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Annotated Bibliography:
Teaching History

Kathryn Morgan

Carraway, Gertrude S. “HISTORY IS AN IMPORTANT PRODUCT.” The North Carolina Historical Review, vol. 35, no. 2, 1958, pp. 182-90. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23517054

  1. Gertrude S. Carraway was the first director of the Tryon Palace Restoration in New Bern, North Carolina. She was also a member of the Executive Board of the Department of Archives and History at this same facility. Carraway was also heavily involved with the Daughters of the American Revolution. Due to these accreditations, she is a credible and reliable source because she is respected within the community of historical preservation and historical societies. Gertrude S. Carraway was the first director of the Tryon Palace Restoration in New Bern, North Carolina. She was also a member of the Executive Board of the Department of Archives and History at this same facility. Carraway was also heavily involved with the Daughters of the American Revolution. Due to these accreditations, she is a credible and reliable source because she is respected within the community of historical preservation and historical societies.
  2. This is a non-scholarly source because it is published by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, which is a government source. There is a possibility that this article could present bias, therefore it is non-scholarly.
  3. This excerpt focuses mainly on American history and local histories. Carraway argues that there is a “…want to understand the firm foundations laid by our predecessors. This gives us an assurance of permanence and continuity.” In understanding the past, there is a better comprehension of today, and yet an even better capacity of how to prepare for tomorrow. Carraway believes the universal statement, “History repeats itself” as she wrote in this piece. If society can learn from past mistakes, then we can become an enlightened people. Carraway also touches upon history as a commercial product. She states that in 1850 the first historic house museum opened in the United States. She continues to talk of historic sites and other goods inspired by history. Carraway believes that “History is an important product that should be cultivated and harvested in the present as well as planted and nurtured for the future.
  4. This excerpt will give my paper perspective since it is from a different time period. Even though this article was written in 1958, I do not see it as an outdated source, rather an opinion captured on my same topic in time. It will also be interesting to perhaps track public perception of history throughout time and explore history as being a product that can be sold to people.

Corfield, Penelope. “All People Are Living Histories – Which Is Why History Matters.” The Institute of Historical Research, Nov. 2008. ResearchGate, www.researchgate.net/publication258929671_ALL_PEOPLEARE_LIVING_HISTORIES_WHICH_IS_WHY_HISTORY_MATTERS_A_conversationpiece_for_those_who_ask_Why_study_ History_full_text. Accessed 8 Oct. 2016.

  1. Penelope Corfield studied at Bedford College and then at Royal Holloway, both universities in London. She is now a retired professor from the history department of Royal Holloway and visiting professor at Newcastle University. Corfield has consulting with professors from various universities around the world, taught British history for the Yale-in-London program, and has given many lectures. She has also been on the executive board of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Due to her educational background and contribution to academia, she is considered a credible and reliable source.
  2. This source is not technically scholarly because Making History was created by the Institute of Historical Research, and is not peer reviewed. This website is a kind of database which has organized articles, interviews, statistics, and other resources of those who study history in London. This website is a tribute to all in the field and is accessible to anyone with any historical inquiry.
  3. This article argues that we are all our own histories that contribute to a larger story in time. Corfield states that history is an essential part of learning because it gives individuals, “…the ability to analyze a diverse array of often discrepant data, to provide a reasoned interpretation of the said data, and to give a reasoned critique of one’s own and other people’s interpretations.” Instead of students memorizing facts and dates, students should have history presented in new and exciting ways. She argues that the “in-depth analysis and the long-term perspective” gleaned by history make it not only useful but essential to everyday life. It is those who are, “…wisest among them [that] look to the past, to understand the foundations, as well as to the future, in order to build.” History teaches us what actions did not work in the past so that the future can learn from those failures.
  4. In essence, this is what I would love to expand upon in my paper. I believe there are so many valuable reasons to study history, just as Corfield has stated in this article. I think my paper will touch upon ways to teach history, however I want to focus on how to present history to the general public and not just to students. Maybe a route to go would be how to design historical units for classrooms that present history in exciting ways. This would connect nicely to the article about history being sold as a commodity.

Fordham, Michael. “Disciplinary history and the situation of history teachers.” Education Sciences, vol. 2, no. 4, 2012, pp. 242-253. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/educsci2040242

  1. Michael Fordham has received his Masters degree in History from the University of Cambridge, Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in secondary history from the University of Cambridge, and is an affiliated lecturer in history and the University of Cambridge. Due to his educational background and contribution to the field of history, he is considered a credible and reliable source.
  2. This is a scholarly source because it has been peer reviewed before being published in the Education Sciences. At the top of the online journal article, there is a list of when the paper was received, revised, accepted, and then finally published. The presence of these dates denotes the scholarship behind the process of publishing this paper.
  3. Michael Fordham calls for a “…disciplinary understanding applied to a progressive framework structure which in turn will allow for complex ‘big pictures’ of the past” when teaching. He argues that history teachers should not decide to focus between the knowledge or the skills acquired by history, but rather teach both so as to form a full narrative in which students can interpret for their own the past. Fordham also states that, “…past authorities are there to be challenged and not accepted as dogma”. While it is important to look at histographies, it is equally as important to interpret primary sources for ourselves. This has been the recent trend in history education since about the nineteenth-century. He argues that through the presentation of events in “a more complex relationship between a history teacher and the academic discipline of history,” teachers can act as the vehicle for the initial introduction of historical events. It is through this relationship that the direction of history education should go.
  4. This journal article will be useful in comparing the ways in which history education has developed through the years. Fordham includes his opinions on the ways in which he thinks history education should go, which will be interesting to talk about in my research paper. He not only disagrees with the narrative that history should be taught as facts, but also disagrees that it should not just be taught for the skills one can acquire. He argues that there should be a balance of both, which I am also an advocate of. Students may think that history is boring when it is presented as pure facts. Students may also think history is boring when it is just reading primary sources yet developing critical thinking skills. However, with the combination of both, true learning can occur and be exciting for students. When students understand the primary source through their critical thinking skills and be able to apply the context from the facts learned in class, students can feel accomplished. This is how history should be taught. In my paper, I want to illustrate that students should not just learn history but discover history.

Froeyman, Anton. “The Ideal Of Objectivity And The Public Role Of The Historian: Some Lessons From The Historikerstreit And The History Wars.” Rethinking History, vol. 20, no. 2, 2016, pp. 217234. Historical Abstracts. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/ 13642 52 9.2 01 6.1153270. Accessed 5 Oct. 2016.

  1. Anton Froeyman is a history theorist who works in the Philosophy Department of Ghent University, Belgium. In 2013, he received his PhD from the same university in which he now works. Due to and his educational background, he is deemed a credible and reliable source.
  2. This is a scholarly source because it was published in Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice. This is an acclaimed journal which allows historians to present new perspectives on historical events. This is a quarterly publication used by mostly historians.
  3. This article discusses the relevance and role that history but mainly historians play in our lives. Historians are thought to have the social responsibility to ease tensions between groups of people through history. The more truth that historians produce, the more they contribute to the betterment of society. The “…preferred role [of a historian] is that of the neutral expert, the myth-buster or the fact-checker, not that of the activist or the partisan” yet some historians advocate for specific groups (i.e. gender historians). There are two type of historians: objectivists and narrativists. Objectivists create a sense of community around a shared historical event and therefore contribute to a more consensual society. Narrativists, on the other hand, disregard the idea of a “consensual” society because everyone has their own opinions and ways of interpreting events. In this view, groups never have to come to a single conclusion on how an event occurred. This article uses the examples of the Historikerstreit Australian “History Wars” to demonstrate how historians should and should not behave when presenting information to the public.
  4. This source can be used to show how historians should present information to the public and how they are regarded by society. It is important to keep in mind that this article was written about historians by a historian. This shows insight to the rules of the field in which most historians abide, and that we as historians should as well. We should look at history objectively rather than subjectively, thus history should be taught this way as well. This is something important to keep in mind when innovating new ways of teaching and presentation.

McMeekin, Sean. “Is History Dead?” Salon.com, 12 Jan. 1998, www.salon.com/1998/01/12/cov_11feature_2/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2016.

  1. Sean McMeekin went to Stanford University for his undergraduate degree and then the University of California, Berkeley for his masters and doctorate in history. He is now a professor of history at Bard College in New York. Due to his credentials, he is a credible and reliable source.
  2. This is a non-scholarly source because this article was posted on a website. Salon.com is a part of the Salon Media Group, which typical writes about United States politics and current affairs. It is perceived to be a liberal publication.
  3. This article discusses the movement of “cultural studies” and how it threatens historical facts with theories. These “cultural studies” are the offshoots of history that, by this author, are thought to be “fashionable academic theories.” Advocates of these studies do not like traditional history yet traditional historian have not stated anything against the proponents of cultural studies. There has just been a change in “contemporary historiography … [which] is more wide-ranging, inclusive, sophisticated and diverse in its approaches and methodologies than ever before.” That being said, the academic conversation is harder to get into.
  4. This article brings up an important spin off of historians, and presents another way in which history is presented to the public. This article however was all over the place talking about different historical events. However, it does bring about a good point in which I feel will be essential to my paper in that new offshoots of history are being created in order to accommodate the interests of those who do not like traditional history. Yet, these concepts can be found within traditional history, which is what makes it still exciting today. This is the reason for writing this paper. People who believe history to be the opposite and boring most times feel that they cannot relate to the events of the past. Since it has no relevance to these naysayers directly, studying these people and events at all is brought into question. The answer is that we all have the commonality of being human. We all have emotions and the ability to make decisions. All societies should learn from their past so as not to repeat it. This is the relevance of the past to the present; we are all connected by our histories.

Milo, Greg. “Why Do Students Hate History?” Education Week, 10 May 2016, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/23/why-do-stud ents-hate-history.html. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016.

  1. Greg Milo has worked at Archbishop Hoban High School, St. Louis University, and the University Park Alliance. He is currently a freelance writer at the Global Ties Akron and Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Due to some of his accomplishments in his career listed above, he is considered to be a credible and reliable source.
  2. This is not a scholarly source because it is an article written for an online trade journal. This publication is written for teachers. This journal offers tools and different ways of teaching, as well as news from the education world.
  3. Milo reflects on why his students dislike history class. The answer: it is boring. Most students ask how these events from so long ago will ever relate to them in their life. But sometimes history is not about learning the events, but the thinking that is developed from analyzing history. Milo also hopes to “prepare students to be participating citizens.” Milo also argues that, “If we want our students to make reasoned decisions, then they’ll have to be able to understand the complicated mix of people, places, and things that lead to an outcome.” To combat the ideas that students have about history being boring, Milo purposes that history classes should focus on a single idea of study, for example social forces, and then pick five unrelated events to study that theme in depth.
  4. This source confirms from a teacher standpoint that students think history is boring. I would like to find an article that works in tandem with this one that is perhaps by a student who expresses their own dislike for history. However, this article does include reasons for what the learning of history gives to students. This will be helpful when listing all of reasons, and then expanding on them, as to why history is important and relevant to students of every generation.

Strauss, Valerie. “The Right Way to Teach History.” The Washington Post, 25 Sept. 2013, www.washingtonpost.com/news/answersheet/wp/2013/09/25/the-right-way-to-teach-history/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2016

  1. Marion Brady began his teaching career in 1952. Over the years, Brady has taught every grade level from 6th grade up until
    college. In addition to being an educator, he has also been a director of instruction, consultant to publishers, and author of academic journals, textbooks, and newspaper columns. His career and work done in education for history make him a credible and reliable source.
  2. This is not a scholarly source because it is published in The Washington Post. This is a widely-read newspaper written for a general audience, since it has columns that are more specific that people then choose which to read.
  3. History “contains no easy answers, no ready-made conclusions, no precise parallels to today’s situations”, however it is important to learn from the past to avoid the path taken long ago in similar situations. Yet, education emphasizes the importance of facts and dates in history, not the actual stories behind them. It is not just the educational institutions but the textbook companies themselves which provide the information in such a dry manner; in order for a textbook to become published it would “…have to be written in a bloodless, impersonal style or are considered too subjective to be acceptable.” Brady suggest that in teaching history, education should be instead “moving to active learning using un-interpreted primary sources, and requiring real investigation and deep analytical thought is a key to developing that engagement.”
  4. This article was written by an educator of history. He knows that history is often presented to the youth as numbers, dates, and facts that all have to be memorized for a test. However, Brady knows that this is not how students will learn about history and enjoy it. The idea that history is not a story contributes to the narrative that history is dull and boring because students do not see it as such. We must preserve the love of history now so that later generations will learn our stories and learn from us.