Recommends that history textbooks used in schools should be more carefully reviewed before publication and adoption. Criteria which should be applied to textbooks under review include whether the book is well-informed, concerned with historical analysis as well as historical description, and organized and written so that it helps rather than…

Asserts that the use of historical novels in the elementary curriculum is becoming increasingly popular. Provides a four-step process that guides instruction using novels. Includes recommendations for selecting the novels, preteaching activities, and enrichment activities. (CFR)

Contends that oral history projects are an effective way of teaching history. Provides suggestions on setting up an oral history project, selecting topics, conducting background research, and conducting interviews. Includes a bibliography of resources for both students and teachers. (CFR)

Discusses the purposes of history in the curriculum. Presents several examples of using history to explain contemporary events. Argues that historical knowledge is essential for effective citizenship in a democratic society. (CFR)

Briefly reviews 12 available bibliographies of Holocaust literature. Cites publisher information and costs. Evaluates entries on the basis of author's teaching experience and personal experience as a Holocaust survivor. Precedes bibliographical entries with a discussion of the Holocaust and resistance movement, identifying camps and estimated…

Provides a selective list of 19 associations that offer resources for teachers. Includes contact and Internet information, and a list of selected publications for each association. Incorporates a review essay by Ron Herring and Jonathan Weil entitled, "The Contemporary World History Project for Culturally Diverse Students." (DSK)

In this study, I argue that American history textbooks present discrete, heroic, one-dimensional, and neatly packaged master narratives that deny students a complex, realistic, and rich understanding of people and events in American history. In making this argument, I examine the master narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr., in high school history…

This document addresses the importance of teaching contemporary history. The failure to teach contemporary history leaves students ill equipped to deal with the present and the future, and also ensures that they will have little interest in the history of other times. Because memory is the central organizing principle in peoples minds, the…

This paper describes efforts to develop a social studies methods course based on a foundation of critical theory in education. The literature concerning critical theory is discussed. Critical theory focuses on three areas of educational thought: (1) the relationship of school to society; (2) conceptions of knowledge and curriculum; and (3) the…

The failure of history textbooks to teach about ordinary people and events is examined, and what teachers can do to overcome this shortcoming of texts is discussed. History texts emphasize political history, wars, battles, and chronicles of great persons and events of the past. Scant attention is paid to the lives of ordinary men and women. This…

Evaluates efforts by two social studies classroom teachers at the junior high school level to incorporate quantitative methods into history instruction. Their method involved reproducing potentially countable or quantifiable information covering a large portion of the population of a nineteenth century town or village. Examples of sources include…

Deplores the lack of adequate training programs for archivists and documents efforts made by both history and library professional associations and schools to provide such training. It is recommended that the curriculum emphasize systematic appraisal of materials and indexing languages and thesaurus construction rather than cataloging. Thirty…

For the purpose of exposing teachers of world history to the story of the legendary twelfth-century sultan of Egypt, Saladin, the article offers details of Saladin's life and times. (DB)

Introduces a cooperative project undertaken by the USSR Ministry of Education and by various educational institutions in the United States to assess what youth in each country learn about the other country from geography and history textbooks. The objective was to minimize misinformation. (DB)

Traces interdisciplinary collaboration on American Indian history from the establishment of the United States Indian Claims Commission by the Congress in 1946. Information is presented on concerns of ethnohistorians at various periods, objectives of social science research, subject matter of various conferences on American Indians, and political…