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 professor and dean, Graduate School of Education, Binghamton University, Jill M. Gradwell

Publication date:

16 July 2010

Length of book:

180 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

Dimensions:

240x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781607097655

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

In Teaching History with Big Ideas, coeditors S.G. Grant and Jill Gradwell have compiled a series of powerful cases of ambitious teaching that highlight the challenging, complex, and messy world of working in a high-stakes testing environment. The cases cover a range of topics and experiences, different students, different contexts. Yet all of these teachers provide fascinating insight into their journeys as teachers, how they've thought about using big ideas in social studies instruction, and how they make sense of working in diverse contexts that all seem to value test scores, albeit in different ways. . . . This book clearly highlights how scary it is to move away from teaching to the test, but how rewarding and powerful that decision can be.