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The author explores the association between experience and education and investigates the curriculum of place and the stories told and retold. Topics discussed include her review of the book "Controversial History Education in Asian Contexts," her teaching experience and assessment of the diverse points of view that historical events encompass.

Recent research on history teaching has begun to focus on political motivation. This paper is the result of the author’s dissertation, which investigates Latvian history teaching under the authoritarian regimes of Ulmanis and Stalin. It reveals the effects of authoritarianism on goals, curriculum, teaching materials and methods, and the teacher’s position in the classroom. The research undertaken attempts to discern how authoritarian political rule manipulates the teaching of national history to further its political goals, and the resulting effects. The article focuses on the teaching of Latvian history under the Soviet authoritarian regime in Latvia (1934–1940, 1940–1941/1944–1991), but includes discussion of the Nazi occupation and periods of democracy in Latvian history as a source of comparison in order to analyse the teaching of Latvian history in democratic and authoritarian societies and define the traits characteristic to authoritarian regimes. Authoritarian traits are revealed through comparisons of the purpose of history teaching as determined by the ruling order, the goal of history teaching, curriculum, methodology and materials, and teacher status under authoritarian regimes and democratic regimes. Results indicate that goals of history teaching become contrived under authoritarianism – politicised curriculum marginalises some groups, textbook authorship and choice is limited, and teachers become transmitters of the regime’s agenda resulting in marginalisation. This study deduces that two cultures of history teaching emerge – official history in school and unofficial history acquisition that helps maintain a sense of national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current analysis is a segment in the investigation for the doctoral thesis titled 'The Teaching of History in the First Cycle of Basic Education: The concept of historical time in children and the contexts for their development' (Solé, 2009), undertaken with children of the 1st CBE (6 - 10 years) in a school in the north of Portugal. The study was conducted with two groups, namely, 1st and 2nd years (24 students) and 3rd and 4th years (25 students) throughout two scholastic years. Current investigation lies within the investigation mode of interpretation, predominantly qualitative (Erickson, 1986) and may be considered a longitudinal case study (Yin, 2003) since it describes the learning and understanding process of historical time by children between the 1st and 4th year of two groups during two years. Following typology by Stake (2000), it may be called an instrumental case study since it shows how children develop the concept of time and the difficulties experienced in the process of teaching/learning and to understand how learning occurs through several strategies and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the works of Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire on teaching in general and history teaching by considering the challenges of contemporaneity, with a special reference to democracy and citizenship. Topics discussed include the development of an independent and critical historical thought by considering democracy; the importance of directing education and the teaching of history to young people with close social relations; and the importance of "historical conscience" for building civil and citizen awareness.

The capacity to imagine is a key aspect of creativity and, in this paper, it is argued that it is this capacity which needs to be harnessed in history education for young people. Although the creation of fiction and the use of imagination has tended to be regarded as a literary method, in this paper it is argued that it has an important role to play in helping young people discover history - something which might normally be seen as a purely scientific process. An interdisciplinary approach is needed. Researchers who study pedagogy confirm that in contemporary education, how teachers are interested in their subject and how they use their imagination is becoming increasingly important (Zeldin 1995). The problem is not particularly ontological (what to present in a history class) - instead, it is epistemological (how to present it). The choice of material stems partly from the topic but even more from the approach to the topic. It also depends on the target audience (e.g. children of various ages and carrying out various roles), the values of the society and ideological choices (what we are trying to tell the students about a topic). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given students’ preconceptions of history as fixed information, cultivating students’ interpretive and evidence-based thinking is foundational to advancing their disciplinary understanding. This study examines the ways in which preservice history teachers construct tasks that demand students’ interpretive and evidence-based thinking and attend to such thinking in their field placements while being taught to do so in their methods courses. Analysis of methods course assignments, student teaching observations, and assessments of candidates’ disciplinary knowledge led to the construction of three cases of novice teachers’ efforts to teach these ways of thinking to their students. The one novice who attended to her students’ interpretive and evidentiary thinking translated her disciplinary knowledge into lessons that involved analysis of text in developing interpretations and gave general prompts to provide evidence in support of students’ conclusions. This study highlights the role of preservice teachers’ disciplinary understanding and pedagogical content knowledge in developing students’ interpretive and evidentiary thinking in history classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the age of accountability, there is increased pressure to deliver high-quality education in a limited time period is greater than ever before. Teachers are often left to struggle with issue of determining what knowledge is necessary, and to what depth it may be explored in the classroom. There is a need for strategies to both incorporate the best forms of historical knowledge and to cope with the increased demands on our teachers. The purpose of this article is to examine the idea of what constitutes 'historical knowledge,' the issues of breadth and depth, and to suggest strategies for history teachers on how to deal with the challenge of finding the 'right' balance between breadth and depth in their history courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws attention to processes of policy implementation in developing contexts, and to the unintended consequences of education policies that follow international policy scripts without enough consideration of local histories and cultures. Drawing on a study of teaching practices in Peruvian rural secondary schools after a period of comprehensive reform and the introduction of a new outcomes-based national curriculum, the paper highlights the way in which such reforms have led to a displacement of knowledge in rural schools that acts against an already educationally disadvantaged population. This is linked to the prevalence of highly performative and ritualised teaching practices that have emerged through a history of school expansion that has tended to follow imported scripts without much consideration for local knowledge. The paper suggests that policy makers, particularly in highly varied contexts like Peru, should attempt to understand local specificities and plan policies accordingly. [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.

This article reviews the moral dilemmas that a teacher faces in the classroom when teaching recent history which deals with military regimes, violation of human rights (1973-1990) and the transition to democracy in Chile (1990-2008). Furthermore, it explores the neutrality of the content taught; the ideological standpoints of the teachers and the students; emotions that emerge; relationships with the victims and so on. These tensions were noted during research undertaken in secondary schools in Santiago, Chile, in 2007. Introducing recent history into curriculum content is a way to teach citizenship education since it enables students to understand how historical processes occur and influence the present and permits understanding of the social context and everyday reality. However, when what is taught from recent history is an account of the violation of human rights, teaching becomes much more difficult and complex and several moral problems arise because of the proximity of the events, diverse interpretations of the facts and the different levels and ways of involvement of the teachers and students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History has long been taught in Australian schools with a view to encouraging patriotic citizenship. What has been taught and what is meant by patriotic Australian citizenship has changed markedly over the years. Current national initiatives to stimulate and direct the teaching of ‘what we all know’ to be Australian history may not meet the requirements of acceptable educational practice. The Commonwealth government may be better advised to pursue initiatives that encourage understanding of and commitment to the common weal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will undertake a critical review of the impact of virtual reality tools on the teaching of history. Virtual reality is useful in several different ways. History educators, elementary and secondary school teachers and professors, can all profit from the digital environment. Challenges arise quickly however. Virtual reality technologies show great pedagogical promise in the presentation of research. It is also asserted that these technologies provide real-world immersion in the 'historical past' in a way that was previously not possible. Can these systems truly take the place of classrooms, elementary and secondary, and the research projects of graduate studies? Ultimately, technological optimists argue that these technologies create an 'alternate reality'. Can history educators agree to such an 'alternate reality'? The principle conclusions drawn in this paper include a need for further development of virtual simulations, both in terms of their realism and the immediacy of the classroom experience. Further practical experimentation by history educators in the research environment is also key. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In establishing a collective history, past events are utilized to celebrate a nation's origins. While analysis of these events is often framed in knowing the single best narrative, the events themselves become of interest when examining how the interpretations remain the same or change over time. The recent bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 offers an opportunity to examine such a change. This article investigates how students revealed a historical consciousness in realizing what purpose the expedition serves to a national identity. After analyzing conversations occurring among three eighth-grade students, this article explores the student responses to three interpretations, which bears important educational consequences and implications for the teaching and learning of history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

This article presents four guidelines for providing direct instruction in thinking skills in social studies and history at any grade level. The author first describes, with examples, three major components of any thinking skill that students need to know. Second, he presents teaching techniques for making these components explicit. Third, he outlines and explains two different strategies for organizing introductory skill lessons. Fourth, he describes a variety of techniques for scaffolding and cueing continuing thinking-skill practice as well as strategies for organizing different types of skill-practice lessons. He explains principles for employing these techniques and strategies throughout. He also highlights three factors teachers should consider in implementing thinking-skills instruction. The article concludes with a brief research-based rationale for infusing thinking-skills instruction with social studies and history instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers to construct a more rigid attitude through proper methodological system in the study of the history of industrial revolution. It divides the history of the industrial revolution into three periods starting from the middle of the 18th century and combines the history of economic thoughts with the study. It further mentions the role of human intelligence with the inventions of human machines that made a significant contribution to industrial revolution.

In the fall 2005 semester, the author designed a course in the history of America's modern wars hoping to encourage students to criticize and oppose the country's current aggressions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Surveys of student attitude change suggest that the course did promote criticism but did far less to facilitate student activism. The author concludes that instructors may need to model activism in addition to offering historical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined 15 secondary American history textbooks to evaluate their accuracy in depicting Native Americans as a follow-up to studies by Costo and Henry (1970) and Loewen (1995). The criteria embodied an authenticity guideline based upon the Five Great Values with a rating scale between 1 (lowest) and 5 (highest). The results indicate that only three of the textbooks rated above average. Though generally the textbooks have improved in quantity of cultural information, better treatments must be pursued that reflect more accurate and comprehensive accounts. The challenge lies in assisting educators' acquisition of knowledge and familiarity with Native cultures as they are depicted in textbooks, an endeavor that will further assist these teachers in adopting and utilizing proper textbooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines arguments about the teaching of history in Cyprus, especially as they relate to the cultivation of patriotism. I point out how the narratives of 'sacred history' and 'dangerous memories' are discursive elements of a pedagogy that aims at maintaining patriotism by preventing subjective and divisive personal memories from eroding a cohesive national narrative. Along with other linguistic strategies ('passions of the past'), these discourses allow an idealization of history and a rejection of subjective, personal memory. I argue that this contributes to viewing history as a distant entity and not as a field of action, something that ultimately works against the purported goal of sustaining patriotism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article traces the history of Cuba through visual arts. Teaching history using visual arts is a manner of bringing the past into the present. Visual arts and architecture have shown Cuba's identity development through time. The arts have become the mirror that reflects the country's history from the earliest times to the present. Arts in specific periods in the history of Cuba are presented and explained. There are restrictions on the freedom of Cuban visual artists. One is the lack of resources and the other is censorship of content.

The article discusses the study of American Labor Movement through oral histories. Oral histories are in exciting way to directly involve students in the act of historical inquiry. This way of teaching assists students in personalizing history and relating to the actual lives behind major events, names and dates in history. Oral history allows student to learn about the perspectives of individuals who might not otherwise appear in the historical record. It also provides a rich opportunity for human interaction and allows the student to learn different kinds of information.

There is a growing concern throughout the UK and beyond about the lack of suitably qualified post-primary teachers in some subject areas, particularly mathematics, design and technology and the sciences. This paper reports on a survey of teacher qualifications in Northern Ireland which indicates that a significant percentage of teachers are unqualified in the areas of mathematics, physics, ICT, history and Irish, and that Key Stage 3 teachers tend to be less well-qualified than those at Key Stage 4 or post-16. Unqualified teachers are less likely to be found in the grammar sector than the non-grammar sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the implication of the history of teaching and learning mathematics for teachers. The history of mathematics instruction should constitute one of the dimensions of the professional knowledge of mathematics teachers. The approaches and results from comparative education provide an essential tool for an international history of teaching and learning mathematics, in order to grasp national specificities as well as overall and global trends. The crucial point in the different moments of the long history of mathematics education proves to be the rank attributed to mathematics within the respective set of social and cultural values.

The article offers opinion on helping students read and write history effectively. It is proven that the key to improving the asking of good questions is developing a better understanding of how professional historians do their work. Some students will always love history but almost all need to be taught how to write the kind of history that history instructors are fond of reading. It is important to share with the students the lesson that historian themselves have learned, that some questions are better to work with than others.

This article reports on a study that concerns the way in which preservice teachers negotiate historical inquiry-based teaching and learning in relation to their preexisting conceptions of social studies as a discipline. Thoughts and opinion that form preservice teachers' historical understanding at the start of a semester were examined. Data gathered from the examination was compared with students' thoughts and opinions at the end of the semester. Students were asked to write in their journals on how they believe social studies should be taught in elementary classrooms to learn the preservice teachers' goals and perceptions of social studies pedagogy. A variety of instructional strategies that focus on history as an inquiry-based discipline was introduced.

Describes an experience of an educator who searched for supplemental materials to engage students in interactive methods of building content and genre schemata for studying topics in history. Incident that led to the effort; Response of students to the reading program; Outcome of the effort.

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.

Provides information on teaching elementary students interpret history. Significance of teaching and learning history in elementary school; Challenges to interpreting the past with children; Misconceptions about history as a way of knowing.

Discusses challenges associated with teaching social studies. Importance of an investigative approach in studying history; Approaches to teaching social studies in elementary schools; Relation of critical thinking in studying social science.

This paper examines the close relationship between literacy and history in terms of the processes of historical enquiry and the literary outcomes of the historian's work. It highlights the rich resource which historical documents represent for the primary classroom in a wide range of genres, and suggests that such documents can be used in their original form with all ability ranges. The means by which this can be done is presented in a case study of an integrated approach to teaching history, literacy and music, in a Year 6 class. The key to the success of the reading and writing activities was the use of varied teaching approaches including storytelling, drama, singing and discusssion as ways into challenging texts. The children used the concept of time and the listing of jobs as organisers for their extended writing. The careful scaffolding through text-marking and the recording grid, as well as the emotions stimulated through the texts and activities, ensured success for all the children. The study emphasises the links between these genuine historical tasks, and activities in the National Literacy Strategy and suggests how music might be successfully integrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a graduate course for teaching the history of European imperial encounters in the modern age. Course description; Objectives of the course; Course requirements.

Introduces a series of articles about teaching the history of Islam and colonialism.

Presents an article on teaching the history of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands in the era of Proposition 187 and free trade. Conceptual challenges in teaching the history of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands; Goals of the course; Books and articles suggested for teaching the course.

Introduces articles about teaching national histories and the problem of combining an analysis of global political-economic processes with a concern for the complex, historically specific cultural interactions and identities produced within such process.

Presents information on the teaching of a course about the history of European and North American social policy. Course description; Details on the required readings for the course; Benefits of the course.

Presents an article on teaching a course on cultural encounters in European history. Aims of the course; Conceptualization of the course; Details of the course readings and books used in the course.

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 present study investigates conditions under which undergraduates may adopt a view of history more similar to that of historians and how learning and understanding may be affected under such conditions. Two manipulations, one of the reading material and the other of writing task, were introduced within the standard ’read-to-write’ approach of history instruction. Undergraduates were either given a textbook chapter about Ireland between 1800 and 1850, or the same information in the form of separate sources. After reading the presented material they were instructed to write a history, a narrative or an argument regarding what produced the significant changes in Ireland’s population between 1846 and 1850. It was expected that the separate source/argument writing condition would yield the most historian-like behaviour. Indeed, students in this condition learned the material as well as, or better than, students in any other conditions, but had the best understanding of the material, especially of causal and explanatory relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]