Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History - by Peter N Stearns & Peter Seixas & Sam Wineburg (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A rethinking of teaching methodology in history classrooms

As issues of history and memory collide in our society and in the classroom, the time is ripe to rethink the place of history in our schools. Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History represents a unique effort by an international group of scholars to understand the future of teaching and learning about the past. It will challenge the ways in which historians, teachers, and students think about teaching history.

The book concerns itself first and foremost with the question, "How do students develop sophisticated historical understandings and how can teachers best encourage this process?" Recent developments in psychology, education, and historiography inform the debates that take place within Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History. This four-part volume identifies the current issues and problems in history education, then works towards a deep and considered understanding of this evolving field. The contributors to this volume link theory to practice, making crucial connections with those who teach history.

Published in conjunction with the American Historical Association.

Review Quotes

"A remarkable intellectual synthesis by the key people who have made history education a very new field, linking practice, theory and historical perspective."--William Weber, editor of The History Teacher

"A state-of-the-art compendium of interdisciplinary understandings of how we best learn history."--Leon Fink, professor of history, University of Illinois at Chicago; Vice President, Teaching Division, AHA

"Knowing, Teaching, and Learning History examines the current state of history education by exploring the connections between the historical discipline, learning theory, and classroom practice. This interdisciplinary collection of articles addresses recent developments in the theory and practice of history education by scrutinizing how historical narratives are learned and what disciplinary practices and habits of mind facilitate historical understanding. Contributions by historians, teacher educators, educational psychologists, and classroom teachers bridge institutional boundaries and explore history education from elementary schools to university classrooms."--Loretta Sullivan Lobes, Executive Director, National History Education Network, Carnegie Mellon University

"The 22 useful and engaging essays in this book represent leading work in the scholarship of teaching and learning related to history. The collection is a valuable effort. Hopefully these essays will do much to bridge the gap between historians, teacher educators, and teachers."-- "Teaching History"

"This is not a static voyage; rather, it is one that will take the interested reader on a wonderful journey of discovery and reexamination. . . . Captured within its pages, Knowing provides an educational framework that anchors the discipline and centers its impact upon society."-- "Canadian Social Studies"