The Study
This study by Jere Brophy, University Distinguished Professor of Teacher Education in the College of Education at Michigan State University, and Bruce VanSledright, of the University of Maryland at College Park, analyzed detailed case studies of U.S. History units taught by three skilled fifth-grade teachers who differed in their goals and approaches. Teacher "A" was primarily a storyteller who exposed her students to traditional historical accounts and socialized them into traditional American values. Teacher "B" was more of a scientific historian who introduced history as an academic discipline and emphasized historical cause-effect relationships as she sought to build an appreciation for the importance of facts, details and research in making historical claims. Teacher "C" was a reformer who saw history as a tool for developing understanding of policy positions on current problems and social issues and training critical readers and principled activists.

The Findings
All three approaches had positive attributes, but each involved making trade-offs relative to what content was covered and the depth of coverage that was provided. While the storytelling approach was effective in motivating student interest in history, it may have led to a perfunctory coverage of facts and details and placed too low a premium on inquiry and discovery. The second approach may have overemphasized the teaching of facts and details for their own sake and failed to link history with current human problems; it did, however, represent an effort to consider multiple interpretations of history and teach subject matter in depth. The third approach often led to spending a great deal of time on a single issue and by-passing significant others; almost all issues became matters for change or reform. The approach focused on producing critical readers, inquirers and active citizens rather than storytellers or young historians.

What It Means to You
Content representations that "put students at the scene" of historical developments and learning activities that engage them in active inquiry, critical thinking and decision making will aid elementary children in constructing meaningful historical understanding. To relate the study of history to the lives of elementary students, teachers can use a variety of instructional materials, employ field trips and visits by resource people and develop current or local examples. Role playing, historical simulations and developing a family history are additional tools to foster empathy and understanding of the people and times being studied. Elementary history instruction that only features parades of facts to be memorized and shallow coverage of content areas will lead to bored, uninvolved and non-thinking students.

For More Information
Consult Brophy, J. and VanSledright, B. (1997). Teaching and Learning History in Elementary Schools. New York, New York: Teachers College Press.

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