Building Successful Collaborations to Enhance History Teaching in Secondary Schools
By Kathleen Anderson Steeves
1. Focusing the Discussion
We can hope that all undergraduates who major in history will be
able at some point to apply professionally the historical "habits
of mind"—the perspectives and modes of judgment by which
we examine the past—that they learned in their classrooms.
Even those who go into business or government or the media, for instance,
may have opportunities to do this in their own various ways. But
the most significant "application" or transmissiApril 30, 200712 classroom. A number
of those undergraduates who concentrate in history will eventually
go on to teach in secondary schools and will thus be shaping the
next generation’s undergraduates. During the past several decades
a growing number of perceptive postsecondary historians have come
to see the significance of this cycle. As a result, they have come
to acknowledge that they must share with practicing and pre-service
teachers in their locality their knowledge as well as their excitement
for and interest in the discipline of history. While engaging in
this sharing, the historians in postsecondary institutions also learn
much more about how K–12 teachers train students to be good
historical thinkers and learners. Obviously, such sharing is not
only mutually beneficial but in the long run, will also help achieve
the common goal of all history teachers—enhancing history education.
- Next: The Issues and Challenges
- Previous: Preface
- Notes
- Table of Contents
Last Updated: April 30, 2007
