Beth Baker and Steven Mastin make the case for teaching ancient history in the post-14 curriculum. Pointing out the damaging messages that could be conveyed by assuming that ancient history is not worthy of higher-level and demanding study, they also show the opportunities that are missed if pupils do not return to it when they are able to apply…

History curriculum reform proposals and debates are a persistent feature of the contemporary educational landscape in England and, very probably, a "sign of the times" that can reveal a great deal about contemporary predicaments and concerns. History curriculum controversy is also a global phenomenon and one that can fruitfully--and,…

Teaching with film is a powerful and meaningful instructional strategy. This article discusses five classroom-tested methods for teaching with film: (1) film as a visual textbook, (2) film as a depicter of atmosphere, (3) film as an analogy, (4) film as a historiography, and (5) film as a springboard. Each of the methods discussed includes…

Using "threshold concepts" (Meyer and Land) as a lens, this article examines several issues related to learning within and across two general education courses--one in writing and one in history--in which students were concurrently enrolled. Analysis of data from students and instructors (of the history course) suggests threshold…

Keeley Richards secured a fundamental shift in some of her Year 13 students' ability to argue. She did it by getting them to engage more fully with the practice of argument itself, as enacted by four historians. At the centre of her lesson sequence was an original activity: the historians' dinner party. Richards uses this activity to point to…

Paula Worth was searching not only for a rigorous question, capable of engendering genuine debate, but also for an engaging and enjoyable activity that would secure GCSE students' substantive knowledge. The answer--or rather the question--lay in counterfactual thinking: a carefully crafted game that she devised, based on the structure of a game by…

In this article, a teaching strategy which not only blends yesterday and today in a meaningful way but also powerfully integrates literacy and history will be examined. Firstly Readers' Theatre as a technique will be introduced. Secondly, the usage guidelines of Readers' Theatre will be presented. Finally the opinions of secondary school students…

This article discusses the objectives and outcomes of a project to enhance digital humanities training at the undergraduate level in a Hong Kong university. The co-investigators re-designed a multi-source data-set as an example and then taught a multi-step curriculum about gathering, organizing, and presenting original data to an introductory…

On 9 April 1930, a philanthropist called Edward Harkness donated millions of dollars to the Phillips Exeter Academy in the USA. He hoped that his donation could be used to find a new way for students to sit around a table with their teacher and "feel encouraged to speak up". This led to the development of what is now known as the…

The current canons of education are replete with suggestions for how to raise the achievement of Hispanic and Latino students. Absent from that discussion is what to teach them in a way that anchors them to their uniquely American culture and history. The author considers how Mexican-American history is often taught as if it were an offshoot of…

Many parallels exist between quality coaches and quality classroom teachers--especially AP teachers, who often feel the pressure to produce positive test results. Having developed a series of techniques and strategies for building a team-oriented winning culture on the field, Jim Fornaciari writes about how he adapted those methods to work in the…

Culturally appropriate education focuses on educational competence needed in a global world and respect for different world views of learners and teachers from different cultural contexts. The relationship between gene, brain, and culture is complex and dynamical. Cultural experience and learning sculpts the anatomy and function of the human brain…

The trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on charges of conspiring to spy for the Soviet Union remains one of the defining moments of the Cold War era. The dramatic allegations of stolen atomic secrets and networks of Communist spies riveted the public's attention. The determination of government prosecutors reflected a widely shared belief that the…

This article describes Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that teach literacy strategies to all content teachers in the U.S. It describes how three Social Studies teachers from three middle schools incorporated literacy strategies into their content areas and exposed their reading strategies. These teachers were asked to identify and write down…

Teaching survey courses at the university level can be a difficult task. The vast majority of students have to take survey classes as part of their curriculum and, as a result, bring a fair amount of resentment and/or ambivalence with them. Furthermore, many students already arrive on campus with negative opinions about history classes. This…