Teaching and Learning History in Elementary School

by Jere Brophy, Bruce Vansledright

Book by Brophy, Jere E., Vansledright, Bruce

290 pages, Hardcover

Reviews

[Hugolane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is pretty clear about its focus. Brophe and Bruce VanSledright looked at three 5th Grade Social Studies teachers approach to teaching American history. The first teacher whose narrative approach grows out of the expanding worlds strategy of social studies teaching is studied in considerable detail with extensive interviews of the students. The other two approaches a "scientific" approach and "activist" model are each accorded a single chapter. The book shows that 5th graders can do history, and perhaps because of the extensive attention given to the narrative approach, this seemed to be the one most likely to engage students. While the teacher who sought to convey a "scientific scholarly approach" was judged effective, the students did not seem quite so engaged, and the classroom was very teacher centered, and it did not seem like students were really learning to do history themselves as much as in the first case, something that also seemed true of the "activist approach."