The Sources Are Many: Exploring History Teachers' Selection of Classroom Texts

Developing and Enacting Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching History: An Exploration of Two Novice Teachers' Growth Over Three Years

“…Although all participants were enthusiastic about using primary sources, they did not feel that they could use sources as often as they had expected given the realities and norms of their field placements. S. G. Grant and Gradwell (2005) found that two third-year teachers both used a wide variety of primary and secondary sources regularly. The teachers' selection of texts was largely influenced by their subject matter knowledge and their perception of students' interests and skills.…”

“…Gudmundsdottir (1990) Monte-Sano & Cochran (2009), Monte-Sano (2011b) VanSledright (2002) Wineburg & Wilson (1991), Wilson & Wineburg (1988, 1993) Ball et al (2008) ("knowledge of content and teaching") Borko et al (1992) Grossman (1990) Shulman (1986, 1987) Wilson et al (1987) Transform history How teachers transform historical content into lessons and materials that target the development of students' historical understanding and thinking and give students appropriate opportunities to achieve these goals. Bain (2005Bain ( , 2006 Fehn & Koeppen (1998) S. G. Grant & Gradwell (2005) Monte-Sano & Cochran (2009) Seixas (1998) VanSledright (2002) Wilson & Wineburg (1993) Ball et al (2008) ("knowledge of content and students") Grossman (1990) Shulman (1986, 1987 Attend to students' ideas about history Ideally, teachers identify and respond to students' thinking about history in order to build on students' incoming ideas and experiences, address misconceptions, develop students' understanding further, and promote historical ways of thinking.…”

“…Ball et al (2008) might consider this "knowledge of content and teaching." Several studies have looked at novices' selection of historical documents and use of them in lessons (Fehn & Koeppen, 1998;S. G. Grant & Gradwell, 2005;Seixas, 1998;VanSledright, 2002).…”

The Power and Potential of Primary Sources

“…Although used regularly in middle and high school classrooms (Britt & Aglinskas, ; Grant & Gradwell, ; Swan & Locascio, ; Wooden, ), primary source documents are often overlooked at the elementary grades. Yet even students in first grade have demonstrated facility with using primary sources (VanSledright, ).…”

Pay It Forward: Teacher Candidates’ Use of Historical Artifacts to Invigorate K-12 History Instruction

“…Research on teaching children history strongly supports theories of constructivism (Brophy & VanSledright, 1997;Levstik & Barton, 2005; National Center for History in the Schools, 1996; National Council for History Education, 2007;National Council for Social Studies, 1994). This construction of knowledge is a focus point of robust history and social studies teaching and learning (Barton & Levstik, 2004;Grant & Gradwell, 2005 As advocates of engaging students in historical inquiry and of the use of primary sources to aid in this inquiry, we support the claims of numerous student benefits, such as learning to detect bias, appreciating the interpretive nature of historical thinking, and the drawing of conclusions based on judgments about evidence (Fehn & Koeppen, 1998;Haeussler Bohan & Davis, 1998;Seixas 1998;Yeager & Davis, 1996). However, classroom teachers may not use artifacts and primary sources for various reasons, including their beliefs about their students' developmental immaturity, feeling such materials are time-consuming and not getting enough bang for the buck, having difficulty creating appropriate lessons, or simply lacking a sufficient understanding of history themselves (Levstik & Barton, 2005).…”