the teaching of controversial issues to elementary Social Studies classes in the U.S. Methods and techniques in addressing controversial issues in the classroom; Contention of the author that teaching history to students without the consideration of disagreements as if events were planned or scripted gives them false representation; Rules and guidelines regarding the address of controversial issues by teachers.

Describes a classroom simulation for the study of the history and legal issues on the Compromise of 1970 in the U.S. concerning the location of the national capital and the federal assumption of the thirteen states' Revolutionary War debts. Importance of simulations in enhancing students' retention of knowledge in a certain subject matter; Class discussions and promotion of critical thinking among students.

Studies the teaching of modern Middle Eastern history in U.S. academic institutions. Challenges of teaching Middle Eastern history; Students' view of the Middle East.

Introduces a series of articles about the teaching of radical history and the contributions of Africans to the culture in the U.S.

Introduces a series of articles about the use of radical mentoring in the teaching of history in universities and colleges and the U.S.