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Over the past few years, there has been considerable explication of what it means to think historically. According to this research literature, expert historians think about such issues as placing historical events within context and chronology, considering the differing perspectives of participants in events, and taking the bias and intention of different source documents into account. The teaching of history has turned toward instructional models involving young learners in genuine historical inquiry, in order to meet more demanding standards for historical thinking. At the same time, technological aids to the teaching and learning of history, most often through some sort of "authentic" historical inquiry involving source documents accessed through hypertext and on the Internet, have increasingly been used. Yet there is also concern that strong content area knowledge does not necessarily lead to effective pedagogy. Within the context of these developments, future teachers of history face considerable challenges to develop their own content knowledge of history and their pedagogical content knowledge of how to help youth engage in historical inquiry that is meaningful to them and prepares them for participation in democratic society. An initiative in 2002-2003 at a large Midwestern public university attempted to better prepare future teachers of secondary history, through their involvement in open-ended inquiry with youth into the history of their neighborhood during a technology-rich after-school program. In this paper, the authors explore important issues in developing future teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of high school students' historical thinking, through case study research into their efforts. (Contains 2 figures and 21 notes.)

The article discusses how history departments are increasingly engaging in collaborative discussions to reform their curriculum, focusing on improving pedagogical practices and making significant impacts on student learning. It highlights the influence of initiatives like the American Historical Association's Tuning the History Discipline project and the importance of data analytics in guiding curriculum changes. Despite challenges, such as declining majors and racial reckonings, departments have fostered collegiality and implemented innovative teaching strategies. The article underscores the value of fostering strong learning communities within departments and the potential of curriculum analytics to improve student retention and success. Overall, it expresses hope and collective commitment to enhancing history education despite current challenges facing the humanities.

In this essay, the author offers her experiences teaching a methods course at the University of Missouri, St. Louis (UMSL), "U.S. History for the Secondary Classroom" (History 4013), in order to foster discussion of how history educators might find ways to close the gap between history content and pedagogy. The author focuses particularly on the skills of historical synthesis required of high school history teachers, but often overlooked in teacher preparation programs. She also identifies challenges teacher candidates confront in the course as they work to develop epistemic and pedagogical foundations for the content choices they will make as history teachers. In making the case for methods courses in which students have opportunities to practice the skills of synthesis, she argues for the vital role of history educators in helping aspiring teachers, administrators, and the broader public better understand the intellectual richness and civic significance of history education. (Contains 36 notes.)

An introduction is presented to a section of articles on the topic of teaching democracy in the U.S. after the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

An introduction is presented to a special section of articles on the teaching of undergraduate introductory history courses, which includes the article entitled "Beyond Big Data: Teaching Introductory U.S. History in the Age of Student Success," by Bridget Ford and others, the report "Many Thousands Failed: A Wakeup Call to History Educators.," by Andrew Koch, a paper of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. of the as well as two replies to these articles.

The article discusses the importance of pedagogical content knowledge of future teachers regarding the historical thinking of high school students. The study was conducted in a public high school, where pre-service teachers (PSTs) were enrolled in a social studies methods curriculum that taught historical thinking. Data collection included descriptions of club activities, interviews and artifacts created by the students and by PSTs. Through case studies, it was found that pedagogical content knowledge guided PSTs in facilitating students' inquiry and skill-building processes. It was also found to help maintain a balance between history in the professional discipline and history to a student.