Teaching History with Big Ideas

Cases of Ambitious Teachers

Contributions by Andrew Beiter, Mary Beth Bruce, Trish Davis, Julie Doyle, Sarah Foels, S G. Grant, Joseph Karb, Michael Meyer, Megan Sampson Edited by S. G. Grant, Jill M. Gradwell

Not available to order

Publication date:

16 July 2010

Length of book:

180 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

ISBN-13: 9781607097679

In the case studies that make up the bulk of this book, middle and high school history teachers describe the decisions and plans and the problems and possibilities they encountered as they ratcheted up their instruction through the use of big ideas. Framing a teaching unit around a question such as 'Why don't we know anything about Africa?' offers both teacher and students opportunities to explore historical actors, ideas, and events in ways both rich and engaging. Such an approach exemplifies the construct of ambitious teaching, whereby teachers demonstrate their ability to marry their deep knowledge of subject matter, students, and the school context in ways that fundamentally challenge the claim that history is 'boring.'

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 The Evolution of a Big Idea: Why Don't We Know Anything About Africa?
Chapter 3 Defining Success with Big Ideas: A New Teacher's Growth and Challenges
Chapter 4 From the Holocaust to Darfur: A Recipe for Genocide
Chapter 5 How I Learned To Stop Worrying about the Test and to Love Teaching Students to Write Well
Chapter 6 Big Expectations: Big Ideas in Honors and Inclusion
Chapter 7 Big Ideas: A Methodology to Engage Students
Chapter 8 Reconstructing Reconstruction and History
Chapter 9 Big Ideas and Ambitious Teaching: A Cross-Case Analysis
Chapter 10 Implications

S. G. Grant and Jill Gradwell achieve their worthy goal of creating a road map for ambitious history teaching. This engaging, accessible book features narratives written by teachers who navigated a variety of instructional dilemmas and constraints, undertook the hard work of reflecting on their established practices, and decided to try something new that they believed would benefit their students. The teachers' insightful stories, combined with the editors' practical recommendations, leave no doubt that ambitious teaching is an arduous journey with changing itineraries and destinations. Fortunately, social studies educators now have an invaluable resource that shows us a variety of ways that such a journey can be undertaken.