Presented is a model of curriculum design for history instruction using the concept cluster approach. The importance of proper age/grade placement when teaching historical concepts and the developmental characteristics of children and adolescents are emphasized. (Author/RM)

This study reports on the historical conceptualization among Finnish 12-13 year-olds who were given a projective task to yield historical thinking. The case study examines expressions the subjects used and which were studied qualitatively, using "chunks of meaning" as units of analysis, in regard to both their meaning- content and their…

Research on the psychological processes involved in historical thinking indicates that formal operational thinking skills required to understand history develop relatively late. Although studies have indicated teachers can do little to accelerate historical cognitive development, most scholars believe students at all levels can learn historical…

Reports on the results of an experiment testing 58 elementary school students tasked with chronologically ordering a set of nine historical pictures and thinking aloud about their efforts. Provides increased evidence regarding the kind and sources of children's historical knowledge and how they deploy that knowledge. (MJP)

This bulletin provides an overview of developmental theory and practice in relation to social studies instruction in K-12 curriculum. In the first of eight chapters developmental theories pertaining to teaching and learning social studies are presented. The theories of Erik Erikson, Jane Loevinger, Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Robert Selman…