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

Yıl 2015, Cilt: 6 Sayı: 2, 18 - 30, 24.11.2015

Scott Waring , Cheryl Torrez George Lipscomb

https://doi.org/10.17499/jsser.98048

Cited By: 2

Öz

The history education literature is replete with a call to help teachers understand that history should be taught as being inquiry-based and interpretive. We are encouraged, and rightfully so, to do history, to perform history, to do democracy, and to motivate students for inquiry and action by using primary sources. The authors developed a unit of study for history and social studies teacher candidates that would address several issues: (a) motivate and inspire future teachers to use inquiry as a tool to build K-12 students’ historical understanding and facilitate purposeful utilization of artifacts with ease; (b) help future teachers increase their knowledge of local history; and (c) present a unit that could be easily used in a secondary history course and, with some modifications, could be adapted for elementary and middle school history classrooms. The assignment was named Pay it Forward: Invigorating Instruction through Local History. This multifaceted assignment included the development of a lesson plan that would (a) demonstrate a robust understanding of engaging students in historical inquiry and local history, and (b) focus on an artifact that the teacher candidate would find as part of the investigation. The majority of the teacher candidates in this study did show evidence of, albeit limited at times, designing curriculum that encouraged K-12 students to engage in historical inquiry. Making the bridge between theory and practice, or showing evidence of learning from the methods courses, was clearly evident across the lesson plans.

Anahtar Kelimeler

History; Social Studies; Primary Sources

Kaynakça

• Barton, K., & Levstik, L. S. (2004). Teaching history for the common good. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Bower, B., & Lobdell, J. (2003). Social studies alive : Engaging diverse learners in the elementary classroom. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers' Curriculum Institute.
• Boyle-Baise, M. (2003). Doing democracy in social studies methods. Theory and Research in Social Education, 31(1), 51-71.
• Brophy, J. E., & VanSledright, B. (1997). Teaching and learning history in elementary schools. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Denzin N. K. (1970). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Dillon, J. P. (2007). “All history is local”: Researching the place where you live. Middle Level Learning, 30, M2-M7.
• Fehn, B., & Koeppen, K. E. (1998). Intensive document-based instruction in a social studies methods course and student teachers' attitudes and practice in subsequent field experiences. Theory and Research in Social Education, 26(4), 461-484.
• Fresch, E. T. (2004). Connecting children with children, past and present: Motivating students for inquiry and action. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Grant, S. G., & Gradwell, J. M. (2005). The sources are many: Exploring history teachers' selection of classroom texts. Theory and Research in Social Education, 33(2), 244-265.
• Haeussler Bohan, C., & Davis, O. L., Jr. (1998). Historical constructions: How social studies student teachers' historical thinking is reflected in their writing of history. Theory and Research in Social Education, 26(2) 173-197.
• Levstik, L. S., & Barton, K. C. (2005). Doing history investigating with children in elementary and middle schools, 3rd ed. Mahwah, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates.
• Lindquist, T. (2008). Seeing the whole through social studies. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• National Center for History in the Schools. (1996). National standards for history. Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools.
• National Council for History Education. (2007). History’s habits of the mind. Baltimore: National Council for History Education.
• National Council for the Social Studies. (1994). Expectations of excellence: Curriculum standards for social studies. Washington, D.C.: National Council for the Social Studies.
• National Council for the Social Studies. (2013). The college, career, and civic life (C3) framework for social studies state standards: Guidance for enhancing the rigor of K-12 civics, economics, geography, and history. Silver Spring, MD: Author.
• Otten, M., Stigler, J. W., Woodward, J. A., & Staley, L. (2004). Performing history: The effects of a dramatic art-based history program on student achievement and enjoyment. Theory and Research in Social Education, 32(2), 187-212.
• Seixas, P. (1998). Student teachers thinking historically. Theory and Research in Social Education, 26(3), 310-341.
• Turner, D. (2008). Pennsylvania Dutch crafts and culture. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 20(3), 16-17.
• Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Wyman, R. M. (2005). America's history through young voices: Using primary sources in the K- 12 social studies classroom. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
• Yeager, E. A., & Davis, O. L., Jr. (1996). Classroom teachers' thinking about historical texts: An exploratory study. Theory and Research in Social Education, 24(2), 146-166.