Movements have been the driving force of social change through most of human history. Yet despite the important impacts that movements had in the past that led to a more just present, most Americans generally hold low opinions of movements. The authors see this as a major failing of history education. The authors argue for a need to center the…

The purpose of this paper is to add to the existing body of research on the American world history curriculum, paying particular attention to the challenges of teaching about a historical era for which new knowledge emerges regularly and old paradigms are being questioned constantly. It does so in four sections. The first section examines research…

There are significant apertures between the history told within historians' scholarship and teachers' curricular resources. The Civil Rights Movement (hereafter, CRM) of the 1950s and 1960s did not start with Rosa Parks' arrest in Montgomery, though it was a spark that inflamed a long-smoldering fire. Nor did it end with Dr. King's dream in…

The world history survey course has experienced stunning success within American higher education. In the space of three decades, it has grown from an embattled alternative to the Western civilization sequence to a cornerstone of university history programs. The survey has become standard not only as an introduction for the history major, but also…

United States history classrooms have the potential to simultaneously foster an understanding of students' cultures and experiences today in relation to the nation's history and develop critical thinking and technology literacy. Yet classroom materials and instructors tend to avoid, ignore, or misrepresent controversial topics such as race and…

There are few topics more engaging, polarizing, controversial, and relevant than the issue of race relations in the United States. As race and racism are enduring issues of importance and popularity, it seems fitting to explore the topic through one of the more engaging and divisive eras in U.S. history; the Civil War. National and state standards…

This article will analyze where the Amherst Project stood within the evolution of educational thinking since the early twentieth century and then show in detail how its activities developed fromits inception in 1959 to publication of the last pamphlet in 1972. The Amherst Project began among a group of instructors from Amherst High School and…

In the United States courses on civics or government are often marginalized in most states' social studies curricula in favor of courses in United States or world history. The origins of this history-dominated approach have roots in the debates between the American Historical Association and the National Education Association at the turn of the…

Lesson planning is a critical task in the education of pre-service teachers, but the author has often questioned the extent to which traditional lesson plan formats truly contribute to the teaching and learning of history. Since current research in history education calls for an emphasis on building "historical thinking" skills and content…

The concluding article for SO 500 407, details a sample curriculum which seeks to make historical studies relevant to students' lives and to cultivate skilled amateur historians who know how to ask and answer historical questions, and whose understanding of history will make them more effective persons and citizens. (Author/MB)

Describes history's curriculum role as it fell from a status of prominence in the 1890s to one of unimportance, submerged in social studies. Notes that history is again becoming an important curriculum area. Suggests that the resurgence of history education is the result of history educators' focus on what to teach and exciting teaching methods.…

Among the greatest frustrations of a teacher of history is the failure of many students, even bright and motivated students, to provide concrete evidence to support their assertions about the past. The problem of evidence is by its nature developmental, and thus not amenable to simple punitive or explanatory approaches. History, as a discipline,…

The inclusion of information about business and businessmen in history and other social studies courses offers secondary school students an intimate experience with the historical development of American economic life. (Author)

Describes a project to help students understand the changing roles of work throughout history. Entitled the "World of Work Project", the program developed curriculum materials based upon the museum collection at Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts. (Author/DB)

Discusses how periodization (the categorizing of history into identifiable periods) can be used effectively in world history courses to make the subject matter manageable and to avoid overwhelming the students with details. Presents a schema which interweaves technology, economic contacts, and cultural systems to help students handle the idea of…