This article describes the objectives and methodology of a doctoral research project (Manning, 2008). It then draws upon the key findings of that project to briefly describe how an envisioned critical pedagogy of place partnership model, involving nominated members of the "Te Atiawa iwi" (tribe) and local history teachers, might enhance…

There is more than snow in Minnesota: Summer brings the Aquatennial with sandcastle competitions, milk-carton-boat races and a torchlight parade, and the St. Paul Winter Carnival has ice carving and snow sculptures and another torchlight parade. But natives and visitors alike note that their favorite season is autumn, which in Minnesota brings…

Having already reflected on ways of improving their students' understanding of historical diversity at Key Stage 3, Joanne Philpott and Daniel Guiney set themselves the challenge of extending this to post-14 students by means of fieldwork activities at First World War battlefields sites. In addition, they wanted to link the study of past diversity…

This paper presents data collected and analyzed as part of a graduate-level action research project. First, preferred disassociation (gleaned via observational methodology) between Latino and African American racial students within an urban neighbourhood school located within a large Midwestern city in the United States is discussed. Second,…

One of the challenges that social studies educators face daily is how to make student learning relevant. Digital technologies can play an important role by connecting what happens in the classroom to the world beyond. One way to do this is by turning students into producers of information and having them create content rather than simply consume.…

At the James Weldon Johnson Leadership Academy in East Harlem, New York, administrators, teachers, students, families, and community-based artists worked together to create a visually explosive environment that reflected enriched learning experiences based on their multidisciplinary study of New York's history. The Mano a Mano ("Hand to…

Place: what a great theme for an English teacher's conference, in this official Year of Reading. It's such a conceptually rich and emotionally resonant topic through which to explore the many pleasures and challenges of reading; for teachers, and for students. For place is not only a physical location; it is also a powerful idea and a powerfully…

"Americans," historian Richard White often reminds his audiences, "prefer celebrating to remembering history." The landscape of the United States is populated with local, state, and national sites, house museums, working farms and other places of collective past that are deemed of historic significance. Many of these sites do…

As primary source materials in the library are digitized and made available online, the focus of related library services is shifting to include new and innovative methods of digital delivery via social media, digital storytelling, and community-based and consortial image repositories. Most images on the Web are not of sufficient quality for most…

This article discusses how local history can be used by teachers to help develop historical thinking skills such as source analysis, the collection of data, and the creation of historical arguments. Using New York City as a case study, this article argues that urban spaces and local communities provide historical evidence that can be read and…

In spring of 2010, three high school teachers and their students paired with a college teacher and her advanced writing class to collaborate on oral history research and writing. While many people think of oral history as "just stories," the authors introduce it to students as a rigorous method for documenting historical events, cultural…

The latest round in Canada's History Wars was set off by reports on May 2, 2013, that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage was going to "undertake a thorough and comprehensive review of significant aspects in Canadian history." As details of the Heritage Committee's review emerged, controversy erupted as politicians, historians,…

This article is about two initiatives at the Brooklyn Historical Society that extend our efforts to build community and create a platform for ongoing public engagement, in the face of emotionally charged topics. The first project is a powerful oral history program and exhibition that promotes conversation about the war in Vietnam, the war's…

The Arizona Heritage Project began in 2003 when the Salt River Project (SRP) celebrated its centennial. This Arizona utility sponsored five student groups engaged in documenting Arizona history. Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek, Arizona--an old cowboy town about 20 miles north of Phoenix--was one of the recipients of a $3,000 grant to…

A Hypercontextualized Game (HCG) is a locally designed game that supports its players in gathering context-specific information and in-depth understanding and knowledge regarding the context of a site. LIEKSAMYST, an exciting mobile application, with which visitors can play various games based on stories, was originally developed for the open-air…