Using historical thinking for analyzing the teaching and learning of secondary school history, this paper contributes to literature and debates on the pedagogical potential of museums in this endeavor. Despite the existence of museums and expansive literature on their historical significance in various world settings, there has not been much…

Teaching with primary sources provides educators with opportunities to expose students to authentic analysis, critical thinking, and perspective taking. When students are exposed to primary sources in the classroom, they can examine the point of view of the source, what information they can gain from the source, what information is missing, and…

Project-based learning (PBL) is a relatively recent innovation in teaching methodology that uses real-world learning activities to engage student interest and motivation. PBL equips students with skills necessary for the current job market: communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. This paper provides an overview of PBL,…

This study was designed to explore elementary students' existing religious literacy about Judaism alongside how they respond to a series of lessons about Judaism that utilize a picture book text set and discussion-based teaching strategies. Participants in the study were third-grade students at a private Christian school in the South. Data was…

Human dignity is a complex, though essential, concept for students to master. Inserting human dignity into existing curricula provides students with more opportunities to consider the problems of vulnerable classmates and the status of human dignity and rights in the United States and around the world. Using parts of the US modern Civil Rights…

High quality teaching involves deep content knowledge, understanding students and their learning processes, and complex skills of teaching and assessment. Students who experience high quality teaching tend to achieve higher annual growth rates. This study used a descriptive, qualitative research model to explore excellence in social studies…

Participation in a classroom-based study provided Grade 4 students with multiple opportunities to develop their visual meaning-making skills and competences, as well as their aesthetic understanding of and critical thinking about multimodal ensembles. Intentionally-designed instruction during the multifaceted research included a variety of…

To demonstrate how the history classroom could become an important site for addressing climate change, this article describes the piloting of three lessons. Our qualitative case study occurred in an elective environmental education course with teacher candidates who participated in the lessons and were invited to provide feedback. We describe the…

This article charts the ways in which film has been included in history education over time and the research that has accompanied this. Through an analysis of historical development, current strands of educational research are realigned according to Epstein's theory of historical perspectives. Following this, the article presents a thorough…

Understanding history involves being able to construct knowledge about the past from historical traces left behind. In this article, the author describes a five-step strategy using historical obituaries to recreate the social landscapes of the past and raise critical consciousness regarding power relations in different contexts. The strategy is…

The American Revolution is central to the identity of citizens of the United States. It is, therefore, rarely critiqued in the U.S. social studies classroom. This article examines how teachers can discuss the American Revolution using both a critical historical approach and the ideas of peace education, particularly the strand that focuses on the…

Our paper examines the latest frontier of the "War on Terror," countering violent extremism (CVE), non-coercive approaches that aim to prevent "radicalization" that may lead to "violent extremism" or terrorism. We look at the recent implementation of CVE in Québec's education sector. Based on an analysis of key policy…

How better can we prepare students for the roles awaiting them as citizens than by engaging them in addressing challenging issues of the day? We describe our experience as a researcher--practitioner partnership with this objective in a yearlong program involving academically low-performing urban middle schoolers and a student-centered…

The typical U.S. history curriculum does not ask students to think about justice. While ignoring injustice may reduce controversy in the classroom, critically thinking about justice engages students and prepares them to be citizens in an often contentious democracy. This article proposes five characteristics of history curricula that support…

A narrative of racial progress abounds in U.S. history, making it difficult for teachers to present complex interpretations of racial/ethnic discrimination. Historical complexity challenges such simplistic notions of race/ethnicity and encourages critical thinking. Adding anti-essentialist historical content about Latinx communities is one way to…