In recent years, disciplinary literacy has offered a promising approach to history instruction in K-12 schools. Disciplinary literacy in history (hereafter, "historical literacy") entails approaching texts with an awareness of the interpretive nature of the field, reading and analyzing a variety of primary and secondary sources in…

In recent years, the use of primary sources in the history and social studies classroom has been increasingly promoted as a necessary and welcome practice, one designed to improve the quality of history education and to encourage student interest and engagement. Although some K-12 educators have been wary of adopting the use of primary sources,…

One of the great challenges for the Teaching American History (TAH) grant program is changing conventional K-12 history pedagogy. The literature is full of a myriad of complaints about the traditionally poor pedagogy of secondary school history teachers. History faculty are among the most severe critics. Yet their complaints are often fuzzy and…

The pedagogic value of using archival holdings for the teaching of history has long been appreciated. Using primary sources in the teaching of history transcends the rote learning of facts and figures. It encourages critical thinking skills, introducing students to issues of context, selection and bias, to the nature of collective memory and to…

Meeting the demands of teaching in the digital age requires the identification of effective types of educational technology and ways of encouraging its use, and that was the aim of a "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology (PT3)" grant to the University of Michigan-Dearborn, from the United States Department of Education. This…

The Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy is a coalition of friends who share a vision of the potential of education. Founded in 1997 at a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College Teachers, the Hamer Institute conducts seminars and workshops for K-12 teachers and students that feature the role…

Discusses the Schools History Project implemented in England in 1972. Traces the Project's history and development, and assesses problems that it has encountered. Elaborates on curriculum, curricular change, teaching methods utilized, inservice training of teachers, and the Project's future. Provides a sample syllabus developed by the Project. (RW)

Discusses using educational and popular films and television for history instruction. Argues that students need training to see the bias built into film making through the editing process. Urges that critical thinking must be developed in students to make use of mass media coverage of historical and current events as teaching tools. (DK)

Describes the development of a college-level Chinese history course based on the biographies of notable Chinese. Suggests story telling to make history more understandable and authentic. Argues that narrative can provide an open window for the study of any society. (CFR)